How much is too much? There is no such thing with chrome... Part two

Ok that's too much!

So rear crash bars fitted a treat, they don't really do anything practical at this point, and anyway they are there to stop stuff braking when if she is ever dropped, so really I'm glad they haven't done anything practical yet.

One thing the bars have done however is given my pannier bags something to lean on under heavy load, this has stopped them falling forwards (and down) when on bumpy roads and i'm very glad they are there now!

But alas I got the itch again and had to add more bits to the bike, (for safety measures mind) so on to the front then.

Front crash bars, often called "engine bars" are fitted to big cruisers and adventure bikes to avoid damage to the engine in the event of an incident.

now i'm really not planning on anything happening to my bike so the crash aspect of the bars aren't what is appealing to me, instead I feel that engine bars give bikes a bigger road presence and increased "virtual width" which should hopefully stop Mr. Mondeo from skimming by me on overtaking moves.

There is a set specifically for the HN which was brought up on the Forum which certainly makes the bike look much bigger:

Note the spotlights, I like those, hmm next on the list I think

So off to eBay (there's a pattern emerging here). I had managed to find a fitting diagram for a set of crash bars for the Honda CM125 which as we know by now is the "donor bike" to our HN's image, and by this fitting diagram I determined that the mount seems pretty generic, a single U-bolt to the top of the down tube and a single bolt running through the engine mount at the bottom:

So back to the search, I thought i'd see what was available for other bikes that might fit, 

In my search i found a set of bars for the Honda CG125 which seemed to have the correct mounting points:

But the auction ran on a bit and a cheeky sniper took them away from me at the last second, ah well.

I kept an eye on ebay for another couple of days but nothing else came up, so I swiftly pulled the phone out and rang Learnerlegal, upon enquiry (and a cheeky mention of the owners club for whom they sponsor) I was offered a set of front engine bars guaranteed to fit the HN for £35, I asked if that was a delivered price and after a moments hesitation the lady on the other end of the line agreed they would send them included in the price, Bargain! A quick paypal secured the bars being sent to me next day.

So returning home after work I found a nice big box ready for me to open,

 I set about fitting them, there were no instructions but it's pretty simple and if you're playing along at home you can use the diagram above.

I first mounted the bars through the engine mount using the bolt already present on the bike (The manufacturer's really made the bike easy to add bits to) a good amount of grease on the bolt and they were almost secure:

Then in a swinging motion I raised the bars up to fit the U-bolt to the top of the frame and... the bolts weren't long enough, Damn

But in flash I had remembered that I had re-fitted the original pannier rack and the bolt's I had used through the tail to replace the original semi-threaded ones, may just fit and... huzzah! they did! Off the top of my head the bolt was an M6 but don't hold me to it.

These new bolts may be a little long but they work fine and are nice and strong, so all is well:

Now back down to the engine mount bolt to ensure it is nice and tight and everything is now secure! and if you ask me, looking pretty damn good as well

See what I mean about the big bike look!

So what next? cosmetics wise I'm nearing the end of what I can do short of welding so maybe some nice spotlights? although LED will have to be the way to go to save my little dynamo, hmm thinking cap on now then