Forward controls for Yamaha Bolt by SS Custom Cycle

Overlay image of the SS custom Cycle forward controls and the Stock controls

I got the SS Custom Cycle forwards mounted yesterday. The kit itself is of reasonably good quality. Personally I would have preferred the relocation bars to be made out of steel instead of aluminium, but the parts are plenty strong as they are now. I have to say though, that the mounting instructions leave a lot of room for improvement, Tiny B&W pictures and the instructions don't really help with the tricky parts such as how to actually deal with the extension rods for the shifter and rear brake for example.

As for the peg location, I don't think I could make it work with anything much farther than the 4.5" that the SS kit provides. The protruding engine on the left side combined with the extended feet position would cause the heat guard to rub against my leg. The 4.5" extension does seem to make the rather big airbox much more comfortable as my leg now hits it in a different angle which doesn't feel uncomfortable anymore.

UPDATE 15.4. 

After some riding I'm happy to say that I'm able to rest my ankles on the pegs quite comfortably. This was something that I wanted to achieve with the forwards, it's a usefull option to have on longer stints. It's not a comfy option with sneakers, but with proper riding boots, there is no discomfort.

License plate holder modification on Yamaha Bolt

The  plate is now about 2" higher than stock

The tail of the bike doesn't look right to me. For the best look the bike would need a side plate holder, but as a first aid I moved the licence plate up a bit and removed the excess plastic around the plate. The reflector is now gone, but will be mounted on the back of the sissy bar.

Vibration damping mounting hardware

3rd person GoPro motorcycle mount

I have long wanted to fabricate a 3rd person motorcycle GoPro mount, but I haven't been able to come up with a reasonably portable and elegant solution on my previous bikes. With the Bolt, the mount could finally be doable due to the sissy bar of the Bolt providing an excellent rigid and elevated mounting point.

The mount

The mount is essentially an inverted camera monopod. The GoPro bar mount is attached to the rubber end of the monopod and the monopod is zip tied to the sissy bar. By doing it this way the height and orientation of the camera is fully adjustable. On the shaft of the monopod I have zip tied several silicon hoses to dampen vibrations and ad friction between the sissy bar and the monopod. The monopod attaches very securely with only 2 zip ties.

I haven't been able to test the rig yet and it seems I wont be for some time as winter has descended. I'll get back to this when the weather allows it.

The monopod is zip tied to the sissy bar. The sissy bar has silicon hoses zip tied to it to prevent scratching, dampen vibrations and prevent the monopod from moving.

Monopod extended half way

Yamaha Bolt sissy bar backpack

My old Kata camera bag has a trolley strap that I have never found any use for. Looking at the sissy bar I started to wonder... Today I brought the bag along with me to the garage. Low and behold, the bag fits on the sissy like a glove! The strap is the perfect size and once you drop the bag in place it sort of automatically locks in place. The Kata bag even has a feature that the shoulder straps can be tucked away so there will be nothing flapping in the wind while you ride.

Kata camera bag on a Yamaha Bolt sissy bar

Extended factory cables for Yamaha Bolt

Yamaha Bolt extended factory cables

The cables arrived today. I'm still missing bolts for the risers, but now that I have the cables I can at least get started on the handlebar ergos project.

Yamaha Bolt tall and short sissy bars

Yamaha Bolt tall and short sissy bars side by side

I replaced the short sissy with the tall one, I personally don't like the look of either one too much, but the tall one will provide a sturdy mounting point for attaching my luggage for longer trips.  I took some comparison shots in case someone is pondering which one to get.

CTEK Comfort indicator for Yamaha Bolt

I've been stranded by a dead battery couple of times now and ever since that happened I have started to install a battery charge indicators on all my bikes. Basically the CTEK comfort indicator is a plug that allows you to plug in the battery tender quick and easy AND it has three charge indicator lights that let you know the current charge of the battery. RED for low, YELLOW for medium and GREEN for full charge. This is especially handy if you are forced to let the bike stand for longer periods. Just a quick look and the blinking light will instantly tell you if something needs to be done. Letting the battery run empty is generally a bad idea and often kills your battery for good.

In normal use the plug is kind of useless as the bike is ridden frequently, but then again if the charge starts to fade during normal use you get a nice heads up that maybe it's time to replace the battery (or search for other issues...)

CTEK comfort indicator on Yamaha Bolt

I placed the indicator near the tool kit / left side panel. If I want I can tuck it out of sight behind the side panel.