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Protection Bars????

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skiphunt said:
I agree... but if you look at just the guard section... the design of the Givis and Motechs look pretty cool... but from a distance... and looking at the entire bike, those other two call more visual attention to themselves. I think the PW's actually blend in better when you look at the bike as a whole. But, aesthetics are pretty sujective. I didn't like the look of the strom at all last year...and now I love it. Go figure.

Maybe after 23k in a year on the KLR... and all the vibration and long-distance on the slab pain.... I've just fallen so in love with the smooth, near-vibration-free strom ride... that I've convinced myself it looks "smooth" as well. ;-)
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In all fairness, does anything really take much away from the asthetic appeal of the Strom? I mean come on, there aren't many UGLIER bikes out there. :rofl::rofl:
 
Fellow,
Aesthetics????Artistic Lines???? I'm w Albie on this one.

Just to share some experiences w the V-Strom.
- In a right lowside, no crashbars, the brake lever, handle bar end and the small ridged black vent in the middle of the side cowling take most of the impact. The cowling did get a little scratched up but the black piece was scraped through. Also taking significant impact along w the brake lever was my right ankle! It may be that w gaurds on the bike there would have been clearance enough so that the ankle would not be trapped.

- I was silly enough to follow the guys over unpaved mountain passes last year in CO. (I witnessed the world famous 'tires to the sky' incident!) To the point.....on some very washed out, rocky trails the strom bottomed a few times mostltly scraping the mounting plates of the SW motech centerstand. The stand must have swung a few times since the feet were also scraped. One of the biggest impacts the bike suffered occured to the front exhaust pipe right at the rearward bend below the front cylinder. The pipe did dent but from the sound and feel of the impact I was surprised it did not tear loose from the bike or crack the cylinder head.

- Same CO trip - going thru sand (30mph??) and laid the bike on its side. Scraped some paint and may have very slightly bent the now installed Hepco Becker crash bar. No other damage but a scraped hand gaurd.

- Way before any offroad adventures, there were some rock dents in the coolant radiator. I did install a fenda extenda which seems to have prevented further dents. For the CO trip I had installed a homemade gaurd for this radiator.....no noticable signs of impact on the gaurd post trip.

- I have thought about the oil cooler a few times but never did anything regarding it. It shows no signs of impacts.

Enjoy,
Steve
 
Steve strom said:
Fellow,
Aesthetics????Artistic Lines???? I'm w Albie on this one.

Just to share some experiences w the V-Strom.
- In a right lowside, no crashbars, the brake lever, handle bar end and the small ridged black vent in the middle of the side cowling take most of the impact. The cowling did get a little scratched up but the black piece was scraped through. Also taking significant impact along w the brake lever was my right ankle! It may be that w gaurds on the bike there would have been clearance enough so that the ankle would not be trapped.

- I was silly enough to follow the guys over unpaved mountain passes last year in CO. (I witnessed the world famous 'tires to the sky' incident!) To the point.....on some very washed out, rocky trails the strom bottomed a few times mostltly scraping the mounting plates of the SW motech centerstand. The stand must have swung a few times since the feet were also scraped. One of the biggest impacts the bike suffered occured to the front exhaust pipe right at the rearward bend below the front cylinder. The pipe did dent but from the sound and feel of the impact I was surprised it did not tear loose from the bike or crack the cylinder head.

- Same CO trip - going thru sand (30mph??) and laid the bike on its side. Scraped some paint and may have very slightly bent the now installed Hepco Becker crash bar. No other damage but a scraped hand gaurd.

- Way before any offroad adventures, there were some rock dents in the coolant radiator. I did install a fenda extenda which seems to have prevented further dents. For the CO trip I had installed a homemade gaurd for this radiator.....no noticable signs of impact on the gaurd post trip.

- I have thought about the oil cooler a few times but never did anything regarding it. It shows no signs of impacts.

Enjoy,
Steve
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Great insight and info!

I've pretty much settled on the Pat Walsh engine guard with skid combo, and the oil cooler plate. Figured with that I wouldn't need the fenda extenda, but I wasn't thinking about the coolant radiator and flying gravel. Do you think with the PW set including the oil cooler and fenda extenda... I'll be pretty well covered for most incidents?

Also, I've read some drill their fender for the "extenda" and other's glue'em on. I'd rather not drill on the bike, but will the glue hold well enough?

Also, I've seen some of the fenda extenda sites showing pics of it with some logo printed on the back. Which company sells it for the best price AND no logos printed on it? Anyone know for sure?

thanks,


Skip
 
Before I put the SW Motech engine guards on, I dropped the bike while stopped on an FM outside of Hico on the first Pie Run. The road was crowned and I misjudged how far down my right foot would go. The bike went over onto the grass, breaking the right turn signal off, bending the brake lever end to a point of almost breaking (I still have it on), and crunching the right hand guard. A few other points ended up with mud and grass on them but I don't think that the plastics were affected.

I ended up replacing the signal, muscling out the hand guard, and just leaving the brake lever alone - it is usable & I have a replacement if it ever gets damaged more.

