Sidecover studs?

One of the things I'm looking at is making milled aluminum sidecovers for my Seca that show off the pods better. Think milled aluminum plates that cover the battery and rectifier areas but don't extend out the front where the pods are. (For those geometry minded folk it's the trapezoid that covers the top and sides of the "v" and ends just above the lock chain on the one side and just below the battery box on the other side.)

Rubber weatherstripping behind the edges to keep them from rattling.

The plates themselves are probably going to be 1/4" thick with 1/8" horizontal lines milled in the same spacing as the rear peg holders.

Anyway I'd like to make them removable in the same way as the existing covers but I can't seem to find any replacement studs. I know they exist because I've seen them used to repair the broken studs on old sidecovers but I don't have a clue where to find them.

Anybody care to hit me with a clue-bat here? I suppose I could have some turned for me but that's a little extra work and I'd be calling in a favor with a machinist anyway.

 

From the XJCD, with credit to the author. Don't know if it's exactly what you're looking for, but maybe it will give you some inspiration anyway.
Z

Here is a repair I thought I would pass along since I have not seen it discussed before. It has to do with the bullet nose pins that helps hold side covers and the like , attached to the bike.

I start with two #10 wood screws , flat top , plated. I solder the two screws together , flat to flat. I cut off one of the screws where the threads meet the bottom of the "V" shaped head. Grind smooth and polish the head that is now bullet shaped. I drill a pilot hole into the side cover and use 5 minute two part epoxy.

It fits into the rubber lined hole very snugly.

The diameter of the #10 wood screw is about 11/32" or 9 mm I inserted and re-inserted the panel a number of times without breakage. Now the real test is long term vibration etc.

Ross Presta

 

View my gallery. I just fabricated aluminum diamond plate covers attached with allen head 1/4 20's--9 of them per panel. I drilled and tapped holes to hold them in place, and will be using either the double sided padded tape or some sort of silicone to prevent any rattling. 1/16 inch thick plate dosent really bend as well as you would need it to follow the frame all the way to the tank, so I'm left with an almost "superman symbol" shaped piece leaving small triangle holes to see into the batterybox. Access to my batterytender connector is through this hole and there's a little room to reach in ther and fiddle around if you need to without unbolting the whole panel. The battery I had to relocate/mount 90degrees to it's previous location attaching the box to the frame. I don't have any close up pics, but it was a pretty simple and straightforward procedure I did in one night. They are not as easy to pop on and off as the stock covers, but not entirely a hassle, and look a lot better, if you like the custom route.

 

Oh, I'm on a Maxim, not Seca, but I suppose you could do something similar.

 

Yeah your sidecovers actually gave me the idea. (Thanks BTW.) I'm just using the milled aluminum because I have access to it.

I figure when when I re-paint maybe I can go with a straight silver metalflake. That way the color comes closer to the polished aluminum and the lines on the sidecovers exactly match the lines on the rear peg holders.

I _might_ paint the milled lines black but I'm not sure about that one. I think I'm going to have to take some pictures and use my photo editor to see if I can't get an idea of what it would look like.

 

They're a bit bright and will probably get painted with the rest of the bike over the winter. Right now they stand out a bit much.

 

I'm going for a different look that you are.

My only problem now is do I work on this bike or rebuild the Suzuki over the winter??

 

find some bolts with the same threads that are long enuf,and cut off the heads ad clean them up...then you can have em all day long.