Badges ... nice but fragile

[Dana01]

I want to share this in case others are contemplating buying tank badges. I got mine for a Ray, the VJMC guy (PM me for contact). They look great. I mounted them carefully with the supplied JIS screws and made sure not to tighten them down too much but just enough to hold them in place (I didn't use anything on the threads).

After revving the engine a bunch, the badges cracked in several places. One 1/4" crack from an edge inward, 3 circular cracks around screw holes.

My guess is that if the tank's metal mounting surface isn't very flat, the twisting pressure is enough to start cracks in the fragile plastic. The original HONDA badges had cushioning built into the badge back to absorb vibrations.

I intend to buy another set soon, but I'm going to look into cushioning the badges: either with tiny rubber grommets or O-rings, or a flat piece of rubber or gasket material. I think I'll also tap the threads to metric so I can use off-the-shelf hardware and not worry about losing an original.

[Jethro]

Thank you for sharing. I'm just finishing up my project and have some reproduction badges. I'll probable do this after hearing about your experience. I don't remember who I got my badges from but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Thanks again,
Jethro

[ivancook]

I had the same badges crack on install. I had just read this thread too and was being extra careful. I'm going to live with them as is for awhile and then try again at some point. Please let me know if you find a fix for keeping them from cracking.

[Hotshoe]

Try putting a little dab of silicon caulking on the back of the badges on the screw holes to bed the badges on the tank and lock the screw threads so you can tighten them up till they're just snug.
I did that with my repro badges last year and haven't had any problems.