I live in So Cal so a lot of our riding season can be rather warm, and I have riden in Arizona and Nevada where it can get really hot, so I like to have drinking water close at hand while riding.
I have mounted a bicycle water bottle cage to the left side cover, and it works great to grab a drink while at a light or even while riding on long stretches of open road. But to put the bottle back into the cage I have to take my eyes off the road and turn around to locate the cage.
I heard about Hog Troughs on here and decided to try and make my own, and ordered a spare cover just in case it did not work out or in case I screwed it up. On the first try I mounted the cage directly to the pop in cover (first pic) as low as I could. But when I tried it out the left air deflector hit the top of the bottle when I cranked the bars to the left. On to plan B.
I got a piece of 1/4" thick by 1 1/4" wide aluminum strip and made an extension to mount the cage 2 1/4" lower. I used the original lower hole as the new top hole and to mount the bracket and cage to the cover. I also drilled a new hole at the top of the bracket to help secure it to the cover, and another hole on the bottom of the bracket to mount the lower part of the cage on to.
Now I have NO clearance issues and can easily reach the bottle and put it back while keeping my eyes on the road. And there is still plenty of room for my foot when shifting.
It takes a good tug to get this cover to pop out, so I am pretty confident it will stay in place even with a full bottle of water.