VS-2 kit too fragile?

[ebster1085]

I used rubber grommets on the speedo mounting plate as well as where teh headlight mounts up. Also, as was covered above, I cut some bushings out of thick/firm nylon tubing to insert into the grommets where the headlight mounts up. The entire set up feels sturdy and the only vibrations I now experience are from where the two side headlight fairings touch the forks, but its not bad and doesnt bother me.

I commute 70 miles a day from NYC to CT on sh1tty roads with a lot of bumps and potholes and really havent experienced any of the concerns voiced by some above.

To each his own, but I think the kit is great and doesnt have any real issues with solidity.

 

[elus1ve]

Just did mine a few days ago and like ebster, I used plenty of grommets. So far I have tighten all my bolts pretty securely and nothing broke or cracked. No issue on the highway. I think it is solid.

 

[SmokeEater37]

One of the bolts holding the headlight mount to the bike frame between the front forks broke halfway into the frame. Have to get it drilled out by the dealership. Otherwise no complaints so far.

 

[Ben_H]

I've hade mine for 9 months road thru the winter months and no problems just need to fix the vibration noises from cluster

 

[mass835]

I was a little concerned with the how the kit would hold up. So far so good, seems pretty solid. I could definitively see there being an issue if the spacers for the side headlight mounts were not included.

The only thing that I am concerned about is riding in the rain since there are a lot of connectors that are stuffed behind the headlight that could get wet. I dont like to ride in the rain anyway so not a big deal.

 

[Iron Cross]

The only thing that I am concerned about is riding in the rain since there are a lot of connectors that are stuffed behind the headlight that could get wet. I dont like to ride in the rain anyway so not a big deal.

I was concerned about that as well, but I've been in the rain multiple times, both moving and it getting rained on in the driveway. I used dielectric grease on all the connections to water proof it. There were other more long lasting methods to use (have to reapply the grease every couple years I think) but I already had the kit on, so I did this while it was all together. Haven't had any problems so far.

 

[ebster1085]

I was a little concerned with the how the kit would hold up. So far so good, seems pretty solid. I could definitively see there being an issue if the spacers for the side headlight mounts were not included.

The only thing that I am concerned about is riding in the rain since there are a lot of connectors that are stuffed behind the headlight that could get wet. I dont like to ride in the rain anyway so not a big deal.

Like IronCross I have also ridden in the rain many times and still no issues.

 

[nsaP]

Mine didn't break in transit but I did find them to be very fragile when putting them on. One of the mount tabs for the cowling snapped off, and the plastic bits where the headlight aiming bracket connects to also cracked and snapped. I managed to repair them with epoxy putty and we'll see how they last I guess.

I understand you have to be gentile with plastic and I feel like I was, but at the same time the thing needs to be tight enough to stay together.

Just wanted to update that I haven't had any more trouble with these parts since I posted this. I don't think the headlight aiming bracket takes much force when you hit a hard bump so it seems to be fine.

I did have a problem with the speedo however. If you have an '04-'06 you know the way the speedo mounts to the bracket is odd, because where you screw into it the "nut" jets out of the base of the speedo in those thin bits. I think this put weird torque on those plastic bits when the speedo would move a bit going over a hard bump, and mine cracked. I tried to repair them with epoxy putty and some washers to make it a wider footprint on the mounting plate, but it didn't work too well.

I ended up just breaking them off and sanding it down. There's still enough to screw into the speedo a bit, so I went to the store and got a few washers, and the speedo mount is solid now. The downside is that it will be harder to go back to stock I think, but I don't plan on doing that as I trashed the original cowling.

Here's some pics in case that was confusing to anyone. I just thought I'd post this here as I figured some other people might have had the same problem.