Im off to Spain in a couple of weeks and just remembered the rear wheel guard thing has to come off before you can adjust the chain. I dont fancy doing that at the side of the road and was thinking of removing it. Im wondering if anyone has tried the bike with and without the guard? Does it really make much difference in terms of stopping rain spraying up on the rider? Many thanks
Yep. It makes quite a difference once removed. You will get covered by whatever you ride through. However, mine was removed years ago and I’m prepared to pay the price for what I prefer the bike to look like and for your aforementioned ease of chain adjustment. There are other responses to the very same question on the forum, some agree, some don’t. It’s your bike, do what you want to do and just live with your decision. Clothing is easy enough to wash nowadays.
The pillion tends to get more spray without it I’d say but if you adjust the chain correctly before you go you should get round without readjusting it. The hex keys required for doing it are a weird size, 9.5mm if I remember correctly. It’s actually an imperial size converted to metric for some strange reason, so check you have the correct size hex key before leaving just in case you do need it. If not you’ll be buying a hex key set from Leroy Merlin….like I did, just to get the 9.5mm On tour I spray lube mine every day.
Yep, mine are 10mm on my dvt1200, but as the guard has always been off, wasn't aware it had to come off to adjust...have a topbox there any how to stop the flickup
I took mine off when I bought the Multi and will not be refitting it. I got caught in the rain a few weeks back and came 60 miles or so up the M1 where there was lots of spray. I had no issues with spray up my back and it was not all over the bike either. The hugger kept pretty much all of it contained. I did have the top box on, and even that was not covered in spray beyond what I would expect to be there when riding in the wet. Outside of some adventure bikes, nothing else has those monstrosities bolted on, and they all seem to manage OK. Perhaps it varies with tyre types? I have Metzeler roadtecs on mine and it all works fine.
Pillion not an issue for the upcoming tour at least. Mine are deffo 10mm thankfully as i dont own any imperial tools. I did about 1900 miles on last years trip and the Monster needed a small turn of the c spanner. The hub on the Monster is a torx rather than a hex. Youd think theyd stick to the same.
