Restoring & Modifying 1971 OIF TR120

[NM Bonny]

The flatter and lower the dash the better. It was a bit tricky on mine even with a dash ordered from a company specializing lay flat solutions.

For sure, that's the case with a triple clamp-mounted dash...

In my arrangement, though, the dash will mount to the fairing instead of the triple clamps, so my gauges will be farther forward, and can be aimed back toward the rider without fouling the fairing's upper mount struts.

I tested the cables for the gauges and they will reach--just barely, re: the speedo--but the dash illumination leads are too short. So, I'll have to get out the soldering iron and lengthen them a bit...

I'll also have to extend the headlamp mount slots on the upper mount, as the included light's bezel doesn't quite fit into the hole in the aluminum, so the beam can't be adjusted up/down. But I realized the bulb is indeed an H4 with ample wattage, so I'll go ahead and use it for now.

 

[sikatri]

Interesting solution. Look forward to seeing it installed.

 

[NM Bonny]

Well, I hope it works as planned!

Started soldering up the wires today, and was all proud of my triple tree-mounted warning lights... but have decided they're going in the fairing-mounted dash after all, per the attached photo. I didn't like having wiring pivoting with the forks just for those lights.

This way, all the wiring goes into braided casing coming out of the headset gussets, which then branches: one goes up behind the dash (gauge retrofit LED illumination + warning lights) and the other goes down to the headlight housing, carrying the heavy gauge wires from the relay for the H4 bulb (Dorman ceramic socket to take the heat--though the housing has a big vent on the bottom, too).

BTW, I've raised the bottom edge of the dash from the earlier template, so it looks more balanced--and that also affords a slightly steeper angle, aiming the gauges pretty much right at the rider. However, the gauges remain off-center vertically, so the drive cables will clear the headlamp housing's longish tapered aft end. (This placement may change when I try out the cardboard template before cutting the aluminum. It's all just eye-balling right now...)

The only reason I haven't cut it out and painted it up is that the aluminum P-clamps, which attach the side tabs to the fairing's upper mount struts, have yet to arrive--and I don't want to find out the tabs are too short...

Here are the P-clamps...

 

[NM Bonny]

Ahhhh... figured out an innovative way to secure the gauges into the flat, one-panel dash yet with a quick-release system.

I'll just cut and bend up leftover aluminum sheet to make U-shaped clips--similar to this small brake hose retention clip--that will snug the rubber gauge casings against the dash.

Then, if I want to service a gauge, I can just reach up through the fork opening at the bottom--or perhaps even just through a handlebar side cutaway--and pull out the clip.

 

[NM Bonny]

Well, I ended up doing something even simpler, and don't need to worry about fancy gauge-fastening setups. I removed the rubber baby buggy bumpers from the gauges, and affixed them to the single-layer aluminum dash with the twin bolts in back.

They sit proud of the dash panel, with their black-painted bodies exposed and the chrome ring around the bezel a bit more pronounced rather than being hidden under the rubber housings.

The dash attaches at four points and is extremely rigid--and vanishingly light. Here it's just loosely bolted on (same with windshield) so I can futz with the rubber strip around the top and bottom edges (not finished yet).

Yes, I've reversed the gauges. Never liked the tach on the L/H side.

No, that's not the finish treatment. It's going to get black wrinkle finish; right now it's just scuffed with 150 grit sandpaper so the paint will adhere. Hope to get it painted and installed, wiring complete, this weekend... I'll post a shot of the gauges and warning lights illuminated.

I believe that I can find little stainless or chrome press-in caps for the empty handlebar and headlamp mounting holes in the triple clamps...?

 

[sikatri]

Seems workable! LoL.

 

[NM Bonny]

All righteee then. Got the dash finished, applied self-etching primer and black wrinkle-paint, and installed it. Looks pretty good...

The fact that it attaches to the center two windshield screws, then to those curving rear upper fairing support struts with aluminum clamps, actually made the fairing even more rigid up top.

