I decided it was time to get on with the next stage of development of the electrical system. A key question was where to put which components?
I already have this lovely frame right next to the battery, why not use it for those components that should be close to the battery? So, I did just that.
I started by sitting with the bike and the various components and contemplating things over a few slowly-nursed beers, getting a feel for the component sizes, what their orientations might be, how the parts might be most simply and elegantly installed and so forth.
Once I decided on my plan, I started by hacking out the front right rack support, grinding off the old weld material, and replacing the support with two drop-down verticals - with pre-drilled holes for an accessory "cigarette lighter" socket, and pre-painted, too. I then gently bent these verticals rearward somewhat so that the socket would drain forward if it ever got water in it.
I then needed to replace that support. I could have made the inner socket support longer, twisted it, and then anchored it to the bike, much as with the original support, but I decided instead that I was going to run a nearly horizontal bar - of the same stock - and that it would be stronger, on whole, if that down-link came from the single piece running rearward with a close-to 90 degree bend in it, with the short end making the link from support anchor to inner socket support. To execute this, I modified the original support to go to the outer socket support, panted the still loose piece, and welded it all up.
View attachment 4
I then fabricated the nearly-horizontal bar that would hold all the rest of the components. It was very simple and straight forward. The 1/2" wide by 1/8" thick bar first received a 100 degree or so bend with the short length being long enough to overlap the anchor link when the 90-ish bend was butted up against the inner socket support bar. This gave a definitive point of measurement for pre-drilling the component mounting holes, since it'd be FAR easier to drill them in advance! I mounted the bar with bend in the vice mounted on my milling machine's table and then it was super easy to drill holes down the dead-center of the bar at whatever distances I desired. I knew I needed some offset from the 90-ish bend, so I just guessed, and that gave a starting point, and then I proceeded down the length of the bar, drilling five holes in all to mount four components (discussed more later).
Now, with something to "argue about" on final fitment, I had to determine how to terminate the rearward end and at what angles the bar should rest when fully welded. I decided that sloping was good, but how much? I also determined that the rearward end had to be pushed outboard a little so the rear-most component would clear the fender, and leaving the fender some future adjustment range would be nice, too. I marked off a length where it should end, then decided to make a "dog leg" or "step" so the nearly horizontal bar would have another nearly 90 degree bend going vertically up, then turn horizontal again for a short bit to let it rest on an existing cross-bar. This would make installation a snap and very efficient in terms of metal, though I could have just left it vertical and saved a gram or two, perhaps.
Mounting bar fabrication complete, I painted it, several coats, and through drying, afternoon became evening...
Once dry, I welded it into place, of course! But, it was now dark and I did have some trouble seeing to start the welds in the right spots! I oopsed on the front face, just below the inner socket support, so there's now a blob there that I couldn't grind off without taking the whole rack off the bike - and I wasn't doing that! - however, it's pretty minor, and everything else went just perfectly. ...After the welding was done, I was anxious to paint the welded areas, and while waiting for that paint to dry, I took some more photos:
Also, while welding, I dug through my M4 and M5 fasteners and got mounting hardware for everything and then, paint dried, I finally got to actually mount the parts!
I'll do more photos later - with better lighting - focusing in on each piece, but in this image you can see the basic layout. In the far right corner is the "waterproof" accessory power socket, attached with 2 M4 X 12 screws. Nylock nuts weren't available, so I flipped the mounting ear of the socket around backwards and sunk the M4 nuts into the countersunk region of the ear, and this is an effective locking system I've used in the past. ... Just rearward of the socket, below the bar, is the DC - DC converter, "48v to 12v", attached with one M5 cheese-head screw on the forward end and a longer M5 hex head bolt on the rearward end, both using nylock nuts. The converter's rearward bolt also clamps the forward end of the 50A shunt to the bar. The next fastener, another M5 hex bolt with nylock, attaches the rear end of the shunt and also a thin bit of fiber board with two M5 holes punched in it. This is for a separate ground mounting location for the isolated 12v system. And, finally, attaching the fuse box are two more M5s, this time cheese head screws with nylocs, primarily because the cheese heads fit perfectly within the fuse box.
... Of course, I never bothered to try the new Origin8 shoes on steel rims! :lol: 
