Grab Rail For A Speed Twin 1200

What a pain!!! attempted to get things started tonight by getting the rear mudguard detached to offer up the rack and as suspected it is fouling the frame on one side and the mounting holes under the seat do not marry up. With everything falling off and the light failing I managed to put the bolts back in hand tight wheel the bike back in the garage and will assess the situation tomorrow. Couldn't even get the wiring block connector apart!
I have the facilities at work to correct things just not sure if I can be arsed to do it.

 

No. Aborted attempt because will need to put the rack into a vice at work and twist one of the angle plates around. That should help align the mounting holes but will also give clearance to clear the bike's frames rails. After that I have to look into extending the wiring to mount the indicators further back. Tecbike provide the additional connectors and stuff.
I was re-looking at the Hepco and Becker rear rack which would have fitted in minutes and no indicators to relocate but I was put off by the possibility that a pillion's thighs might hit the rails.

 

I am trying to fit a TEC luggage rack tonight. Mine lined up fairly easily, just install the two hard to reach screws behind the rear shocks first, then muscle it down into alignment.

What I am really disappointed about is how the signal indicators need to be repositioned. Didn't expect that and it seems like the finished look will be loose wires running from the luggage rack to the original plastic housing. There was nothing supplied to close off the original reciever for the signal indicator - a very unsatisfactory install.

I painted the brackets they supplied (which imo should have at least been powdercoated to match) and then realized the stock connectors don't fit through the hole in the supplied brackets... WTF Debating now if I want to cut my wiring to end up with a very sloppy looking install or toss the f'ing thing off a bridge.

I got the rack on discount because it was scratched (only purchase option atm, I can deal with that with a little touch up paint, nbd) but according to their website they won't offer any returns on it.

 

I believe on the website that it does say something about relocating the indicators but I decided to bin the TEC rack because of the poor alignment, rubbish welds and the indicator issue. Got a Street Twin grab rail and modified it to fit. Not a quick mod but all good now. Hope you do better with yours.

 

It does state that they need to be relocated, so does the hepco & becker version. What I didn't expect was the unfinished look of the relocation (I should have been clearer) - seems like several different bikes have turnsignal relocation issues, and looking at some kits for Harley's gave me an idea.

Fiddled around last night and carved some oval-shaped coverplates out of some soft craft plastic I had lying around. Grabbed a piece of glossy black tubing and I think I will have a finished appearance I can accept. I will post the finished version once it's all mounted up.

 

Got the TEC luggage rack and signal relocation in. Thought I'd post some pics to show how I (tried) to clean up the install...
I am mostly satisfied with this set up. My rack didn't seem to be misaligned, although the attachment screw for the the right side turn signal makes contact with the rear fender, which tells me the rack is slightly skewed to the left. You can sorta make it out in the last pic.

The cover plates and tubing cleaned up the relocate somewhat. The first pic is from before I painted them to show what the heck I am talking about.

On a whim, I cracked open the headlamp to see if the front signals could be relocated to the rear... Thought I was brilliant for a moment, as the front signals have long (too long imo) stems which would have worked perfectly in the rear. I though maybe they used the same LED boards as the rear, but as the wiring connections were different, I left them alone.

I found these spacers on AJ Cycles and ordered two pairs to try them out:
https://www.ajcyclesny.com/product/analog-signal-pod-25mm-spacer-kits-pair/
Unfortunately I needed ~40mm, so I will try gluing two together for 50mm extension per pod and then move them back up to the stock locations, taking them off the rack (which I still think looks kinda wonky) and hopefully keeping that right SS screw from digging into the aluminum fender too much.