Securing your sidecovers

I wonder if there was a way to use these racecar fasteners.

the other part

the trick would be attaching the first section pictured to the sidecover, that would require some body work (maybe a pop rivet and some filler), that being said if u were doing a rebuild/repaint anyway it wouldnt be such a big deal

Maybe something like this will work too....
www.redlinecycle.com/Sidecover%20Hardware.html

KZ1979LTD wrote:

Wow! That's two things wives are good for!

this one is good for a lot of things

I wound up using a 1/16th" bit and some fine picture hanging wire. The new grommets are so secure that I doubt (knock on wood) that I'll ever find out if this is truly secure.

I think those 1/4 race car fasteners are called "Dzus fasteners" in the right circles, no pun intended. :laugh: Unfortunately, I already had everything painted, ready to go at the time of this post, but I will definitely keep the dzus fastener plan in mind- that seems like the way to go!

Maybe when I make my carbon fiber side covers...

Patton wrote:

I didn't do mine yet but this is the route I'm going. One fell off many years ago but when I was restoring the bike I found that the original emblems can be sanded/polished down without ruining the surface. So i was able to remove the scratches.

This is the emblem after wet sanding and polishing with steel wool/Mothers.

I should have elaborated a bit more... I drilled straight through the nub, versus horizontally as shown in the above picture. I pull my covers off frequently for maintenance and to generally raise hell, so I was worried about long-term strength and the possible decrease of strength.

Like I said previously, I used a 1/16th bit to drill vertically through the nub/nipple thing. I then ran some fine picture hanging wire with a loop and knot on the outside to keep the wire from pulling through. I just then "twistie-tied" the two wires together with a little tension to hold the covers in place.

Kidkawie, your sidecover emblems look good! I recommend Flitz, if you're open to suggestions- www.flitz.com/

I just put some thin wire around nipple made short loop and made a safety cord with light nylon cord tied to frame so if came off would not loose it on road

The one with the cotter pins through the nipple wired together is the best. It still allows fast removal if you leave some wire. If the sidecover blows off you can easily retrieve it and plug it back in. It's nice tho if you need to get the cover off fast. Other systems make it a job to get them off if there is a short or a problem. I keep enough wire so I can get one off at a time and hang it down. New grommets and that and you will never lose a cover again. Stock covers are getting sparse and expensive not to mention having to match the paint..

Yup, I've used that very same method for a good 7 yrs now with no problem, unless as you say Patton, you forget to remove the clip before you try to remove the cover. If that happens and you break a tab, there is a marvelous product called "Plastex" that will chemically weld the pieces back together and they will be at least as strong as stock. This stuff is simple to use has a lil dvd that comes with the kit showing all you can do with it and how. Body work shattered from a tip over or crash, save all the pieces, this stuff can mend it all and even form new tabs if you lose them. plastex.net/

Looked at these? www.americanclassix.com/kawa_plastic_covers.html