Removing upper triple to get Shinto clip-ons installed

[adouglas]

Nice day today and I had a free hour or two, so I thought I'd install my new clip-ons.

It did not happen.

The Shinto clip-on clamps, unlike other brands, have only one bolt. To install them below the triple as intended, the upper triple clamp (the part you look at when you're sitting on the bike) must be removed, then the clip-on clamps slid down the tubes, then the triple re-installed on top of them.

The factory manual is useless here. It says you can remove the triple but it doesn't give any details at all. I thought I'd be able to simply remove the handlebars, remove the stem bolt, loosen the fork tube pinch bolts and lift the upper triple off.

Nope. There was something holding it in place. A flashlight and inspection mirror showed that there's a lip on the ignition switch assembly that hooks over part of the frame's stem tube and keeps you from pulling the upper triple off.

The ignition switch is held in by special security bolts. The heads of these are designed to break off during installation so thieves can't just unbolt the switch. Removing them requires drilling them out, which is a big pain in the neck (I had to do it on my last bike and I do not want to do it again).

So, it appears that in order to install these puppies, I need to suspend the front of the bike, loosen both the upper and lower triple clamps, and drop the fork. Not worth it this season… I'm going to winterize the bike in a few weeks anyway, so I'll just do it in the spring.

Am I missing something here? Is there a way to remove that upper triple without pulling out the ignition switch (which would require drilling out bolts)?

[randomwalk101]

unbolt the big bolt (22mm i think).
unbolt the two triple tree bolts (12mm)
unbolt the four hex bolts holding the handle bar (M8)
grab the triple tree and pull it up and out..may need to wiggle a little.
put the Shinto clipon on
reverse install...

5 minutes job...yes, LITERALLY!!!

move on...

/thread closed.

[adouglas]

Not so fast there, chief.

I did all of that and the triple is loose, but when I yank it up it moves about a millimeter (freely) and then STOPS. I can unweight the front suspension by pulling up on it further.

I looked underneath with an inspection mirror and there absolutely is a lip of plastic that's part of the ignition switch assembly, which impinges on an arc-shaped plate welded to the stem tube. Based on is position and appearance, this plate appears to be part of the fork lock.

The red circled bit is the lip on the ignition switch. The ignition switch is bolted to the upper triple using those bloody security bolts.




The lip hooks over the arc-shaped plate on the stem tube, which is circled in this image.

[adouglas]

Okay, got it. Never mind.

As I was looking at those two graphics I suddenly realized what I'd done, or rather failed to do.

When I have the bike up on the service stand I'm in the habit of leaving the steering cranked all the way to the left. The bike will want to lean to the left when I let it down that way, so I'm less likely to screw up and drop it.

The projection on the switch was hanging up not on the plate, but on the box-shaped structure to the left of it (which I believe is the actual steering lock). I'd already taken the bars off so I never tried turning the wheel the other way.

I turned the bars to the right, then tried again, and bingo. Done.

The light is going so I left the job part done… I got the bar end screws out (used the kitchen butane torch for 3 minutes on each, and no problem) but the controls are still on the old bars and I haven't drilled the locator hole yet.

[randomwalk101]

Lol...

[Yoda]

Thanks for reminding me about the torch. Have to find mine before i tackle my woodcrafts tuesday.

[Bo21]

I have not looked at the location of the security screws, but if you can get to them with a punch and hammer, they will back right out. They are not torqued real heavy. At least that is how we used to get them out on Honda and Nissan cars when I was a locksmith. Once they are out, slot them and reinstall until you can get the replacement screws.

Just FYI. Please correct me if you are not able to get close to the bolt heads.

[wayanlam]

i thought people usually put the clipons above the tripple clamp... would make life a lot easier for you if you did that!

what if after all the trouble of removing the tripple clamp you find out that they dont even fit down there due to clearance issues, and you have to put them on top anyhow? :P

just a thought~

[adouglas]

Originally Posted by Bo21

I have not looked at the location of the security screws, but if you can get to them with a punch and hammer, they will back right out. They are not torqued real heavy. At least that is how we used to get them out on Honda and Nissan cars when I was a locksmith. Once they are out, slot them and reinstall until you can get the replacement screws.

Just FYI. Please correct me if you are not able to get close to the bolt heads.

See post #4 above. Not an issue.

[adouglas]

Originally Posted by wayanlam

i thought people usually put the clipons above the tripple clamp... would make life a lot easier for you if you did that!

what if after all the trouble of removing the tripple clamp you find out that they dont even fit down there due to clearance issues, and you have to put them on top anyhow? :P

just a thought~

1) To put them on above the triple you have to raise the forks to give the clamp enough tube to grab. Raising the forks without lowering the rear changes the steering geometry, which I do not want to do. Nor do I want to lower the bike.

2) Putting clip-ons above the triple largely defeats the purpose, which is to change the ergonomics.

3) They're designed to go on below the triple.

4) Others have done this and there are pictures. Clearance is tight but it does exist.

[wayanlam]

thats a pic of the clipons set above the tripple clamp.

i haven't actually tried a bike with it on the top, so i couldn't say how it affects the steering geometry. but ive noticed that a LOT of people like to lower their front end here in indonesia. to the point that the

however its not completely true that the ergonomics dont change if you put the clipons above the tripple clamps, ive sat and seen a fair few ninjas with various models of clipons and almost all of them caused you to lean forward in a more super sport sitting position = sore please, lol

my comment to this thread was more along the lines of " why not try out the other position (or maybe you have), and who knows you might like it, and save yourself a fair bit of time!"

but i assume you have done this mod now and managed to put the clipons below the tripple clamps?