Rear mud guard Install plus some tweaking for reliability.

Not happy about that chain guard but the chain is a bit messy due to too much lube

On one of my first shakeout runs, I ran over a small puddle in the road and ended up painting my back and the underside of the bike with a strip of muddy water. I knew this would happen and already had a mud guard waiting for me to figure out how to install it but life got in the way with a death in the family and emergency travel to make arrangements for becoming the executor of a relative's estate.

I had some spare time this weekend when I got my son to mow the lawn so I had him help me get the bike up on the stand in order to re-work the rear license plate, install a new set of turn signals (These cheap LED lights don't seem to last very long) and attempt to install that mudguard that had been waiting patiently for me to get around to it for more than 4 months. 

Driving around locally, I discovered all kinds of loose rattling when going over bumps. After I secured  the contents of the battery tray I could distinctly hear the license plate clunking on bumps and I discovered enough play in the tag assembly that I knew something had to be done to fix it before the rattling caused something to break and fall off. 

My tail tidy was too complex and heavy and it was loosening the rivets that were holding it to the rear hoop.  I think my tire was also touching the tag on certain bumps so I may need to find a slightly heavier duty shock and spring assembly one day soon.  I'll keep an eye on that gouge I'm finding in the center of the rear tire.  

I simplified the tail tidy by removing the metal bracket that formed the mount for the reflectors and also fashioned a rudimentary clamp for the tag frame instead of relying on rivets. 

The new setup is much lighter and more firmly mounted without any rattling. I'm not sure the tag lights provide very much illumination from this spot but am left with few options at this point. I am concerned with the lights potentially blinding someone behind me due to the angle of mounting and also the wire dangling below could come in contact with the rear tire on a big enough bump.

DIY Bracket made from some reshaped scrap metal

This is the 3rd set of turn signals and I'm not sure what's wrong with them. With the engine running, if I hold the brakes, one of the lights will blink off then back on.  I requested a replacement and the new lights do the same thing so it's not a faulty light. My suspicion is the lights are very sensitive to voltage fluctuation, so I decided to disconnect the brake lights from the turn signal and only run them as turn signals. I could also remove the rear turn signals entirely since the rear brake light has an integrated turn signal. I added the extra light for visibility. If I was only worried about aesthetics, I would just run the integrated brake and turn signals.

I like the new mud guard but it appears to be slightly off center to me. Installation required the wheel off the ground and a pry bar to slide the axle mount plate between the wheel spacer and the swing arm. Next time I take the wheel off, I will grind the plate a little to smooth it out and remove just a little metal for an easier fit.

During this episode, I had some trouble getting the bike running with the engine only running on 2 cylinders. After some troubleshooting, I got it running again and I'm not 100% sure but it seems like 2 cylinders had loose spark plugs and this was causing those cylinders to not fire as expected.