Bandit Alley
GENERAL MOTORCYCLE FORUMS => PRODUCT REVIEWS => Topic started by: orionburn on July 11, 2008, 10:37:34 PM
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:rant2: :rant2: :rant2: :rant2: :rant2:
Ordered a set of Givi engine guards earlier this week from Cyclestuffusa.com. Came in today and was all excited to get home and mount them up.
The excitement was short lived. Started on the left side of the bike first. Noted right away that the fitment seemed to be a bit off, but those things happen. Second problem was that the upper mounting point is so damn close to the alternator that you have to force it in, otherwise the main wire will be in the way and prevent the bracket from getting flush. After dinking around for about 20 minutes I managed to finally get it lined up enough to start the bolts and thread them in.
Proceeded to work on the other side and fitment was still an issue, although no points of conflict between parts. Started on the lower bolts and one stripped out right away. Got it lined back up and was slowly tightening it up and the bolt head sheared off. Figured...ok....I can drill it out and replace the bolt but I'll leave it on for now. Went to finish up the last bolt which is a long one that runs through a linkage point. I swear after the other bolt I made damn sure it was lined up right. First nut went on ok, second one stripped right away....wtf.
At this point I decided to pull everything off and am calling the place I ordered them from to see about getting a refund. The guards themselves are of good quality, although then don't really feel "beefy" for their size. The problem with the fitment and the cheap ass bolts do not leave me feeling comfortable having them mounted to my bike. I know other guys have not had a problem with the Givi guards, but I for one am done with them. Just hope this company doesn't give me a bunch of grief because they've been "installed."
And to top it off my knee blew out out me again when I was finishing up. Took me about 5 minutes to finally get back up and pop my knee into place.
It's Miller time!!!! :banghead:
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i ordered some of those about 4 months ago and someone from the store called me and told me they had been meening to take those P.O.S. off there website because of that exact reason.
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I think the problem with the fitment is because the tubes are welded together. If you aren't really careful with them they're going to warp when cooling. Something like this needs to be cast, but that would jack the price up big time.
They have a disclaimer on the "instructions", which by the way consisted of two pictures pointing to which type of bolt went where, saying that because they are welded these should be installed by an "expert mechanic." This should have been a job that took 30 minutes total and has turned into nothing but grief. Waiting for the store that I bought them from to open up so I can give them a call today and find out what to do. Hope to hell they give me a refund or store credit.
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Have to give props to Cyclestuffusa :thumb: They're sending a return label out to me, giving me a full refund and giving me a 10% discount the next time I order. Good in my book considering it was no error on their part whatsoever. Only problem is they don't offer a huge selection of products for the Bandit, but I'm sure I can find something to spend it on.
Still want to get a set of guards for the Bandit so I think I'll give Holeshot a try next time.
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I have the Renntec ones installed on my Bandit and can't praise them enough. They were very similar to the Givi in design but the quality of the metals appears to be much better than described earlier.
None of the bolts have damaged and (after a little man-handling) fitment was easy enough by a competent home mechanic.
Better still i can certainly vouch for the crash protection after an unfortunate low side back in January on some loose gravel our wonderful Council dumped at a crossroads, bars are only scuffed the engine is perfectly fine and better still the bars easily look ready to take another hit (should the need ever arise :duh:) .
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I have the Renntec too, and they went on without a hitch. Very solid construction. I would recommend rotating the wire lug on the alternator, to keep it away from the guard, though.
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I too, went through a bunch of heartburn before I got my Givi guards installed in the spring of 2007....just before my "ditching" episode.
Their low-rent fasteners REALLY suck....especially the rear upper engine mount replacement "bolt" made of magcheesium. The threads on one end totally disappeared as soon as the nut contacted the frame bracket while I was tightening things up. I binned the whole mess, went into the yard at work and found an engine mount bolt from a late '70's/early '80's Suzi twin. It's made out of steel that's FAAARRRR supeior to the Givi POS and has the added bonus of fine threads. Apparently Givi is unaware that engine mount bolts are ALWAYS fine thread. :wink: :rofl:
I paint-marked the nut after installation and it hasn't moved a millimetre to this point.....so I don't think it'll ever move on its own.