With the Sito exhaust on my G/S, the PO attempted to use the plastic side cover, which was melted in certain areas, so in an effort to keep the pillion from frying and possibly me in alittle likely crash (LOL), I made this out of 5/16" rod and some 1/8" thick flat stock. I think it goes pretty well witht he rugged look of the G/S. Just need to paint it.
I broke the connecting tabs off my plastic guard. You have given me a model for what I could do besides spend $$$ on a replacement. Nice.
I bent a copper wire across the top bend of the muffler so that I could get the 5/16" tubing at the correct angle. Each of the three rods have the same bend but each are differing lengths. At the allen head bolt, the top two rods are actually connected together by a small tab which goes behind the bracket on the muffler. Kind of missed the mark on the middle rod as I wanted it to go under the saddle bag mount like the top one, reason being those exposed ends might catch on something fleshy. Make sure to check the saddle bags for fit before welding up. The short rod is seperate from the top two. It's pretty strong and doesn't flex much. Probably 3.5 hours to make it. The brackets were bolted on in place then the rods held up to them and tack welded inplace.Also protect the paint when welding (aluminum foil worked well for me) and remove the gas tank. Road about 180 miles today and the guard wasn't warm at all, my front brake got pretty hot though i.e. haven' fun. It was easier to make than what I had first thought of making. It took 6 feet of rod to make with about 6-8 inches left over.
Great. Another project for my bike.:huh Looks good. It might even reinforce the footpeg. Now just pull that nasty airbox plumbing off there.
Who makes that pannier rack? Of interest, my sidecover is also a little wavy, like it overheated. Is this common?
The BMW racks that were on my '81G/S, and the spare set I had were constructed with tubular pieces that went from the bag loop to the subframe... I would have guessed that your racks were either Motosport or HB...
Here's the man for racks... LINK these guys do a nice piece as well... http://www.overland-solutions.com/
I assumed they were BMW racks as the stock bags fit on them, but I cannot say for sure as the bike is new to me.
Might want to place a peice of bar at the rear end of those rods. Just on the off chance you get something caught on them while riding, or in a fall.