What did you do to your FJ-tracer-gt today?

[wordsmith]

Making and installing an anti-glare display-screen hood

I don’t know whether it’s just me, but I often get a really fierce distracting reflective glare from the display screen (aka multi-function meter unit) of my 2015 Tracer – often it completely obscures the information for some time, depending on the orientation of the sun.  (Those currently shivering in the northern hemisphere may care to look up ‘sun’ on Google).   On my last Tracer I tried some anti-glare film (small pieces of special coated plastic used on phone and computer screens and the like), but they didn’t work too well for me.  

So I then made and fitted a little anti-glare screen-hood, which wasn’t too pretty but it worked.   I’ve since seen commercial devices aimed at the same problem, advertised on EBay.

So for this new bike it seemed a good idea to make another anti-glare hood.   After a few critical measurements were taken I cut the desired shape out of some stiff cardboard, held together with hot-melt glue, to use as a template and allow fine-tuning of the piece.  

The hood was cut out from 0.3mm mm aluminium plate with tin-snips and bent as needed in the vice (vise).   It’s secured at the vertical sides of the display screen and along the top with strong double-sided 3M tape – when bending it I left a slight extra clearance to its internal width to allow for the thickness of the tape on both sides of the vertical arms.

A narrow lip sloping down towards the rider from the top of the hood helps to keep the display in the shade much of the time, yet doesn’t obscure my sight of the display screen.

Once the hood was bent-up I applied some left-over carbon-look PVC sheet to the outside surfaces, which looks the part and blends nicely with nearby faux carbon elements around the front of the bike and the headlights.   I stuck this on first so that I could wrap it around the edges of the aluminium hood and give a neat finish.

The final task was simply to put the double-sided tape along each vertical arm of the display screen and along its top, to secure the hood.   Since it’s under no stresses or carrying any load this simple approach works well.   As – indeed – does the entire little job!

Tick off another farkle!    Pix below show the make-up of the hood as it progressed.  

Should anyone want to follow this lead I can post dimensions etc. here - no need to re-invent the wheel!

 

LATER EDIT: added the gold MT-09 sticker on top of the hood, just because I had it!

LATER LATER EDIT: as requested by a cuppla folks I've added to the pix below some dimensions of my little device.  I strongly suggest making up a cardboard template first to guide dimensions and modifications you may wish to make yourself.   On my installation I made the lhs vertical 'leg' a bit shorter than the rhs one so as to give easier access for gloved fingers to the reset press-button there on the display screen.   Not to scale: dimensions are in cm.

Edited February 5, 2019 by wordsmith

[koth442]

Nice work wordsmith!

[betoney]

@wordsmith - Very nice work.  I tried fabricating something similar but every design obstructed the view of the turn indicators on top of the display (maybe I'm too tall?).  I still haven't found a solution that works for me.

[bugie]

Very nice work and a great idea but i can't help thinking about the potential damage that metal lip could do to you in a head-on crash as it is basically a razor blade.

[wordsmith]

7 hours ago, betoney said:

@wordsmith - Very nice work.  I tried fabricating something similar but every design obstructed the view of the turn indicators on top of the display (maybe I'm too tall?).  I still haven't found a solution that works for me.

The turn signal indicators are indeed at the very top of the display, and they are not something you want to become invisible!  Doing the post-fabrication tuning I had to fold the 'lip' of the hood down to allow me to see them readily, but I can now do so. 

That's one reason why I put in the extra task of making-up the cardboard dummy prototype.

The width of the upper part of the hood - on my model the overhang is about 6cm wide - and your height (eye-level measurement in relation to the hood) will definitely affect visibility.   I'm 5'9.5" on a warm day: what are you, betoney?

Edited January 10, 2019 by wordsmith

[wordsmith]

7 hours ago, bugie said:

Very nice work and a great idea but i can't help thinking about the potential damage that metal lip could do to you in a head-on crash as it is basically a razor blade.

