Side panel / number plate screw spacers / compression limiters

[snydes]

If you have ever taken the side number plates off your Alta you might have briefly seen the teeny tiny little spacers, technically refereed to as compression limiters, before they dropped to the floor and rolled away forever. I did manage to get them off in order to document the sizes and take a picture (right before I lost one).

Here they are, from the front of the bike to the back, the lengths measured .180", .120", .236", .180"



What I did to try and improve this design was to turn some aluminum hat washers sized to firmly press into the side panels so there is no worry about mixing them up or losing them.



I adjusted the lengths slightly after a few trial fits to try and shoot for an optimum "squish". I did loose .05 of thread engagement due to the thickness of the hat, but that's not a big deal for what this is. I did open up the holes in the size panel slightly to give a nice straight hole and provide a good press fit of the new spacer. Here is what it looks like.



If anyone would like to do the same, I can post some sizes to make things easier. If any of our members has access to a CNC lathe they could spit these out by the hundreds pretty easily.

 

[Trialsman]

So I am not the only one that had to scurry about chasing those little guys in my shop. That is an excellent idea and I will be making up a couple sets for my EXRs. Thanks for the idea.

 

[snydes]

Also, for reference the torque on those side panel screws is just 2 Nm. They don’t take much abuse, so you don’t want to over tighten them or you will spin those brass inserts in the plastic.

 

[BD114]

Hey guys sorry to revive an old thread but I’ve been searching and can’t seem to find the answer.

Picked up an almost new Alta Mxr locally a couple months ago and since the right side number plates are no longer in stock I decided to take them off.

I did notice the little spacers but totally have them mixed up now and not sure which size goes where. Can anyone tell me what order they go in? I want to put the plates back on.. I figure if they break, they break. I have a left side panel spare but no right unfortunately..

Ps if Anyone wants to sell a right side spare from their stash let me know! Haha

 

[rayivers]

This is what I wrote down the first time my number plates came off:

Rear screw has a short black spacer, the 2nd & 3rd screws use medium-length silver spacers, and the front screw has a long black spacer.

 

[BD114]

Thanks for the quick reply, I’ll pop them back on tmrw. Just paranoid, didn’t want to strip the inserts if I got the order mixed up