Fairing drilling

[JET-A]

I heard from home that my sliders have arrived. Thanks Charles.

Now for the questions......

1. Is it better to drill the hole the size you want, or keep it a little small (1/4 inch smaller) and open it up with a dremel?

2. Drill speed fast or slow?

3. since the drilling will be at an angle, is there some way of supporting the part cut off while the last bit is cut?

4. masking to prevent chips/cracks. Is standard masking tape the best to use, or something else?

Thanks for the input.

Todd

 

[Devil Dog]

(JET-A @ Mar. 20 2007,15:47) I heard from home that my sliders have arrived.  Thanks Charles.

Now for the questions......

1. Is it better to drill the hole the size you want, or keep it a little small (1/4 inch smaller) and open it up with a dremel?

2.  Drill speed fast or slow?

3. since the drilling will be at an angle, is there some way of supporting the part cut off while the last bit is cut?

4. masking to prevent chips/cracks.  Is standard masking tape the best to use, or something else?

Thanks for the input.

Todd

1. I started with a very small pilot hole....then jumped right to the correct size. If you go smaller and attempt to dremel out the rest you will end up with a mess.

2. Slow to medium

3. a steady hand will do the trick at this point. take your time and be patient

4. standard masking tape will work perfect...it did for me.

Good luck.

DD

 

[BlueHaya]

Make your pilot hole the same size as your leading bit on the hole saw or be careful of the pulling effect of the bit. I made my pilot hole smaller and it wanted to pull the hole saw into the plastic on my first side causing some chewing on the plastic. The key is very little pressure and let the saw just nibble away at the plastic at medium speed.


You will be very scared at first but once that one is done the other side will be less scary.

Measure 3 times and cut once.

 

[JET-A]

Thanks for the information.

I bought the $2.92 lazer pointer from Wally World today. I will be trying that first. If I cannot get comfortable with the results, I will get a motormount bolt, grind it to a point, and use that method. If the hole was on a flat portion of the fairing, I would use a router. I have done a LOT of wookworking in the past. I still have all of the tools, but have not worked with plastic.

Do you think it would improve the cut to build a jig and do the cutting in a drill press? Allowing, of course, for the angle the hole needs to be drilled at?

Just another thought.

 

[Steve R]

the tip of a sharpie fits perfect in the motor mount hole. Just lay the fairing back gentlly, and the mark is right on..

 

[JET-A]

One of the mini sharpies I presume??

Or is there more to this?

 

[omslaw]

Take an allen wrench that fits in the motor-mount bolt. Cut it down to about an inch or so.

Chuck the cutoff piece in a drill and grind a point on it. I ran the drill while holding the allen cutoff against my bench grinder. This ensured that the point was exactly centered on the allen cutoff.

Pull your fairings and stick the cutoff in the bolt head. Carefully re-attach your fairings, putting all the bolts back in. (this way you know it's in the right position).

Take a rubber mallet and with a cloth over the spot of the 'cutoff', hit the fairing a couple of times. You will see a slight 'dimple' where the EXACT center of the bolt is.

Pull the fairing back off and get ready to drill. If you wish, you can drill a small pilot hole (put masking tape where you will drill). After drilling the pilot hole, you can check the alignment of it by re-attaching the fairing - but since you used the allen cutoff as a marker - it should be dead-on.

Use the correct size hole saw and go slow to medium. I drilled from the outside in. I just drilled all the way thru - and roughness on the cut will be on the inside.

If needed, finish off with a dremel.

Repeat on the other side.

 

[JET-A]

Just a quick update with the procedures I decided to use.

For pictures, see my post titled success.

I had purchased a cheap laser from Wal-mart, but found a better one while looking for a new hole saw. My 2" hole saw was worn, and I did not want to chance anything. Anyway, I was in Harbor freight and saw a laser level on a small tripod on sale for $5.97. Bought that mainly because the cheaper one from Wally World would not stay on. You had to hold down the button to keep it on. This could cause movement (or so I thought).

Finally bought a new 'quality' holesaw from Lowe's, to make the cut as clean as possible.

1. Pulled the fairing, lined up the laser with the bolt head.

2. Reinstalled the fairing and marked where the laser was hitting it.

3. Removed the fairing to make sure the laser still lined up with the bolt.

4. Reinstalled the fairing, drilled the pilot hole.

5. Drilled the hole with the holesaw, keeping the alignment straight with the laser on the back of the drill.

6. Mount the slider base, Install the grommet.

7. Install the outer portion of the slider.

8. Repeat on the other side.

I notched out the grommet where the fairing screw was "affecting" the grommet. Just a bit of a nibble.

