It does increase road spray onto the rider, but not enough to give me a concern. However, if I was actively knowing I'm riding in wet conditions with mud and what have you, then I'd entertain putting the guard back on. But again, for my style of riding (primarily and only roads with the sun out), it's not a problem. Plus, removing the rear tyre guard (not the hugger, the ugly bit at the back of the tyre) helps with the feel of the bike according to some. I just removed it as its only purpose from factory is to meet a regulatory requirement for road usage (spray reduction for other road users) and it's fucking ugly.
Yes. I live a mile up a dirt track and there’s notably more crunge when I leave the guard off. OTOH leaving it off makes chain adjustment much quicker
Agree with comments from both @freshage and @Ethel the Aardvark, I removed the crud catcher from both of my Multis. Looks better and as Ethel says, chain adjustment is much easier. If you have a topcase that'll catch most of the spray.
