Fender Contact with Light Bar

[Limecreek]

I installed an RBR auxiliary light bracket and a set of F55's around 16 months ago and haven't had any problems. The RBR bar is well made and was easy to install. A couple of days ago I was riding on some rough roads in the Hill Country and used the front shock full range of travel. The front fender nailed the RBR bar, making full contact and breaking the front fender (mud guard). The front shock is an Ohlin with approximately 15K on it.

 

Here are a couple of pictures:

 

 

 

The light bar hit hard enough to break the front mudguard, and that was enough of a warning for me to pull it from my bike.

 

I am not telling anyone to pull this bar from their bike if they own one--just be aware that contact with your front fender can occur within the travel range of your front shock.

 

This was an RBR light bar designed for the K1200GT and RS.

[tallman]

Gregory,

That's a bummer.

Do you think the same event would've been a problem if your lights were mounted under the oil cooler the way so many PIAA's are?

I've got Motolights on fork and am planning on adding PIAA's under the cooler. Just curious.

[DangerMoney]

If the PIAAs are mounted using the Ezy Mounts , they sit back far enough that the fender won't hit them. If they're mounted *directly* to the bottom of the oil cooler the fender can hit them while going over a bump in a turn.

 

Additionally if you've got dual FIAMMs installed there's no room the for port-side PIAA light. I ran into this and went with the Martin Mounts

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Could be as simple as a front spring that has sagged a bit. 15K miles is not a lot, but it could happen. Also the spring may not be the correct one for the bike. It wouldn't be the first time.

 

My S has actually hit the front fender with the oil cooler. Big friggin' bump and 51K miles on the stock front spring. Both the front and rear of the bike are quite a bit lower than original due to spring sag.

[Limecreek]

Do you think the same event would've been a problem if your lights were mounted under the oil cooler the way so many PIAA's are?

I've got Motolights on fork and am planning on adding PIAA's under the cooler. Just curious.

 

I don't believe I would have made contact with the easy-mount system--the one that mount the 1100's below the oil cooler. For now I'm going to see if I can get by with the 1100's that I mounted to the forks. I'm going to miss the F55's. They threw one heck of a lot of light down the road at night.

[Limecreek]

Could be as simple as a front spring that has sagged a bit. 15K miles is not a lot, but it could happen. Also the spring may not be the correct one for the bike. It wouldn't be the first time.

 

I'm confident the front shock arrived with the correct spring. The sag was within spec when they were new, with very little adjustment used up.

 

Checking the sag again seems like a good idea. I guess it's possible the front is ready for a rebuild.

 

One thing to consider however is the design of the RBR light bar. Sitting above the fender, the bar takes away nearly 1.5 inches of travel that I've restored by removing it.

 

I don't have any use for the bar now. It might be fun to cut and modify the bar in a way that will not affect suspension travel.

[Limecreek]

Well, it looks like I can modify the original design by removing the straight tube and weld in a curved tube in its place. There is enough room behind the oil cooler to make the modification work. My son-in-law is a metal fabricator and is willing to take on the project. I'll post some pictures when it's finished.