Difficult to install ShowChrome lights?

[SteveC]

How difficult is it to install the Show Chrome lights?  I live in a condo, and we're not allowed to work on cars.  I'm most worried about the electrical connections - how many panels will I have to remove to connect wiring and a switch, and are they tough to get to?  
Also, how many hours should I budget, and what would a dealer charge?

As with washing the bike and doing an oil change, this will be done in a parking lot...

Thanks!
Steve

[dinosnake]

I did my install in my parking area, and it isn't difficult, just a bit tedious due to many screws, wanting to be careful...AND FINDING THAT LEFT SIDE ELECTRICAL CONNECTION!!! 

You remove 6 pushlocks from the front lower engine cowl and two screws from underneath the cowl.  The mounts are right there, but you must remove the cutouts from the cowl to prepare the area.  Assemble the lights into their forward holders, 2 screws each if I remember correctly, then mount the forward holder into the rear frame, 4 bushings that hold 4 screws that go into the mounting of the bike (this will make sense once you read the instructions). 

Finding that left side power connector is a biatch, assign many minutes of utter frustration to figure that one out    Start by looking behind and above the horn and move on from there.

On my bike, the left side lower cowl screw refused to go back in when I had to disassemble the front end a second time to swap out a bad light, allow 25 minutes of cursing for that, too.

Make sure you assemble the two front cowls, upper and lower, in the proper order taking into account the side pod's integration into the pushlock tab stack (again, pay attention, it'll make sense after you do it wrong and waste yet more time getting it right )

The switch gets mounted by simply removing the rear panel of the left radiator pods, 2 screws, then 2 more screws to remove the switch blankout panel and install the switch in its place.  Easiest piece of the puzzle, which pretty much describes this entire bike: a Rubik's Cube puzzle of overdesign and body parts 

Allow 2 to 3 hours of casual work and occasional frustration    But it is not hard at all.  Just...ugh...yeah.

[SteveC]

I did my install in my parking area, and it isn't difficult, just a bit tedious due to many screws, wanting to be careful...AND FINDING THAT LEFT SIDE ELECTRICAL CONNECTION!!! 

You remove 6 pushlocks from the front lower engine cowl and two screws from underneath the cowl.  The mounts are right there, but you must remove the cutouts from the cowl to prepare the area.  Assemble the lights into their forward holders, 2 screws each if I remember correctly, then mount the forward holder into the rear frame, 4 bushings that hold 4 screws that go into the mounting of the bike (this will make sense once you read the instructions). 

Finding that left side power connector is a biatch, assign many minutes of utter frustration to figure that one out    Start by looking behind and above the horn and move on from there.

On my bike, the left side lower cowl screw refused to go back in when I had to disassemble the front end a second time to swap out a bad light, allow 25 minutes of cursing for that, too.

Make sure you assemble the two front cowls, upper and lower, in the proper order taking into account the side pod's integration into the pushlock tab stack (again, pay attention, it'll make sense after you do it wrong and waste yet more time getting it right )

The switch gets mounted by simply removing the rear panel of the left radiator pods, 2 screws, then 2 more screws to remove the switch blankout panel and install the switch in its place.  Easiest piece of the puzzle, which pretty much describes this entire bike: a Rubik's Cube puzzle of overdesign and body parts 

Allow 2 to 3 hours of casual work and occasional frustration    But it is not hard at all.  Just...ugh...yeah.

Thanks, good write up.  Not looking forward to the frustration, but it's sounds do-able.  I think I'm more amazed that I'm not the only one who does work in a parking lot!
Steve

[Moofner]

Not to rub it in, but I had no issues with the ShowChrome install. Got access, found the wire, put it all in, put it back together. It's all about the service manual and reading it first. For me, that is.

[SteveC]

Not to rub it in, but I had no issues with the ShowChrome install. Got access, found the wire, put it all in, put it back together. It's all about the service manual and reading it first. For me, that is.

If there are just 1-2 applicable pages that anyone's willing to share, that would be helpful.
I haven't bought the manual, given my new location and an inability to do any substantive work on it.

[goldstar903]

How difficult is it to install the Show Chrome lights?  I live in a condo, and we're not allowed to work on cars.  I'm most worried about the electrical connections - how many panels will I have to remove to connect wiring and a switch, and are they tough to get to?  
Also, how many hours should I budget, and what would a dealer charge?

As with washing the bike and doing an oil change, this will be done in a parking lot...

Thanks!
Steve

Steve, there is a YouTube video from Cruiseman that goes through the installation of the fog lights. Be forewarned that the lights that he installs are not the Show Chrome lights. But, the instructions are very similar, especially on how to find the electrical connection. Hope this helps! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irugE3BtyI4

[Moofner]

Not to rub it in, but I had no issues with the ShowChrome install. Got access, found the wire, put it all in, put it back together. It's all about the service manual and reading it first. For me, that is.

If there are just 1-2 applicable pages that anyone's willing to share, that would be helpful.
I haven't bought the manual, given my new location and an inability to do any substantive work on it.

The manual assists with the plastic removal and the location of fasteners/bolts/nuts.

[dinosnake]

Correction: there is only 1 screw for the rear panel of the radiator pods, the balance of force is due to hold-in clips along the bottom edge.

TL;DR

Now...why are things so hard?  I swear that, somewhere, there is a secret society of corporate decision makers who come up with "Look, Snake is going to work with [this] 5 years from now, so let's make sure it's as difficult and PITA as possible!!!!!"  

3 & 1/2 hours to swap out - remove my old system and install the new - GPS unit and XM antenna.  Only Garmin would make SURE that nothing done before, even pretty much within industry standards, would work now!    My last system was a StreetPilot 2820, with GXM-30 antenna on a RAM plate, all attached to a flat (edit) Bracketron AMPS plate.  So simple.  

Only Garmin would make sure that the new GXM40 is 1/8-inch smaller than a GXM30, meaning that the RAM plate doesn't work; only Garmin would put a flange on the back side of the 665LM cradle so that it could NEVER be mounted flat against anything, you pretty much have to use their RAM mount or nothing at all.

So I thought that all I would have to do is remove the old electronics and mount the new in the same locations.  WRONG.  I had to remove everything and start from scratch, double mounts.  Even the power wire is barely long enough to work, had to remove the tank bolts to make sure the wire had the straightest path possible.  Oh, and did I forget to say that the Garmin spacers don't even fit into the bolt holes on the mirror mount, while the Techmounts that I was forced to reuse fit perfectly?

I swear I need to kick some arse of stupid corporate America!

[SteveC]

How difficult is it to install the Show Chrome lights?  I live in a condo, and we're not allowed to work on cars.  I'm most worried about the electrical connections - how many panels will I have to remove to connect wiring and a switch, and are they tough to get to? 
Also, how many hours should I budget, and what would a dealer charge?

As with washing the bike and doing an oil change, this will be done in a parking lot...

Thanks!
Steve

Steve, there is a YouTube video from Cruiseman that goes through the installation of the fog lights. Be forewarned that the lights that he installs are not the Show Chrome lights. But, the instructions are very similar, especially on how to find the electrical connection. Hope this helps! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irugE3BtyI4

Got it, thanks!
Steve