208rider
Member
I ordered the AltRider Radiator Guard in black from Amazon for $77. It arrived slightly bent (bowed might be a more correct description), but was easily straightened by hand. The aluminum used is on the soft side, but considering its task is to absorb the shock of a fast moving rock, this is likely preferable to being too hard and brittle.
Installation was a bit challenging due to tight spaces and inaccurate instructions. The included information from AltRider called for a 12mm socket and a 5mm allen wrench. They were correct on the allen wrench, but incorrect on the socket. For my 2015 Honda NC700X DCT at least, a 10mm socket was the correct size. (Incidentally, 10mm is also the needed size for the nylock nut supplied by AltRider, but more on that later.)
Step one according to AltRider is to "remove the radiator support bracket," but that should be step two. While removing this bracket is theoretically possible with the front plastic fairing in place, doing so requires using a socket extension and taking the job one to two clicks of your socket driver at a time. Do yourself a favor and take an extra 60 seconds to remove the front plastic fairing first. (For those unfamiliar with this process, it requires removing a bolt from each side using a 5mm allen wrench. The bolt used on the left side is shorter than that used on the right.)
Once the fairing is removed, the radiator support bracket can be removed and the lower tab of the radiator guard inserted as per the instructions.
For the top two tabs, there are two attachment points, but only one (the left one from the perspective of sitting on the bike) has a bolt in it. The other is empty. AltRider supplies two M6 x 25 bolts which use the 5mm allen wrench; the one on the left inserts without trouble and tightens into the existing fitting. (The original bolt is not reused.)
On the right side, the new bolt requires the use of a washer (or two, three were supplied) and a supplied nylock nut. While the instructions are not clear on this point, I found it unworkable to use the bolt with the head facing out to mirror the left bolt. Instead, I inserted the bolt from the back of the hole (from the center point of the bike) with a washer toward the outside where I added the second washer and the nylock nut. Using the 5mm allen wrench to hold the bolt in place, I tightened the nut using the 10mm socket. (The allen wrench barely fit and was difficult to remove once the bolt was tightened down.)
Once everything was tightened down, three of the four rubber pads on the back of the radiator guard were touching the radiator housing while the fourth (lower left) had a few millimeters of gap. I rode the bike for about 15 minutes to test for any strange behavior or noises and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. The radiator guard was hot to the touch after that amount of time.
All in all, I believe that the guard will perform its rather mundane job adequately and in an unobtrusive manner. While the price may be a bit high for what you're getting (value is subjective), I'm not complaining about anything other than the instructions.
The left side attachment
The right side attachment
The finished product
P.S. Excuse the dirty bike. I haven't had an opportunity to clean it since taking a 100-mile ride on Wednesday.
Installation was a bit challenging due to tight spaces and inaccurate instructions. The included information from AltRider called for a 12mm socket and a 5mm allen wrench. They were correct on the allen wrench, but incorrect on the socket. For my 2015 Honda NC700X DCT at least, a 10mm socket was the correct size. (Incidentally, 10mm is also the needed size for the nylock nut supplied by AltRider, but more on that later.)
Step one according to AltRider is to "remove the radiator support bracket," but that should be step two. While removing this bracket is theoretically possible with the front plastic fairing in place, doing so requires using a socket extension and taking the job one to two clicks of your socket driver at a time. Do yourself a favor and take an extra 60 seconds to remove the front plastic fairing first. (For those unfamiliar with this process, it requires removing a bolt from each side using a 5mm allen wrench. The bolt used on the left side is shorter than that used on the right.)
Once the fairing is removed, the radiator support bracket can be removed and the lower tab of the radiator guard inserted as per the instructions.
For the top two tabs, there are two attachment points, but only one (the left one from the perspective of sitting on the bike) has a bolt in it. The other is empty. AltRider supplies two M6 x 25 bolts which use the 5mm allen wrench; the one on the left inserts without trouble and tightens into the existing fitting. (The original bolt is not reused.)
On the right side, the new bolt requires the use of a washer (or two, three were supplied) and a supplied nylock nut. While the instructions are not clear on this point, I found it unworkable to use the bolt with the head facing out to mirror the left bolt. Instead, I inserted the bolt from the back of the hole (from the center point of the bike) with a washer toward the outside where I added the second washer and the nylock nut. Using the 5mm allen wrench to hold the bolt in place, I tightened the nut using the 10mm socket. (The allen wrench barely fit and was difficult to remove once the bolt was tightened down.)
Once everything was tightened down, three of the four rubber pads on the back of the radiator guard were touching the radiator housing while the fourth (lower left) had a few millimeters of gap. I rode the bike for about 15 minutes to test for any strange behavior or noises and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. The radiator guard was hot to the touch after that amount of time.
All in all, I believe that the guard will perform its rather mundane job adequately and in an unobtrusive manner. While the price may be a bit high for what you're getting (value is subjective), I'm not complaining about anything other than the instructions.
The left side attachment
The right side attachment
The finished product
P.S. Excuse the dirty bike. I haven't had an opportunity to clean it since taking a 100-mile ride on Wednesday.