Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Custom Corner For those that inspired Battery Relocation.Thanks!

I've been trying to decide what to do with my '03 America since purchasing an '08 Rocket III Touring. I had contemplated selling it and trying to find a mid-sixties Triumph Bobber. After a lot of deliberation, I decided that my '03 is great...it starts every time and runs like a champ. Why not just further customize to get the same result.

I have been working on this bike for years with the idea of having a mid-sixties theme. After seeing some of the recent posts about relocating the Battery and cleaning things up, I decided to do just that. I've now fully committed this bike being a solo rider and have started down the path of "chopping" off that which is not necessary.

I have to say I am quite pleased with getting rid of back finishers, side panels, cheese graters, etc.

I also stopped by my local Dealer and replaced my George Foreman Sprocket Cover with one of the newer smooth covers...

I guess I will be putting some things up for sale now that I have gone down this path.
- Chrome Rear Footpeg Hangers with Kuryakyn Small ISO Pegs
- Chrome Chain Guard (Maybe, still trying to decided if it is better with or without)
- Custom Side Panel with handpainted "America". Looks the same as stock except no sticker...Had it repainted and lettered when the bike was repainted in the current scheme.
- Chrome "George Foreman" sprocket Cover.
- Easy Brackets with Saddleman Bags
- WindVest Windshield.
I'll probably list these on ebay soon unless someone wants to make me an offer on anything. I would suspect that I can get approximately 60% of original purchase price.

As the title states, Thank You to those that inspired the Battery Relocation. It was a relatively easy project with no cost (since I used some existing bits) and makes a huge difference in the look.


In any event, here is a photo of the current progress.



Cheers,

Steven

Great looking bike!

Pm sent.

I'm thinking about the battery relocation. Did you make the battery box or buy it somewhere?

If you haven't already, post your items in the classifieds forum here. I don't want to move the whole thread there.

(Bike looks sweet, BTW)

Very nice! Looks nice and clean!

Very nice and worth keeping hold of

congrats very nice looking ride
i do like those tank badge's can you tell where i can get a pair from and are they a direct swap with the origional

Thank you all for the nice comments.

To BillinOK, I roughly followed This Thread and used the stock battery box. I cut off the bottom tab and cut up the side tab and fabricated some "L" brackets. I also re-used a piece of the side tab for the ignition mount. I had a full chromed battery cover from NewSpeedMaster.com which I was able to keep. One side is a little more open than the other so I just spray painted the more open side of the battery black. It isn't exactly the same on each side, but it works.

To islandbum. The Tank Badges are standard Triumph Accessories that I purchased from a dealer. They were direct replacements to the stock ones. This is an '03 with the older style tank.

FriarJohn. I'll post another message in the classified section.

Again, thanks to all for the comments and especially thanks to those that have contributed on this site for the past few years. Many of the modifications on my bike came either directly or indirectly from information here.

Cheers,
Steven

Please note that I have now posted a message in the Classifed Section with more information, prices, and photos of the parts that I am going to be selling.

Here is the Link

Steven

Man?...that battery modification is definately getting to be more and more popular. Its cool for me to see people following what I did, as I learned off other people.

I'm going to have a go at it this Fall/Winter. I picked up an extra battery bracket to fiddle with on ebay for like 10-15 bucks...

Why wait? I am fairly good mechanically, but don't have a fab shop or anything. Going from my previous set up to the new cleaner look was 4-5 hours in the garage. Most of that time was in working with the wires and trying to fab the "L" brackets without the aforementioned fab shop. I actually scavanged my Freak Kit by using the bar that used to hold the toolkit to the Freak and made the necessary two "L" brackets. All without anything special other than some basic tools.

My biggest advice other than the other threads about relocating the battery is pay attention to the little tab on the battery box that holds the ignition switch. It was very easy to dremel off the little "C" bracket and use it to re-mount the ignition switch.

...now, I think I am going to tackle putting the control wiring inside the handlebars....

Cheers,
Steven

Cuz I'm busy. Back off.

Thanks for the link. I am definitely going to go for that.

Steve, Im sorry to hear that you bought the freak kit before moving the battery. You coulda salvaged a couple bucks by selling the freak brackets or something.

I can't complain too much about having purchased the Freak. I bought it back in late 2005 so I ran with that configuration for 2.5 years. It served it's purpose and was one of the catalysts for getting me to dive into the carbs, etc.

By the way, BrokenFixed, your bike is certainly one of the ones around here that have inspired me to keep my America and to continue its evolution.

Cheers,
Steven

Steven

Thanks alot steve

Nice and clean, I need to get on the battery reloc myself

I am planning on doing it also, but when I do, I will be using an old school style oil tank to house the battery and the electronics, also planning on doing the 180 pod turnarounds.
Mark

I have a stock battery holder if someone wants to take the leap and clean up the center. just pay the shipping. Shoot me an email.

pm sent

My dealer here actually has a bobber that they made. has the fake oil tank, springer seat, etc, etc, etc. Now if I just hadnt sold all those parts I had in the garage for that 67 bobber I never got too....
Mark