How to attach bell with metal bracket I've got a big old "ding dong" bell which has got a metal bracket and a screw for affixing it to the bike rather than the more modern "clamp"-style attachment:




How does one attach this properly to the bike?-- The screw isn't long enough to meet the "washer" (not sure what it's exactly called) which lies against the handlebar inside the U-shaped bracket, so when the screw is tightened, the bracket is still loose and the washer of course falls out since it doesn't have anything holding it in place.
It turns out that the "washer" is upside down in the photo: The flanges on the sides of the washer are perfectly flat on one side but are slightly curved on the other. By flipping the washer over so that the flat side faces the bell and the curved side faces the handlebar, the flanges then protrude ever-so-slightly away from the handlebars. With this slight difference, there is enough friction between the edges of the flanges and the respective edges of the holes in the bracket to catch and hold the bracket in place.

In order to put the washer in place on the screw so that it can be tightened, a flathead screwdriver can be placed between the handlebar itself and the washer, gently pushing the washer upwards towards the screw and holding it in place while the screw is tightened. Once the screw is tightened enough, the flanges will catch on the holes in the bracket and then begin to pull the ends of bracket together, which will then keep the bell securely on the handlebar through this tension.