[md86]

Taz made a bracket out of 1/8" aluminum.

I THINK maybe you mean THAZ .

[brooder]

No. I was wrong. I think it was Firewall. He posted the shovel removal thread (that's gone now). It showed how he made the bracket.

But, yes, Thaz has made one too...

[seypea]

yeah i used the bracket from homedepot that was in the instructions in the sticky. It worked well, however if you bend it not too tight, there is a roundness and if it''s not at a right angle, the look isn't right. I made sure the second bracket didn't have to much stress when making the bend, but I think the weight of the blinker and w/ vibration, it will break sooner or later. the 1/8" just is too think. perhaps reinforce w/ bracket, but integrated lights take care of it too

[Seabeefester]

I have the universal bracket off of Ebay myself. So far so good. I guess i better start looking for cracks or lose nuts. LOL

[brooder]

Integrated isn't an option for the 98-02 without a tail swap. Then you have to get the 03+ taillight assembly as well.

To keep the stress from getting too bad during the bend, try heating the aluminum. Not a lot, just enough to soften it for an easy bend. That should help.

[Black_peter]

About Aluminum...(and other metals)
Aluminum (like all metals) comes in different grades. If you are using something to make something else..
(If you know what I mean..)
You have to be aware of Anodizing and hardening.
Once something is hardened it becomes brittle..
(think about glass, very hard, tough to scratch
but dont drop it!!)
Now imagine plastic (an adjective and a noun)
It can bend.. but scratches easily..
1/8" anodized Al will crack over the surface no matter what the bend radius is.. And on both sides!
So you can end up with very little intergral material.

Companies that market aluminum parts will work the part before anodizing, and will machine rather than bent harder alloys.

Aluminum is tricky to heat..
In my experiance the temp that aids in forming
is very close to it's melting point (depending of course on the alloy.) You might have some luck
anneling it (removing the hardness) but you are better off starting with soft aluminum..

Remember it is unlikely that you will come across pure aluminum. It is like steel, and gold, an alloy, a mixture of several metals.
"Stainless steel" can mean any of the hundreds
of types of Iron based alloys..
Good stainless has a high carbon and chrome level.
TIP want a great knife? get one that is "tool steel"
I have a Gerber made from D2.
This is stainless (it wont rust) but is magnetic.
It will hold a sharp edge like satan!
Stainless (Like "as seen on TV") will be rust resistant but have such a bad mix it can't hardly
be sharpened.. But back to Aluminum..
If I were to bend aluminum I would choose
a soft alloy. You can tell by the feel and the "scratch" test if it is soft. Soft alloy can be
scratched with your thumbnail..
Then bend slow, don't use a hammer.
An adjustable wrench works well..
Keep bend radii on the large side..
If you "bump" into your bracket it might need to bee readjusted as it will bend easily but it will be resistant to vibration and will bend not break!

[Cobra94]

Aluminium has very poor vibration resistance characteristics when used in a canteliever configuration (hanging a turn signal off the bent end of the bracket) and since the most readily available is the 6061-T6 type chances are they will keep on cracking. If the bracket was anodized, even worse, as Black_peter said the hardening only makes it more brittle (anodized only penetrates .0001 - .001 depending on the type) but once it cracks you have that much less material.

A better alternative is to use a steel (mild or stainless) or angle iron. You could get away with using thinner stock that the AL because steel is stronger (3X). Also if the bent end was supported or tacked to the side that holds the liscence plate then you would have less of a canteliever effect and it would be better able to support the turn signal. Think of a cardboard box when flat vs assembled.

A common misconception is that because AL is 1/3 that density of Steels that you save that much when making the part out of aluminium. In truth if the parts were made to handle the same loads, the weight savings only comes out to around 25% so on a part as small a the bracket, steel may be the way to go.

FWIW I have an 04 and used an integreator (stock bulbs) and works quite well. No one has ever complained about not being able to see my turn signals.

