Whit Brown V-1 Radar Locator
Installation
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  The WhitSTer
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V1 stealth mounting stuff:
For the past month I've been playing around with a radar detector
location that wouldn't be readily evident, yet still affords a
reasonably unobstructed view forward, while still retaining
sensitivity on all modes. As most of you know the ST pretty much
defies any mounting like this.
"The shelf" worked well but was still pretty obvious. I played
around with adding a super dark limo tint on the lower portion of
the windscreen. While it did a good job of masking the shelf-mounted
detector from the front and sides, it was still obvious from the
rear. Besides my tint installation techniques leave much to be
desired on inside compound curves...just didn't look good, and
didn't wanna be using a razor blade on the plastic windscreen
don'cha know...
This latest revision (IV) works well and is not readily evident
unless one is intimately familiar with ST's from the front. I
mounted a Valentine One in a Rubbermaid Save-N-Serve sandwich box
(#3870) up under the headlight nacelle, against the black triangular
piece. This box is 1-1/2" high and about 5" square, and made of very
strong semi-flexible, translucent plastic, appears highly water
resistant (I may toss a packet of dessicant in there), and cost $1.
47. I masked off a window the size of the V1's aperature (antenna
opening) and painted the remainder flat black. Then nibbled a small
hole, near the rear lid edge, to accommodate the power leads and
RJ-11 cord to the remote unit/s.
I mounted the V1 and Direct Wire Power Adapter inside the box with
Velcro. The box nestles back as far as it will go and still maintain
turning fork clearance. The box is mounted via two Phillips-head
1/4-20 x 2" screws. The screw passes through a 1-1/4" fender washer,
up through the box and through the triangular piece and tupperware,
through another fender washer, and secured with nylon-insert
aircraft nuts.
I ran the power leads up to the left mirror housing through a
two-conductor polarized connector (from Rat Shack) then back to the
switched 12V brn-blk wire from the fuse box. I went via the mirror
housing to allow easy access to unplug everything in case I wuss-out
in Virginia. This way I don't have to climb under the bike to
disconnect it, just pop off the mirror housing and unplug the
in-line connector.
The V1's remoted concealed display and audio module are housed in
an innocuous dark-blue, contoured, hard eyeglasses case, obtained
also from WalMart, $4.99. This case is Velcro'd to a flat-black
stainless steel angle plate which is bolted to the top two handle
bar/triple clamp bolts (mine are exposed as I'm running the
HeliBars) This resulting mount resides in the bottom of the "U" the
Heli's provide and is rock solid. The glasses' case hinge is spring
loaded and only needs to be opened less than an inch to see all the
disco lights and arrows and access the knob for on/off/volume and
mode changing. I use an internally anchored rubber spacer to hold
the case open the required amount, and the spring tension keeps it
there.
Whenever I want to close it all up, I merely push the spacer inside
and the case snaps completely shut. If I want to remove it, I just
disconnect the RJ-11 plug and peel the case, with enclosed Velcro'd
modules, from the two strips of Velcro on the angle plate, and it
pops into the jacket pocket. (Did
I mention I own stock in Velcro? ;-)
I can't notice any reduction in radar range. Surprisingly,
laser/lidar range doesn't seem to be significantly reduced either.
My Panasonic TV remote, on the "cable" switch-position only, will
light-up the laser alarm (wavelength is similar at ~904 nm)* It
would activate, without being enclosed, with the
peanut-whistle-powered TV remote, from across the street in daylight
with the bike in the garage. With the V1 enclosed in "de box", the
range was reduced maybe two feet, out of the possible 40' range
obtained 'au natural'.
I did some extensive testing to see if the box would have clearance
with fork travel. The obvious fork travel 'shineyness' was measured
and seems to leave over 1/2" of fully compressed clearance. During
testing I hit some pretty hairy intersection and driveway dips and
no problems. I would assume most ST's are similar, but if you were
to try this, check your clearances on your individual bike...truly
YMMV.
By mounting in this configuration, I realize I sacrificed the V1's
'rear-looking' lidar/laser feature. Surprisingly, the radar still
does very well with radar from the rear, dispite the engine being
only a foot behind it.
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