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	WorkShop > Yankee Intruder > Signal

The Yankee Intruder
by; C. Gustave Sandberg (Sandy)

Intro
I've always thought the Signal Lights looked a bit like pontoons, or maybe wings sticking out of the sides of a cool-looking narrow bike.
At first I was going to change them to some Week End Concepts bullet lamps, but the co$t is $$$. and I only was willing to go about $$.
Both Kirk and JC Whitney have some nice clamp on front 'marker' lights that look kewl, but they have only a small wedge lamp that isn't too bright, and could be difficult to get brighter.
So, sticking with the Yankee (read: cheap) philosophy, I decided to modify the stock lights.

• Phillips Head Screw Driver, w/ #2 bit
• 5 mm hex driver (allen wrench)
• Saw, to cut rubber, I used a metal cutting saw
• Sharp carving (X-Acto) Knife
• Coarse file, (flat- 'pardon the expression' bastard)
  or maybe a Surfoam (aka: bondo-shaping-death-file)
• Drill, 3/16" bit
• sorry, no Binford 2000, massive horsepower, power tools required

Instruction
To start, this is one of those mods that you might be able to do 'on the bike'.
But requires only minor disassembly.{tinny voice saying "No disassemble number 5"}
The * Bullet Procedural Points are for reference. They can be used as a check list, but the text provide needed detail information.

The Front Signal Lights have three major parts, the Lamp Assembly, the Rubber Isolator, and the Fork Clamp. We don't need to remove the Fork Clamp which is good since the only way to get it off is to un-do the triple tree clamps.
* Loosen Signal Lights Fork Clamp . . . 5mm hex
First we have to move the Fork Clamp a bit to get at the wires. This is done using a 5mm Hex (Allen) wrench. The clamp is on the back side of the assembly, and only has to be loosened up enough to let the assembly move.
The connecting wire is tucked up into a notch on the clamp assembly. Pull it out of this notch and follow the wire. You'll see the wire goes into the headlight, where the nightmare of all harnessing takes place.
* Remove Headlight . . . 2 Phillips Screws
To get the headlight open, you take out the two phillips screws that go through the shell, from underneath.
NOT the screws that are accessed from the front, these are the headlight adjustment screws DON'T TOUCH Them.
After removing the two screws that hold the headlight in, tip the headlight up and out, as it has a clip on the top. At this point you should unplug the headlight and set it's assembly aside in a safe area. Looking inside the headlight shell at the harness from hell, you might be tempted to just put the headlight back in and go get your favorite beverage and forget it, but hold on, it's not all that bad.
* Unplug Signal Wires . . . 3 pin Connectors
The Signal wires are the only ones connected by three pin connectors, one for each side, see them in there? Hiding behind the hold down clip. Unplug them by holding the plastic housing, don't pull on the wires unless you're handy with a soldering iron.
Now speaking of that, If you are handy with the soldering iron, you might want to cut off the connecters (leaving enough wire to re-attach) as it could be handier to do so further on.
For this procedure I'll assume the connectors are NOT cut off, this makes it a little more difficult in later steps but certainly not impossible.
* Pull Wires from Shell . . . Feed Through hole
Carefully feed the connectors and wires out through the bottom hole of the Headlight shell, and pull them out to the Clamp assembly on the forks.
The three major parts of the signal light assembly are held together with two large phillips head screws. One which is very visible from the back of the assembly (Rubber to Light), and the other is up under the fork clamp (Clamp to Rubber). Remove both of them, and try not to lose the screws, huh!
* Disassemble Signal Light assembly . . . 2 Large Phillips Screws
Now carefully separate the Rubber and Light from the Clamp, while feeding the wire up and through the Clamp. If you cut the wires, you can no pull the Rubber and Light off the bike, if not, find a way to support these pieces during the next steps. A near by bench or saw horse can be used.
With the pieces pulled apart it should look like the picture below.

This is the disassembled stock signal. There is the Light assembly, the Rubber isolater, and the connecting Wire. The Clamp is still attached to the front forks.

