Yamaha Fazer Page (cont)

I was quite concerned last summer that there was no protection to the radiator at all. Even if something like a wasp hit the rad it was deforming the fins which are extremely delicate. You even need to be careful when cleaning as it is very easy to deform them. So I have bought a stone guard for the radiator of the Fazer.

I bought the guard from M & P it was £33 plus P&P. There are 3 options for delivery with M&P: overnight, 3days, a week, these are obviously at different prices. I opted for the 3days and it cost £5. The guard actually arrived the next day!

I was a little concerned when I first saw the guard as it looked very "chrome". I was worried it would look gaudy. However, as it is parly hidden by the forks etc. I don't feel it looks bad at all.

Fitting the guard was simplicity itself. Remove the 4 screws that hold the alloy trims on the side of the radiator. Slide the guard over the radiator. Replace the trims over the guard and it's done!

The contruction of the guard did, I feel, leave something to be desired. The mesh is pop riveted into the frame at the bottom. At the top it merely slots into a groove and at the sides is not secured at all. Because of this it rattled even when you hadled it let alone on the bike.. I decided to superglue the mesh into the frame down both sides and it now does not rattle even when the bike is revved quite hard. Of course I may have been paranoid and it may not have rattled as it was - but I doubt it. It remains to be seen whether the superglue is up to the job.

Actually after the first run the glue did come away. However, I may have been a little harsh in condeming the construction of the guard as it does not seem to rattle as I thought it might.

One thing that is worth mentioning is the finish to the 4 into 1 exhaust. The "paint" on this does not look attractive after a very short time. To be fair this is not limited to Yamaha as the ER5 is just the same. Why Stainless was not used is beyond me. It cannot be a price thing as the Fazer is more expensive than it's main rivals i.e. the Suzuki Bandit 600. However all is not lost. I use a product called Zebo it is supposed to be grate polish for cast iron fireplaces but it works brilliantly on bike exhausts. As you can see above the downpipes actually look much better than new. Be aware this is strange stuff and if you get it on your hands it takes some shifting but it is well worth it!

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