A-9s custom brackets for custom mini speedometers

sweatmachine -

Appreciate the comment, thanks! - if you already have a mini gauge or a set of mini gauges - and it's the same one or ones as rodburner's, bonneville billy's or loxpumps (the cans mic out to 2.39" OD, from Mikes XS, also apparently available from a source on ebay) - I'll be happy to fix you up, send me a PM and let me know if you want a solid single gauge bracket, a slotted single gauge bracket, or a R/H - L/H set.

Prototyping the R/H - L/H set for Lox's bike right now, hopefully we'll get them fitted this weekend and post some pics. However, I haven't found a good way to slot the R/H - L/H set to slide wires through and maintain the needed super-tight fit (brackets are .125" aluminum with fitted neoprene gasket) so if the gauges are already on, they would need to have wires undone, slipped through the R/H - L/H brackets, and then reconnected.

If you're going single gauge and are already wired up, then the slotted single bracket is probably the way to go - likewise, if you're going single gauge but not yet installed, I'd recommend the solid single
bracket - keep in mind, these mini gauge brackets are still very much in prototype stage - hope to hear good road test results on the slotted single from rodburner... ;-)

Cheers,

D9

Terry,

Send me a pm with shipping addy - fyi, have not worked out a price for these, still a fun, labor of love kinda thing - costs should be pretty minimal though.

For anyone else following this thread... coupla things I'd advise... happy to make a set for anyone who either has already purchased or is seriously considering installing the 2.39" OD mini-gauges - but if you haven't gone that far yet, not sure if you're gonna, or are for any reason still on the fence, probably just best to wait until you've made your purchase and have your gauges in hand... no interest in making parts to sit forlornly on a dark shelf somewhere... hope ya'll understand.

Likewise, if you already have your gauges and want the brackets, don't wire the gauges up yet, 'cause you'll have to unwire them to push them thru the brackets...

Please note, currently these brackets only work with the 2.39" OD mini gauges (ones on Mikes XS state 2.25" diameter, but the outside of the cans calipered to 2.39" on Lox's & same with rodburners...)

Also happy to consider designing and producing one-off custom bracket sets if anyone is feeling particularly creative - send me a pm.

Cheers,

D9

On 2006-11-13 16:22, Whitehurst wrote:
WOW -

I would love to get a set of these for my Thruxton

Please let me know - thank you

Terry

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[ This message was edited by: D9 on 2006-11-13 22:43 ]

Keef,

You nailed it - great observation, from someone who's obviously been poking around on this like some others in here...

The stock bracket bosses are the real obstacle - and it's a bit of a visual Catch-22... if you don't use the existing bosses, they'll just sit there an look funky, unless you remove them... if you do use the bosses, the choices seem to be either a push through solution like what I've come up with - or - a slick, thinner-gauge little bracket that uses the bosses but then makes a couple of tight, well managed bends to arrive underneath the
gauges - the second solution might look better than the push-through, but that's another project...

Another possible mounting point - again, probably visually better than the push-through solution - is to use two holes that are located underneath the upper triple clamp - you can see these holes in the reflection in the headlamp of the underside of the upper triple clamp if you look carefully - Lox seemed to recall these holes were used for windscreen fastening - a simple V-bracket might work splendidly here and get the gauges - even the stock gauges - further inboard and also lower - but thats IF you're willing to grind off the existing bosses...

Another possibility - using the lower handlebar clamp bolts - still would need to remove stock bosses...

Several posters have mentioned using the fork tube bolts for gauge bracket mounting points - I never had mine apart, so I'm not sure if that's a possibility or not - anybody who can shine some light here, please consider weighing in...

Couple of pics, courtesy of Loxpump, bosses circled in red, for anyone just joining the thread...




Cheers,

D9

On 2006-11-20 05:27, keef wrote:
I'm also curious to see what can be done to improve the position of the stock gauges, though I'm sure that you'll have quite a bit more room to play with than the rest of us, having already lowered your light. Mind you, those mounting lugs on the yoke come up a fair way and, if you went the way of mounting the gauges from bellow the yoke, the coresponding holes in the lower surface come in at a pretty sharp angle and there would still be the upper lugs to tidy up somehow - short of a bit of grinding and powder coating. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
Meanwhile, I'd still love to see if I could incorporate an oil pressure and/or temp gauge into the face of the tach somehow (in a similar way to which the lights are mounted within rod's and lox's speedos).