I'll let you know - but strangely enough someone made an identical comment when I posted my first report of this little device on my last Tracer, well over 12 months ago! 

[betoney]

27 minutes ago, wordsmith said:

 I'm 5'9.5" on a warm day: what are you, betoney?

I am 6'-1" and sit fairly upright.  When I made the hood deep enough to block some glare the indicators could no longer be seen, I kept trimming it back until I could see them and soon the hood was completely ineffective.

[wordsmith]

3 hours ago, betoney said:

I am 6'-1" and sit fairly upright.  When I made the hood deep enough to block some glare the indicators could no longer be seen, I kept trimming it back until I could see them and soon the hood was completely ineffective.

Yeah, I can see how this would happen.   Time for a new bike maybe??  😏

[wordsmith]

As many here have done, I added a pin-stripe of coloured tape along the shadow-line under the tank.   Visually it breaks-up the rather dark area there, and also seems to elongate the bike, unifying the red-painted tank and rear panels.  

The colour-match isn’t exact, but the tape - and indeed the bike's paintwork - is much less orange in colour than the pic below suggests: I’m happy with the effect.

A 9.8 metre roll of 6mm tape cost me $9.30 delivered, with heaps left over for other applications…

Edited January 11, 2019 by wordsmith

[dingophil]

I'm looking to do something similar, but I've got the matte black/gray color scheme. The problem is that this means the world is my oyster and most color combinations will work. The trick is deciding what color(s) I want to use, or if I should leave it the way it is. I really do like the way the red ones look with that additional stripe.

[wordsmith]

2 minutes ago, dingophil said:

I'm looking to do something similar, but I've got the matte black/gray color scheme. 

On an earlier matte grey Tracer I put in some metallic (chrome) gold tape, to match the front 24 carat fork.   Looked great!

[dingophil]

2 minutes ago, wordsmith said:

On an earlier matte grey Tracer I put in some metallic (chrome) gold tape, to match the front 24 carat fork.   Looked great!

I've definitely considered that. Also considered a gold vinyl wrap on just the matte panel below the tank. Nothing firm right now, just rolling ideas around. I would be interested to see pictures of that concept if available.

[bugie]

10 hours ago, wordsmith said:

I'll let you know - but strangely enough someone made an identical comment when I posted my first report of this little device on my last Tracer, well over 12 months ago! 

Lol.. Wasn't me

[wordsmith]

Today I finally got around to fitting my small top-box onto the rear rack.   I need to mount it there as if it's on the pillion seat, despite it having a very low profile, I cannot easily swing my leg over it when mounting and demounting - getting old and stiff!

The top-box is an el cheapo at about AUD$40 IIRC, but still very useful: it's one of those PELICAN knock-offs, and came with the pick-and-pluck foam inserts, which are useful if one is carrying fragile stuff such as camera gear.  Good chunky cam-style catches work well.   The hinged lid-to-body join has a good tongue-and-groove interface and I can vouch that it is better than just shower-proof.  

This TREKA brand box has been on a number of earlier bikes (and needs a good clean!) and it holds my two-piece wet-weather suit, plus some other small bits and pieces.   It has been on - among other bikes - a BMW GS, where it's sort-of rugged industrial style suited that bike, but it doesn't look out-of-place on the Tracer, IMHO. 

Internal size is 33cm x 23cm x 8cm including the lid (13" x 9" x 4"): capacity is about 6L.

Edited January 13, 2019 by wordsmith

[nhchris]

Installed an adventure-bike-type splash guard to try and contain the shower coming off the rear tire.

Now... I already know some of you naked bike guys abhor this look, so you don't need to comment and tell me so!

The unit looks pretty rugged and well made,  and fits perfectly into the swing arm, replacing the aluminum chain adjuster block.  And at $66 it's a lot cheaper than the R&G extended rear fender I originally wanted. I 'm a pensioner after all!

cb

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by nhchris