Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Custom Corner Battery relocation

I'm about to mount my battery under my seat, and was hoping for some advice. Any help on the best way to remove the airbox without using a hammer and a sawzall. At first glance I don't see how it's attached. Thanks in advance for all the knowledge out there!

Put the bike on a lift and unbolt the rear shocks to allow the rear wheel to swing way down. I didn't pull my rear wheel off but that would make it even easier. Rear fender off and seat off. I think I unbolted the battery box too but don't remember for sure. I separated the top and bottom halves of the air box too to make removal easier. Then slid it back out where the rear wheel was.

Is it at all possible without putting the bike on a lift. My current lift has decided to call it a day.

You could put the bike up on blocks and remove the rear wheel and still unbolt the rest and I think with the rear wheel off it should still come out.

Yeah, I took mine out using the lift as well. However I didn't remove anything. I just jacked it up real high and the thing came out in one peice.

That's what I did too but if he has no lift he would probably have to pull the rear wheel.

Have to remove the rear fender and unbolt the rear shocks too at the very least.

Thanks! I'm going to try and get the bike on a lift, as removing all that stuff doesn't sound like the way to go for me.

on a lift or not you will have to remove the rear fender and unbolting the shocks will allow you to lower the rear wheel far enough for the air box to clear the tire. If you don't use a lift you can remove the rear tire so you don't have to lift the bike as high for clearance.

Yeah I didnt have a lift, but I had a sawzaw, things kinda worked themselves out...haha

Let me know if you have any other questions when you get to the battery bracket/etc. parts.

Brokenfixed's tray works great. Thats what I did. And I didn't remove the rear render. I still got the box out intact. Anyways, you'll have no problems with the tray. If I can do it anyone can. And moving all the wires isn't all that bad either.

Woo!...Its about time I heard from some satisfied customers...haha

I would do brokenfixed's style of bracket (or the Ghetto Freak) if I had it to do over again. But back in the winter of '02-03, this is what my buddy Gene and I built. It ain't pretty but it works and it is very strong. Did I mention it is ugly? I took these pictures after I ran it for a while and needed to make some "adjustments" so it's good and dirty, too.

http://picasaweb.google.com/friarjohn/BatteryBox#

Ya know John, Your box could use some refining but I like the design. The ears on the front for some forward support are a really good idea. I always thought Tom's could use a little more support to stop the bracket from flexing and battery from being shaken.

Yeah using that front bolt is totally over designed.

I got about 8,000 miles with the original brackets that I bought from home depot. Those gave way because they had holes predrilled in them. And thats with cut springs front and back.

The pressure point is at the hanger bolts, not the bend in the steel bracket. Thats why I got a thicker plate and made it from one piece on these newer brackets.

I always intended it to be a "rough draft" but never got around to building a refined version. I was hoping to redesign it to be cut (probably waterjet) out of a single piece of sheetmetal so I could sell them with a variety of finishing options. I'm not that ambitious, apparently. I can't see that great a demand for them. But maybe if my furlough becomes a permanent lay off...

I always wanted to make one from scratch instead of using the factory tray, but the simplicity of my current design always wins out. Especially when we're talking about selling them at a reasonable price.

I've got an extra stock battery bracket. Someday I'll probably make your style bracket just to save weight. My box is HEAVY.

Just got a lift from a friend, so I'd like to remove the forks before I lift her up. Thing is I've never removed my shocks before. I have 11.5" Progressive 412'S. Can I just unbolt them while the bike is sitting, and then put them back on the same way? I've always felt that that there are no stupid questions, but my wife sternly disagrees. Help me out guys!!

I think the only stupid question is the one not asked.

You should support the bike to remove the shocks or forks. With rear shocks you can change them by taking just 1 off at a time and not lift the bike except just a little by hand to account for travel.

Many thanks!!

I remember seeing a post with ideas about how to keep your K&N filters from coming off with this type of mod. Specifically a slice of copper pipe inserted into the filter itself. Anybody know what I'm talking about?

Heres the thread. PM me if you have any Q's
http://www.bonnevilleamerica.com/forums/...rt=all&vc=1

there are no stupid questions, just stupid people! Thats what I tell all my new troops.

My experience with the k&n's coming off equates to two factors. Firstly the supplied Clamps aren't wide enough and therefore make it very hard to hold the filters on evenly.

