Hi Guys,
Tyler from TC Bros Choppers here. I was informed of this thread by a customer, and I thought I should follow up to see if I could be of assistance.
1.) Self Grounding Housing. This has literally become industry standard on the vast majority of aftermarket chopper/bobber tail lights produced today. Most people prefer it because it is less wires, cleaner looking, and whatnot. If you are having grounding issues or just prefer a 3 wire setup, you can easily just crimp a ring terminal to a piece of wire (that is attached it to a solid frame ground) and attach the terminal to the light housing using one of the supplied mounting bolts that hold the light to the bracket. No paint removal should be required once everything is tightened up.
2.) The bracket appears to be bent the wrong way. We literally have sold thousands of these things over the years, and the flat blank (before bending) is not symmetrical, so it is possible that one of my guys could have put it in the pressbrake "wrong side up" before forming it and it slipped through quality control. I have not received complaints from other customers for this issue (I would assume if he did one, he would have done more) but stranger things have happened in the world and I am more than happy to send you a correct one free of charge if that is the case.
3.) The button head bolts on the bracket are underneath the plate once installed. This is true but there is no need to make standoffs for your plate. The button head fasteners are my lowest profile option for this thickness of material (10ga .134" material is not thick enough to use 5/16" flat head cap screws and make a countersink deep enough to recess them). Most all of my customers just leave the bolts under their plate because the very small amount that the plate is lifted from the holder is un-noticeable to most people. If this bothers you and you must have your plate sit perfectly flush, you can always drill two 5/16" holes through your license plate and pass the bolts through. The reason for the bolt together design is that we wanted to offer a kit that was universal to every application possible. This design allows you to bolt the kit to your bike either right side or left side in either the horizontal or vertical position. This kit also includes an axle mount tab, shock mount tab, as well as a coped weld on solid steel slug for the guys that have to get really creative. You will be hard pressed to find a more universal/functional design anywhere on the market, regardless of price. With that being said, customer feedback, both good and bad, is extremely important to us at TC Bros Choppers. We are always looking to improve upon our designs to offer the highest quality products for the most affordable prices, so please don't hesitate to contact us directly should you ever have an issue/suggestion for any of our products.
4.) I was unaware of any fitment issues with NY plates. We have never had a customer mention a fitment issue in the past. When I designed this kit, I measured dimensions on plates from 4 different states (I will admit that NY was not one of them) and they were all the same. Just for measuring purposes, I also purchased the cheap "universal chrome motorcycle license plate trim pieces" that are sold by many retailers and found them all to fit the bolt pattern I used in our holder. Like I said this is a first for us, but if the NY plates truly do not fit, I will research the dimensions of that particular plate and see if we can fix the issue by slotting the mounting holes or some other method of accommodating the odd pattern. See this is where customer feedback can really help us to help future customers. Since we manufacture all of the steel pieces right here in the USA, we can make design improvements based upon customer requests very easily.
5.) I would like to speak with you more about how the wires "shook off the light". This is one of my highest selling tail lights and honestly we have had very few issues with it. Is there any chance that your wires were routed too tightly causing additional strain on them? The XS650 is definitely a vibrating beast, especially in a hardtail, so even simple things like routing wires to provide strain relief can make a big difference. That being said, the light itself is made overseas and there is always a chance of getting a bad one. The same holds true to items made in the USA. Errors can happen in production that are not caught in quality control. All I can say to you is please CONTACT US if you have any problems. We cannot help you unless you contact us and tell us what happened. We stand behind what we sell 100% and your customer satisfaction is our #1 priority. We refuse to have unhappy customers and will do whatever it takes to make it right with you, whether that be new parts, different parts, re-design, refund, whatever it takes. Our contact info is posted on our website but I will post it here as well. Email
sales@tcbroschoppers.com. Phone 419-265-9399 M-F from 8:00am-5:00pm EST. I have a very helpful and capable customer service rep named Josh who is happy to assist you. If you don't get the result you are looking for with Josh, ask for Tyler or Tim and one of us will talk to you personally. My brother Tim and I built this business over the last 7 years and do our best to please our customers, and provide quality products that the average joe can actually afford. Check around the internet and you will see that we are not a fly by night operation making junk and leaving people hang out to dry. I promise you that if you contact me at the shop, you will not leave an unsatisfied customer.
