So I ordered some chrome switch housings from ebay and got the chrome switch caps from a stealer. The idea is to get the front end chromed out nice and shiney like.

I start with the left side. I figure thats the best place for the first one so I dont have to screw around with the throttle cables.

I unscrew the housing and peel them away from the bars. Theres not much play with the wires connecting the switches then immediatly going into the clutch bracket, so I've got to bend them away and twist them a bit to get to the screw holding the metal plate that holds the plastic switches. A little manipulation later and the screw is out, freeing the stock housing. I swap all the switch caps out, gotta be carefull, the "chrome" switch caps from HD are not "chrome" at all, but shiney chrome colored plastic. The job was stressfull, as the caps looked like they'd snap during the process but I was able to genlty but firmly pop them in place. The lower houseing was a breeze to get the plate back in once I got the damnable wire out of the way. The top was a little tougher. It seemed as though the bolt hole was a little closer than on the stock housing, making it pretty difficult to get the screw in. I attributed that to the wires being in the way and the position I had to hold the housing in to get the plate lined up. All together, ignition on and lights still work.

*EDIT* On to the Right side.

I replaced the grips already on the bike, so I knew what I was doing with them this time around. I rolled down the rubber on the throttle cable, let some slack out, carefully removed the cables from the throttle and put the ferrings someplace safe. I removed the switch plates from both housings with no more difficulty than the left side. Same for replacing the switch caps, and installing the switch plate to the lower right housing. But, that upper right housing screw hole was off. I just couldnt get it lined up, no way, no how. The damn hole was 1/8" too close. So I grab some pliers and bend the tab at the bottom of the plate around a little to help it line up. No dice. Theres just not enough room to play around in there. So I figure I'll put the screw in first, then use some pliers to get the plate in the housing. The screw goes in, the pliers come out. *pop pop* Who'd have figured the plastic switches are being held in the plate with 1/2 millimeter of cheap *** plastic? Well, theyre not any more. "Bah, I'll glue them in once I get this plate in here.." *snap* Well, now there's no more metal tab anymore.

Ok, switches are loose, or coming forward (towords the driver), and the metal tab on the bottom of the plate, the one with the hole for the screw, snapped off. Boy, this is cheap stuff. Ok, I put my tools down, open a bottle of beer, and walk away for a few days...

*advance two days*

Ok, now the plan is different. I get some industrial strenght epoxy and two small washers. I sand the metal plate a bit to roughen it up, along with the back of the switches and epoxy them in place. When the epoxy was 1/2 dry, I used a bit more of the stuff to put the small washers in place to help give the glue something to grip and a bit of reinforcement so the switches will have less wiggle ability.

Now the question is: How to secure the metal plate in the housing with no tab to bolt down?

One idea I've had is to get a longer screw and another washer. The plate is at a slight angle when in place inside the housing. I'm thinking to wedge it in with the screw with a washer, then help secure it with a drop of that epoxy. It aint pretty, but really all I've got to do is hold the plate and switches in place. Theres no moving parts in there besides the switch caps, no pressure or anything like that. They just gotta be there and hold still.

The only other choice I can see is to get new switches, plate, and wires and run them through. Or, risk it and splice the plate off the

 

For the next time, you can get a complete handlebar kit with switch housings, clutch perch, mastercylinder and both levers for 129 bucks from Cycle Supply. I've had 'em on my bike for 5 years with no problems and know of lots of other sets on the road.

http://www.cyclesupplywv.com/accessories.htm

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Yup, looks like I could've done it that way, too.

I checked on their site, dont see any clutch levers/perch or master cylinder sold alone though, so it aint gonna work now :-(

 

Badger, back in the past I posted a very similar horror story I went through in replacing those switch caps with chrome. Read Here. You have my sympathy. [sm=signs003.gif]

 

this is why we hase snow in the northeast - plenty of time to for the glue to set up

 

And my lazy *** took it to the dealer to get it done, although I haven't done EVERYTHING on the handlebars yet. I think it was about $150 installed for the housings. I remember that day cleary because while some tech was sweating over the job, the GF and I were nakie in the jacuzzi.

 

Ok, I got my chrome pirate spike grips in yesterday. That's what I've been waiting on to finish up the job. These things are very cool, exactly what I was looking for. The left side was easy enough. Twist and pull the old grip off. The new one does not have the ridges to fit under the housing, but three set screws instead. I unscrewed them, dabed a touch of locktight on each and put them in as firm as my allen wrench would allow.

The throttle grip is interesting though. The ferrings on the cables dont seem to be the correct size for the new grip. It's pretty open compared to the old grip.

If the old one looked like this:
_ _
OO

Then the new one looks like this:

(_,_)

(I know, looks like a butt)

The way I've got it right now is WITHOUT the throttle cables in the ferrings in the base of the grip. Seems like the throttle cables just slip right into the grooves around the base of the grip. I'm not real happy with this, I'll probably try to get some ferrings a touch smaller so it goes in the same way as on the stock grip.

So I'm gonna take my little girl for a trip to the hardware store tommorow morning, after a stop over at the local Dunkin' Donuts (do they put heroine in that coffee or something? man, I cant seem to drive by this place without stopping). The shopping list includes the a longer screw to hold the switch plate in the housing, various sizes of washers to find the right combo to lodge the switch plate in place, a couple of new ferrings to get the throttle cables securely in place, and some chrome cleaner. I'll toss some pics out this weekend if I get it finished.

 

Don't feel too bad, I had a total nightmare when I just installed the chrome switches. I got them thinking it would be a quick little bling for little money. Then planned to get the more expensive housing later. Well, after going through the install on the buttons, I don't have any plans to add the housing. It would certainly look better with the housing, but the cost of the beer to get through the install....YIKES!!

 

Actually if it weren't for the upper right housing not aligning with the switchplate properly this wouldn't have been all that difficult. It's kind've a pain to get the screw that holds the switchplate in the housing out and back in because of the wires, but they're flexible enough to manhandle into place. The only other thing that is relatively unpleasent is removing the throttle cables from the grip. I had let the cables hang down once disconnected from the right lower switch housing, and that allowed too much slack in the throttle return cable. This let the cable fall out of the "notch" it normally resides in. This was a real pain to get back into place because the throttle lever (not sure about the real name for it) is behind the air filter. It took some finageling to get back in, but by holding the throttle open with my left hand I could get enough slack to grab the return cable with some needlenose pliers and slip it back in.

Advice to anyone else:

Maintain a little tension on the cables once they're detached from the housings.

Honestly, it's a pain, but not a nightmare if things line up properly. It's just a lot of small parts in a confined space.