FJRocket
Doctor Throckenstein !!!
I just got the second generation "VStrom Kit" from Guru Glen this afternoon. $65 shipped, btw. I got home and ran to the garage to cobble the left guard on my AE. The only mod I did to the standard kit was to dremel out the ends of the plastic guards to match my bodacious Top Gun Bar Ends. I used the nuts and washers from the FJRGoodies "kit" to support the plastic pieces against the bracket.
The "test" attach bracket is a strip of .032 aluminum about 1 inch wide and 4 or so inches long (initially) to make a "C" bracket. That aluminum bracket screws to the only easily accessible screw in the back of the shifter housing on the left side controls on the AE. The screw seat in the shifter housing is slightly recessed, and there is a protrusion below the screw seat on the housing. The bracket and the attach screw, therefore, have to sit away from the shift housing and out away from the screw seat. I used one of the nuts that came with the kit (didn't use it on the right side handguard), the one with the wide shoulder (not the nylock nut), as a spacer between the bracket and the screw housing. The "collar" of the nut faces away from the housing and makes a nice big footprint against the bracket.
The only thing (so far) that I might add to the kit is a fender washer under the shift housing attach screw to support the bracket a bit more against the "nut spacer" collar.
The vertical part of the "C" bracket is about 50mm tall, and fits inside (under) the handguard at the top, and outside (below) the guard "hook" at the bottom. IOW, the bracket is just sized to fit the attach points on the VStrom handguards.
I used all the parts of the standard "Mark II kit" from FJRGoodies, but probably not in the order you would for the other FJRs. Not on the left side, anyway. But it's probably close to the same arrangement.
Since there isn't a lever on the left side, the handguard really doesn't need to be way out there at the outside. I'm considering cutting off the factory bar end attachment and drilling a hole nearer to the body of the guard. That would enclose your fingers a lot more, and keep even more wind off. However, I have this thing about symmetry, and will probably just leave the handguard "stock". Here's an idea of what I'm talking about:
The bracket material needs to be thin, probably .060 +/- max, if you want to use the provided washers for the bottom attachment. And it needs to be made from a relatively narrow strip of material. To keep the position of the handguard in the OEM position (based on the hand guard bar end attachment), the handguard attach screw holes need to be offset slightly inboard from the shift housing screw holes. At the same time, the "C" bracket needs to be mounted as far inboard as possible (or cut back) on the shifter housing to clear the movement of the finger shifter.
I don't have the final shape of the bracket down yet, but it's very close. Like I said, this is just a preliminary "thumbs up" that you can work this out with minimal materials and effort. Once I get the bracket the way I want it, if someone would like to make a template, or perhaps make up some brackets out of thicker aluminum or thin steel, I'd be up for that. I think the .032 would be plenty strong to hold the guard in place, but I wouldn't call it "rigorous". It would be nice to have something more substantial made up to spec. I'll probably make my final bracket out of .040 or .063 aluminum, since I have that laying around.
The "test" attach bracket is a strip of .032 aluminum about 1 inch wide and 4 or so inches long (initially) to make a "C" bracket. That aluminum bracket screws to the only easily accessible screw in the back of the shifter housing on the left side controls on the AE. The screw seat in the shifter housing is slightly recessed, and there is a protrusion below the screw seat on the housing. The bracket and the attach screw, therefore, have to sit away from the shift housing and out away from the screw seat. I used one of the nuts that came with the kit (didn't use it on the right side handguard), the one with the wide shoulder (not the nylock nut), as a spacer between the bracket and the screw housing. The "collar" of the nut faces away from the housing and makes a nice big footprint against the bracket.
The only thing (so far) that I might add to the kit is a fender washer under the shift housing attach screw to support the bracket a bit more against the "nut spacer" collar.
The vertical part of the "C" bracket is about 50mm tall, and fits inside (under) the handguard at the top, and outside (below) the guard "hook" at the bottom. IOW, the bracket is just sized to fit the attach points on the VStrom handguards.
I used all the parts of the standard "Mark II kit" from FJRGoodies, but probably not in the order you would for the other FJRs. Not on the left side, anyway. But it's probably close to the same arrangement.
Since there isn't a lever on the left side, the handguard really doesn't need to be way out there at the outside. I'm considering cutting off the factory bar end attachment and drilling a hole nearer to the body of the guard. That would enclose your fingers a lot more, and keep even more wind off. However, I have this thing about symmetry, and will probably just leave the handguard "stock". Here's an idea of what I'm talking about:
The bracket material needs to be thin, probably .060 +/- max, if you want to use the provided washers for the bottom attachment. And it needs to be made from a relatively narrow strip of material. To keep the position of the handguard in the OEM position (based on the hand guard bar end attachment), the handguard attach screw holes need to be offset slightly inboard from the shift housing screw holes. At the same time, the "C" bracket needs to be mounted as far inboard as possible (or cut back) on the shifter housing to clear the movement of the finger shifter.
I don't have the final shape of the bracket down yet, but it's very close. Like I said, this is just a preliminary "thumbs up" that you can work this out with minimal materials and effort. Once I get the bracket the way I want it, if someone would like to make a template, or perhaps make up some brackets out of thicker aluminum or thin steel, I'd be up for that. I think the .032 would be plenty strong to hold the guard in place, but I wouldn't call it "rigorous". It would be nice to have something more substantial made up to spec. I'll probably make my final bracket out of .040 or .063 aluminum, since I have that laying around.
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