I'm sure the others on here appreciate the words of caution. I had heard of this complaint before I considered the modification, but the instances had been on the 1100 V-Stars and not on the Road Stars.
Just to be sure about the install I've been checking for signs of stress or cracks and have yet to find any. The lights have been on since Sept. of last year. While I'm not a daily rider I would think that if the lights were too heavy for the bar I'd have at least seen some signs of failure by now(bending, stress cracks, excessive vibration or things just being generally loose).
I'm not sure what qualifies as "serious riding". I have been on a couple of long distance rides with no troubles with the install. I did lose a bolt out of the windshield and from the right side cover, but those were Yamaha installed items not related to this modification
With that said: This modification (as well as any others you see on here, I'd expect) are done at your own risk..or benefit, depending on how you view it.
This works for me on
MY bike. I haven't done extensive testing on other model years. However if it works on my '04 I'd expect it would work on others. The guy who originally thought this up has them installed on his V-Star 1100 and they are working fine. No doubt there are always instances of bad luck regardless of the modification, however I've yet to have any with this alternative mounting of passing lamps.
M7