[Black_peter]

You could get away with using thinner stock that the AL because steel is stronger (3X).
A common misconception is that because AL is 1/3 that density of Steels that you save that much when making the part out of aluminium. In truth if the parts were made to handle the same loads, the weight savings only comes out to around 25% so on a part as small a the bracket, steel may be the way to go.
.

Welcome stranger!!!

Yes the old rule is Steel is twice the wight but 3 times the stiffness..
But not as blingy...

[MrDanger]

Hey gang,

I say this topic and fel I had to throw my own 2 cents in.

I love the intgrated turn signals, I changed them out and put an led stop and turn sig tail lamp. I love it and feel it was the best upgrade I have done to date with my Kat. It made the rear look so much more stream line than with the original ones. I also have a fender eliminator kit on it too. The whole thing looks so much more sporty.

Something great to do to anyones Kat I highly recommend it.

Later Kat riders...

Gomez

[rotary13b]

I have clear alternative integrated tail lamp. Had it on for 2 seasons and loved it. However it is hard to see whenever the sun is bright. I had a lot of riders complement me on it ( looks cool ), but at the same time they would tell me that it is very hard to see.
I put my red tail light back in and my clear turn signals. After few hundred km my bracket broke too. I made another one and use smaller turn signals. However I cut a 90 degree 1' wide pices and put them one side against the bracket and another side against the part where turn signal goes through. I used 2 rivets to secure my 90 to the bracket. On the other side the turn signal goes through duble wall. Also this way the turn signals don't flap up and down while riding and u don't need a welder. All u need is 4 rivets and the gun.

[brooder]

Another method that will allow the aluminum, and should be pretty good is not to cut of any of the aluminum. Make a cut along the factory bend. Then bend down one tab over the other. Same concept as rotary, but all one peice. Because the bends are in different directions, they will reinforce each other.

[The CyberPoet]

Bah, humbug!

Actually, everyone has excellent points on fabrications and metal choices. Personally, I'd make it out of 1/8" (or 10 gauge) mild steel bar stock, with a couple minor support triangles welded on, but I tend to over-engineer everything for reliability (that's the German in me coming out).

Meanwhile, back to what I meant to say...
Integrated tail lights are all the rage (they look great), and depending on the LCD technology used, can be brighter to onlookers -- within the LED's focal angle. The problem that virtually all of the LED-based integrated tail lights (and integrated tail lights in general) have is that they are not particularly visible to someone sitting 40 - 60 degrees off your butt... Which is also a position where your front blinker isn't traditionally visible to them either (and the spot where they are most likely to end up in your own blind spot, so if you forget to crank your head around once, you could be on top of them). Thus, use of integrated blinkers really ought to be augmented with something that will flash towards the sides close to the rear of the bike (even the smallest flush-mount LED bulb, if it's sufficiently bright, would work) to help keep you and your intentions visible to the cagers who can barely be bothered to see you (when they can be bothered to see you at all).

Just my two cented rant.
Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[Cobra94]

Welcome stranger!!!

Thanks for the welcome Black_peter but I'm not really a stranger...just one of the chosen few that got summarily bumped off when some usernames were "lost" (I smell a conspiracy...cause I'm Canadian).

Anyhow Cyber is right about the rear quarters, I plan to place signals facing out the sides (or 45 degrees) to cover the blind spots. Even though I use incadescent lamps the tail light doesn't come around the corners too well.

[Jax]

Just to throw in something...I was at my dad's shop yesterday...finishing up my top tripple we are making...well I see this piece of metal that is bent just right to make the bracket for my license plate...pick it up and low and behold it's stainless steel....well now I've cut a piece and need to fit it on the bike...but there is enough left for at least two more brackets...maybe I'll make them and put them up for sale...I'm going to try to make the part for the turn signals built in....but as stated above it is much heavier than the Aluminum counter part....I'll post pics or new thread once completed..

[ditchdoc1017]

I done mine on my GS using a trailer converter,worked great cost 12 bucks.Will that work on my Kat.