New Cobra light bar

[macmac]

dolanz, Probably what I will do is remove the bar totally and once I get my grubby mitts on chrome loom drill the wire holes on the bracket so the look is a snug fit, and stuff it right thru the wire holes on both sides.

Then on the face cover behind the main lamp near where the stick turn sigs go cut drill slice or bend that cover enough to sneak the loom thru on both sides, nearly invisable.

Since I have other lamps right on the lowers my problems are ebigger than yours, as those 55 watts lamps are not going away.

I may need side by side looms to get down there.


DO NOT even think to use the blue scotch lock and tire it into anything other than the closest trash can...

DO NOT run the wire that feeds the passing lamps into the head lamp to either the hi or lo beam wire fior powering the lamps.

You can use these main lamp wires to trigger a relay if you want.

Just how do you want these lights to work?

On with lo beam, on with just hi beam, on any time it pleases you with or with the engine?

[dolanz]

Mac,
How and where did you route the wire for the lamp on the "non switch side" back to the switch?

[macmac]

I used a 30 amp blue dot illuminated switch with 3 tabs.. One for power supply, one to ground and the last the load (lights) with a led in the rocker.

It is pretty busy under there with just these 3 wires. I used red for power IN, Lt blue to the lamps, and black for grounds..

Since the wire i used is a larger gauge than normal and i didn't want a relay, the 3 switch wires were all brought back around the fork like the sheet says to do.

I used a yellow code eye connector with the yellow plastic removed to crimp the grounds in one bundle, ground this switch, and the lamps. The eye allows a 6mm bolt shanck to pass and the bolt I used is found on the right as seated inside the fork housing area at the fork lock top. Later i will solder over the crimp.

It is a in close and hard to get at bolt, but I have trained nimble fingers.

I knew this was temp wiring, and I brought all the lt blue wires togehter and used a large home type twist cap like you see in any hose hold fuse box. That is a lt blue wire from the switch to the other 2 lt blue wires from each lamp.

The left side lamp wires were passed around that fork and inside that cover behind the main lamp. I have no idea what to call that cover, so i call it a face cover, for lack of a better word.

All the harness i made up are taped neatly, the way i was trained 30 years ago or more.

ONE THING I keep forgetting to say is that you need all the wiring working before you can mount the passing lamps on the bar.. Before you can mount them, the head lamp must be installed as there is no getting to the head lamp screws with the passing lamp buckets in the way.

[macmac]

The short story is i brought the lt blue wire off the switch to the passing lamp wires both routed behind that face plate.

Somethings get lost in my details.

[trosco]

dolanz; I looked at your pics and much of your bar is similar to mine and the ones I mounted for friends but it is not the same? All three I have done were in spring and summer of 2007 and went on 2007 Nads. The tripple clamp mount is different (gone?) on yours and the outer surface of the box that the spots set on matches the inside surface on mine. There's none of that stuff that extends back to the fork legs???. Maybe they have changed the bars since then or maybe they are different by model year?

dolanz and shaft: re wiring location,,, I cut a 1/2 inch OD black rubber hose the length (plus 1/2 inch) of the bar between the inner surfaces of the spot mounts. I cut a circular hole 3/8 inch ID dead center in the hose. I put a spark plug wire rubber gromet in the forward hole of the inside surface of both spot mounts. I mounted the LH turn signal, ran it's wires and the LH spot's black power feed wire (my extra long one) thru the gromet into the hose with the turn signals wire coming out the center hole and the power wire going thru to the end, thru the other side gromet and to the switch. I mounted the RH turn signal and ran it's wires and the power wire from the switch thru the gromet into the hose and out the center hole. Then I forced the hose ends over the gromets and used 6 black 3/16 inch wide zip ties to shape it to the back of the chrome bar. I used waxed flat dental flos to spot tie about the first 12 inches (from where they come out hose center hole) of the turn signal and power wires into a fairly smoot tube. then I slid a 3/8 inch diameter 12 inch long piece of shrink tube over the group of wires with one end of the shrink tube going inside the rubber hose center hole. Then I shrank about 10 inches of the shrink tube but left the part close to the hose alone. I ran that tube of wires through the center notch of the chrome cover behind/below my head light and up along the steering head and into the back of my headlight. I again used the dental flos to spot tie that little bundle to the larger wire bundle that wound it's way into the headlight. Inside the light I pluged the turnsignals back in and used the accessory plug for my power wire feed. Unless you set on your butt in front of tire and stare at the light bar you don't notice any of what I did. Hope this helps

[macmac]

trosco, that is a cute set of tricks.. Yup there is nothing in the "M" on the bar, clean and clear no tabs nothing there to bolt. You see it in the pictures just like it is.

