the badlands bracket wont go anywhere so im happy

 

At one time HD offered a Crome vented back plate, have one on the super glide, would add strength to plate. Is same size as plate at home looks good to.

 

I've done a TON of looking for a nice side mount. Here's what I've learned ...

1. most are either poorly built, ugly or really expensive
2. you need to pay attention to how you want to light it, especially if you don't have a side brake light to go with it
3. if you need to light the bare ones like Road6, they look rat rod from the back with the wires. That's cool if you are into that. Not for me.
4. The LED tag bolts don't work

The Figure Engineering bracket is awesome ... sturdy, well made and good looking. It's not cheap at $145, but is ANYTHING on a Harley cheap? They did a nice job of machining and design and you can get it drilled like you want it. The finish quality is very good. BUT, the bracket is built to axle mount on a Sporty, so it's a little short for Dyna's. You'll have to play with it.

Cycle Vision makes a really nice "In-Close" side mount. Now, if you thought Figure Machine was expensive ... HA! $200. $230 if you want the LED lit one. These are really well built, very high quality finish. I bought a used one, before I realized it was a vertical mount. Sold it. I wasn't 100% happy with the way the LEDs lit the plate (especially for the extra $30). If you don't need the lights and have the cash, you won't be disappointed.

I don't know much about that roto-tiller one that spins horizontal or vertical. And for $300, I wasn't going to find out.

Kury makes a close side mount. But, I've declared my bike a Kuryakyn-free zone so that's the end of that.

I ended up with a Figure Machine one. I had them cut the slots 90-degrees from how they usually do it so I could adjust horizontally. I think his name was Loren - nice guy, quick shipping, quality product. Recommended.

I wanted to tuck it in as tight as I could possibly get it. So, I had a friend machine a bracket for me that's a little longer than the FM stock bracket (6.5" vs 4") so the plate sits behind the caliper. It's right side, so it's a little unusual. But it's tucked in to 1/8" from the rotor ... so even horizontal, it doesn't stick out any farther than the pipes do already.




I ran the LED wires out the backing plate and used a piece of black windshield washer hose to protect the wires. Ran it down the swing arm and up the frame behind the battery box. Mounted a push on-off switch under the swing arm ($5 from eBay) and wired it into the system. So, I can turn it on/off when I want.

I know it needs to be powder coated, but I get tons of complements on it. Finally, I don't think anyone does a great job with a side mount and LED lighting for the plate. And I can't put saddle bags on my bike this way. So I'll probably end up selling it and custom designing one at some point.

 

I didn't see that one until just now. Wow! I was looking at the straight one. $145. Still not cheap, but a lot better than $330.