I agree the swingarm cover is purely for protection. Thats what i have one for too. However I also agree with the 'tat' bit to a degree. Although my 916 is full of it. My 1198 less so as now I focus only on practical mods that will help my riding. My 1198 runs only the carbon swingarm bit and sprocket cover. Thats it. I even prefer the oem clutch cover as its sturdy and protects that side of the bike, especially my slipper clutch.
Most of it probably is "Mexican Chrome" i.e. shiny CF tat but I don't really give a shit. decided to put on some shiny stuff as the Ducati seems rather plain and dull alongside my MV. Having owned the F4 312RR for almost 5 years now I have avoided bolt on tat on it. It has a CF top and bottom chain guard and that's it for bolt on stuff. It has original screen, levers, fuel cap, fairings, belly pan etc. I have done some things to make it visually lighter such as--powder coat the engine plates and swing arm in the same colour as the sprocket cover, paint and polish the wheels, polish the exhaust system. All of this has given the bike a really bright and light appearance from the previous dull crinkle black or just dull black. I also painted the front mudguard top in red so that the bike is visually separated into red upper half and silver lower half. This makes it individual and my bike, some like it some don't, again do I give a shit ? A
I bet that looks nice! Unless it is a trackslag or race bike, anyone here have a nice patch of quality duct tape instead of their key guard? You got a pic?
Erm, trackslag. Doesn't even have a key. Just for scratch protection though clear film has been used for years on cars and bikes. The simplest solution is the best solution and all that. I took a carbon tank guard off my ZX6 to find all the dirt and dust trapped between it and the tank had made more of a mess than a zip would've done. Was like it'd been sand papered.
At the end of the day a bike belongs to the owner and if the owner thinks it looks great with CF or other then I don't see any problems. If we all rode oem bikes the world would be dull. Theres nothing wrong with owners personalising or making their bike look nice in their eyes. Its their eyes after all and ours are irrelevant.
Add whatever bling, be it tat or functional, you like. Your bike, your money. Just don't wear a POLITE high biz jacket. These are the rules all bikers should live by
All I know is, I'm not going to wait for a carbon fiber protector to be made to stop bungee hooks or the misses boots scratching my bike when a bit of tape works wonders. Function over form for me every time. But then I ride all year so I'm never going to have a show winning example of a bike anyway.