You'll notice the metal pieces coming out of either side of the Rubber isolator.
These are not connected, but form the vibration - isolation, and provide us with a quick and dirty way reduce the wing span. The next steps involve modifying the Rubber, by cutting it shorter, and cutting and filing it smaller around, to fit inside the light shaft.
If the wire connectors were cut off, the Rubber can be separated from the Wire for easier cutting.
* Cut Rubber to 3/4"+ from Clamp side . . . Metal Cutting Saw
Using the saw, cut the rubber slightly longer than 3/4" (20mm), maybe about 13/64", from the Clamp side. Of course, be careful not to cut the wire.
* Rough trim Rubber down to fit into Light stalk . . . Knife
Next is the time consuming part of forming (cutting and filing) the Rubber to fit into the light stalk. You'll notice the hole isn't round, and actually has a flat spot where the screw attaches the Light to the Rubber. Notice carefully this flat spot, as it is 90 degrees (or a right angle)from the screw hole for the Clamp to Rubber mount, in the remaining rubber piece. And, this is different for each side, so do a test fitting to verify you know where the flat needs to be.
I used an X-Acto knife to rough cut the Rubber to get it close to the correct size. After that a coarse file (maybe a Surfoam) is used to get a final fit.
* Detail fit Rubber to Stalk . . . File
Be very careful when you get down near the end, as the rubber is gets thin near the metal insert inside the rubber isolator. As you can see in the photo below,(white arrow pointing to a small light spot on the modified Rubber) I came too close and took off too much rubber and the metal sleeve is exposed. This isn't a problem unless it's done often.

	This is Modified Rubber Isolator. The Rubber is cut down to fit inside the Light stalk. The Flat spot is behind (out of view), aligned with the screw hole in the Light stalk.

It would be 'oh-so-easy' to cut down the Rubber in a lathe if the stalk was round.
But It Isn't.
And it has that flat spot on the back where the screw goes through.
After the Rubber is properly (or at least close to properly) cut down, and fits easily (or with just slight pressure) into the Light stalk, check for proper alignment by test fitting them on the bike. Mark through the hole in the Light where the rear screw will go back.
* Drill Hole in Rubber for screw . . . 3/16" into flattened area of Rubber
Carefully drill about a 3/16" (.200")(5mm) diameter hole into the Rubber to re-insert the screw.
* Test Lamps for operation . . . plug into connector, or use battery
Verify the lamps still work by temporarily plugging them back into the connectors in the Headlight shell, or by using a 12 volt battery and touching the wires. Because after this next step, you can't go back and repair any broken (cut or drilled) wires.
* Glue Rubber into Light stalk . . . RTV or sealant
Using RTV, silicone sealant, or a rubber cement, coat the inside of the Light stalk, and a just a thin layer on the Rubber. Now press (for the final time) them together. Run the rear (Light to Rubber) screw into the hole and tighten it into the Rubber. Don't over-tighten so the rubber tears, and the glue will do most of the holding anyway.
The screw can be left out and a dress button snapped into it's place, but I preferred to give it just a bit more security with the screw also.

This is the Re-assembled Unit. The rubber should just show slightly, and the glue will provide for a weather resistant seal.

At this point you can leave the clamps low where they are, or raise them up to the top of the Triple-Tree on the forks. I moved them up just to be different, and I think it gives the rake a bit longer look.
* Reassemble to Clamps and bike . . . screws and rewire
Fish the wires back though the Clamps( if they were cut), back into the Headlight shell, and connect to the harness.
Re-install the headlight and secure all screws,
NO there aren't supposed to be any left over parts except for 1/2 of the rubber mount, and some rubber shavings on the floor.
After the glue dries (cures), you can feel that there is still some shock mount left in the Light assembly, so there shouldn't be pre-mature filament failure of the bulbs. For that, we can switch to LED indicators ... but that's a project for another time.

	This is the Yankee Intruder before the Y2K mods.

Here is a artists rendition of what the finished Signal Lights could look like. For more of the other mods. see the Yankee Intruder in the WorkShop.

	Jon C. did some great mods to his 1400 including the Yankee Cruisah Signal Light mod. Here is a picture of his bike highlighting the Cruisah mod. For more pictures of his bike go to his Zing Album http://www.zing.com/album/?id=4292772237.

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