stock joint guard explains why I might have fallen over.......

[SilverBullet]

I planned out all the must have modifications to my bike before taking delivery of it and pre-ordered everything to have on hand ready. I held off ordering the above two items (brake and shaft boot guards). I finally picked up my bike last weekend and was surprised to see that the stock guards for both are metal. I presumed they were plastic and that was the reason why the expensive aftermarket guards are sold.

So my question is why buy the aftermarket guards when we already have stock metal guards that appear to be of decent strength? Are they for bling only or am I missing something?

_

 

[Dogdaze]

Re: Brake and shaft boot guards

Bling! Also I believe some paint or lacquer eventually wears off, nothing that a rattle can cannot fix..... I'll bow out now, as I'm sure someone will correct me.

 

[fredz43]

Re: Brake and shaft boot guards

If one of those is the universal joint guards, many have bought them as a preventive measure to eliminate the possibility of catching your pant leg on the OEM guard, resulting in dropping the bike. It has happened to some here. The aftermarket ones are closed on the top, eliminating that possibility.

 

[JimmyVrod]

Re: Brake and shaft boot guards

I just had my pant leg catch on the shaft guard as I was coming to a stop at a light. Almost feel into a car next to me. :-[
An AltRider protection plate is on order

 

[EricV]

Re: Brake and shaft boot guards

The sole reason I ordered the u-joint and brake guards is because I wear my riding pants outside the boot, and have in the past caught a pant leg on a bike part, resulting in a near tip over. Could have easily been a very bad dump in the dark in a bad spot. A little peace of mind, imho. Those and the side stand foot at the only Altrider pieces on my bike, and they are decent kit. Mine were much earlier than the cheese grater problems where parts were not properly de-burred.

 

[SilverBullet]

Re: Brake and shaft boot guards

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to look into that pant leg possiblity. I might need to do some bohemian engineering and bolt an upper portion onto that guard if needed.

_

 

[snakebitten]

Re: Brake and shaft boot guards

A few of us with KLR DNA just bend the oem guard into the bike a bit.

 

[Ron15S10]

Re: Brake and shaft boot guards

What's the best way to bend it some? I like this farkle much better than the other options out there.

 

[snakebitten]

Re: Brake and shaft boot guards

I have a inexpensive (cheap fix) for hanging your pants leg on the mastercylinder and u-joint guard. Mind you this is patented and you will need to send me $25 before using it, because I have and Uncle with the goverenment and he will know. His name is Sam. Anyway back to the fix. Drill a small hole at the highest point of the each guard, chanfer the hole, and then run a plastic tie through the hole and around the sub-frame brace and snug it down. Pant leg can't go behind it now. 8) ::024:: Today only special is half price.

From an old thread. Another option?

 

[snakebitten]

Re: Brake and shaft boot guards

I fixed the OEM ujoint guard with a rubber hammer. No snagged pants leg for me.

Yet another.
It does suck when you go to put your foot down and get the UHOH terror moment.

 

[mrpete64]

After falling over and separating my shoulder last summer it "finally" dawned on me why I did...fall over. I feel on my left side after coming to a complete stop to park my bike. After looking at this part it became clear to me that my pant leg must have gotten caught on the original joint guard. A few of you, on this site, also commented on your near falls with your pant leg getting caught as you thought you were putting down you leg only to get it held up on the stock guard.
Hence, I just got alt riders replacement guard. I would STRONGLY suggest you look at stock guard as an issue. Or, maybe I am just a klutz! All I know is that after thinking about how I ended up on the ground with a thud...that happened very quickly...it now makes more sense to me...my pant leg got caught and before I could get it free and my leg down I went...splat!
I thought about bending it back so the guard was not vertical and that might help with this issue. I spent the money and bought the joint guard cover from Altrider. For the money it is not worth it to test this idea out...again!

Mr. Pete---------->
aging hippie

 

[EdOnS10]

::026:: I am going to say it is not just you and it actually seems a touch of a liability to me for Yamaha not to consider that in the design. I noticed that as one of the weak spots on an otherwise amazing stock design..
To put it in context - I am a fairly agile 30-something with 20+ years in martial arts training - and don't consider myself a "klutz".. I had a pretty similar experience trying to get my leg down at a stop and might have fallen had not been for my tendency to land "right sided"

My solution was the same, the AltRider guard which is honestly a great replacement which addresses the problem entirely!

I also acknowledged that maybe open pant legs are not exactly a good idea either... I do wear riding pants that would not have this issue on trips - but I confess to being lazy and wearing jeans on my work commute. With my riding position it would not take much to get even modest cuffs over the OEM guard.

 

[OldRider]

I gave three good wacks with a rubber hammer, fixed.

 

[yz454]

Yea that cost me a broken ankle 2 years ago , so it went bye bye .

 

[Bushyar15]

I originally had no intent of changing that part out and for the longest time never had any issues with my pant leg snagging. Then it happened a couple times. I was able to lean my bike to the right and "unsnag" before dropping the bike. I bought the alt rider guard as insurance...

 

[Checkswrecks]

You are joining good company. While I still have the original, there are two common joint guards that people put on or discuss in threads like yours. Realize that the trade-off is that the edges of the covers may chafe and wear your left boot. See this thread:
http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=11196.0

 

[mrpete64]

At my age I would surely swap out a new pair of boots, due to wear on them, over waiting three months for my shoulder to get back to "sort of" normal. As I noted, I could never figure out what happened to me falling over. At least I know know. The upside...if it wears out my six year old boots it will give me an excuse to buy a new pair that is waterproof. My old boots were at one time but the company told me that the liner material was old and probably broke down....like me!
Anyway, any suggestions for a good pair of boots? I see you can buy Sidi from a place in England for a very reasonable price.

Mr. Pete---------->
aging hippie

 

[Timmeh]

The 'couple whacks with a rubber mallet' is a good idea.

Somewhere on here (I think) I saw a post about drilling a small hole or two into the top of the guard and using cable ties to the frame to prevent this kind of thing from happening.

 

[oldbear]

Ya got my attention! I went out to the garage, checked the bike and Yikes, that thing is just sitting there waiting to nail me!! I ordered an Altrider guard TODAY! THANKS!!

 

[JRE]

I ordered one too, supposed to arrive tomorrow. It's good peace of mind. The zip tie method is a great inexpensive insurance policy but it's wouldn't look quite as nice.