Seat Cowl Panel Gap

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Falcopops
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Seat Cowl Panel Gap

#1 Post by Falcopops » Tue Feb 23, 2010 11:02 pm

No pics to go with this, but thought I’d share and see if there’s any advice/comment.

I went down to the shed about midnight last night with the sole intention of refitting the diode module that I’d lent to OZSLR. I emerged a whole hour later as I got caught up in a “what if” moment, I’m sure I’m not the only one that gets captured like this.

When putting rear cowl back on after replacing the diode I hatched a cunning plan. The gap around the cowl has always bugged me, not enough to keep me awake (well not until last night), but enough to look twice every now and then.

So I pulled the rubber bungs out of the subframe and the cowl and tried that. Predictably this made it a loose fit that would likely wear or break something.

Reducing the thickness of the catch might be a possibility and if I can find a spare one (might have one in a box) I’ll try that. However last night I reckoned flipping the catch over would work so I did. I pulled the wire to the back of the subframe rail to avoid kinking it, but I reckon the lock could be reversed to retain the existing layout.

The cowl wouldn’t close down properly and I couldn’t figure why so I took out the spacers on the top of the lock bolts and retried. Seemed to work better, but the pin didn’t go far enough to engage the lock.

So I took the lock and cowl to the bench to get the fit right. I took the undertray off the cowl and removed the pin (2.5mm allen key IIRC), There’s threadlock on the bolt so I needed to use pliers to hold the pin. I used two little washers to space the pin out and although it just caught the latch I wouldn’t trust it to be completely secure. I put a third washer in (I reckon 2.5 washers would be ideal), but the little bolt is too short to catch a thread, fortunately I found a longer bolt that worked so put it all back together and tried the fit on the bike. Imagine my delight to see that there seemed to be bugger all difference to the original set up!

So muttering under my breath I put it all back the way it was (including threadlock on the little pin bolt). Then I saw the difference, perhaps since it took a while to get from the O/E to the modified and a relatively short time to go back I was better able to assess the difference.

Anyhoo, I’ll try this again when less sleep deprived and take pictures so I can bore you all and make a proper judgment. I think the likely gap reduction will be little so why bother? Because I can OK, if I can’t ride the fecker I’ll bugger about with it!

Anyone tried this? Any one care?

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#2 Post by Aladinsaneuk » Wed Feb 24, 2010 12:00 am

bows

a new fettle - awesome work


Let's face it, you wouldn't go to a nurse to get good advice on a problem with a Falco - you'd choose an Engineer or a mechanic...


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#3 Post by HisNibbs » Wed Feb 24, 2010 6:00 pm

At least some one is tackling the realy important issues..... :smt002
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#4 Post by D-Rider » Wed Feb 24, 2010 6:04 pm

HisNibbs wrote:At least some one is tackling the realy important issues..... :smt002
Yeah .... if only I followed the description above, I might even understand what this is .....
:smt017

Dale .... come in from the sun and take some pics for us :smt002
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#5 Post by Falcopops » Thu Feb 25, 2010 12:17 am

Last edited by Falcopops on Thu Feb 25, 2010 12:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

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#6 Post by D-Rider » Thu Feb 25, 2010 12:21 am

LOL ....... Seat gap .... what seat gap ......... what seat ?
“Scientists investigate that which already is. Engineers create that which has never been.”
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#7 Post by Falcopops » Thu Feb 25, 2010 12:33 am

D-Rider wrote:LOL ....... Seat gap .... what seat gap ......... what seat ?
:smt019

Fairy snuff – link fixed.

That’s what comes of trying to multi-task while pretending to be busy at work.

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#8 Post by DavShill » Tue Mar 02, 2010 5:03 pm

Great work Dale, fettle-on old chap :smt001

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#9 Post by D-Rider » Tue Mar 02, 2010 5:36 pm

mmm .... now it may look better but 4mm less space in the rear compartment is too much of a compromise for me to try this ..... the challenge of fitting:
  • * Waterproof jacket
    * Waterproof trousers
    * Alarm
    * Disk lock
    * Tool kit
    * First aid kit
    * Tyre repair kit
    * Hand cleaner
    * Sidestand puck (a piece of ally)
    * Tank prop
    * anything else I've forgotten
in the space under the rear seat/hump (not in the hump) is a big enough puzzle without reducing the space in there.

But if you don't keep that much in there, then it probably does look better.
“Scientists investigate that which already is. Engineers create that which has never been.”
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#10 Post by HowardQ » Tue Mar 02, 2010 7:33 pm

What's a Tank Prop :smt017 :smt003
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#11 Post by HowardQ » Tue Mar 02, 2010 7:40 pm

Think you should do one of your nice accurate scale drawings Andy, so the rest of us poor sods, who have never seen one, can have a go at making one.
Seriously, I have been thinking of trying to make one for a while, but would be easier with measurements, rather than guessing where to form the bends.
At the moment, I tend to use a large chunk of wood that sort of does the job.
Miss the Honda, which had a rod on a sliding roller, (typical Honda at their best).
Not lifted the tank on the Kwack yet, so not sure what that needs.
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#12 Post by D-Rider » Tue Mar 02, 2010 8:35 pm

LOL - like most, my bike didn't come with one .... but I've now got 2 of them :smt003

Image

(not these two though)
“Scientists investigate that which already is. Engineers create that which has never been.”
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#13 Post by HisNibbs » Tue Mar 02, 2010 9:01 pm

I have one but never use it.... I have a kids plastic garden rake I use instead. It raises it up just a little bit further so I can see what I'm doing.
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#14 Post by HowardQ » Tue Mar 02, 2010 10:03 pm

PM me with a price if you want to sell one Andy, I have not seen one listed anywhere.
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#15 Post by mangocrazy » Tue Mar 02, 2010 10:21 pm

HowardQ wrote:PM me with a price if you want to sell one Andy, I have not seen one listed anywhere.
But please take measurements first - that does not look particularly difficult to make...

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