Repositioning the Standby Battery

Yesterday, after a 255Km ride in which Natasha performed flawlessly, I had written that I had to use the standby battery to get me the last 9 miles or so home as I'd depleted the main battery down to 8 volts.

Later that evening, as I hooked the chargers up to both batteries, I discovered that the support bracket I had installed to help hold the weight of the ammo box containing the standby battery had broken! Yep, right below where the bolt secured it to the motorcycle's rear fender support frame.

So I bent the bracket some more, drilled another hole, and re-secured it as it had been before, with the exception of adding a rubber buffer to hopefully prevent another breakage.

That was last night, this morning I woke with the idea of repositioning the ammo box onto the rear fender instead since the previous owner had removed the pillion tractor seat when installing the large Harley Davidson solo seat. I'd been thinking of buying a cargo rack but the idea I had was to "create" mounting points for the ammo can and secure it to the fender.

I removed the four plastic caps over the pre-drilled holes on the rear fender. The Russians really use thick steel/iron for the fenders by the way, it was a good 1/8" thick! Well able to support the weight of the battery ammo box.

I rode to the hardware store with Brigitta, my '87 R80 Beemer and got myself some nuts and bolts for about $5. Add to this a small plastic cutting board from my loving wife (yes, I asked first) and lots of measuring, drilling (and still more drilling since I didn't get the holes lined up quite right on the cutting board or ammo box).

I replaced the battery box which had been resting on the 2WD protector frame (which is really unsuited for such a heavy object) with a smaller ammo can I had in storage. Inside this ammo can are the cable connections linking the main battery to the wiring on the motorcycle and the heated grips.

The battery ammo box now sits on the rear fender, very securely. In fact, when I got to shake it, it shakes the whole motorcycle!

Views of the battery ammo box's new location, from left and right

The smaller ammo box, used as a wiring junction box

A side view of the battery ammo box on the rear fender

Tomorrow will be a good test of the robustness of the above mountings. I am hoping to meet with three other Ural owners at O'Brien's Cafe in Sedalia. The idea is to go find some decent amounts of snow, and see how easy the Urals are to get stuck and unstuck. All this in preparation for planned participation in the annual Elephant Ride this coming Valentine's Day.

The Elephant Ride, named either after a same named event in Europe where cold weather riders gather to rally and party or to celebrate Hannibal crossing the alps on Elephants or both. Here in Colorado though, the object is to ride up Guanella Pass from Grant, CO. The pass is NOT plowed during the winter, so there should be deep snow and ice to be negotiated. It should be interesting.