One day we were sitting around talking when I looked at the GS and noticed
how out of place the rear reflectors looked. They hang way down below the
body work and they don't even follow the body line of the tail section.
Not to be denied the chance to tinker some more with the GS I started to take a
look at things. Moving the reflectors is easy and helps clean up the look
of the bike and goes well with the famous fenderectomy. Here are the instructions on how to do it.
Before
After
First, Don't worry the worst you can do is drill the holes in the wrong place
and have to keep the reflectors in the stock position. But that won't
happen.
The first step is to remove the seat. Next you
unbolt the reflectors from underneath the fender. You will need an
8mm socket or wrench and need to save the bolts.
Now hold the reflector up against the bungee bar between
the 2 pins and up tight so the reflector just touches the bar. Mark
the holes with a marker or a reamer or whatever you like. Repeat
this step for both sides and make sure your marks are where they should
be. You can get away with being a little off but you need to be
close.
Now that the holes are marked you can drop the fender
down. You will need to remove the 2 bolts up behind the license
plate and make sure you do not lose the hook for your tool kit strap -it
uses the same 2 bolts to hold it in place.
Remove the fender 2 bolts by the rear peg assemblies as
shown. Be ready the fender will want to fall down, you need to hold it
up till you can carefully pull the signal wires so you can have some room
to work with. Once you have some slack in the wires you will have
all the room you need to drill the holes.
Getting a cordless drill in there is a bit tricky but
can be done. it is recommended you start with a small pilot hole
then use the proper 7/32" drill bit.
Now you will have to tighten the reflectors with the
fender dropped down. Then bolt the fender in place and check your
position. It may take you a few times before you get then just
right.
Your done and your bike looks better! And it
only took you about 1/2 hour from start to finish.
Oops!Ok so you didn't
quite drill the holes in the right place. That's ok you can still
recover if they are just a little bit off. You can slot the holes by
inserting the drill into the existing hole and then move the drill in the
direction you need to move the hole. For instance, I drilled one
side just a tad too low for my liking so I put the drill into the hole and
turned it on while lifting straight up. The plastic is so soft the
drill cuts right through it. I was able to elongate the holes an
extra 1/4 inch up and my problem was solved. If you need to really
make a hole bigger you will need to use a washer behind the screw to help
hold it in place.