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[ This message was edited by: D9 on 2006-11-20 17:08 ]

Phil,

Thanks for posting details of the install - excellent feedback, was wondering if anyone had gotten theirs yet, all brackets shipped out Monday 11/20... the single biggest concern I've had about these is... will the mikes XS gauge ODs be consistent? I had my fingers crossed they would be and now I know, they're not... which is good info to have going forward.

If you have a caliper and can take a tight measurement on both gauges, it'd be helpful for me to know exactly how much the OD variance is...
A little bit of tape will probably work fine, but I'm already considering if thin gauge flexible shim stock to fit in the .125" center channel of the gasket would solve the loose fit easily and invisibly... can't see why that wouldn't work, & I could just send shim material along with brackets... going to head down to the shop now and see what I have...

* * * * * *

Ok, I think I've got it - found some strips of modelling brass - it's probably too thick, mic's out to .03... easily bends to the ID of the
gauge - it's also too wide, 3/16" and I need 1/8"... but with 1/8" wide material of sufficiently thin gauge, this looks like it could solve an undersize OD condition... got this strip from a hobby store... here's a pic just to get the idea...



Got me thinking, what if a gauge is too big or slightly out of round? That's probably easier - take off the gasket and carefully file or sand the opening little by little, checking fit periodically... it's aluminum and it's easy to work with...

Meanwhile, thanks again for posting so soon - will send shim material to you as soon as I have it...

Cheers,

D9

On 2006-11-24 18:07, psasak wrote:
I didn't waste any time at all putting the bracket to use, when it showed up in the mail today.
The tachometer I have is a couple of thousands' smaller than the speedometer, so I'm going to have to build up the bracket on the tach side somehow. A couple of strips of aluminum speed tape might work on the inside of the bracket, put the rubber grommet back around the bracket and I should be good to go. I have to think about it overnight...

[ This message was edited by: D9 on 2006-11-25 08:07 ]

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On 2006-11-26 09:38, Loxpump wrote:
."Hey D9" How about a bracket design that holds the gauges and also fits the stock lights?

Click to expand...

But seriously folks... was working on that very thing a bit late last night - the stock indicator lights are nice looking pieces, was thinking how they might look arranged vertically between the smaller gauges... plenty of ideas in the works, perhaps too many...

It's just too darn easy to arrive in a "what-if" state of mind when contemplating the Bonneville. I'm obviously not alone in this...

While on the subject - hope Triumphrat.net member Mancha will not mind -
but check out his beautifully done Thruxton gauge bracket, which uses stock gauges and drastically improves the look of the bike... nice work indeed!

Manchas cool Thruxton gauge bracket

Just goes to show you, lot of possibilities out there...

;-)

Cheers,

D9

[ This message was edited by: D9 on 2006-11-26 10:33 ]

On 2006-11-26 11:21, meatwagon wrote:
Outstanding work D9 ;man do I ever want a set!

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meatwagon -

Thanks, very much appreciate the comment - send me a pm with shipping addy & pick your poison - here's what's left from the initial production run:

4 single gauge brackets - "the rodburner special":



4 two-piece dual-gauge bracket sets - pic of loxpump's setup:



1 one-piece dual-gauge bracket (black) - pic of psasak's setup:



Cheers,

D9

On 2006-11-30 11:09, RaceDweeb wrote:
FedEx just dropped off the gauges from Mike's XS. The speedo (part # 03-0748) is labeled M=2.1, which I assuming means the ratio is 2:1. I was lead to believe that the NTB uses a 2240:60 ratio drive. The tach (part # 03-0732) is labeled 1=1.5.

Has anyone installed the Mike's speedo and is it correctly displaying speed?

BTW... great service from Mike's. Fast shipping and the parts were about $1 less than my wholesale cost from other sources.

And the D9 brackets: way cool!

Mike

Click to expand...

Good question... Here's an email sent to Mike at mikes XS with his response:

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: speedo ratio
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2006 12:20:13 -0500
From: Seth Bernstein <[email protected]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
To: [email protected]

Mike,

Great web site!

