Today's task was to try out an idea I had to replace the missing side panels on the bike. They ARE available used...for $200...per side...
The CFO here at Cheap Charlie's Motorcycle Emporium ain't gonna go for that. On a rare and valuable bike? Sure. On a mass-produced Honda that won't return what I have invested in it if I put new tires on it? Nuh-uh.
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The original plastic panels were held on with cast-in studs that popped into rubber grommets. I sketched one up in TinkerCAD and printed it out on the 3D printer. The results indicated that A) it would work, and B) it would be rugged enough, so I printed out a handful of them.
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Then I drilled them out from the back so I could screw them to the panel. Past experience tells me that gluing them (and I've tried a half-dozen types of glue) doesn't work. I don't have the technology to print the whole side panel with integral studs so screwing them on was the next best solution.
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Here's one popped into the mounting grommet on the bike. A little Vaseline helped with insertion. (Where have I heard that before???)
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I screwed them to a piece of flashing as a test bed. I started out with CAD (Cardboard Aided Design), transferred that to a piece of flashing and used my belt sander to trim that to a rough fit.
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Here's the rough panel attached to the bike. This is primarily a proof-of-concept exercise and the panel is essentially two dimensional where the finished product will need some 3D curves built in to fit properly and look right. Now that I'm reasonably confident that it will work, I'll scrounge up a piece of heavier aluminum and go to work. It'll also need a third mounting point added at the bottom.