A customer asked about installing a crab-style piece on the rear. When I machine a press-fit collar, I’m always worried about getting it in properly.
The configuration it arrived in was strange—the raised collar supports from both sides, but the edge has a radius and doesn’t bottom out. Odd shape.
Hoping it might be a little easier, I went ahead and machined it to check the dimensions.
It’s not unusable. But we need an extra collar, so the number of parts increases—which means tire removal is a pain.
If serviceability is poor, don’t install aftermarket parts! That mindset is really important.
If I chamfer the edge a bit more, removal and installation might be about one percent easier—that kind of thinking.
I gently warmed the support in the oven and tapped it in. Ahh, peace of mind.
And that’s how it fit perfectly.
It was a racing spec, so no horn. I think adults should always go with inspection-compliant.
Cut
8R
Sheet material cut, holes drilled, bent.
Then spot welded and done. Super fast!
After that, a little grinding and it’s complete. The fork is fine too.
There are cable ties like this too. I cut this O-shape into a C-shape
and snapped the idle adjuster in place. Might have been a surprisingly good idea.
I have another XJR in the shop. The GS gets a new one. Remove this lever from the XJR and swap it with the used one from the GS. It wouldn’t come out at all.
Crack-crack-crack—nasty sounds. I got it done by bottoming everything out and applying force only to the pin.
The pin gets replaced too. The included clip feels like it’ll be a pain to work with.
Drill through and secure with a beta pin.
A slight bend can actually make it easier to grip in some cases.
That’s the gist of the work. After that, a test ride and we’re done.
