Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater
On my first Ninja 250, I installed a set of Hyper-Lites, which are these LED lights that go in or near the taillight, and provide additional running and brake lights. They also flash, which is nice, but most important to me, they provide additional, non-incandescent lights in case the traditional (and solitary) brake bulb goes out. Obviously on something which is already as hard to see as a motorcycle, losing even the marker light would be a bad idea.
So, a number of weeks before I even bought the new 250, I bought a set of Hyper-Lites to go on it. (In my defense, there was every indication that the Le Mans was going to sell, and that the purchase of a 250 was imminent. I was ready to get on with the new bike.) Since I figured I'd be using them soon, I opted to buy the lights from the local BMW dealership, where I knew they were in stock. In fact, I bought the same kit I'd bought for the previous 250.
Once I finally got my new bike in the garage, and started installing stuff, the Hyper-Lites were high on the list of things to install. I pulled them out of their packaging, and discovered that the fine folks at Hyper-Lite Inc. had reconfigured how the lights connected. Now, it wouldn't fit on the 250 without some additional connectors and fittings, which I naturally didn't have on hand. Fooey! I shelved the project for a later time.
Finally today, I had the right parts on hand and some time to do it, so I did. On the previous bike, I'd just kind of connected everything up any old which way. It worked just fine, but it would have been a pain if I'd wanted to remove the taillight assembly for any reason, and it wasn't done with much planning. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't, in the engineering sense of the word, Good.
So today, I took the time (while the glue is drying on another modification) to do it Well.
The Ninja 250's tail section has a sort of skeleton, which is the rear subframe, over which rides the "skin" of the fairing. There's a beefy bracket right at the back, which joins a few things together, and also happens to support the taillight assembly. Previously, I had stuck one of the LED light modules (a separate flasher circuit box) to this support bracket, which would have provided no end of trouble if I'd wanted to take off the light assembly.
This time, I actually took out the light assembly, and discovered that not only would all the little boxes and wires fit onto the assembly, it could be done well. Of course, taking the part off the motorcycle also makes it far easier to work on. No bending upside-down to see into a space the size of a softball, nor cramping large hands into tiny spaces. Everything is very clean, and likely to be more robust than it was on the previous bike, just by dint of being so clean and tucked out of the way.
In fact, looking into the space where I'd worked on the previous bike, I can only see a small indication the extra wires are even there. Excellent. I love doing things Right.
Posted at 13:43 permanent link category: /motorcycle
Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater