Altrider fork guards

[fredz43]

While checking Atrider's site, I noticed that they now offer fork guards at what looks to be a decent price. Has anybody on the forum tried these and if so what are your impressions?

http://www.altrider.com/altrider-fork-leg-guards-for-the-yamaha-super-tenere-xt1200z/pid/1705/cid/4

Thanks

 

[JRE]

Hey those are pretty nice!

 

[~TABASCO~]

Metal fork guards are no bueno if they get bent into the lower legs. FYI Seen it several times.....

 

[fredz43]

Metal fork guards are no bueno if they get bent into the lower legs. FYI Seen it several times.....

Good to know. Thank you.

 

[Bushyar15]

That was my thoughts too. If the aluminum bends into the fork leg it could scratch it. I think some plastic composite would be better...

Metal fork guards are no bueno if they get bent into the lower legs. FYI Seen it several times.....

 

[Maxified]

Some fork guards can touch your auxiliary lights mounted on your AltRider crash bars if the suspension is compressed enough. DAMHIK

The design of at least one fork protector brand was generous with the material wrapping around the fork toward the rear. It just barely clipped/rubbed the mounting bracket on the Clearwater light on the right side. :-[
No real damage done, just cosmetic.

 

[arjayes]

While checking Atrider's site, I noticed that they now offer fork guards at what looks to be a decent price. Has anybody on the forum tried these and if so what are your impressions?

http://www.altrider.com/altrider-fork-leg-guards-for-the-yamaha-super-tenere-xt1200z/pid/1705/cid/4

Thanks

Fred - There was on thread on these a few days ago:

http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=14573.msg227876#msg227876

More mixed feedback. They do look pretty cool, though.

 

[sportsguy]

OK, yobos, I'm bouncing back in for this one... ::015::

I've had the neoprene units - they look great and are useful when you first install them. get them dirt, and I'm talking anything from road grime to offroading, and they trap dirt inside, against your fork tubes. Yes, you can remove them for washing, so that's cutting zip ties every time you wash the bike, wash them out, dry them and rezip tie in place. If that's your process, more power to ya - it's not for me.

I have the Altrider aluminum guards. Easy to install, easy to position if you need to "bend" things slightly. I doubt the soft aluminum will do much damage to the hard forks if they touch, but a valid point. Still a MUCH better option, IMO. I have over a thousand miles on mine in dirt and onroad - narry a twitch from them. Even over...ah...well...at faster speeds, we'll say, they remain rock solid.

Yes, I did drop the bike - no they didn't come close to bending into the fork - could it happen? Yeah, sure, anything is possible, but that might be a small issue compared to other issues if you find yourself front side down hard enough to make that kind of contact.

Bottom line - I spent my money on neoprene, and removed them on both my Tenere and KTM 690 Enduro R. The KTM runs around nekkid now, and Tenere carries the weight of the aluminum guards.

 

[dcstrom]

Just my feedback on the neoprene covers - had some, like Sportsguy found they would get a lot of crap underneath them. When it got wet this would turn into a nasty looking paste...

So ditched them - I've had a couple of leaks since, both fixed by cleaning underneath the seals with a strip of plastic.

What I've found is that if the fork leg gets a spray of mud, the upper part of the leg is soon cleaned off by the dust seal. The lower part however might not, and if the mud is allowed to set hard, and later you hit a bump and use more fork travel, the dust seal and then the oil seal won't be able to remove the hardened mud and a bit could get past both seals.

My big idea to solve this, though I haven't tried yet, would be to put the neoprene socks on the BOTTOM of the fork legs so that when the seals get down that far they have a clean surface to work on. Should work?

Trevor

 

[Rethy]

I am not a big fan of the fork skins. I ran them on my dirt bike and found fine sand, mud and grit would get underneath. Almost seems worse cause it holds the grit on the fork constantly. I don't run them anymore. If you pull down the dust seal. I spray WD40 and work a 35mm negative film under the seal.and spin around 360 degrees to remove grit from under seal. This works well on dirt bikes and helps prolong seal life.

 

[Xt1200zsupertenere]

::26:: ::26:: ::26:: ::008:: ::008:: ::008::

 

[BillPacific]

OK, yobos, I'm bouncing back in for this one... ::015::

I've had the neoprene units - they look great and are useful when you first install them. get them dirt, and I'm talking anything from road grime to offroading, and they trap dirt inside, against your fork tubes. Yes, you can remove them for washing, so that's cutting zip ties every time you wash the bike, wash them out, dry them and rezip tie in place. If that's your process, more power to ya - it's not for me.

I have the Altrider aluminum guards. Easy to install, easy to position if you need to "bend" things slightly. I doubt the soft aluminum will do much damage to the hard forks if they touch, but a valid point. Still a MUCH better option, IMO. I have over a thousand miles on mine in dirt and onroad - narry a twitch from them. Even over...ah...well...at faster speeds, we'll say, they remain rock solid.

Yes, I did drop the bike - no they didn't come close to bending into the fork - could it happen? Yeah, sure, anything is possible, but that might be a small issue compared to other issues if you find yourself front side down hard enough to make that kind of contact.

Bottom line - I spent my money on neoprene, and removed them on both my Tenere and KTM 690 Enduro R. The KTM runs around nekkid now, and Tenere carries the weight of the aluminum guards.

Very good info, I been considering some form of protection. So can you clarify your satifaction with the Aluminum gaurds? Do you have them on the KTM?