2003 Dassault Undertail
First and foremost, I have to say this is a gorgeous product.
I recently received a beautifully built piece of equipment for my YZF600R to test for this magazine. First and foremost, I have to say this is a gorgeous product. The paint match is exact, and it really finishes the underside off nicely.
That being said, the rest of this operation was a real pain in the ass, to put it bluntly. The package came to me without any instructions whatsoever. While perusing their website I realized that the instructions were available online. I downloaded and printed a set.That being said, the rest of this operation was a real pain in the ass, to put it bluntly.
When I began to install this tail with the help of two friends, I immediately realized how poor the instructions were. Instead of saying, "Use the drill bit in your dremel to cut an arc 6" up and 12" across. It merely says to use a dremel. No templates were made to be downloaded and held against the area that needed cutting. We were furnished with a picture of a YZF with a yellow tapeline where the cutting was done. That being said, we finally got the section that needed cutting disposed of. Then we realized that no matter what, my bungee hooks needed to be cut off to make this work. I was not happy about this in the least, as I use the bike for trips as well as local riding. This was a VERY poor design, and a MAJOR design flaw.We began this whole endeavor at approximately 3:30 and finished at 8:30. Yes, Zelda, it took an entire 5 hours to complete the install. We began by removing the plastic tail section, and then we cut the inner fender along the aforementioned yellow lines. Once this was done, we began the arduous task of lining everything up to fit. I managed to save the two forward bungee hook points by drilling two small holes in the undertail for those forward points to peak through. When the realization hit that we would need to cut the rear bungee hooks off, out came the heavy equipment, meaning a reciprocating saw (Sawzall) and the rear hooks were gone. Then we lined up everything and saw that it's NOT an exact fit, as there is slightly more material on the left side showing as on the right. Not a big deal really, as only the most discriminating soul will see this and comment on it, to any owners ire.
Next came the task of wiring it all up. This, you would think at least, would be an easy endeavor.
In a nutshell, squirrel-boy: The piece is beautiful. It matches the bike perfectly, and really looks great on there. It's plastic is high quality all around. 5 Stars for design.
That being said, this thing DOES look cool.
More by Ralph Angelo Jr.
Comments
Join the conversation