This past weekend I finally got around to installing my Motorcycle Larry (MCL) risers and replacement bar clamp, with a ram ball mount for my GPS. It was far easier than I expected, even for me. The one point of concern was over (or under) torquing the bolts and either damaging them or having the bars fall off at 60 zooming along a highway.. One trip to home depot and a torque wrench later and Im good again.
One thing I did not do this weekend was power to the powerlet. Once I am convinced I want it, that will be a separate challenge.
I needed:
- The risers, bar clamp with powerlet and RAM ball came from MCL
- 1/2" hex socket
- 6mm allen key (I got one a new one to fit the new torque wrench)
- 3/16" allen key
First off, the pieces. Clockwise from the top left is the power cable I did not use, the replacement bar clamp, the riser bars, the extended bolts to use with the riser bars, the ram ball that screws into the bar clamp and the replacement bolts that came with the bar clamp (also unused, since the riser bolts did the job nicely):
Remove the original bar clamp with the 1/2" socket. I found I needed to remove the plastic clamps on both sides of the handlebar, once the risers were in place. I marked the right one on the photo. With these two gone, I still had full lock to both sides without putting too much tension on the lines.
I rested everything in place and hand tightened the nuts to see how it would look. It looks like a different shade of grey with the camera flash, but when its not on, the colors look pretty much the same. Once I was convinced, I used the 6mm allen key on the torque wrench set to 20 lb/ft to tighten.
If you are not too bright you will wonder why your RAM ball won't screw into the bar clamp, before realizing there are metal screw grommet thingys in each of the three holes. Pull one out with the 3/16" allen key.
Then screw in the RAM ball.
And here is one we prepared earlier:
Next comes the GPS.
One thing I did not do this weekend was power to the powerlet. Once I am convinced I want it, that will be a separate challenge.
I needed:
- The risers, bar clamp with powerlet and RAM ball came from MCL
- 1/2" hex socket
- 6mm allen key (I got one a new one to fit the new torque wrench)
- 3/16" allen key
First off, the pieces. Clockwise from the top left is the power cable I did not use, the replacement bar clamp, the riser bars, the extended bolts to use with the riser bars, the ram ball that screws into the bar clamp and the replacement bolts that came with the bar clamp (also unused, since the riser bolts did the job nicely):
Remove the original bar clamp with the 1/2" socket. I found I needed to remove the plastic clamps on both sides of the handlebar, once the risers were in place. I marked the right one on the photo. With these two gone, I still had full lock to both sides without putting too much tension on the lines.
I rested everything in place and hand tightened the nuts to see how it would look. It looks like a different shade of grey with the camera flash, but when its not on, the colors look pretty much the same. Once I was convinced, I used the 6mm allen key on the torque wrench set to 20 lb/ft to tighten.
If you are not too bright you will wonder why your RAM ball won't screw into the bar clamp, before realizing there are metal screw grommet thingys in each of the three holes. Pull one out with the 3/16" allen key.
Then screw in the RAM ball.And here is one we prepared earlier:
Next comes the GPS.
: