The Motone bars, including the black ones, appear to be made from stainless steel so corrosion should not be an issue. Still a good idea to plug the ends though, to stop them filling with water.
Oh dear I didn't intend to start a debate or call people's knowledge into question. Anyway, I had thought of the drain hole idea and rejected it for the same reason as @learningtofly. My engineering training was more electromechanical, with the emphasis on the electro part, and being in the MOD we were always encouraged to ask the question "would I fly with what I'd made?" I went with Triumph's Frame Caps because I think that if the Frame Caps are good enough for Triumph (and if you added a mudguard delete to the bike then the frame ends would be very exposed to spray etc) then its good enough for me. Triumph's Frame Caps are (or rather will be when I fit them) a very tight fit, they have ridges that grip the inside wall of the frame tube, are pliable and shaped to resist getting the bungs out again, so I'm confident it will be a secure, water tight seal. But to add further corrosion resistance to anything that might get past the Frame Caps, I'll be giving the inside of the crash bars a good soaking with MucOff's Harsh Conditions Barrier spray. Its very waxy and sticky and should coat and therefore protect (a bit like waxoyling a car chassis) the inside surface of the bars. I'll also smear the interlocking bar with silicon grease to create a seal at that join as well. Given that the new bars haven't been out of the house since I received them and they'll be fitted in a dry garage, they should remain dry. I'll post photos in the new year to show how fitting went and how they look on the bike. Thanks all.
No issue if a good grade of stainless is used but I had assumed, possibly incorrectly, that they'd be mild steel tubing powdercoated for the cost/price point.
It seems they do polished stainless or black coated options so must have decided to stick with stainless steel for all fabrications. I think it might be 304 grade stainless steel which is austenitic non magnetic so could test it with a magnet to confirm that it is a decent grade of stainless.
I can't see them using a magnetic grade (martensitic etc) so as @TRIPLE X suggests a magnet could soon put your mind at rest..... or not
So, my friend Mo and I had been planning to ride in and around Tucson, Arizona to beat the cool weather here in Albuquerque. As the day got nearer and weather reports kept forecasting colder and colder temperatures with some snow we started talking about options in terms of getting down there. Albuquerque is the "other" mile-high city (the most famous being Denver), my house being at just a little over at 5,300 ft above sea level. Despite being in the Southwest USA we get our share of cold weather, sometimes below zero Farenheit, and sometimes plenty of snow. Being old, both of use over the six decade mark, we decided to do something about this. We went halves on a Utility trailer which was quickly converted to a motorcycle trailer. Sandi T. if you're reading this we're heading down tomorrow. trailer by Marco Wikstrom, on Flickr
electrical shit! im re-wiring my 1965 with a custom trionix electronic ignition, and needed extra stuff more bullets and snap connectors. i use these lucas connectors on anything i do. finally bought the squeezy tool to make the bullet connections, to i also use a lot of crimp connections, and boyght a tool that crimps the open-barrel terminals on both conductor and insulation at the same time. and then a bunch of spade, flag, and miscellaneous terminals i take electrics pretty seriously, as i detest walking home in the dark. there are tools and connectors that make it very reliable, and im a convert
kill switches these are inexpensive on/off toggles to fit a 7/8-inch bar. bone simple, from china, sadly. nothing like them available locally. they merely open and close a circuit, so they can be used to carry current to power lights, accessories, or ignition, and if you ground one end they can be used as a kill for magnetos or EI systems that kill with a ground wire. there are several inner designs, but thjis one is better than others because there are no exposed contacts underneath, only the plastic toggle: the cost US $6.00 or so, and so i buy them four or five at a time. i have multiple spare ignitions sitting in boxes that go on and off various bikes as i need them, and so i keep them all assembled with switches like these and just install and remove them as needed.
I took off the stock "snorkel" air cleaner on my Low Rider ST and replaced it with a lower profile, sleeker (but still high flow) S & S Stealth Air Stinger air cleaner. It gives my knee more clearance and I like the look better than the stock setup. Plus I like that the S & S can stand for Sandi & Steve. My bike back in October with the stock air cleaner. I gave Steve my stock air cleaner for Valentine's Day--romantic, eh? which he really likes, and he replaced the stock air cleaner on his Road Glide Special with my take-off "snorkel". It was a win-win!
Ferry tickets to Ireland for me, my bike and 10 other riders and bikes in June. Not been for a few years and already looking forward to it.
I bought this pair of leathers recently from WOT and couldn’t be happier with them. I already owned the matching jacket and they match my 2020 Speed triple. They fit perfectly and are actually comfortable. Vented in all the right places. Maybe it’s a little much, but I can’t put a price on the skin on my ass.
I got it at my local J&S Superstore. It was easy to fit on the tiger, but did require removing the front side panel, the pannier rack and rear fairing panels. The cameras relatively easy to fit once the cables were placed. I wired the power onto the rear light feed, which was a bit fiddly to get at. All in, it was quite straight forward.
