Underwear for the V-Strom

Rev. Brian posted a comment on my previous posting "Summer, Seats, and Stelvio" and included that he was trying to decide between getting the OEM under cowling or a real skid plate.  I started writing a reply and then figured it would make a good posting, since it's been a while since I've added anything to the blog.  This, of course, then reminded me that I never made a post after attending the International Motorcycle Show in Dallas, TX last month, so that's something else to add.  Look for that soon.

Anyway, back to Rev. Brian's conundrum.  Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that the following is merely my opinion based on my experience and observations, be they correct or wildly not.  Much of it is supposition, because I have direct experience only with the OEM under cowling.  If you have better information from which Rev. Brian can benefit, then please leave a comment.  Flames or trolling will be deleted with extreme prejudice.  It is my blog, after all.  :-)

So for those of you who have not read his comment, Rev. Brian is planning an adventure to the Black Hills in June and is trying to decide what kind of underwear to buy his V-Strom.  My advice is to take a good hard look at the type of riding that you intend to do, and then purchase the appropriate item to meet that use case.

For me, very little, if any, of my riding is going to be off-road.  If I do go off-road, it will most likely be limited to fire roads or groomed gravel.  Certainly nothing requiring a 4x4 vehicle, so the risk of high-centering (maxing out the bike's clearance) or sliding over rocks/logs and needing to protect the exhaust pipe or engine casing is practically zero.  In my use case, the OEM under cowling should be adequate protection from any road debris that might get kicked up and threaten the oil filter and/or exhaust pipe.

Seeing as how Rev. B is going to be visiting the Black Hills, I would hazard a guess that he may see some off-road action during his trip.  Even so, the OEM under cowling may be adequate if sticking to roads such as those I described above.

Givi makes a belly pan that I think offers a level of protection between the OEM under cowling and a skid plate.  It's also quite cost effective at $160.99 from OneidaSuzuki.com.

It appears to be a light-weight aluminum belly pan that I think can be mounted without engine guards/crash bars.  It seems like it would provide a bit more off-road protection than the OEM under cowling, but not quite as much as a skid plate.  Having not seen one in person, I can't really comment on just how durable it is.  From posts on Stromtrooper.com, it seems to be fairly durable in light off-road duty.  I still think the OEM under cowling looks better on the V-Strom, but this option might look better with a coat of matte black paint or spray-on rubberized truck bed liner.

Another option that doesn't require engine guards/crash bars is the SW-Motech skid plate, which is available at TwistedThrottle.com for $259.99.

Some posts I have read showed concern for the fact that it attaches directly to the engine case and may potentially cause greater damage than the protection it provides.  I believe that the concept is that the mounting struts are designed to flex in the event of an impact, absorbing some of the energy.  This is SW-Motech's bread and butter, so I'd like to think that they thought this through and did some testing to make sure that impacts to the skid plate would not bust up the engine case.  Maybe I'm just too optimistic.

There are other skid plate options as well -- Hepco & Becker, AltRider, and many more that can be found on Stromtrooper.com -- that require engine guards/crash bars to be installed.  These are probably the strongest solutions, but I guess it all boils down to how the skid plate connects to the crash bars.  It would be interesting to see some crash testing done to find out how each solution performs and up to what impact levels.  The skid plates alone are probably on par with the SW-Motech, but then you have to factor in the cost of the engine guards/crash bars if you don't already have any.

So I guess to summarize, I would rank these as follows:

• On-Road Only -- OEM under cowling is definitely adequate; expensive but looks great
• Light Off-Road -- OEM under cowling is probably adequate; the Givi belly pan would be better, less expensive, but not as factory-looking
• Light to Medium Off-Road -- Givi belly pan on the lighter end; SW-Motech on the medium end; both have that after-market add-on look
• Serious Off-Road -- skid plate incorporated with engine guards/crash bars; after-market add-on or bad-ass adventure look, your choice

Remember, this is just my opinion based on what I've read and what I think about a product based on its manufacturer's description.  Rev. Brian, I hope you found this to be somewhat helpful in making your decision on what to get.

Suzuki OEM Under Cowling and Tank Pad

So last week my remaining two packages arrived -- one containing my Givi Maxia 3 topcase and mounting plate, and the other the Suzuki OEM under cowling, hand guards, and tank pad.  This posting will cover the installation of the under cowling and tank pad.  The latter will pretty much consist of a picture of the finished installation since it's not exactly rocket science.

