Repositioning the CB350's Rear Turn Signals
CB350s' turn signals were mounted quite far forward. This made adding accesories like saddlebags difficult. My old leather saddlebags bumped all the way back against the turn signals and, as small as they were, made riding uncomfortable for a passenger and limited the size of bag that could be put on the bike. You can see here on the left side that the stock position is a little bit forward of the back of the saddle.
Below is the repositioned turn signal on the right side, now well aft of the saddle.
I didn't need to move the lights much; a little bit here makes a big difference in what bags you can install. I went back about four inches. Because I was not moving them far, flat bar stock was plenty rigid to use as the extension. The bar stock almost fit inside the upturned edges of the original mount's back side. I ground the stock edges back so it fit inside snugly, then drilled a hole the size of the original mounting hole in one end and a small hole at the other for attaching the old mount. The large hole on the old mount was filled with two neoprene washers which fit neatly inside the hole and were a tiny bit thicker than the bar, giving me a bit of a buffer between the old and the new parts. A fender washer on the outside bigger than the original mounting hole covered the hole and neoprene washers and a stainless bolt passed through it with a lock nut on the back holding it all together.
The original mount had a rubber covered tab sticking out the back that fit in a notch on the bike frame, keeping it from rotating. I cut tabs from more flat stock and welded them to the backside of the extensions, the same distance back from the mounting holes. I moved the old rubber tab covers to the new tabs on the extensions.
Below is the finished assembly from the front. All that is needed is a little gloss black spray paint and to attach the asemblies to the bike.
And here is the reason for the extensions. Yes, as frugal as I am, I finally broke down and bought a new set of saddlebags. These were fairly inexpensive ($140) and will provide much more storage than my old leather yard sale bags. They also came with rain covers, which is a big improvement over the old leaky bags. Another nice feature (that I also have on my tailbag and have found very useful) is that the bags can expand out another few inches by simply unzipping a zipper around the perimeter of each bag. With the bags installed, a passenger will not be crowded trying to get their feet on the back pegs and the lights are no longer in the way. You can see by the picture that if the turn signals were still in the old position the bags would be covering them. An added benefit of moving the turn signals is their improved visibility.
Road Dog
"Ride Your Own Ride"
