Battery Box, how did you do it?

Im building a cafe out of my 82 xj650 and I am trying to get some ideas on how the battery box has been done by other members. I have pods on my bike so I have the room. I was thinking ammo can. Size is an issue when trying to hide all the electrical components in there too. So all in all im just trying to see what you guys did for a battery box and hiding the electrical components.

 

I put the (smaller)battery on my cafe XJ550 under the seat hump that I fabricated. The igniter & regulator are under the seat between the seat rails on an alluminuim plate which is bolted to the underside of the seat rails. The fuse box & starter relay will hopefully fit under the tank.
I haven't completed the wiring yet but that is the plan.
It will depend on how you have fashioned your cafe to where everything can be fitted.

Do you have any photos of the project??

Cheers
Col

 

Shitty phone picture... plus I have a bunch of stuff on order and some stuff waiting to go on:

clip ons
headlight mount (to get rid of ugly bracket)
2.5" speedo
fork seals
rear wheel conversion to front wheel
second set of carbs at my buddies shop being sonic cleaned
bar end mirrors
fork stem bearings
rear brakes
rear wheel bearings (minus well do em while im in there)
front brakes
integrated led tail light ( its basically a 6 inch line of leds)
k&N stage 3 jet kit

I still need to order:

Rear sets
rear shocks (reservoir style)
grips
and tires

After I get all that together it will all come back apart to be painted or wrapped up somehow.. I been looking into using a metal lunchbox to carry my electrical components. I see these prefabbed boxes for sale on the interwebs here but im not trying to spend 60 bux for a plain box or 100 for a spiderweb box.. its been done, so im not gonna go that route. It may seem my work is cut out for me but its still gonna be some time.... Work seems to always get in the way. :roll:

 

is that a Monster seat? if so i was just sizing one up for mine. whatever it is... nice lines it looks good

 

Hi,
can you not scoop out the foam from the underside of the seat hump, fibreglass it so it won't deform & use the space you have made to hide the electrics or battery?? Fit an alloy plate between the rails to carry the electrics.
The fibreglass will keep the original shape which will allow it to still be covered with vinyl.

I wouldn't use an ammo box, bit ugly & best on a rat bike not a cafe racer where you want clean lines in my opinion.

Cheers
Col.

 

Chris, yes I hacked up a monster seat, my plan is to make a new pan for it out of 11g steel at work with the plasma table. Then bend it to fit the hump, I curently have the back part of the frame hacked off too, I plan on welding in a brace at the end to hold my integrated LED and keep the seat from flopping.

colxj, what would I use to scoop out the hump? I have a hot knife im borrowing from work to cleanb up the seat tonight but I dont thing it will work for the hump because its like a soldering gun with an exacto blade attachment.

I may have to make two pans, one to sit on top of the frame with a cut out thats shapped like an H , bend the middle part down , then weld a piece of bent sheet in to complete the battery box and lay my battery(get a jelly) horozontal in that with all the electrical components.

 

Kerst4life, hey brother I like where you are going with your bike. Personally I like the seat you have on it. I saw one similar which was covered in Leather with leather stitching and pattern on it which looked pretty nice for sure. Keep up the good work, looks like you are headed for a winner for sure. Grunt007, 81'XJ750 SecaR, Mi. I like the looks of the Bobbers so much I have considered rearanging my Seca but to be honest I think I will keep this one pretty original since I have the full Fairing, and Vette hard storage behind the seat and side storage boxes. These bikes are beginning to disappeer and we need to keep some of the originals so they won't one day be forgotten. Maybe the next one I will get to do a Bobber with a chrome frame ect.

 

nice benelli tank! love the way those look

 

pretty sure its a xj750 seca tank

 

My gal does upholstery and uses an electric carving knife from the second hand store at about $6.

 

haha yea its a 750 seca tank, on a maxim 650

 

like a fillet knife? does it saw back n forth like a sawzaw?

 

Nice project ya got going on. As an Army veteran, gun nut, and guy trying to figure out what to do about my crappy plastic side panels, I may just "borrow" the ammo can idea.

 

Yes. Just like Grandpa used to carve a turkey. You can use any carving knife, but it seems that the quick motion of the knife gives you a bit more control and the foam doesn't "squish" and move around so much from the pressure you apply.

 

I use a .30 caliber ammo can on my 550. I made a shelf out of angle welded across the frame where the stock air box aand battery used to sit that let's the can slide in/out. Battery & starter unit inside, key, kill & hi/lo switches on one end, fuse box, rectifier and tci boxes on the side. I can get some close up pics this week.

 

I welded a bracket to the frame so I could mount the battery left to right vs the traditional side lengthwise mount.

Sits right behind my Air filters. Original plastic Box sits in bracket and there are 2 mounting points for the top on my electrics pan above.