Snapped a few pictures, and cleaned the bike.

Worked like a champ.

Thanks everyone for all of the input and encouragement.

Todd

 

[ibified]

Congrats:

For future reference, here's what I did. I marked my spot to drill using the sharpened motor mount trick. Then I drilled out a small (1/8 inch) pilot hole after removing the fairing from the bike. After that, I used a bit that was the same size as my hole saw center bit.

Here's where I got creative: Instead of using the standard hole saw center bit, I got a longer drill bit and put it in the hole saw assembly. I put the fairing on the bike, then slid the center bit into the hole i had drilled, and, also, into the bolt hole for the motor mount. This assured that I was going straight in. If you look at the hole you drill this way, it is not perfectly round, nor should it be. Since the fairing curves, you will have a slight variation to the hole shape (a little bit oval, if looked at flat) but it will be round in a plane perpendicular to the angle of the motor mount/frame slider bolt. This is what you want.

As for other tips, I used a brand new hole saw to do this, and ran the drill at a somewhat slow speed and took my time. No sense melting any more plastic than you have to, as it makes for some difficult cleanup afterwards to make the hole edges look decent. I brought my holes out the last little bit with a dremel on low speed with a coarse sanding drum, then finished with a fine pitch rat tail file.

My way takes a little while to do, but its methodical, and, for the most part, idiot proof.

 

[thepushercg]

good info in here

i used a laser when i did mine.

 

[FastBusa]

If its not too late. Remember the hole you cut should line up with the plane of the slider, not to the faring. If you want the hole to match the slider then cut the hole just big enough then with a sharpie put the faring back on and the slider. Using the slider as a guide trace the circumference so far out, as you want. That way everything will be parallel. ood Luck

 

[happybusa]

(omslaw @ Mar. 20 2007,17:20) Take an allen wrench that fits in the motor-mount bolt. Cut it down to about an inch or so.

Chuck the cutoff piece in a drill and grind a point on it. I ran the drill while holding the allen cutoff against my bench grinder. This ensured that the point was exactly centered on the allen cutoff.

Pull your fairings and stick the cutoff in the bolt head. Carefully re-attach your fairings, putting all the bolts back in. (this way you know it's in the right position).

Take a rubber mallet and with a cloth over the spot of the 'cutoff', hit the fairing a couple of times. You will see a slight 'dimple' where the EXACT center of the bolt is.

Pull the fairing back off and get ready to drill. If you wish, you can drill a small pilot hole (put masking tape where you will drill). After drilling the pilot hole, you can check the alignment of it by re-attaching the fairing - but since you used the allen cutoff as a marker - it should be dead-on.

Use the correct size hole saw and go slow to medium. I drilled from the outside in. I just drilled all the way thru - and roughness on the cut will be on the inside.

If needed, finish off with a dremel.

Repeat on the other side.

no need to use a cut down allen-
we use the large phillips bit from our impact driver.

we have also rubbed neversieze on the points of the bit
to mark for the pilot also.

Styrofoam block instead of rag- with a rubber mallet also
will dimple the inside face of your fairing side for the
pilot hole.
Drill the pilot hole first.
Drill slider hole from inside with fairing lying on the
styrofoam block, have someone steady the fairing.
drilling from the inside (with masking on the paint side) helps to prevent wild paint scratches/slips.

PAY ATTENTION:
Run your hole saw slowly in reverse with gentle pressure
to create a smooth hole.( dont use a cheap hole saw kit
on your $400 plastic!!)

watch out for the location on the clutch side, you should
shift the hole slightly away from the fairing screw mounting
hole to prevent cutting into the recessed fairing boss.
dont worry if the fairing contacts the slider because the
holes you make will tend to be an oval because of the
curvature of the fairing side.

dont be afraid to use a saw 1/4 inch larger than the slider-
just check out the slider outside dimension because
different brands are different sizes. dont assume this
is a no-brainer. comment: 1/8 inch over is possible but
you cannot re-drill if its too tight, a few slow passes with
a chainsaw file maybe necessary. dremels are extremely
aggressive in anyones hands.

Dont be pressured for time when you do this. We usually
schedule this with a oil change or service.

use care and common sense to install sliders and when
riding your pride and joy.

YOU can become a veteran slider installer.

SullyBusa

 

[McyMike]

If you don't have a laser.....stick a wad of clay inside the fairing and press it againd the the frame mount. Remove fairing...mark hole in center of clay impression and drill.........