Hi Marc,
know that I do powder coating for a living.
Then why are you asking me? If you can do it, go ahead and do it.
the brackets are just a strange change I can't find a reason for doing,
As I say, could've been lack of correct parts at a given time. Or could've been your brother tried a different front tyre that wouldn't fit under the fender with the standard brackets? One of my T160's I've owned since it was brand-new; even I can't remember all the changes I've made ...
not everything I read on the internet do I believe until I know the person giving the advice.
While a degree of scepticism about information on the www is good, you also need to apply that same scepticism to printed information, appreciating that just because it's nicely-bound in a book doesn't make it any more correct than information on the www when the author doesn't/didn't do proper research. Reposting discredited information instead of asking more questions doesn't help anyone, particularly when you aren't a thread's starter.
And, with respect, in what way do you expect to "know" someone posting something on an internet forum? From your bio and your posts, you're in a place called Dawsonville, in the state of Georgia, in the US; according to Google, I'm nearly 4,000 miles from you with, amongst other things, the Atlantic in between. We aren't likely to bump into each other ...
The speculation came from the talk of what bracket I had on the bike , but no one knew until I took one off and actually compared to stock photos.
In the thread I'm reading, I see the information in post #6 by "Kadutz", the following day after your first post. Unfortunately, at the time of your first post, I didn't have internet access and didn't read it, or I'd have either posted the information before K or confirmed his information. What your photo. in your first post showed is common; only some posting on this Forum might not have known.
Why do you find humor in the fact that I have a spare set of gauges that are correct for the bike?
again.
The rear lamp extender.
K simply informed you that it was missing from your calendar-1970-built bike. If you'd
asked, you'd have been advised that they stemmed from a legal requirement - although I don't know whether it was Federal or just certain states - that the lamp had to be the rearmost part of the bike on any bike built on or after 1st January 1970; before that extender, the license plate and part of the rear fender extend beyond the lamp.
Because it wasn't a requirement before 1970 is why you wont find it in the (1970 650) "parts diagram"; if you look at the first page, at the bottom is "Published September 1969". Remember I told you already about the typed updates that the factory (and the US importers) sent to dealers? The part numbers would've been in one of them.
However, the extender and its other associated parts are both illustrated and listed in
the 1970 T150 parts book - pages 60 and 61 - because that parts book was published in January 1970. The extender part number is F12753 (aka 83-2753). Btw, if you go looking for one, they
all originally looked like the picture, with the strip for the top edge of the licence plate; if that strip's missing, it's because vibration broke it off.
Hth.
Regards,