Question: Are all of your 2.25" diameter speedometers 2:1 ratio, or are any of them 2240:60 ratio?

Thanks,

Seth

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: speedo ratio
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2006 13:21:13 EST
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]

All japanese speedos are 2240 RPM = 60mph

Mikesxs.com


--------

RaceDweeb, glad you like the brackets!

Cheers,

D9

On 2006-12-05 21:15, RaceDweeb wrote:
I would have preferred a 8,000 rpm tach.

Pic:

Click to expand...

MIke - looks awesome - wow! The aluminum bracket looks like
it matches the triple clamp - did you anodize the bracket or does it just
look that way in the pic??? Agreed re the 8K tach...

Phil - confused, I am - apologies - apparently Mikes XS mini tachs are mechanical and will NOT work on the NB...?

Hey Terry - got a link for Baron?

Cheers,

D9

Terry,

Looks great! I believe you've posted the first pics with the brackets
on a Thruxton - cool!

Questions...

Any problems installing?

How the heck did you get that reset knob off the trip odo??? You had to
have removed the knob, shaft & rubber seal to get the speedo fully seated and then reinstalled the parts once the speedo was in...?
Sure looks better that way - please hip me to your method...

Can you still reach the knob ok even though your reaching under
the bracket???

Thanks again for posting the pics!

Cheers,

D9

:-D :-D :-D







[ This message was edited by: D9 on 2006-12-11 17:26 ]

Terry,

Well, shoot... that explains it... oops...

rodburner -

I came this close to emailing you sunday and asking you to
check clearances for exactly that - a knob slot (does that
sound sleazy or what) - instead, went over to lox's house and put one of the protoypes over his speedo & drew the knob position right on the plastic.

What I'm thinking about is adding is a slot and then a second 1/8" retaining ring... slide the speedo through and then rotate, just like you said, but then, rotate the second ring into place... the ring would have a raised tab to match the gap in the slot... anyway, working on it!

But, may be moot as far as Bonnevilles are concerned - as you've pointed out, the little gauges are a good height just as they are - much lower could well be too low - other issue would be speedometer cable clearance - would probably have to move the gauges further apart...

It's all in the details...

Cheers,

D9

On 2007-04-08 13:00, Granitsky wrote:
Not sure if anyone's still interested in this thread- it's 4 months old, but I want to make some custom brackets for a tachometer- but not the mini one. I want to keep my regular sized speedo and get a regular sized tach that matches it, then make some brackets to install the speedo and tach right over the forks, like this:

My question is does anyone know of a source for tachometers of the same size as the stock bonnie speedo?

Click to expand...

Granitsky -

Good to read your comment - you're not alone, others have suggested some brackets that do exactly as you've pictured, suspending the gauges apart, using the fork bolts like some of the older Bonnies... agreed, it would look cool!

Couple of things to keep in mind - choices of tachs & speedos for the Bonneville besides the stockers include minis, mini-mini's, some really cool high-end stuff, and whatever you can make work... :-D .

Question - are mini-gauges out of the question for the project? They look somewhat closer
sizewise and stylistically to the gauges in the picture you posted than the stock gauges do... let me know if you'd consider going this route, I may have a couple of these brackets left...



Meanwhile, back to the fork bolt-mounted bracket concept... one puzzle that has yet to be solved... the existing fork bolts seal the forks... because of their design, I'm not sure you could hold a bracket down with the OEM fork bolts
while maintaining a seal without getting into more involved machining of the brackets... there's fine threads, spacers and O rings under there... Loxpump has suggested drilling and tapping
a small hole into the top of the existing fork bolt and running a fastener through the bracket into that hole...

Say you had the custom brackets fabricated and had solved the sealing issue/fastening method... routing of the speedo cable would need to be
worked out, as of right now the position of the headlight bracket right under the speedo looks like it might not allow the speedo cable to connect. Are you ok with rotating the speedo CCW - 30 degrees or so - to allow attachment of the speedo cable?

FYI - new "lay-flat" bracket due out soon, uses stock tach, speedo & indicators... far different from what you're searching for, but may be
worth considering, here's a pic...



Cheers,

D9