When changing the oil, installing fog lights, or other maintenance on the front of the engine you need to remove the lower front cowl, also called the front cover. There are a total of 6 allen head bolts, and 2 plastic lock pegs.

With a 5 mm allen wrench remove the allen head bolts, paying attention to the 2 longer ones that go in the top-most holes. To remove the plastic lock pegs, just pull the center pin with your fingers and the entire piece will come out.

To re-install this cover, start all of the screws but don’t tighten any until all are in place.

Installation Time:

2 Hours

Difficulty:

2 out of 5

There are several reasons to add foglights to your bike. First, as the name implies, to aid driving and visibility during fog and other less than ideal conditions. Second, to be seen on the road… we all know that the cagers can’t see bikes. More lights to help identify that you are coming through is a good thing. And finally, to help to see objects in the road after dark. This realization came after I ran over a 7 foot alligator at 11 PM back in July.

While I am installing the foglights, I am also adding a chrome lower front cowl.

Tools Needed:

• Set of Metric Allen wrenches
• #2 Phillips head screwdriver
• 10 mm wrench or socket & ratchet
• Side cutter pliers…more commonly known as wire cutters
• Dremel tool with grinder tip or similar precision grinder

Previous steps:

• Place bike on center stand
• Remove the lower front cowl

Preparing the front cover for fog lights

Whether you are using the factory grey lower front cowl, or a chrome aftermarket cowl, you are going to have to remove the plugs where the foglights will go.

When you look at the back of the lower front cowl at the back of the foglight plugs, you will see 8 small pieces of plastic that holds this plug into place. Using your side cutters, snip all 8 of these on each of the plugs. The plug will just fall out at this point in time, but you will still have rough finish that you can see after installing the foglights. You will need to gently grind down this rough cut with a Dremel tool. In my case, I don’t have a Dremel, but I do have a pneumatic grinder made for precision grinding on surfaces like these. Now the lower front cowl is ready to install over the foglights.

But wait, the foglights are not installed yet. Time to add these good looking lights. Fortunately, the GL1800 Goldwing comes prewired for foglights, so the installation of the foglights is just a bolt on procedure.

In  the above photo, there are 2 bolts that you need to remove to install the foglights. You will need to keep the plastic piece that these bolts hold on. This will be re-installed shortly.

Next step is to install the 3 rubber grommets into the foglight bracket. You can see in the above photo which of the 3 holes they belong in. Why they need the fourth hole and then not describe which hole to use on the instructions, I don’t know. As you also see in this photo, you will insert the sleeve through the rubber grommets, and install the bracket in this order:

• the plastic piece we pulled off a few minutes ago
• the foglight bracket
• and then 3 new bolts with washers on them. The 2 bolts that you pulled out when you pulled off the plastic piece, you won’t be putting them back on, just keep them for something else.

Now the moment you have been waiting for…install the foglights on the brackets using 2 Phillips head screws with washers on them.

The wire harness connection is located just above the horn. It has a blank plug inserted into it, and the connector is taped to its own wires.Before you put the lower front cowl back on, finish wiring in the switch so you can adjust the lights.

Installing the foglight switch

Similar to removing the side pockets, the first step it to remove the trim on the kickstand side of the bike.

Then it only takes one 5 mm bolt to remove the electrical panel. Then turn it over to gain access to the one blank spot next to the hazard light switch.

Take off the back cover of the electrical panel, and remove the black plastic cover held on by Phillips head screws in the lower right of the corner of this photo.

Plug in the switch. This connector is somewhat hidden, but just reach in and pull out each connector until you find the connector that matches the one on your switch.

Fog light switch installed into the new opening. Don't forget to put the cover back on.

The supplied connector is a ‘T’ connector so you don’t have to splice anything, and at least in the Show Chrome foglights came with a bypass relay that allowed the foglights to stay on even with the hi-beams are on…once again, more visibility is better.Put the electrical panel back in place, install the bolt, and replace the trim.Now turn on the bike, turn on the foglights and check adjustment. They should be level with the ground. Mark a stick right at the foglights at the center of the light, then move the stick 5-10 feet away and make sure that the beam is no higher the mark. Slightly lower is fine. Put the now modified lower front cowl back on the bike, and enjoy.

There are several reasons to add footrests or highway boards. The primary reason I wanted highway boards is for extra comfort on extended road trips. Since I have already decided to add highway boards, choose something that you like the looks of. I choose the Kuryakyn Ergo II Cruise Mounts with Iso-Wings footrests. Kuryakan’s Ergo II mounts give positive stops for adjustment points, this keeps the footrests where you put them. This is an easy install and it took me less than an hour to install.

Tools Needed:

• Set of standard (SAE) allen wrenches
• 3/4″ socket and ratchet (wrench won’t work)

Each set has an upper clamp, lower clamp with one side of the Ergo II adjustment, bumper (to hold the footrest firmly in place and without damaging the valve cover), the footrest arm with the other side of the Ergo II adjustment, the footrest adapter, and an Iso-Wing footrest. The most difficult part of the process is deciding which way you want the footrests to point (just swap sides if you want the opposite look) and what is a comfortable seating position for the footrests to sit.

Start on one side, it doesn’t matter which one.

1. Take one lower clamp, insert a bumper into it.
2. Slide the upper clamp over the top of the engine guard, and then line up the lower clamp to into. Start all four bolts into it, tighten them to snug but not tight…you want to be able to adjust this clamp assembly.
3. Attach the footrest arm to the clamp assembly, adjusting the footrest arm to a comfortable position, keeping ground clearance in mind. I found keeping the footrest arm level with the engine guard was the best position.
4. To attach the footrest adapter, you need to insert 2 rolled-pins into the adapter. This is actually quite easy. I was able to place the pins into the pair of holes, and then place the adapter to the arm, and tighten the bolt that hold the two together. This will set the pins into the adapter. Those pins keep the footrest firmly placed where you design…particularly important with foot boards as opposed to foot pegs.
5. Finally we are ready to put the footrests on. This is straight forward, put on the footrest, start and rundown the bolt (but don’t tighten).
6. Now repeat on the other side.

Adjusting the angle

If you have an assistant, it will help. You need the sit on the bike with your feet on the footrests, since they need to be set to where it is comfortable to you.

1. Get the footrests approximately where you think it will end up.
2. Sit on the bike and decide if the footrests need adjusts and where to.
3. Start tightening all the bolts, starting with the 4 on the clamp assembly. Keep trying the fit to make sure that they are still where you want them. Don’t forget to tighten the set screw on the base of the foot rest.
4. Install bolt covers.

Now wasn’t that as easy as I said it would be?