$65 Belly Pan

[chemicalsmile]

I purchased one of the ItalMoto belly pans a while ago and finally got around to making the brackets, painting and mounting it a couple weekends ago.

All said and done, I'm extremely happy with it. I was a little apprehensive at first when I could only find one guy who had mounted one from the SBN forums but I got just enough info from that and the couple other threads I found to make the brackets and mount it up.

Other than my first paint job chipping off (I'm terrible at painting fiberglass) I haven't had any other issues to speak of after about 300 miles of riding with it. Anyhow, I'll shut up and make with the pics:

 

[reiobard]

looks good, and for that price, who could complain.

 

[dturpen]

Nice! I would've done the same, but I don't have the tools/space to do such a job. Looks very good!

 

[motopete]

Looks great! I like the shape of that pan

 

[Davey]

Looks good! I've seen these going on ebay but have always been put off by having to make the brackets and to try and find paint to colour match (I've got an 06 metallic silver). How easy was it to make the brackets? Do you have links to the other forums where you found the info? I might be tempted to give it a go!

 

[economarte]

Thats really nice
Can you post some info on how you mount it on the bike?
Im really interested in buying one of those

 

[kamao]

Hey great job on the pan, very nice!. It looks very similar to one I fitted a while back from eBay (http://www.600riders.com/forum/fz6-mods/8016-ebay-bellypan-install.html), which came with the brackets.

I have to agree with you though, painting them is a PITA, done a couple thousand miles on mine now and apart from minor chipping.. it's still looking O.K.

 

[chemicalsmile]

Sorry for the crappy pics and dirty bike, I'll try and get closer/better pictures of the brackets tonight.

I lurked around home depot and ended up buying some brackets for chain link fence for like .75 - they looked like this:

This was my first time fabricating (use that term loosely) anything like this so the brackets are kind of haggard but they work. I made the two front brackets first - basically cut about 3 inches of material for each front bracket, cut the corners off (so they have room to rotate a bit), drilled the holes, mounted them to the engine covers, got the pan in the position I wanted and marked where I needed to drill the holes on the brackets to mount the pan to. You won't have to make any serious bends in the front brackets so they're the easiest to do.

As for the back two mounts, I used the bottom bolt on the water pump cover (right hand side) and one of the kickstand switch mounting bolts (left hand side) for mounting the brackets to the bike, then just kept making slight bends until I got them right, then marked and drilled holes in them for the pan to mount up. Once I had it mounted and test rode it a bit to make sure it wouldn't drag over speed bumps or anything (I was paranoid ok?) I took it all off and painted the brackets and the pan black.

I'll admit I spent a few days just looking at it wondering if I should pay someone to do it or not. Eventually I just jumped in and started it and it was much easier than I thought. As for painting....ugh...my first paint job I sanded the pan to get the glossy gelcoat off than did somewhere around 6 really light coats of Fusion spray paint, let dry for a couple days then did 2 coats of matte clear and let dry for another 3 days or so - it looked really good, matched the paint on the frame almost perfectly but a ton of it chipped off on the first serious ride I took it on. Ended up sanding it back down, and doing like 7 coats of rustoleum automotive paint and 5 coats of clear, wetsanding in between and it's held up well so far.

 

[AdamDJ]

That looks sick! I have the same bellypan.. You have any pics of the brackets you made or anything?
Thanks

 

[chemicalsmile]

Thanks! I catch myself just staring at the bike now because it makes it look way more aggressive. I had it off last night to clean and wax the pan and was going to take some pics of the brackets but camera was dead. Got some batteries this morning so I'll get a few close up shots tonight.

 

[Motogiro]

I like the look of that pan much more than some that are far more expensive.

Good job! Good find!

Thanks
Cliff

 

[AdamDJ]

Thanks! I catch myself just staring at the bike now because it makes it look way more aggressive. I had it off last night to clean and wax the pan and was going to take some pics of the brackets but camera was dead. Got some batteries this morning so I'll get a few close up shots tonight.

Sweet.. I look forward to the pics..
Thanks!

 

[Daryldaddy]

Looks super, you did an excellent job regarding the mounting.....it sure finishes off that semi naked look very well.......I will order one this month.

 

[codeblue]

That's a great looking bellypan and the price is hard to beat.
Does it look and feel solid before installation??

Ares

 

[slonenyatko]

It's made from fiberglass.
Use similar belly pan from German manufacture, bought in France, about 7 month ago.

 

[chemicalsmile]

Sorry, I just can't seem to find all the pictures I had of the brackets and stuff. I mainly grabbed most of the info from HERE. There's pics in that thread of the mount points - I did my front ones just like those. My back left one is mounted to one of the kickstand switch bolts, it's hidden better and I imagine it was easier to make then the one shown in there. I'm thinking of making a new back right mount though, it's too visible when mounted to the water pump bolt. Anyways here's some more pics of the mounts:

Front right-hand side mount (lower right engine cover bolt):

Back right-hand mount (bottom water pump bolt):

Front left-hand mount (mid-left engine cover bolt):

Back left-hand mount (left kickstand switch bolt):

Hope these help - sorry it took so long - my camera sucks and it doesn't help that the brackets are (mostly) painted black..

 

[smokenu]

This belly pan looks so good :thumbup: I just ordered one myself

:drool:

 

[chemicalsmile]

Thanks! I'm super happy with it. Just wish I could paint worth a crap. Trying to decide between having it done in glossy bedliner or get it professionally painted along with my exhaust cover this winter.

 

[smokenu]

From your pictures the paint job looks good. depending on cost $$$ to have it painted, I think I'm going to give it a go and paint it myself.

How long did it take for you to receive it in the mail?

 

[chemicalsmile]

IIRC it shipped from NJ and I got it in a week or so.