Modern Vespa

They are genuine Suzuki V-Strom hand guards but look right on the Fuoco I think. Only a small amount of modification required to make them fit ok.

Hopefully no more cold hands.





I followed the instructions using the fitting kit, disregarding the references to clutch cable.

Right hand guard

This needed cutting out to clear the brake light switch connector and wire. When you offer it up it's plain to see where.

Left hand guard

No trimming needed on the actual guard. The bolt that you use, to replace the brake lever pivot bolt. I decided to run a die down the thread, to extend it all the way up to the shoulder, other wise there is not a lot of pivot shank inside the actual brake lever. I found that the spacer is not required either.

You also need 2 6mm x 60mm csk bolts, to fit the end weights with the supplied spacers. The supplied bolts are huge, and you can't cut them down as the thread doesn't go far enough down the length, can't run a die down it either as these bolts have been thread rolled (plain shank diameter is smaller than thread diameter).

Fuoco interpratation of the fitting instructions, hope this is clear to understand. The red highlights indicate the parts not needed, the yellow indicates the parts I modified. (NOTE: Bolt F is my intended alteration, I have not done this yet.)











This is the only bit of plastic trimming I had to do:

When parked, does the guards hit anything when you turn fully right and left?

Full right lock, the guard just touches the top of the dash Panel, but it doesn't really impede on it that much.

nice one, looks good! i recently have been looking for something like this, do u think they will fit on a vespa GTS?

Sorry, I really wouldn't like to say. I'm not really familiar with the GTS

So you are saying you CAN full right and left lock it?

Oh *now* you start asking about left!

I think I'll be doing this mod. Thanks!

Is it that obvious?

It really is hardly noticable, I only use full lock when I'm turning it around on my drive to back it into the garage, under normal riding you wouldn't notice it at all.

I know you are trying to answer me, and I want to do this mod, but I need to know it's limits.
Are you aware of the lock feature that the MP3 has?
When you are parked, you turn the handlebars all the way left, pull up the emergency brake, and while pulling the left brake lever, turn the ket past off to the LOCK position. This effectively locks everything.

With the hand guards on, can you still do this?
Even if they touch the top part of the dash, will they deform enough, and not too much, to be able to lock as I descibed?

If this is what you were refering to all along, my sincere apologies, we just communicate differently.

Your write up by the way was excellent!

Thank you, Mike

Last edited by mjm50cal on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:48:43 +0000; edited 1 time

Yes the steering lock still works as it should, full turn (lock) on the steering (on mine) seems to go just that bit further than what is required for the steering lock to be engaged.

I did think of re-positioning the holes on the actual hand guard (the one the brake lever pivot goes through) to bring that end of the guard in a bit closer to the handle bars (this would stop it from touching the dash panel completely). But it hasn't irritated me enough to do so

The hand guards look great. We have two V-stroms with hand-guards. They work well. I think we'll try one on my MP3 500. Diane

I performed the DL650 mod thanks to soeley and others and took it one step further. I trimmed the left handguard and repositioned the brake lever mounting holes so the angle matches the right one. I can turn the bars fully left and right. Looks perfect.

Mike

where is the pics??

Inhad thought of doing the same thing to be honest, but once they were on I got lazy

Some pics of the mod. The tip about extending the 6mm threads with a die for the left brake handle replacement bolt was very useful. Thanks for the shortcut soeley. The hand guards are very sturdy and look and function flawlessly. I showed my dealer today. He liked it.

Mike


Same angle of attack.

Some rough edges. Will torch them later.

Geez I like this forum!

I saw this thread today for the first time (last post 12 months ago almost to the day).

I decided, yes, I needed the hand guards. I went to the local Suzi dealer and they had them!. I followed the posts above, and it was a piece of cake (relatively speaking)

A few points:

1. Getting the screws out on the bar ends posed a bit of a problem. One was so tight it rounded the hex socket. I had to drill it out. The screws were ordinary mild steel - easy to damage.

2. Use the photo immediately above this post showing the LH guard. Copy it and print it out full size and use it as a template to position the hole for the mounting screw.

3. The material that is used for the guards (ABS??) is really difficult to finish off without daggy bits on the cut edges. After I got it to the right shape and smoothed off, I used a hot air gun at about 250C to gently treat the cut edges. The heat melts the hairy bits back onto the main material and gets rid of a lot of scratches too.

Newsflash: the hand guards even work with my cruise control.

Thanks to all above for their help.

Gonzo

Last edited by GonzoB on Mon, 11 Apr 2011 22:40:59 +0000; edited 2 times

would these work on the 250's or is there something else out there someone has tried?

Tha handlebars are encased in plastic and the mounting points for these guards are covered up. You could get them to work, but it wouldn't be pretty. At all.

UV stabilized polyetholene I believe.

Are you sayin' you could have enjoyed these for a year by now?
Since your winter is coming up, you'll find them helpful.

Yeah, well winter in Sydney is nothing to get excited about. We get frosty mornings maybe twice.

I really just like the look. Plus, when it's raining heavily the water off the OEM windshield directs itself into twin streams onto my hands. Dead centre! These things will help.

Yes, it would have been nice to have them a year ago. In the last 12 months I've been traveling 3 times in very heavy rain...

PS. thanks for the useful photos

Gonzo

With ALL the rains you guys had this year, I thought you would be installing the snorkel mod. I've seen the videos.
Cheers!

I have a late question ...

this hand guard brace uses the end of the handle bar to help brace the guard.

I have a Throttlemeiser Cruise control ...

Would this hand guard still be able to be put on the MP3 500?


does it have to be braced using the end of the handlebar?

The Throttlemeiser won't work with this hand guard. It does need the brace at the end.

I was afraid of that. thx.

know any hand guard that would work with the MP3 500?
with Throttlemiester?

I'd like to find something before the gathering.

Powermadds will work as they attach to the bars, not the bar ends. OAD also mentioned these new ones from Powermadd specifically for scooters.

Great job, love the pics without "Photobucket" watermark !!!