Securing Jota Side-panels

cbertozz

cbertozz

Hero member
Location
Australia
I had my right panel pop-off at speed over the weekend when I finally opens her up, although luckily I caiught it with my leg. I'm also about to take off the airbox and use pod filters instead and I reckon that will increase the wind forces down there.

Yes I have searched and ran out of sanity on page 10 of results mentioning side panels. Fear not I did find some good advice but I figured it would good to see if anyone had developed any new ideas or had had time to confirm one of them.

1. Simplest : Make sure you have serviceable rubber grommets and they are cleaned of all road grime.
Pro: easy to do; Cone: it's still lurking in my mind that it's not really secure.

2. Velcro the panels as well (in addition to cleaning)
Pro: invisible Con: still not fully secure but at least some peace of mind.

3. Deuzz fastners
Pro: secure hard mounted Cons: ugly, non-original mod, need to work out how to mount female receptors

4. Fix eyelets on inside of cover and use bungee or cable ties to secure.
Pros: Secure (as long as your eyelets are attached properly. Cons: fiddly to set up maybe

5. Drill holes in edge of cover...just cons for me on that one!

I like the idea of a hard mounted fastner so going to look at possibilities. Likely to end up with a Velcro setup though after cleaning the grommets. The panels were definitely more secure when they were new.


 
My experieince is that cleaning grommet and peg with brak cleaner works just fine.  A build up of dirt and oil mist lubes them quite nicely for separation at speed. Fun catching them with the leg isnt it!  If degraesing doesnt work - yam gromits am fecked ar kid. IMHO.
 
New grommets from Wolfgang - right size and a 'nice' fit requiring a good firm push to set the panels in place - have worked very well on my Jota. The grommets I previously had from another supplier ('the last ones...') were smaller, didn't sit properly in the grommet housings on the frame and hence had a poor hold on the panels.
I reckon that the addition of Velcro would be a good safety net too.

HTH,
Alan :)
 
There was a time when everyone said pod filters were not a good idea on Del equipped bikes, lose of power. The same was said for 3 into 1s.Be interesting to see what you think after you do it. Make sure the side covers are secure, even with a bolt in the front mount that I didnt fit right, my left one come off and got run over. It was original to the bike, 1975 and I was devastated. Hate that word but it was accurate for this nightmare. Got a carbon replacement from Red, off his own bike so I was grateful but its not the same as the original. My fault, and I am still kicking myself for it
 
Hmm I feel ya pain the right one on the Silver Jota did the same thing and it took us near on 20 mins to find it as was on its back tother side of the road in the bushes..( under a bloody fern as it turned out  :o)

I did a little velcro jobbie on it but I reckon that the key is the rear top grommet tab... over time they tend to lets say, work themselves inward due to cover on an off... if they are inward then it tends to push the front of the cover out. They are failry easy to "reset" back outwards then this pushes the front of the cover in at the leading edge and seems to hold better.

3C has screw it in both sides... is an ugly fuggly thingy that when I saw the bike for the first time said first thing is those damn ugly screws are going ... well after all these years and miles of ownership they are still there... as whilst ugly very practical.
 
a14rgs said:
New grommets from Wolfgang - right size and a 'nice' fit requiring a good firm push to set the panels in place - have worked very well on my Jota. The grommets I previously had from another supplier ('the last ones...') were smaller, didn't sit properly in the grommet housings on the frame and hence had a poor hold on the panels.
I reckon that the addition of Velcro would be a good safety net too.

HTH,
Alan :)
Click to expand...

Those grommets from Wolfgang are excellent. No issues. Hold my side panels tight just fine for years.

Rather than Velcro..if it worries you...use some safety wire.. drill a small hole in a obscure location on the side panel and using some stainless wire..twist it to a frame point or airbox lug? 
 
Rusty Spokes said:
Those grommets from Wolfgang are excellent. No issues. Hold my side panels tight just fine for years.

Rather than Velcro..if it worries you...use some safety wire.. drill a small hole in a obscure location on the side panel and using some stainless wire..twist it to a frame point or airbox lug?
Click to expand...

Ye I was thinking about lock-wiring it somehow, I have plenty of that lying around from racing. Will make sure I clean the posts - dont have brake cleaner but assume white spirit or similar will work.
 
A can of Nylon Brake and or  Carby cleaner is really good stuff, leaves no residue. Some don't like rubber
 
Put the original panels on the shelf and replace with Boba's carbon copies. Excellent grip with the metal pegs he uses and proper grommets. Actually need a bit of rubber grease to fit them.
 
Well at least I know why my side panels are popping off.....Check your grommets people!

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Thanks for prompting me to look  - never thought they could be this fucked after 6 months!

Two of the three on the side that popped off are like this  :o

Other side one was hanging off

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Off to buy grommets tomorrow... hopefully one of the auto shops will have.
 
Looks like they have been rattling about and chaffing.
Squirt of silicon oil helps to keep them plump and flexible.

My motorised sofa has an occasionally errant fuse box door and it's not the sort of thing you want to lose given our four seasons in one day weather.
Stuck a couple of cable tie anchors to the inside and the door and joined with a bit of fine paracord.
Long enough to allow access and soft enough to not rub on anything.
 
Zip ties for me on all my bikes with clip on panels. Drill little hole and loop around. Make sure they can be swung out for emergency access, roadside breakdowns (had one yesterday) etc

Might pop off but will not be lost or bent.
 
You can get them at Bunnings on the specialty fasteners section, they are imperial so they can not fall off, don't drill a hole through your sidecover there is no need, replace the grommets every few years
 
Cosi said:
You can get them at Bunnings on the specialty fasteners section, they are imperial so they can not fall off, don't drill a hole through your sidecover there is no need, replace the grommets every few years
Click to expand...

Went round nine different stores yesterday but Nada. (Inc Bunnings). Have ordered some from the man.
 
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