Hey Ryan!
I appreciate your desire to rush this product to completion, so bear with me on this one more time.
This may seem like beating the dead horse on my part, but your statement r.e. the mounting of
driving lights goes against the conventional sage wisdom.
I suppose you're right, it is possible I just don't think it's necessarily worth it. If we were to go that route, the bracket would be sticking out of the fairing and might look a tad goofy from the front because of how far it would have to be spaced in order to clear the engine mount bolt. It'd also be a very tight fit. Also, not only would the lengthened bar be a tad more expensive (although not by much) the extra bracket work, bends, and welds are what would primarily drive up the cost. Is having the auxiliary lighting an extra 3" higher really worth it? Couldn't you always angle the light up very slightly to achieve the same effect without any additional cost? I can't seem to find the photo but a lot of people are fond of those lights that mount to the front axle and those things are way lower than what you could potentially mount to this guard and seem to work okay. Besides, only a small percentage of people who purchase our Canyon Cages add auxiliary lighting. So we'd be punishing a bunch (by having a higher cost) for the benefit of few.
I totally understand where you're coming from and don't mean to argue with you (because I do appreciate all opinions!) but we're also on a very strict time constraint and I don't think spending the time making that change to the top mount is a good way to spend the last few hours we have with the bike. There are other, more important factors we can fine tune in that time I think.
(snip)
If you are mounting Fog Lighting, lower is better. However, for driving lights, higher is better. From the IBA page on the subject:
Mounting The Lights
The best position for driving lights is as high as possible to the eye level of the rider and as far forward as practical. So done, full utilization of light is possible and the lights' ability to provide discernible contrast is enhanced. On the BMW K1100LT series, for example, mount the lights to the fairing in proximity to the mirrors. The underside of the fairing is reinforced for police lights. This places the lights to the inside of the mirrors, and slightly higher than the mirrors themselves, out of harm's way. Placing the lights forward precludes reflections caused by the light striking motorcycle parts before continuing down the road.
http://www.ironbutt.com/tech/auxlights.cfm
the other link I posted earlier mentioned 14 to 30 inches off of the ground for driving lights. Web Bike World also supports mounting driving lights as high as possible.
http://www.webbikeworld.com/lights/motorcycle-driving-lights/On the Connie, there are a couple of options, but these may involve undoing the mirrors (not the easiest thing to do) or improvising a bracket underneath the nose. Your tipover guards are the next highest attaching point, and one that is very convenient to boot, and easy to route wiring to. THIS is why a few of us keep asking for a higher mount.
I do recognize that with the angled guard support, you will probably need to lower the lower mounting hole a bit in order to clear the angled tube. I'm thinking that the now unutilized mounting hole on the bottom should be sufficiently clear for this, although without having the guards in hand, I can neither confirm or deny this for certain.
I also don't see where any additional welds would be needed for a longer guard. It's just a longer center section on the guard, with the same bends as before.
I'm just trying to make clear why there are those of us that want to see the top of the front guard as close as possible to the top of the vent. It's your product, of course, I'm just trying to suggest how to make it a little more appealing to the customer.
There is another option to clear the engine mounting bolt on the left. I'll have to look at the right side again to see what you are talking about r.e. the different situation on the right, but essentially you can notch the bracket tab to clear the engine mount bolt head. More work, admittedly, but not hard to do with a torch, angle grinder, or even a drill bit that is a little larger than the engine mount bolt head, if the tab bracket is placed in a vise, and then the hole is drilled in the appropriate place. The hole may extend slightly into the pipe depending on how thick the bracket tab is. Any 'notch' in the pipe due to the protruding engine bolt head would be almost completely invisible to anyone inspecting the pipe, due to it's location inside the fairing scoop. And, I am reasonably certain that the weld around the rest of the pipe/bracket tab would still be strong enough to hold the guard in place, depending on the strength of the guard tab metal. See attached image.
Your call, though. If most people like the guard as is, then it's a non issue. If more people want to see the upper mount placed higher, though, that should be something to consider r.e. marketability and utility of the product.
I suppose a customer could mount the driving lights on pogo sticks instead of directly to the guard, but that might look silly...
Also, you could market two versions of the product, so that those who are willing to pay extra can purchase the taller option. Admittedly, your market for this product is not that big to begin with, of course.
I've noted that a good number of the 'usual suspects', whom likely have Murphs' bars currently, have not commented so far.
