Installing Mikes tank badges.

[fredintoon]

I know Mikes late model XS650 tank badges don't fit on our XS11s but what can you do if your wife takes the effort to secretly buy you a set for an anniversary gift?
Option 1) Say "send them back, they don't fit" and relegate oneself to a future of anniversary gifts of socks and underwear.
Option 2) Say "What a delightful and unexpected gift, thank you so much." and go make the bastards fit.
Yup, option 2) it is.
Mikes badges have lettering that's 1mm shorter than XS11 badges and they are 7mm shorter between the mounting holes but unlike the Yamaha golf cart badges they are properly curved so there's no need to heat them to ~130ºC in order to bend them.
Take off the tatty old badges and install Mikes badges by the front screw only.
Mark the fastener strips through the rear screw holes and remove the badges.
Centrepunch the mark and carefully drill through the strip with a 1/8" drill bit.
Tap the 1/8" hole with an M4 x .75 tap.
Be really careful not to drill through the gas tank doing this.
Install the new badges.
Elapsed time of install ~30 minutes including putting the tools away again.

[Bigfoot]

That was awful thoughtfull and supportive of her. Mine is still bent out of shape about bringing home the FJ so I really doubt that I will be getting any bike parts soon. Glad you could make them work.

[Crazcnuk]

You have to see the inside of his garage, to know her true supportiveness!

Oh, and she makes a good breakfast, too!

How obvious is the unused hole? I would think that this is a prettyt easy mod to get nice, shiny, new tank emblems.

[MrOzz]

How about cutting the heads of the screws. Super glue them to the badges. Then use 3M double sided tape. (the kind they use on most automoblie badges). The sick them to the tank.

Just a thought.

Nice of your wife btw.

Ozz

[Crazcnuk]

You can also buy 3m emblem glue. It is specifically for glueing emblems onto cars.

[Mr. Schweer]

What about posting pics??

[fredintoon]

You have to see the inside of his garage, to know her true supportiveness!
Oh, and she makes a good breakfast, too!
How obvious is the unused hole? I would think that this is a pretty easy mod to get nice, shiny, new tank emblems.

Hi Craz,
don't I remember a whole pile of that stuff leaving my garage in your car?
The unused hole and the end of the mounting strip don't show at all, although the rear edge of the badge pocket is just visible if you look for it. If you re-tap the front hole, again, the strip & hole don't show but the front end of the badge pocket is quite exposed. That's why I re-tapped the rear hole instead of the front one. Yes you could re-tap both ends of the strip to do a perfect job but I was really scared about drilling through the tank and half the holes is half the chance of that happening.
You could indeed stick 'em on instead but if the glue is good enough to hold 'em on the bastards won't come off again if I want a colour change.
2-sided tape? I've had enough badges fall off enough cars to not trust that stuff at all.
And sorry, I don't have the computer skills to post photos on this list.

[nubee]

Special drill bit #538

You need special drill bit #538 to install that Mikes tank badge don't you

Now get one of your buddies to get you the correct badge. Get him to return Mikes badge

[fredintoon]

You need special drill bit #538 to install that Mikes tank badge don't you
Now get one of your buddies to get you the correct badge. Get him to return Mikes badge

Hi Nubee,
you invented that drill bit #, right? There are no 3-digit number-size drill bits.
http://sector7.xor.aps.anl.gov/ref_e...ber_drill.html
The recommended tap drill for an M4 x .75 thread is 3.25mm (~0.128") A #30 drill bit is 0.1285" but I'd have to drive across town to buy one. 1/8" drill bit is 0.003" smaller. As the recommended tap drill sizes only give an 80% thread depth the slightly smaller 1/8" drill bit gives a more complete thread which is better in a thin workpiece such as the XS11 tank badge retaining strap.
Nah, far better to get my wife's approval of my badge installation skills than to incur her contempt by sneakily returning her gift via a 3rd party.

[nubee]

Drill bits

Hi fredintoon,

Yeaaaa, kinda sorta. Your wife probably knows all about drill bits anyway. Me on the other hand..... Nifty chart!

[randy]

Fred, that's exactly what I had to do to install the Badgereplica emblems from Australia. They're made from cast metal and too heavy to trust to double-stick tape or one screw! Sweated bullets drilling the flange, too!