zoom zoom
Tuned and Synch'ed
I figured I ought to copy my post here as well.
Well, I got the Stucchi bars installed on the Norge today. Kind of a PITA, but all is well. I did things a little differently. Let me describe.
First, you need to remove the lower three panels of body work. I am pleased to report that ALL of my previous repairs are still intact and everything is undamaged. Anyway, you then need to remove the brackets that the previous panels mount to and take out the bolts that goes into the tank on the main side panels. The next step is to get the panel to pop off the grommet near the exhaust header. Since I filled in the cavity and applied silicone grease to the grommet, mine came loose pretty easily. That gave me enough room to sneak an extention up in there to get those mounting bolts out. NOTE: BEFORE YOU REMOVE THOSE BOLTS, PUT A JACK UNDER THE ENGINE AS THESE ARE THE FRONT ENGINE MOUNT BOLTS! With the bolts out, it is time to wrestle in the front bar section. This was dificult. I almost began to think I needed to remove at least one header pipe, but then I must have held my tongue just right and I got the bar in where it need to go. Getting it bolted up was quite a challenge and I was wishing I had another set of hands, but I finally managed to get the bolts started and then tightened up. There is a bit more to this but it is time to include some pics.
This is an upside down pic of the front bar. Notice the recessed area where the bolt goes:
The allen head bolt that comes with the bars is probably equal to a grade 2 SAE and I decided to get something better. I am told that a stamping of 10.9 on a metric equals a grade 5 bolt. I also decided that I wanted a hex head bolt so that would be better load bearing capabilities. I figure there is more material there to help hold things together. This pic shows how I decided to deal with the recessed area in order to distribute that load more evenly. These next few pics show the bushing I had made. (Thank You Brad.):
Next is the bolt that came with the kit and the bolt I elected to use instead:
The new bolt is also longer to account for the added thickness of the bushing.
This next photo shows how it all goes together. There is also a hardened flat washer with a slight bow that helps act as a lock washer. Also, I had just a bit too much sticking out without threads so I added an additional flat washer not seen here. The extra flat washer is between the head of the bolt and the hardened washer, which is closest to the bushing.
In order to get those bolts in, I needed to bend the tabs with the grommet forward just a little in order to get the bolt head to clear. Once it is bolted up, just bend them back into position. I would recomend against removing them as the bracket that is the engine mounts are retained to the block by those same studs and nuts.
Reassemble all body work that was removed at this point, and you're ready for the sides. Those are pretty self explanitory, so I'll leave you to figure it out.
Here are several pics of the finished installation.
Zoom Zoom,
John Henry
Well, I got the Stucchi bars installed on the Norge today. Kind of a PITA, but all is well. I did things a little differently. Let me describe.
First, you need to remove the lower three panels of body work. I am pleased to report that ALL of my previous repairs are still intact and everything is undamaged. Anyway, you then need to remove the brackets that the previous panels mount to and take out the bolts that goes into the tank on the main side panels. The next step is to get the panel to pop off the grommet near the exhaust header. Since I filled in the cavity and applied silicone grease to the grommet, mine came loose pretty easily. That gave me enough room to sneak an extention up in there to get those mounting bolts out. NOTE: BEFORE YOU REMOVE THOSE BOLTS, PUT A JACK UNDER THE ENGINE AS THESE ARE THE FRONT ENGINE MOUNT BOLTS! With the bolts out, it is time to wrestle in the front bar section. This was dificult. I almost began to think I needed to remove at least one header pipe, but then I must have held my tongue just right and I got the bar in where it need to go. Getting it bolted up was quite a challenge and I was wishing I had another set of hands, but I finally managed to get the bolts started and then tightened up. There is a bit more to this but it is time to include some pics.
This is an upside down pic of the front bar. Notice the recessed area where the bolt goes:
The allen head bolt that comes with the bars is probably equal to a grade 2 SAE and I decided to get something better. I am told that a stamping of 10.9 on a metric equals a grade 5 bolt. I also decided that I wanted a hex head bolt so that would be better load bearing capabilities. I figure there is more material there to help hold things together. This pic shows how I decided to deal with the recessed area in order to distribute that load more evenly. These next few pics show the bushing I had made. (Thank You Brad.):
Next is the bolt that came with the kit and the bolt I elected to use instead:
The new bolt is also longer to account for the added thickness of the bushing.
This next photo shows how it all goes together. There is also a hardened flat washer with a slight bow that helps act as a lock washer. Also, I had just a bit too much sticking out without threads so I added an additional flat washer not seen here. The extra flat washer is between the head of the bolt and the hardened washer, which is closest to the bushing.
In order to get those bolts in, I needed to bend the tabs with the grommet forward just a little in order to get the bolt head to clear. Once it is bolted up, just bend them back into position. I would recomend against removing them as the bracket that is the engine mounts are retained to the block by those same studs and nuts.
Reassemble all body work that was removed at this point, and you're ready for the sides. Those are pretty self explanitory, so I'll leave you to figure it out.
Here are several pics of the finished installation.
Zoom Zoom,
John Henry