Brief Update

I have received the XS1100 wheel I've been waiting on, and it fits the XVS650 axle like a glove. This wheel has the dual rotor set up but I'm not going to bother with swapping out the fork leg to add the needed caliper. For now, I'll just remove the extra rotor. The bearings are fine, and I do have new rubber I plan to install on it. After that, I'll determine what spacers are needed, and insure  proper fitment. Then the only thing left is to prime, paint, and clear coat it. I will update again as soon as I can, and will hopefully have pictures available of the finished product. Ride Safe.....

HardKrome Exhaust

I have been asked countless times for a video of the HardKrome exhaust on my Vstar. I finally have a quick sound clip that I've uploaded to YouTube. Check in the side bar of this page in the "sites of interest" for a link that will take you there. It may not be the greatest video, but hopefully it will give you a general idea of how the exhaust sounds. I've started a small project that I plan to elaborate on more later. I will let you know soon, until then...ride safe.

How to Make a Sidemount License Plate

Modifications for my VStar have been slacking lately, so I may as well take this time to give a proper write-up for the side mount plate I made. Initially, I wanted an eye catching design. I even went so far as to cut a few of them out, but in the end, I decided on something a little more basic. To start with, I simply used paper and a ruler, measuring out and drawing the design, while keeping everything symmetrical. I then cut out and taped what I had on a piece of steel. Most hardware stores carry small squares of various gauges and dimensions. For the plate I believe I used 14 or perhaps 12 gauge. It’s not going to hold any substantial weight, but be sure what ever you use will resist a little highway speed wind. I have a jigsaw, and a Dremel tool, both with appropriate cutting blades, but for this project the jigsaw seemed like the logical choice. My plate design incorporates the contour of the tail light, so the curves took a bit more patience. For them I did use a grinding wheel on my Dremel to knock down the rough edges. I also used a vice to hold the end of the plate where the light will be bolted, and gave the other end a slight tug, bending the plate just a little. Now there is a bit of an angle difference between the area for the license plate, and that for the light. Next task was to drill the appropriate holes to mount the light, and license plate with. The tail light was a small cat eye shape, and required three holes, two for mounting, and one for the wiring, where as the license plate needed the four standard holes as found on any other plate. I used my drill, selected adequate sized bits for each hole, and punched them through. Now, for mounting the plate on the bike, I strayed from the typical plate design for VStars. Most of the aftermarket side mounts I’ve found have an extra tab on the side that is bolted on using the two rear most bolts of the rear drive. Other designs use a single mount point at the rear axle. I wanted to move mine farther up than that so my only option was bolting it to the swing arm. To do this I used an EMT hanger clamp for 1” electrical conduit, and a metal L shaped brace. The original bolt for the clamp does not provide enough support so it was replaced with a bolt/nut combo. The brace was 3x5 and a small amount was shaved off to match the width of the plate. The L brace will also need holes drilled to match those added earlier that are used to mount the actual license plate. To attach the L brace to the clamp, I simply used another bolt, and nut.  At this point you will want to ensure you are satisfied with the plate angle in reference to the swing arm, and completely tighten the bolt holding the clamp and L brace together. I should mention that I did add a couple of extra nuts between the brace and clamp for adequate spacing. Once it’s mounted, it’s difficult, or near impossible to get it tight, and it will most likely have to be removed to do so. Otherwise, the project is almost complete. At this point you can paint the side mount plate black like I did, or any color you wish. For an added finishing touch, I found a license plate frame that looked like barbed wire. I’m sure it can be found in black, however mine was chrome and thus was painted along with everything else. Once it’s dried, bolt the light on, add the license plate and frame, and slide the clamp around the swing arm, and bolt it down nice and snug. I added a little electric tape under the clamp to prevent any scratching during installation. It is a tight fit, and you will need a little elbow grease to push the inside of the clamp together for the bolt and nut.  There are assortments of chrome nuts, license plate nuts, and just generally neat looking bolts that can be used for an added custom flair. Overall, I have less than 20.00 invested. This includes the 5.00 light, and the 5.99 license plate frame, as well as everything that was purchased at the hardware store. Most of the aftermarket plates I found cost upwards of 100.00. I will admit though, you can find them much cheaper. However, I like knowing what I have was completely made by me. If you have any questions, or would like a few more pictures, please let me know, and I’ll post them right away. Until next time…ride safe.

A Brief " How To" on V-Star Wiring.