Now I've got to replace that cheapo headlight that came with the fairing. It just won't adjust right without opening up the hole more (which I don't want to do), so I'm going to get creative!

 

[NM Bonny]

Thanks, guys! Here are a few more shots with the windshield (finally) permanently installed. The cockpit is really shaping up, and the gauges are spot-on sitting on the bike.

The speedo cable is a touch short, but pending ordering a custom longer one (guy in Colorado does a great job), I've just routed it above the R/H engine case. A bit cluttered but works fine for first few test rides...

Also: forgot to show the lower fairing trim. While I lost the aft few inches of the rolled edge on top of the lowers, I actually like the fact that the bottom edge ends up even with the bottom of the tank rather than arcing up behind that line as it did originally. The transition from the rolled edge actually looks very natural: I was pleasantly surprised.

I'll add a small radius to the tips, then give the modified portions a good sanding and polish now that it's mounted on the bike again.

Finally: I realized that the least fabrication-involved option for the headlamp is to install an LED unit--i.e., without a bucket. I'll have to make up an aluminum combo bezel-and-mount for the vertical adjustment. But I've got leftover aluminum sheet from the dash, so no biggie.

I got a 5-3/4" unit with an H4 plug attached for an amazingly low price--and great reviews on Scamazon. Should be here mañana, and I'll have the bezel made up, polished, and installed this weekend...

 

[NM Bonny]

In response to a PM, here is the upper strut mount detail (sorry I forgot to post how they worked). These incredibly cheap aluminum clamps from Jegs work great.

Cables have yet to be sheathed in black braided wrap, pending headlamp final install...

 

[sikatri]

Awesome progress!

 

[NM Bonny]

Awesome progress!

Thank you, Sir!

Got the wiring all done, finally--save for finishing up putting things in braided wrap. Gauge lights with LED plug-in replacements for OEM bulbs illuminate very well (1st pic).

The $35 LED headlamp came in and I haven't made the bezel yet (though I think I have a design pretty much finished in my noggin). But I plugged it in and triggered the relay... wow. Next two pics show the beam.

The high beam spot is the larger, center one. It's hard to see in the photo but that central point is extremely bright on high beam. Should be completely comfortable riding up the no-street-lights canyon at night, which wasn't great with an H4 in the Paint Shaker...

The unit looks well made, and has a cast aluminum body with integral heat sinks. As it's flat black at the rear, it won't show much at all inside the fairing (plus it's behind the dash from the rider's perspective). The lens is plastic but then so is the cover on my car's headlight. They are easy to restore if scratched or yellowed with those inexpensive kits, in my experience.

Hope to get a bezel designed and made up soon...

 

[CarlS]

Very, very nice. Great work!

 

[NM Bonny]

Thanks, fellas!

So... after scratching my head for a while, I came up with a simple flat-ring design to hold the headlight--but it's going to be the default if my slightly more complex but more elegant-looking, experimental version doesn't work tomorrow.

I remembered the wooden die I made to form the indentation for the ignition switch in the R/H side panel. So, wondered if I made an oak female die to receive something sufficiently hard with radiused edges that's the right diameter, perhaps the thinner aluminum might simultaneously form and shrink into a compound-curve bezel, rather than puckering like a bottle cap around the outer edge (I have just enough thinner aluminum left for one try).

So, per the photo, I adjusted the template I had made for a simple flat bezel--widening the ring a touch to allow for a nice compound curve--and hunted around for a male die... voila. It looks like a 5 lb. plate from my small (not olympic) weight set is almost perfect.

The only deviation from the sequence I scribbled on the sketch is that I'll probably cut a 1" hole in the center of the aluminum sheet to receive a socket or something that will keep the aluminum and both dies aligned--so, a corresponding hole will go into the oak to anchor the centering rod.

I think I can route a perfectly round hole that corresponds to the diameter of the plate before its radius begins, then use a half-round bit that's lying in the drawer to mirror the male die's profile (roughly, anyway) and achieve the right O.D. for the bezel. Then, mate that piece to another piece of oak to produce a 3/4" deep female die with radiused sides, a sharp divergence from the bottom to the radiused sides, and a flat bottom to receive the centering peg.

