Coil Brackets - Electrical Conduit Two-Hole Straps

[Sam 78 GS750]

So some knucklehead (Ahem,cough,me...) cut off the coil mounting brackets when fitting Accel coils, and used hose clamps along with the Accel provided brackets. Now that I'm doing a full tear down/rebuild, I'm having the frame powder coated and want to do it properly.

I searched the net and this site for ideas, and there was a thread on here from a few years back where someone suggested electrical conduit straps for a coil mount. The OP in that thread never came back to show the solution he used, so I thought I'd put this here to show that the idea is perfect for the job.
I bought a couple different sizes, but the 1" straps popped right on to the frame of my 78 GS750.

I sanded the tack welds from the original brackets with a Dremel and one of their courser sanding drums, and the remaining part of the original bracket just popped right off.
This is what I bought for the job: The brackets, coupling nuts to use as spacers, some plumbing rubber washers to minimize vibration, and some machine screws (to mock up. I'll be using allen bolts for the final version).

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[Sam 78 GS750]

This is the whole thing mocked up.

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[Sam 78 GS750]

A close up. I'll be using shorter bolts. I just wasn't sure of the spacing, so I bought extra long to have room to play with.

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[Sam 78 GS750]

Test fitting the tank, to make sure I have enough clearance. It's more than enough. I threw the seat on too, because it made me feel like it was almost a real bike again for a minute instead of just a pile of parts....

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[Sam 78 GS750]

Dropped the frame and the brackets off to a local welder yesterday, who's going to weld the whole thing up for $40. Much cheaper than even the cheapest welding setup, plus there's that whole not knowing how to weld thing... I'll post pics when I pick it up later today.

[exdirtbiker]

Good save !
If someone else has a hard time getting "other" coils to fit... don't cut the bracket off completely.
try cutting the meat out from between the two mount holes:





Didi I make a posting about this already? memory failing.... first sign of " Ol' timers" !

[nastyjones]

Brilliant, Sam.

[Sam 78 GS750]

So these are some of the sloppiest welds I've seen... If it was for something structural, I would be concerned and would have put up a fight on payment until it was done right....

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They're on there though. I'm hoping I can clean them up a bit.

[BigD_83]

Is that welding or brazing? They look the way I feel...ugly but functional.

Either way, it's a good thing they are hidden from view.

You've got a good outlook on it.

[postman_pat]

Were the conduit brackets zinc plated? That might explain the quality of those welds.

[sharpy]

I can never understand why people buy coils that look like they should be on a tractor. These look great and fit straight on. Shame this thread starter was a lil sleepy when started the job.

[Sam 78 GS750]

Either way, it's a good thing they are hidden from view.

You can say that again. I might smooth them out a bit, but don't want to take off too much of the weld and have them pop off on me.

Were the conduit brackets zinc plated? That might explain the quality of those welds.

I never thought of that. They looked like stainless, but the guy said it didn't matter what metal they were, that he would get them on there... Now I know what he meant. If I knew zinc plating could be an issue, I would have dunked them in HCL to strip any plating just in case. That's why I took it to a professional...because I don't know these kind of things.

I can never understand why people buy coils that look like they should be on a tractor. These look great and fit straight on. Shame this thread starter was a lil sleepy when started the job.

The thing is, I have Accel coils. They didn't line up to the stock mounts, so I just cut them off and grabbed a couple of hose clamps to use with the brackets that come with the coils. They've stayed that way for 6 years or so. Looking back, I probably could have fabbed up some kind of adapter...I was impatient to get on the road though. Now that I'm doing a full tear down/rebuild and powder coating the frame in the process, I don't want to just throw the hose clamps back on there. They did their job though.

[Sam 78 GS750]

Quick update... I cleaned up the welds with my Dremel. Good enough for something that's hidden by the gas tank.
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