I've finally made the time to finish the latest transformation of my VStar. For this entry, instead of outlining what has been purchased because my previous post has already done so, I will outline a quick wiring “how to”. For starters, my VStars current signal and brake light wiring was moved from the previous location under the fender, to it’s new home along the frame/swing arm. With the stock fender, you can find the bulk of the wiring located behind the tail light. Yamaha uses bullet terminals that can easily be unhooked. For better access, after removing the seat, you can simply loosen the 4 bolts found at the front of the struts located on either side of the bike holding the fender in place. Remove the two rear most bolts that were previously loosened on either side of the bike, and lift the fender up. A quick hint at this point, you may want to find something to aid in holding the fender up while you work. Otherwise, a headache may be in your eminent future. I’m currently running single filament bulb bullet signals that were discussed in one of my earlier postings. Thus, each rear signal requires only two wires, a hot, and ground. The OEM wiring harness colors for the 07 model VStar Custom signals are green/black and brown/black. The tail light uses the same styled bullet terminal connectors as the signals. The wiring for this consists of a black ground, and 2 hot wires. One is for a running light, and the other for when the brake is applied. For my current project however, all of the wiring was removed from underneath the OEM fender as that too was also removed. Again, using Yamaha’s bullet terminals for a quick disconnect, this task was made easy. If you plan on replacing the signals, brake light, or both as I have, you can find the bullet wiring terminals at most auto parts stores. Then it’s just a matter of crimping a new end on the newly acquired light’s wires to match the current Yamaha set up. The after market brake light I purchased has red, yellow, and a black ground. Due to the new placement of the tail light on the swing arm, some of the OEM wiring was removed completely, alleviating unnecessary extra wiring strapped to the frame. My current signal wires are hidden inside the struts, and follow them down to the base of the swing arm. I’ve joined them with the rest of the OEM wiring harness located on the left side of the bike. I have the union held in place on the swing arm with zip ties. The tail light wiring simply follows the curve of the swing arm around the side of the bike where the new license plate and brake light are located. The removal of wiring required that I install new wiring terminals for both the harness end (female) and tail light end (male). This enables me to quickly remove the lights without having a need for completely re-splicing into the wiring harness. All exposed wiring, such as that leading to the side mount license plate can be covered with corrugated plastic wire loom. I’ve posted pictures above of the side mount plate, and newly acquired fender. This is my personal blog, and I'm apt to make mistakes. If you feel I've left anything out, or If you have any questions about this most recent modification to my VStar, please feel free to ask. As always…ride safe.

As I expected now that school has started, I have far less time for my VStar. Though I haven't been able to do much to complete the current project, I will go ahead and post a picture of what it looks like with everything drilled and bolted down. I intended to powdercoat the license plate I made, along with the fender struts. Unfortunately, the powdercoat business I've been using is up for sale. I guess I will have to find an alternative place, or simply paint them. All in good time though. For now, I still have to mod a small section of the fender. The OEM Yamaha fender has a slight divit for the seat to rest in, so looks like I'll have to do a little trimming on the new fender to get the seat to rest flat on the frame. All that is left after that is just a tad bit of wiring, and painting, but I plan to give better details later so I will stop for now. Ride safe....

New Fender for the VStar

Though I haven't completed the task at hand, I'll go ahead while I have time and update my status. I decided after finishing up with the side mount plate that I would go another direction. The previous design did not look well with the tail light I'm currently using, so I decided simplicity would be best. Relying on my past, I dredged up skills I haven't used since first grade. Though tracing a license plate and light are somewhat different than making hand shaped turkeys at Thanksgiving, the general concept is the same. Yes, making the side mount plate was truly that simple. After a couple of minutes with the jigsaw and a little sanding, it was done. I've also re-routed and zip tied the wires to the swing arm. I will detail more on that later. Now, the fender, as I mentioned before, was going to be cut short. However, after a better look, and a brief mock up, I've decided to leave the fender long. I did modify the struts for a better fit. The small extensions that the bolts pass through were cut, and ground down evenly with the rest of the strut. Now the struts fit firmly against the side of the fender, without the need for drilling oversized holes. I may still shave just a little, no more than an inch or so, off the bottom of the fender for a bit of individual style. I've always been one to strive for that unique look, and refuse to have a straight out of the box bike. For paint, I've looked into ordering the 2007 Yamaha Vstar OEM black from the ColorRite website for just the fender, but have also considered having the tank, along with the fender repainted with a black other than the stock color. I guess time, and the availability of extra money will tell. I will try to finish the install, and get a few more pictures up by this weekend. Unfortunately, I can't have it painted that fast, but at least the pics will give you an idea of the new look. Again, I will certainly try to share more details of this project as time permits. Until then...ride safe.

Out with the old...

And in with the new! Now that it's the start of a new year, what better time to change a few things out on my VStar. As I've mentioned, I've been debating on changing the fender, and adding a side mount plate. Well, progress has finally starting moving in that direction. I purchased a new steel Roller fender from a seller on Ebay. It was very reasonably priced when compared to buying a used Classic fender, but even more so when considering the other new fender options that were available. I paid less than $120 shipped. You can see from the pics, though it's not mounted, and merely resting on the tire, that it is a full fender which allows for many different design options. I currently have a few that I'm thinking about, but really don't have an aversion with leaving it as it is. I will have to decide soon, as my winter break is over, and school is starting next week. This is my Senior year, and college classes have become really intense, so I'm sure my time will be limited. However, the time I've had this weekend I spent cutting out my side mount plate design. I sketched it out on paper, cut it out, transferred that design to sheet metal, and used a jigsaw to cut it out. I had to make a trip to Home Depot this evening for a couple of cut off wheels for my Dremel tool so I could clean it up a bit. The jigsaw left a few places that were a bit hard to get to, so the Dremel will come in handy for those. I've resolved to use the previous tail light due to the issues I've had with the one that was recently purchased. It's not that there is anything wrong with the light, but adding a different light that performs the same function as the old one, entirely defeats the purpose of swapping them. Besides, the older light was much brighter. As the wife pointed out, it's also much safer. The seller admitted that there was a mix-up, and the wrong light was sent. Though I will lose some of what was spent for shipping, I will receive a refund for the light. So for now, I will use the same lights that I've had. I do have another idea in mind, but I'll save that for later. My plate is full enough as it is, don't think I'll attempt to add any more until I manage to finish with some of what I've started. I do plan to make time to post a few more pics with the current progression. Until then...ride safe!