Finally, I think bar clamps will be wise to reinforce the upper layer of the female die across the grain, so it doesn't split from what will be some significant pressure from the hydraulic arbor press--or I could screw the top to the bottom... or both! Because the clearance between the male and female dies will be just a few thousandths more than the thickness of the aluminum--and the metal will be forced to shrink as it forms--we're talking a lot of outward force being generated, I think.

Therefore, either I get a really neat, compound-curve aluminum headlight bezel with integral tabs at 3 and 9 o'clock for vertical adjustment and two others at 12 and 6 o'clock for the mount's second U-shape component to grab the headlight... or the aluminum puckers... or there's a small explosion in the shop and cast iron shards and/or oak splinters fly everywhere.

Definitely be wearing my face shield and some heavy welding gloves...

 

[grandpaul]

Cool project. Keep up the good work!

 

[NM Bonny]

Thanks very much.

I found some press-in stainless caps to dress up the unused holes for the old handlebar and headlamp mounts (1st pic)...

...and the remaining photos show how I made the female die to form the aluminum combo bezel and mount for the LED unit in the arbor press. My goodness, what a lot of work. It's easy to make an O.D. accurately, but making an I.D. to within a few thousandths turns out to be much harder.

Anyway, it's done to within about .001" tolerance and perfectly round, so I'm hoping to grab some time in the next day or so to cut out the pattern from the aluminum and see if I can stamp out the bezel/mount. Has to be done on the first try, as I've only got one little piece of .050" aluminum left...

I think the right method is to leave the larger center bore until last--but as discussed earlier, to cut the hole to fit the socket, which will keep the aluminum centered in the die as it gets bent and shrunk around its perimeter... maybe. I have no idea whether any of this will actually work...

 

[sikatri]

Pretty interesting solution! Looking fabulous!

 

[NM Bonny]

Thanks for the support and enthusiasm.

As anticipated, the die worked but produced a 'bottle-capped' part. So, I dashed over to H.F. and got a breathtakingly inexpensive auto body set, and using the dumbbell plates first, followed by a little dolly to tighten the radius just a bit more to fit the headlamp hole more precisely, I was able to shrink the edges successfully.

As the rough sanding progressed, I realized it's going to look pretty crude: I don't want to spend another entire day trying to make it perfectly symmetrical. And if I tear the aluminum, all my work is a wash (don't want to do this all over again).

But after I sand and polish the part, then Dremel out the central bore to accept the LED headlamp's lens, it'll at least be shiny and allow me to affix and aim the headlamp in both planes.

Would've been nice if Omega had taken more care with the headlight opening in the fairing, making sure they headlight they supply actually fit. But this way, I'll have a superior LED headlamp with great visibility coming up the canyon, which frequently has wild horses, deer, and coyote crossing in the darkness...

 

[NM Bonny]

...and... I'm officially worn out! Turned out pretty nice, though, for a one-off make-it-up-as-you-go-along effort.

Hmmm... it occurs to me that if I adjust the design of the rear part of the mount--a C-shaped thingamabob--I can add a tab to receive a spring-loaded screw. Then I'll add a knob so that the up/down aiming can be adjusted without tools on the fly. You know, in case I load the thing down or have a passenger...

 

[CarlS]

Your work is astounding.

 

[NM Bonny]

You're too kind.

Here is the second component of the aluminum headlight mount and aiming setup.

The first photo shows the rough angle of the threaded aluminum rod that will actuate the up/down aiming (didn't want to drill the hole for the clevis pin until I know exactly where it goes).

The second shows how it goes onto the headlamp and bezel/pivot; the third shows where the little knurled aluminum knob will go (I believe it's 1" O.D.); and the fourth and fifth show the components themselves (the threaded rod is merely that).

Should have the stuff here this week, and I'll (finally) move on from the fairing installation to cleaning up and rebuilding the rear hub and lacing up the rear wheel...