So the best thing you can do is buy clamps that are the same width as the part of filter that sits onto the carbs.

Secondly, once you have the wider fitting clamps, just make sure the filters are sitting as far as poss onto the inlet side of the carb and that the clamps on unseen side of the carb (inside) are fully even and in contact as the visible side is.

If you don't do these two basic things, the problem begins because the rubber of the filter where it clamps onto the unseen side develops an indent memory due to it's softness making it very hard to re-alighn properly afterwards.

In other words the clamp sitting more on the edge of the inlet side of the carb will have a tendency to slip off the more you tighten due to it not having full contact.

In short buy wider clamps the same width as what sits onto the carb, and ensure the inside sits fully onto the carb as you would the outside before tightening the clamps.

Do it properly the first time and you will not have a problem cos of the memory imprinted on the soft rubber of filter. Do it incorrect and you will continualy struggle to keep the filters on the more you tighten the clamps.

It's hard to explain tapping away here so if you need further claification, just ask but I can guarantee if you do it correctly this way the first time, you won't have a prob again with the filters coming off.

Btw, I learnt the hard way ie: bought another set of filters and started again.

Staffo

I will add to what Staffo said, another common problem is to over tighten them and actually force them off. This will in some cases deform the part that goes on the carb and render them useless since they won't stay on then. Mine have never fallen off with the clamps that were supplied with the filters. But you do have to be sure everything is located correctly before you tighten.

And keep the mating surfaces absolutely clean. Any fuel or filter oil residue will pop those suckers off pretty easily.

something that I learned is that if the rubber boots that mount the carbs to the engine are upisde down(thick part down) that nothign will want to line up right. the carbs will then be tweaked up a bit and the filters will have to be forced on. not to mention that the boots will not seat all the way in the first place. Clean your filters with alcohol real good, it will make a big differance

Cleaning the mating surfaces with alcohol is an excellent tip.

I want to go with the battery relocation and pod filters. What do I need to buy besides the K&N filters and brokenfixed battery relocation bracket?

questions like this make me wanna start selling k&n pods along with the other bits, along with my kit.

Anyway, aside from rejetting and whatnot. You'd need a carb brace and a crankcase breather filter. The carb brace can be a fancy expensive piece of metal or a simple turnbuckle from home depot depending on what you wanna spend. The breather filter and fancy carb brace can be bought from newspeedmaster.com I'm not sure of the size though because my bike already had one when I bought it. Maybe someone will chime in.

Send me a private message me when/if youre ready to buy a bracket. I can answer any questions you have as well, its not a problem.

Just thought I'd add a few pics of my relocation.

Probably very similar to everyone elses but a few slightly different ways to get at same job.
As you can see a lot of ideas "stolen" from other posts. But as they say imitation is the best form of flattery and I'm sure if anyone minded they wouldn't have posted the pictures in the first place.

Component parts of battery box.


All powder coated


and bolted together


In place, wiring to go on next.


I put my solenoid here which should be hidden by the left filter when fitted.


From the other side showing the crankcase breather site.




With the filters on, I've reused the ignition bracket as suggested by Brokenfixed, couldn't think of any way better. I'm coming to the US in June so going to get one of those relocators from LC Fabricators and move it from there to the headstock.

Carbs scare me and it seems that everyone is running different jets and arrangements so its now of to a local carb specialist to sort it then back on the road. Just in time for the two weeks we call summer over this side of the pond.

Cheers
Chris

Nice job chris, very clean and I like the little triangle you cut to match. What angle did you use for your plate? Seems a bit off like the battery sits slightly angled. Is the bike on a lift or something? Never seen so much back tire through there.

Yeah, thought that myself once everything was tightened up. I thought I'de copied your design to the letter but I think I may have estimated the angle a little over. I'll see how it goes wont take much to make a new plate up.
Thanks for your positive comments, from the man it means a lot.
Cheers
Chris

Good job, keep us posted on how the jetting turns out.

Help!!

I did the airbox removal and battery relocation yesterday, and made a bonehead move resulting in a broken part. This connects right before the solenoid, and as far as I can tell does not go any farther. Can anybody help me with what this would be called and what it does so that I can order a new one? Thanks

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