Triumphrat

mn9130s · 06-09-2007

I recently obtained one of the lay flat brackets for the stock gauges from D9 & installed it this morning on my T100. Man does it change the look of the bike for the better ! I am VERY pleased with the appearance. This bracket is the brushed aluminum finish.

Installation:

The kit came with the bracket, 4 spacers (these were metal not plastic & finished very nicely in black, the bracket would look great with this finish as well), & new bracket screws.

I got off early from work this morning (2am I've been on 3rd shift) so I started on it when I got home this morning. Couldn't sleep anyway so what the hey ?

No issues with the kit, but issues with my bike.
First, unplugged the dash connector inside the headlight & water poured out !
Ack ! Second, found that a dirt dauber wasp had made a nest in the hollow shaft of
the tripmeter reset & filled it with mud & dead spiders. They usually do that to my
carbs, I didn't know any of those wasps were that small. @%#*&) !! Then when I finally did manage to find a screwdriver small enough to get the screw out it tried to escape. Took a bit to find it. 3rd, the cheap black plastic diamond shaped thingy under the old dash was cracked badly. I decided to drill a hole in the center of the thing instead of merely enlarging the slot because it would have gotten into the crack too badly. The only other thing was that after I dried out the connector I put a good amount of dielectric grease in it before I reconnected it. That got on my hands & made them slippery so the black barrel spacers were a bit tricky to hold on to. Like I would get them just in the right place & then they would fall off & bounce off the front of the tank & onto the floor JUST before I got the screw in. Repeatedly. More #$&^@%&. Add spider nests in the dash & lots of dirt to the mix & that 's how it went. Not bad at all really. I live in South Carolina so insects building nests where you don't want them is just the way it is.

I really like the kit & the workmanship was 1st class. I'll post some photos later now that its light outside. I also did some carb work (installed thumbwheel idle adjustment mixture screws) after the new dash & was done totally by 6am. That includes cleanup time, etc. I don't think the whole dash process took an hour itself, a good portion of that was dealing with the stuff I've mentioned & trying to find an allen wrench the right size for taking off the idiot light holder. I must have 7 or 8 Allen wrenches, all JUST too small or JUST too big. @#$*&^% !! I really don't see how installation could be any easier however. I've ordered LEDs for the idiot lights & I'm going to try changing out the speedo & tach lighting for red LEDs as well & see if I like that.

Once again, the change to the look of the bike is dramatic & terrific. I really wasn't sure it would even be noticeable. Excellent workmanship in every respect with the kit. Get one ! You won't be disappointed.

Baltobonneville · 06-09-2007

I installed mine today too, black finish. It looks great!

Since I have a fly screen, that had to come off, and dropping the headlight shell down a bit made more room to work. No bug or water issues inside.

Reinstalling the fly screen is a nuisance, though! It uses the headlight bolts, so one has to hold the headlight shell, hold the metal bushing in place, hold the large washer on the inside, and the fly screen, all aligned correctly, and insert the bolt and another washer. Even with four hands, thanks to my neighbor, it took a while. I don't remember it being that hard when I first installed it. Various bits were constantly falling on the garage floor, two grown men on hands and knees looking for them.

Anyway, that makes the spacers for this bracket seem easy, no problem with them, just finger them into place and drop the screw in.

I also installed a brighter headlight bulb and greased the speedometer cable. It was a good use of a saturday morning. :upthumb:

davidc · 06-09-2007

Gentlemen, where can I get this lay flat bracket? I think I would really like the look of it on my bike.

Thanks!

D9 · 06-10-2007

Quote:

On 2007-06-09 20:06, davidc wrote:
Gentlemen, where can I get this lay flat bracket? I think I would really like the look of it on my bike.

Thanks!

davidc,

Happy to send one out to you - check your email...

mn9130s -

That is by far the best - and most biblical - bracket installation
story I've heard yet - between darkness, floods and pestilence, you persevered and overcame!

Marty -

Glad it worked out... mounting the four spacers with the reassembled dash is still one detail I'd like to improve... thinking about putting a small ring of very thin-mil clear VHB tape on one end of each of the spacers - it'd be peel & stick, so you could literally peel the backing paper (thus arming the tape), and then push the spacers over the mounting bolts against the underside of the bracket and they'd would stay in place... easy to do... may just go that route...

Cheers & thanks for the feedback!

D9

[ This message was edited by: D9 on 2007-06-09 22:10 ]