Not sure what help the engine guards would have given, but I have them on now.
 
skiphunt said:
Do you think with the PW set including the oil cooler and fenda extenda... I'll be pretty well covered for most incidents?
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Yes I do. The only thing I have to worry about any more is roost from other people. I have a tiny crack in my headlight from a rock that was thrown up during a hill country trip.

Also, I've seen some of the fenda extenda sites showing pics of it with some logo printed on the back. Which company sells it for the best price AND no logos printed on it? Anyone know for sure?
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That logo is just a sticker. It peels right off without any trouble.
 
skiphunt said:
I've pretty much settled on the Pat Walsh engine guard with skid combo, and the oil cooler plate.
Click to expand...

I decided to make the oil cooler guard. Went to LOWE's and bought an $11 piece of expanded metal. I'll make a pattern out of cardboard and cut it out with either bolt cutters or a hand grinder. I've already got some 3/4" padded clamp collars and a few bolts laying around.

I think I'll have enough scrap to make a partial guard for the radiator. :clap:



Gilk51 said:
I ended up replacing the signal, muscling out the hand guard, and just leaving the brake lever alone - it is usable & I have a replacement if it ever gets damaged more.
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Next time you're out camping throw the brake lever in the fire for about 5 minutes. You can bend it back with a hammer and no one will ever know. Trust me........ :trust:


HiSPL said:
Yes I do. The only thing I have to worry about any more is roost from other people. I have a tiny crack in my headlight from a rock that was thrown up during a hill country trip.
Click to expand...

Aeroflow???? They're expensive but they do work.
 
10-95 said:
I decided to make the oil cooler guard. Went to LOWE's and bought an $11 piece of expanded metal. I'll make a pattern out of cardboard and cut it out with either bolt cutters or a hand grinder. I've already got some 3/4" padded clamp collars and a few bolts laying around.

I think I'll have enough scrap to make a partial guard for the radiator. :clap:





Next time you're out camping throw the brake lever in the fire for about 5 minutes. You can bend it back with a hammer and no one will ever know. Trust me........ :trust:




Aeroflow???? They're expensive but they do work.
Click to expand...

Tin snips! I also like my die grinder with cut off wheel for such piddlin' and my angle grinder. Now, I really need to buy a small lathe/mill combo machine in the future. I've wanted one for a long time. Some day.....

I love piddlin' with stuff like this. I have a gas torch rig with welding tips, but no welder. That'd be nice to have. :mrgreen: Just the other day I was heating and bending my steel shoe to fit a pair of MX boots. I tweeked my ankle one too many times wearing road race boots on the dirt track. NO MORE! :mrgreen:

When you get that thing built, we'll need a picture, of course. ;-)
 
Might want to get Wasabi to give a couple cents here, he's taken his strom over a lot of things from gravel roads to really rough stuff, broken skid plates and gone down on road and trail that I know of.

Dunno what he's using but I've heard his skid plate take some pretty harsh hits on it in Colorado and North Carolina.
 
I think his was the SWmotech? One corner of the plate just ripped off. I think it was the Scotch Creek Rd where Steve wisely called it a day and we soldiered on...
 
Guys,
I'm pretty sure Wasabi had the SW Motech plate and bars as previously stated. The plate was aluminum and surely did afford protection to his bike on the trails.

But none of the skid plates I've seen yet are truly awe inspiring. If I wanted what was in my mind a solid skid plate, I'd fabricate it myself. A thought is to run 2 pieces of 3/4" angle iron from the centerstand mounts, or mounting holes if one was standless, and forward and up to the cross piece of the crash bars. Then attach a approx 6-8" plate on the underside of the angle iron. Doing this in stainless would be trick but stainless sure gives me problems w machining.

IMHO......I know that pictures can be deceiving in that motorcycle apparel can make a guy look bigger than he is ;-) :mrgreen: ......but any of you 180 - 200 lb + guys consider that light stock springs would cause loss of ground clearance going over bumps????

Steve

BTW the fenda extenda comes w double sided tape...I used the tape and added a couple of rivets for added security.
 
I would suggest a two layer plate. I thinner and easily replaceable outer layer to absorb impact energy and a thicker inner layer to guard against penetration. This is somewhat like what the GS had and it worked very well. And that protection does need to come up in front of the motor as rocks of substantial size will get kicked up by the front tire. I had several knock my foot off the pegs!
 
I have heavy progressive springs in the front with some 10wt oil. The back has the preload jacked up almost all the way. I have never grounded a peg feeler with this setup, even though my tires are worn to the edge. I was able to grind the back edges of the Motech bash plate, and the center stand mounting plates get hit all the time. I'm about to chuck the centerstand as soon as I figure out some other system to replace it. Honestly though, I like to be able to stand the bike up straight for loading the bags and tailrack. It keeps my sleeping bag from sliding off onto the ground....:lol2:
 
Well, the AdventureMoto plate is out. $200 for this:

AMS_VS_EP.jpg


:argh:
 
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