Some where the bar was changed... I don't know if i understand well or not, but the bars you have don't seem to touch at the boxed ends that support the passing lamps, if i read you right.

Other than if the lamps you have are 55 wats each which is very close to overloading a 10 amp fuse I can see how you did things.

Maybe the lamps come in 35 watts halogen E 3, new term H 3 bulbs. and if it IS 35 watts there is no problem getting power at the white with blue tracer in the main lamp bucket. 6 amps+ a few tenths of an amp.

[macmac]

dolanz, I am glad you brought this topic up thanks, as yesterday i wanted to myself and am so back logged with pics i can't take more.

I am getting my lessons too.... thanks. When you get this sorted out right you will like it.

Another add in I did was to place a star washers 5/16" stainless steel between the turn sig adapter and the chrome plate to reduce the chances of the sigs getting out of wack twisting up ot down.

Those sig pods pull a bit stiffly too, just the first time, and the big fat screws that hold them are some wicked tight!

Use a new blade tip on the cross slot screws and bear down hard.

[dolanz]

thanks all for the input and the pointers. I will wire from the battery with a relay and use the headlight pwr wire (bl/Y) for the switch pole of the relay.

I will see how the wire routing goes. I want it to be neat and will shrink wrap everything, but wish there were wiring channels on this.

[macmac]

make some of either rubber hose like trosco has shown, or in plastic chrome loom...

You can get clever and i got ideas off what trosco said to be a little more clever even..

You can do what he said and add more hose by 6 maybe 8 inches and drag it under the face plate. This will leave the ends thru his way of drilling for the spark plug caps he used as seals, and or my way to pinch the chrome looms inside the boxes..

Sure it takes time, but it will be worth it. I am going to pull some of these stunts and add a blue light in the switch hole..

This was very worth it for me.

[dolanz]

Mac!

I installed the lights today, but there are issues. Either my lowers are not stock, or this bar does not fit an '07. The bar and the turn signal are in the way of the lowers. I had to remove them to get the bar on.


My friend has an '05, and those lowers are a lot smaller and would not interfere with the bar at all. I am surprised that I am the only one that has come up with this issue.

What year is your bike? It didnt sound like you had this problem.

[Yellow Jacket]

Looking at the lowers in your sig pic, those are not stock lowers. Maybe Edmunds?

[macmac]

My images views are fuzzy, until I right click and ask the system for a better image. I just did and agree with Bob. Your lowers are not stock. I am 110% sure your lowers are not stock. Other wise your 07 is a dead nuts match for my 06, and the bar coming used from a friend, Flavor here, he has a 08.

He sent me lowers like these as he could not use them with the bar.

i didn't and still havent opened that package, but I can and I will, so I can see why you can't and why Flavor can't use these.... Unless of course you modify something.

I can't say with out looking which ways there might be to mod what you have, but I am king of mods, when there is no dough to spend.

Today i made a lay down Lic plate holder from a sliver of black micarta.. Only needed to drill 3 holes in the black plastic plate holder too.
One of those holes is a water drain at 1/8th inch. The other 2 are for the 2 1/4 inch bolts I used to mount the black plastic to the micarta with. No other holes drilled and no other bolts that were not on the bike were needed.

So gimmie a few and I will post back.

[dolanz]

I always thought that those lowers were kind of big. I have never seen an '07 besides mine up close, not too many of them in Tucson. I got the bike used and it had quite a bit of add ons primarily for touring.

I am going to make a cardboard template and cut a new shape next week. If that doesn't pan out, I will look for some new ones.

[macmac]

Well at this point why not go to a glass shop and buy lexan in any colors you like. On the way go to a Nomad dealer with paper and pencil and make a tracing of the stock clears.. have your and what ever drawings you make too, and get real custom lowers..

You can cut lexan easy and the stuff is bullet proof, I mean almost.. I shot some testing it for 'lights' on seas going sail boats. it needed to with stand a hard blow from big sea waves..

I could place it on 2 saw horses and stand on the stuff at 1/4" thick. When shot with .45 acp ammo it made stars in the lexan with holes, but it didn't shatter after dumping a full mag (7 rnds)

There is smoke colors and bright colors, and even tints.. If you decide to saw it your self use masking tape and a saber saw. Sanding the edges up nice is well worth the troubles. If yer quicl a router will pane a curved radius on all the edges fast, but don't stay in any place very long.. it will melt and make a mess of the cutter and on the part.