Custom Under-tail Toolbox/Rear Fender Project

[sirepair]

First let me say that I personally am not a fan of the "stinger" tail that is so commonly used now days.  Fine for an all-out sport bike, but not for many others.  I'll also say that I know many of you won't like how I've styled this.  That's OK, it's not YOUR bike!  But for me, this has worked out well and I thought I would share some of the process, along with the final results.

For a Sport/Touring bike, the FJ09 is sorely lacking in onboard storage.  Guess I'm spoiled by my ST-1100, with its fairing pockets, large under-seat cubby and factory saddle bags.

My FJ (bought slightly used) came with the Yamaha bags, and I've added the Yamaha top box.  I have both sizes of the top box, will swap depending upon need.  Even so, I've felt that the area under the fender could be better utilized.  And I needn't say anything about the fugly "Great Pumpkin" turn signals....
So, my original idea was to craft a container of some shape from aluminum sheet, with a door, to allow  some tool storage under the tail.  But as I was shopping around, I came across a plastic ammo box at Harbor Freight.  I think it was about $6.00. I brought it home and, after pulling the stinger off, hung it under the fender with some tape and a bungie.  The size and shape was about all I could ask for, so I decided to use it.

A piece of 3/4 in aluminum angle, about 4 in long, is used to attach the front of the box to the two rear stinger mount holes.  I had to stack a few washer on the bolts to build up for the gap in the recess of the fender.  I used some 1/2 in aluminum strap and fabricated 2 hangers, R and L, that would loop over the top box frame and support the rear of the box.  To make the hangers, I first cut about 16 in of the strap, then using my vise and a hammer, bent a 90 about 1 1/2 in from the end.  I mounted a socket of the approximate diameter of the top box mount pipe in the vise, used a vise grip to clamp the strap to the socket, then bent the strap around the socket.

I opted to use a piece of 1/2 in black HDPE for the rear fender.  I wanted something styled some-what fitting for the bike, which would hold the license plate, incorporate new LED turn signal lights, and maybe add the MT logo, just for looks.  I wanted the fender to be incorporated into the lid, so the design had to allow for the lid to open and latch.  

I covered the surface of the HDPE with painter's tape and transferred dimensions from the lid.  I used router bits with my dremel tool (there is a router base that you can get for your dremel if you don't have one) and routed out an area that would lock the lid to the fender. One purpose of this step was to get an idea of how to work the material.  Routing HDPE is much like routing soft wood.

Then I flipped over the HDPE, laid out my desired design, and started routing out the basic shape.  I cut 2 different widths of scrap wood to make guide spacers; one for the "near" side side of the router bit, one for the far side.  Then used the spacers to set up my router guide (I used a level) which allowed me to route out one line, or edge, at a time.

Once the edges were all routed out, I put the router bit in my drill press, set the depth, then routed out the excess material between the lines.  My fender was nearly complete.  I sanded some of the irregular spots, then used my sand blaster with coal slag media to blast the entire surface to give it a rough textured surface.

I mounted the ammo box lid with a few counter-sink screws.  I also purchased some "LED Bolts" to use to iluminate the license plate.  Old computer LED wiring connectors (for power, hard drive, etc) will just thread through the 1/4-20 nuts that the LED bolts use.  This will allow the removal of the license plate without having to cut any wires.

The turn signals are amber"Emergency beacons" purchased from Amazon.  Damn bright!  They can blink various patterns, but I set them as constant on so the upgraded LED blinker relay would give them a proper blink rate.  The wiring is all fed in to a wire loom, then routed up in to the same hole where the original wiring went in.  Black silicone was used to fill the hole to keep water out.  Connectors from Custom LED were used to allow everything to be plug and play.

As a final touch, I embossed the MT logo with some red vinyl that is pretty close to the original color.  I also slid heat-shrink tubing over the aluminum banding to give it a nice black color. 

So, there you go; custom rear fender with integrated tool box!  I probably have at least 20 hours in this project (routing was tedious!) but I am pleased with the results!!

All work performed was done with hand and power tools most should already have in their shop.  Only additional tools I purchased for this were router bits for my dremel tool.

Shopping list:
Harbor Freight: Ammo box  https://shop.harborfreight.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/6/1/61451_W3.jpg
Amazon:
1/2 in Black HDPE (approx 12x12 in) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JPHTPCI/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Amber LED "Emergency Beacons"  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074V7VD4Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
LED Bolt lights https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CXNPRNW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[dingophil]

Great work on the fabrication! So you just lift the back flap to open the underside storage?

[BBB]

I’m always in awe of people’s fabrication skills. 🏆

[sirepair]

9 hours ago, dingophil said:

Great work on the fabrication! So you just lift the back flap to open the underside storage?

The hinge is on the left side. Release the clasp and the fender/lid swings left. I'll add a few more pictures to clarify.

[sirepair]

Here's a few more pics:

 

[wordsmith]

That's outstanding - and pretty satisfying too, I'll bet!

[countersteer]

@sirepair  Kudos for what looks to be well thought out and well executed.    Now that you've got 3 month of use, is there anything you'd do differently?

BTW,  creative off-label use of that socket.

[sirepair]

I have been very happy with how well this has worked out. Having a compressor and plug kit paid off a couple months ago when I had a puncture about 15 miles from home.

Being able to remove the rear wheel without messing with anything other than popping the lid and swinging it out of the way has proven handy too! 

Only change I've made since install was to add a couple small zip ties to keep the hinge from coming apart when open.

I'm looking for a small lock that won't rattle around to put on it, but that hasn't been a great concern.

[STrep]

Good job Pat