Many people say that the OEM under cowling isn't worth it, because it doesn't protect the bottom of the bike, is made of plastic, and costs as much as a metal skid plate.  While I do admit that it was a bit of a mental struggle to justify its cost, it suits my needs since I don't plan on doing any off-road riding that would require the additional weight of a metal skid plate.  I just wanted something to protect the oil filter and the front exhaust header that didn't add a lot of weight to the bike.  I considered the Givi belly pan but I think the OEM under cowling integrates with the bike's overall look better.  The best price I found was at www.OneidaSuzuki.com, and they were able to get it to me in 5 days despite being in the path of Superstorm Sandy.

This is a very simple installation, and the Suzuki installation instructions are actually quite good.  Even so, I still find it helpful to have pictures of the actual parts.

Tools Used:

• Philips Head Screw Driver
• Sockets: 8mm, 10mm
• Ratchet
• Hex Driver: 5mm
• Torque Wrench

Time to Install:  ~45 minutes

Center/Front and Right pieces fitted together.

Left piece ready to be fitted.

The under cowl comes in three pieces (left, center/front, right), individually wrapped in foam padded sleeves.  These foam sleeves served a nice dual purpose as layout mats for keeping the parts off of the floor.  The three pieces snap together, which I discovered unintentionally as I was checking their fit, and then secured on either side of the center/front piece by three screws.

The tab from the side piece snaps over the screw post on the center/front piece . 

Notice that the two top screws are shorter than the four bottom screws. 

Here's how it looks fully assembled.

The installation kit includes a neoprene pad that attaches to the under cowling at the top-center.  The pad is peel-and-stick, so it's simply a matter of locating it per the instructions and sticking it on.

There are four (4) rubber grommets that go into the holes where the under cowling connects to the mounting brackets.  It's easiest to insert them from the inside of the cowl by squeezing them flat and inserting the end of the grommet onto the edge inside the hole.  Then it's just a matter of pushing the rest of the grommet in and making sure the sides lay flat on the inside and outside.  There are four (4) aluminum sleeves that then get inserted into each grommet, but I decided not to put those in until I was ready to mount the cowling to the bike.

Now that the under cowling is assembled, it's time to install the mounting brackets on the bike.  The front bracket mounts to two stand-offs on the front cylinder housing using the 10mm socket to drive the two provided bolts.  Be sure to install it with the bar above the bolts as shown below.

The stand-offs are just below the exhaust connection.

Front bracket installed.

Front bracket mounting point.

The lower/side brackets are mounted using the 8mm socket to drive the existing bolts from the clutch cover and generator cover.  The brackets are stamped with "L" and "R" even though it's fairly obvious which one goes where.  The installation instructions say to torque all of these bracket bolts to 10 N-m / 7.0 lbf-ft.

Right side (Clutch) bracket with "R" stamp.

Left side (Generator) bracket with "L" stamp.

Now that the brackets are installed, it's time to mount the under cowling.  Before doing so, it's time to insert the aluminum sleeves into each of the four (4) rubber grommets in the cowling.  It's a simple matter of working it into the opening and sliding it in until it's flush on both sides.

If you are working on the bike with it on the side stand, you will want to start mounting the cowling from the right side.  If you start on the left side, the cowl will want to rotate out under the bike thanks to gravity and flex at the bolt holes.  It seems as though the material is sturdy enough to not crack or anything, but why risk it?  By starting on the right side, it will simply hang on the bolts without any flexing.  I snugged everything up on both sides using the 5mm hex driver and then torqued the bolts according to the installation instructions to 7 N-M / 5.0 lbf-ft.  And here it is installed:

The tank pad installation is quite tricky.  Not.  The package comes with an alcohol wipe with which you can clean the surface.  Then it's simply a matter of eye-balling it where you want to put it.  Again, this is a little more expensive than other aftermarket tank pads, but I like the factory look of it.  Now that I look at it again, I wish I had put it a little further up towards the warning stickers.  Oh well.  It also reminds me that I need to bust out the hair dryer and remove those.

UPDATE:  With regard to removing the stickers, I ended up just letting the bike sit out in the summer sun for about 30 minutes, and that was enough to allow me to gently peel them off without leaving any residue behind.

So that's the OEM Under Cowling and Tank Pad.  Next up is the Givi Maxia 3 top case and mounting plate.