Replica badges

[James England]

Here's the man for replica badges..made of metal. I bought a rear seat cowl badge for my XS11.;, metal with real gold plating. Much better quality than OEM actually.

http://www.badgereplicas.com.au/badges_yamaha.htm

[jetmechmarty]

James,

A friend of mine bought badges for his XS-2. He had to send them back as there was no way to make them fit.

I have heard others say they are flat and have to be bent to conform to the side cover or tank. I also understand they are shrunk 10% from the originals and the mount holes do not line up. What was your take on it?

I have new OEM badges to go on my tank. I was considering leaving the side covers badgeless.

[IanDMacDonald]

BBookmarked that site. Thanks James.

[jetmechmarty]

The Australian badges are distributed by some vendors in the US.

Diablo Cycle

[James England]

James,

A friend of mine bought badges for his XS-2. He had to send them back as there was no way to make them fit.

I have heard others say they are flat and have to be bent to conform to the side cover or tank. I also understand they are shrunk 10% from the originals and the mount holes do not line up. What was your take on it?

I have new OEM badges to go on my tank. I was considering leaving the side covers badgeless.

the European XS only has one badge..on the rear seat cowling. The others are under the lacquer decals. So I only bought the seat cowl badge. It was exactly the same size as OEM. However, it was flat. I bent it very slightly, without any problems to the plating and the two mounting prongs lined up fine. Having paid about $40 for it though, I used double sided sticky tape and also small circular grip washers on the little prongs.

Bending might be an issue if the side panels are very curved though. The badges are die-cast metal, then electroplated. I suppose a drastic bend might crack the plating though! Maybe ask them about it?

[Far Canal]

I would not recommend them at all. Bought a couple for my Special, they were flat and did not match the curve of the sidecover. Also the lugs did not fit the holes in the sidecover properly. I tried to gently bend one of the badges to suit the curve of the sidecover and it snapped in two! I was getting pretty angry by this stage and contacted the supplier who in fairness sent me another one. Ended up buying an original one off ebay. The metal ones are still in the shed wallowing in disgrace.
It's true these badges look good, they are nicely finished. On the other hand they are very heavy for the size of them. Much, much heavier than the actual sidecovers onto which they go.

[MPittma100]

James,

A friend of mine bought badges for his XS-2. He had to send them back as there was no way to make them fit.

I have heard others say they are flat and have to be bent to conform to the side cover or tank. I also understand they are shrunk 10% from the originals and the mount holes do not line up. What was your take on it?

I have new OEM badges to go on my tank. I was considering leaving the side covers badgeless.

Hi Marty,

You are correct in what you have heard about the badges. The tank emblem mounting holes do not line up with existing tank holes. They can be made to work, but you have to drill and tap one new hole in the mounting bracket on the tank on both sides. Side cover emblems have to be bent ever so slightly to fit. Must be careful as they are easy to break. The emblems are metal and much heavier than stock. They are also quite expensive and take a while to obtain them sometimes. Not a whole lot of options other than finding them on Ebay on occasion.

The link that I have used in the past is as follows and I am pretty sure it is the same people as James is referring to:

http://www.kz900.com/

[DAVINCI]

James,

I also understand they are shrunk 10% from the originals and the mount holes do not line up. What was your take on it?

TRUE, Marty. I installed them on mine. They are very nice, but slightly smaller and I needed to drill / tap one end of the mounting flange on the tank. It was a nitroglycerin moment to say the least.

[James England]

Well, that bottoms that one out! All useful info. Looks like I'll be buying only seat cowl badges from them!

Glad everyone posted. Very handy to know for the future.....

[MPittma100]

Emblems

Well, that bottoms that one out! All useful info. Looks like I'll be buying only seat cowl badges from them!

Glad everyone posted. Very handy to know for the future.....

James, their badges obviously are not an exact fit, but are usable - especially considering that there are not a whole lot of choices. Seems like they could adjust a few things in production/manufacturing and have a real winner. If it was my company, I would see to it that they were corrected to fit.

Mike

[Mathh]

the European XS only has one badge..on the rear seat cowling. The others are under the lacquer decals. So I only bought the seat cowl badge. It was exactly the same size as OEM. However, it was flat. I bent it very slightly, without any problems to the plating and the two mounting prongs lined up fine. Having paid about $40 for it though, I used double sided sticky tape and also small circular grip washers on the little prongs.

Bending might be an issue if the side panels are very curved though. The badges are die-cast metal, then electroplated. I suppose a drastic bend might crack the plating though! Maybe ask them about it?

Not completely true James The 3x0 and 3x1 both have the fat logo's and he is also offering these.


i think the logos can be heated a bit and then will be easier to curve them around the hump or side cover. Maybe dip them in warm water for a while and give it a try.

[jetmechmarty]

For that kind of money, I want badges that fit.

New OEM tank badges are available for the SG and SH. They will fit the SF. The cost is far less than the reproductions.

[ViperRon]

I got the side cover replicas from the Canadian Diablo cycle ended up they came from an Australian company took more than 2 months to come in. They were flat but I used soft cloth and shims to slowly bend them in a vice to have the cupping to fit the side covers. Took about 2 hours being slow and carfull to get them right. They fit the holes but I still put some 2 sided tape on the edges so they would not slide around and for sure I did not want to loose one on the road. Actually originally mine had a thin rubber backing on the side cover badges. The replicas are much heavier than the plastic. If there was a difference in size I could not see it. For the gas tank I got 2 original Yamaha part number plastic badges from a Yamaha shop on EBAY selling old stock. The tank badges where not cupped perfect but when the screws tightened down they fit perfect. I do have the standard model which is different from the special and that is where I had been told there was a difference as far as holes lining up.

[BA80]

These are chrome instead of gold but for $4.04 each who really cares? And, the screw holes match perfectly.

They are actually for a golf cart and are flat but with a little heat (on the back ) they can be formed and fit just fine.

http://www.boats.net/parts/detail/ya...161-01-00.html


This is what they look like on the tank......

[James England]

Emailed Oz

I emailed the badge company in Australia and directed him to the forum thread re these badges... Here is the reply I received...




Hi and thanks for the link to the forum comments re the Badge Replica badges.

There are a lot of misconceptions out there re the badges we sell and the comments reflect this.

Yes the badges are heavier as casting them is the most cost effective way to do them and keep the price reasonable.

Most of our badges have been altered to suit the mounting holes if they are fitted with pins on the rear of the badge.

Badges with holes are very difficult to alter and as such are a bit more difficult to fit.

When cast (mold is made from a NOS original) the badges are no more than 2-3% smaller not 10% as mentioned.

I have owned this business for 3 years and in that time I must say I have had 99% of satisfied customers, the unhappy customers are generally dealt with to a satisfactory result and on the rare (very rare) occasion I have refunded money for badges returned, (twice this last year)

Considering the several thousand badges I sell each year I consider this a good result.

I am always trying to improve badges where it is possible but sometimes the quantity sold does not warrant the expense.

We are trying to provide a service and a product that is no longer available and feel we are doing a good job.

If only people contacted me rather than venting on forums I might be able to help them.

Thanks again for the link as it is always good to hear what people think, good or bad.

Regards
Cal Merlo
Badge Replicas

https://www.badgereplicas.com.au

cal@badgereplicas.com.au