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What Homemade Accessories, Gear, Tools, Improvements, Clothing Have You Made ?

72r60/7

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What stuff have you made out of need, necessity or just for the fun of it to improve your bike or working on it? I've seen many homemade saddlebags, fairing lowers and so many ingenious things, not to mention the "knick knacks", I can't remember them all. I always enjoy seeing them. Most people are proud of the things they make and are fun to speak with.

I've tie wrapped GPS suction cup mounts to cockpits, made brackets for side view spot mirrors, and made homemade looking functional mud flaps, just to mention a few. I consider myself an amateur novice "piddler" after seeing some of the things out there. There are some very talented riders/enthusiast making things. I hope you show your stuff.

John Britten poured an engine casting in his backyard and Burt Monroe cast his own pistons in the sand at the beach. I once saw 2 young riders on well used /2's at a rally, that appeared to have gotten together, not quite early enough to have made 2 sets of plywood panniers. Each rider seemed extremely proud to have a right one on one bike and a left one on the other, although no tops. Once I saw a 2nd paddle throttle assist on a left grip also. Huh?

Pictures help a lot and are not too difficult to add (I did it once). Please tell us about your stuff.

Charlie
 
OK, I'll start. Always liked the practicality of Bungee Buddies but hated their looks. Made these from some wire coat hanger and pop rivets.
 

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Lots of home made farkles added to my bikes over the years. Some of the most recent stuff for my F800GS.

Bar risers to work with the Steering damper mount.

IMGP0806-2.jpg


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Fog light mounts to fit the Alt Rider crash bars

P1010623.JPG


Pelican case top box mounts.

IMGP0871.JPG
 
Homemade

Spot mirror mounts made from an old aluminum clipboard. Used the small adjustable spots that are still under $5.
Tie wrapped metal clothes pin holds face shield squeegee when not in use. It was made with old wiper blade, elastic and Velcro to keep from losing. Very functional and a lot cheaper than the "real squeegees " that I lost a lot. Never found the right glue.You also had to buy 3 in a pack and only one size ever worked for me.

Oh, and I've noticed as in Post #3, the nicest stuff usually comes from the cleanest shops. I need to clean the shop, although I doubt that will help.


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Heated jacket liners. 75 watts. Total cost was 30 bucks for two of them. made them 4 years ago, and are still working just fine!
 
having a mill for DIY projects is just so.. .. unfair.
09.gif

What about a lathe? I have one of those too.

It certainly is a game changer in the fabrication of things. I only recently got them; I did a lot of hacksaw and file work in the past.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
Version 2 with improved mounting (because version 1 fell off after a year of use).

<img src="http://www.snafu.org/pics/r1200gsw/2014/0804-side-stand-foot/p-14216-1511.jpg" title="smooth rough edges">

<img src="http://www.snafu.org/pics/r1200gsw/2014/0804-side-stand-foot/p-14216-1514.jpg" title="5mm holes, countersunk">

<img src="http://www.snafu.org/pics/r1200gsw/2014/0804-side-stand-foot/p-14216-1516.jpg" title="Hole tapped">

<img src="http://www.snafu.org/pics/r1200gsw/2014/0804-side-stand-foot/p-14216-1520.jpg" title="Mounted foot with black RTV sealant">

I went overboard with the sealant because it was the end of the tube with too much to throw away but not enough for another job.
 
Homemade

Must be dessert for Colorado camping ?
"J" certainly seems to well stocked/organized. Well done !
 
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Electric Vest

In the past I've made a heated vest. I took a nice vest that had a lining, spit the seam along the bottom, removed the resistor wiring from an old electric blanket and used ten feet of it (trial and error), turned the vest inside out from the split seam, laid the wire in the pattern I wanted, held it in place with Stitch Witchery, soldered a plug to the end of the resistor wire accessible through my left vest pocket, turned it back right side out and sewed up the split seam. Then just wired he bike with a fused switch and plug to match the vest. Worked well for many years.
 
Here's an easy one I did to lock two helmets.

Attach some steel cable to the underside of the front seat half.


There's a handy hook already under the rear seat half.


Helmet locked to bike.


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And here is one I did that's not so easy but it's still one of my favourites. I can't always see the RID gear indicator easily so I put in a nice bright blue one where the ABS lights go(if you have ABS).
Farkle https://www.flickr.com/people/31927430@N06/
 
R90S side stand

Side stand was a bit wiggly, leaned too far, could barely push it out with left foot, and then always wonders if it was extended before bike fell over. So, modified it so I could find it and push it out with left foot, stands up a bit straighter, whatever. Seen others doing the same thing, can't remember where or when. DSC_0015.jpg
 
Used a stainless bolt with lock nuts, some tubing, some 12 gauge aluminum and part of an old tire tread. So far haven't broken a leg.DSC_0016.jpg
 
A tool for removing the front axle on a 1200GS. It's just a bolt with a 22mm head and two nuts. Use some Loctite and jam the nuts together. Cost, about $1.
 

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Tool Pouch

The took kits on my Airhead and K-bikes were always good. But, when I purchased an Oilhead, the tool pouch was close to worthless. So, I made my own out of waterproof denier. Added lots of tools to the new one. Fits perfectly in the tail piece. Next time I would make it with one velco strap instead of two. Maybe a difference color too.

BMW-tool-01.jpg


Here is the original BMW tool pouch on top of my home-made one
BMW-tool-02.jpg
 
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