I scored one of the uber-rare OE foot shield kits for my '07

[purpleho]

Found the kit listed on Ebay in another country, still BNIB. Still waiting on shipping, should be here by next week.

Not only were these never sold in my country (I'm in the US), but they only fit '06-'08. How lucky was that?

 

[mcatrophy]

Hope you like them.

I put some on my '14 (free as part of a promotion), didn’t like them, took them off at the first opportunity.

 

[purpleho]

What was it about them you didn't like?

I'm just looking to keep my feet out of the cold air and water during the early spring and late fall. I have the OE hand guards which did the trick for my hands, and I assumed these would be similarly effective.

 

[mcatrophy]

What was it about them you didn't like?

I'm just looking to keep my feet out of the cold air and water during the early spring and late fall. I have the OE hand guards which did the trick for my hands, and I assumed these would be similarly effective.

i suppose mostly aesthetics, though they did occasionally get in the way, found my boots occasionally touching them when stopping. I never seem to suffer from cold feet (and I have been on the bike for several hours in sub-freezing weather). Maybe I have very good boots, maybe I am used to cold feet so I don't suffer. (Certainly not because I am hard.)

Pictures below are of my (Gen 3) 2014, different from your Gen 2.
Before fitting and after right-hand foot-shield (the black things are tip-over guards):
(Click on image for larger view)


Left-hand:


I also had the knuckle visors (as Yamaha like to call the hand guards). They were fairly effective at helping keep hands a bit less cold and a bit drier. I found I was less able to judge the bike's width when filtering (and they made the bike a bit wider, when filtering every millimetre helps), and again I didn't like their looks, so I took them off as well. You can see some before and after pictures around here.

 

[purpleho]

Thanks for taking the time to share your impressions on them, and nice pics.

Working nights, I'm often on the road in the dark and early dawn, and the temps are 30's-60's F at that time with no sun. I commute on a busy state highway with traffic moving 75-80 mph. Maybe your lower fairing is shaped differently than mine, but it feels like air/road spray gets blasted right across my feet and lower legs at highway speeds. My hands were always cold, even with grip heaters on high and heavy gloves.

I've only ridden the bike a few times with the hand guards, but they seem to tuck in nicely next to my V Stream shield and make a nice wind barrier at that level. I'm not a fan of the appearance of these parts either, but warm hands and feet will be a nice trade off! I wish Yamaha had made them available here in the US.

 

[mcatrophy]

If they make your riding more comfortable, that's a good enough reason to use them.

I can suffer from cold. When it is near freezing I plug in my electrically heated vest. I find putting warmth into the body really does help the extremities.

 

[Bill Lumberg]

I found the knuckle visors to be helpful, but I use a helibridge, and needed something closer to the bars in their artificially rearward position. So I switched to barkbusters.

Nice information about the foot shields.

 

[MotoMike]

Bill,
You wrote: "So I switched to barkbusters." Which model? Are they easy to install?

 

[purpleho]

I took my first ride with the foot shields this evening. It was about 45 degrees F and overcast. Since I was just going to work and back, I was wearing regular pants and Sidi motorcycle shoes. The shields redirected the airflow around my feet and lower legs, keeping them nice and toasty. Compared to how it was late last season, without either set of shields, it's a night and day difference.

 

[purpleho]

I looked at those, too. I have heard the Yamaha guards won't work with aftermarket bars or risers.

I found the knuckle visors to be helpful, but I use a helibridge, and needed something closer to the bars in their artificially rearward position. So I switched to barkbusters.

Nice information about the foot shields.

 

[Bill Lumberg]

They work. They just aren’t nearly as effective once you move the grips up and back.