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Before I even got my 2010, I wanted to know if I could add the earlier tank top glove box to my new bike.  I ride without my saddlebags and I wanted all the storage I could get.

Forum member "CarlDeBar" was at my house one day on his 09, and we did some experimenting.  While we didn't try to really mount his, we did pull his off and looked at the brackets enough to see that it looked pretty doable.

I was in the process of checking to see what the parts would cost from the mother ship (Kawasaki dealer) when "Krautburner" decided to buy his wrecked bike and part it out.  We came to a quick agreement on a deal and it showed up last week.

When I pulled off the stock plastic cover and the bracket that had to be changed out, I quickly discovered some things I did not anticipate.  Unfazed, I proceeded with the install.  First up I had to pull off the bracket on my '10 and bolt on the bracket from the donor bike.  This has to be done because the spacing to bolt down the plastic bin are different than the plastic cover on the '10.  If you look at the picture below you can see the differences.  Where the blue tabs bolt down to the bracket the threaded insert is in the wrong place....



At first I just assumed I'd drill some holes and thread them or use some sort of self tapping screw.  But if you look, the bracket has a nasty bend right about where it needed to be drilled.  So I decided to proceed and worry about bolting it down later.  You'll see in a later picture what I wound up doing. 

The second problem was that the plastic tray actually hit the blue tabs and pushed down the blue body work too far.  I had to either grind the blue tabs off, or grind away the tray.  I decided I didn't want to grind on the tabs as it could cause me to not have a way to keep that part of the body work solid - so I ground away the plastic until the tray actually held down the blue tabs just enough.  Then, I put some foam under the blue tabs and just used the tray to hold that piece down.  The first picture below shows where I ground away plastic on the underside of the tray, and the next picture shows how it holds the tabs down without them being screwed down any more....





Next up on the list of problems....If you look at the picture below, you'll see that under the tray there are three brake lines heading toward the steering stem.  Apparently the two on the right side were on the earlier models, but the one on the left was not.  The plastic tray has an indentation to clear the ones on the right, but not the one on the left. As a result, the tray does not sit down all the way.



The fix for this was to put a 1/2" spacer under the front mounting point up by the steering stem.  See this picture - there is a white nylon spacer installed to hold the front of the box a little higher...



Because it was being raised, and there is only one bolt in the middle of the front, I was concerned that the front of the box may wiggle around a little with the spacer installed. So I put some foam under the tray to firm it up.  In the following picture you can see where I put the foam.  BTW, there is a cable in a "loom" going across - that cable is for the radar detector that I installed.  I could have rerouted those wires, but with the foam in place it was not a problem to leave them there.



The final result works great.  If you really look you can see a bit of a gap between it and the tank.  But you really don't notice it. If anything, the flash from the camera and the angle makes the gap look worse in the picture than it really is....



While it sounds like some work - the truth is that even though I had to figure it all out as I went, it only took me maybe an hour and a half to do all the work and have it ready to ride.

Hope this helps.   

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Jim

sweet.

I'd like to see them side by side.

are there any pics of this to see how deep it is and how much you can stuff in it.

You've got to be kidding.....  It isn't very big at all.  I keep my earplugs and receipts in mine and possibly a garage door opener.  It's more of a convenience for the small stuff.  Don't expect it to hold much.  Also, don't keep your chocolates in it....they'll wind up in a puddle.

i didnt know that it was that small.

i didnt know that it was that small.

Something you never want to hear from your wife or girlfriend...

You've got to be kidding.....  It isn't very big at all.  I keep my earplugs and receipts in mine and possibly a garage door opener.  It's more of a convenience for the small stuff.  Don't expect it to hold much.  Also, don't keep your chocolates in it....they'll wind up in a puddle.

I own an 09 and I tend to agree that the tank compartment is not much good for anything big, especially gloves.  I keep a mini flashlight, my garage remote, registration/insurance papers, small change for turnpikes, and a scarf for cold days in mine and it is packed full.  The depth of the compartment is only a few inches at the very front near the forks and only about an inch or so at the rear...which restricts it's usefulness considerably.  Now what I'd like to see is some info on an after market kit or a suggestion on installing a 10/11 Connie Fairing glove compartment on my 09 Connie....I know my fairing has plenty of open space for such compartments and it is puzzling why Kawasaki didn't put them in on the 09's.  I would guess the same is true of other pre 10/11 Connies but I haven't seen anyone else mention it.  This simple mod would add to my storage considerably, ha, ha, because I also like to leave my side bags at home unless I am traveling.

How is the top attached?  I was thinking of getting just the top and put my autocomm under...just wires and all that.

Thanks,
tom

Jim,

Is there a way you could re-host the images somewhere. All the image links are dead and I am interested in this mod.

Thanks.

Unfortunately, they weren't hosted on this site and I re-posted this 'AC' (After the Crash).  Hmmmmmm, did a GS (Google Search) and came up with some images, interestingly enough hosted on this site..    Let me see what I can dig up, could entail some drinking though.