(09-03-2014, 07:42 AM)Papa Weeley_imp Wrote: That was my thought, too, but one of the members seems pretty certain his is plastic.
No he doesn't...at least not any more
I haven't removed them yet, but I did manage to scrape some metal filings from a discrete inner flange to test my erroneous theory. It must be some non-ferrous metal, possibly a type of aluminum or aluminum/zinc alloy, but it is a very good die casting with low porosity. When still attached to the bike they sound very dead and non-metalic when tapped, but I'm sure that Papa Weeley can get a metalic ring out of them now that they are free from the bike.
What lead me to the theory that they were plastic, was that there were signs that mine had been ground down a bit on the leading edge, AFTER they had been painted. What was visible was a greyish, natural colour, very similar to the plastics used in automotive interior trim that get painted to match other trim (cheaper than moulding each piece in many colours).
I'm still very surprised that Honda can make such parts for only $20 each. If I weren't still thinking of getting the Dart, I might now refinish the brackets to match my Blue tank. It would certainly be cheaper than billet aluminum brackets.