Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Accessories sissy bar fabrication

since i've decided that every sissy bar i've found, that i like, is WAY too expensive....i'm making my own. went to my drafting board and drew up the plans today and am pretty impressed with myself at how it and the mounting bracket came out on the paper. went to the steel shop, bought the metal ($30) and will begin welding and fabrication this weekend. has anyone else made their own sissy bar before? any tips?

Back in the day I made one up for an old Kawasaki I had.. it looked like crap but worked great. I imagine the only problem you will run into on the Triumph is getting it to look nice at the mounting bolts.. The stock sissy bar has that nice matching chrome piece that saddles the existing fender support and then transitions into the bar. Do you have any pictures of your design or progress so far? I'd be interested in seeing how you handle that part.

Cheers,
Brad

this is all i have so far
the sissy bar itself is 16" tall, made of 1/2" hot rolled square steel, and will sit about 12" above the pillion at the top. its 12" wide at the bottom and 6" wide inside to inside at the top. i'm filling in the gap at the top with a metal plate and will have it all chromed. i think i'm gonna draw up something cool to powdercoat and place on the plate.



all the weird lines on the curve wont be there (couldn't find my french curve and had to improvise) the bolt holes on the bottom will be slotted about 3/4" and the bolt holes to hold the bar to the bracket will be 1/4"

Sure, I've made lots of things like sissy bars. The first one, when I was a dumb kid, started out as a bicycle "high rise" bicycle sissy bar, the kind that used to be used with "banana" seats. It even had a pad on it that I made out of wood, shaped like a star, and the girl friend covered with cheap vinayle. I wish I had a picture of it so I could laugh now. A few years later, my Triumph chopper had a square bar sissy bar, which I welded up. Chroming it was the most expensive thing. Don't care for sissy bars anymore, but I have a fabricated luggage rack that doubles as a pillion support on my BA. The hardest thing about making stuff look good is smoothing the welds. I've found that a belt sander with a medium grit does a great job. Get some steel, and go to town!

i just bolted a piece of flat steel under the pillion pad and bent it up the back for a little sissy pad. Nothing to lean back on all day, just something to keep the wife on the back. Its nice because its only the one pillion bolt to unscrew when i take it off.

i need to remove the reflectors from the fender struts, how are they attached. double sided tape, screwed from the back????

tape. They come right off, but might leave bits of tape behind.

Somebody made a sissybar with flat pieces that slipped in between the strut and the fender on both sides, then welded or bolted the upright between the two. Unfortunately I don't remember who or have any pics.

SWEET!!! now im just grateful that i dont have to pull the fender to get them off!

I think I used a thin metal bondo spatula and slid it mostly underneath the tape, popping them off. Do the lower fork legs while you're at it.