Sw-Motech Crash Bar Installation

I really had intended to get the Oxfords Touring Style Heated Grips for my V-Strom -- honestly, I really had -- but then the good folks at Twisted Throttle announced their scratch-and-dent sale on the SW-Motech Crashbars.  For $30 off, I could order a set of crash bars that might have a minor blemish in the paint, due to SW-Motech making a mistake in packing, or I might receive a set of pristine crash bars.  Mr. Twisted was calling it the scratch-and-dent lottery.  I wanted the bars anyway, and $30 off basically meant I would get full price bars with free shipping, so I rolled the dice and ordered a set of crash bars.

It took ten days for the bars to get here (so much for UPS' 3-day shipping, but that's another story).  When they arrived, sure enough, my bars had a scratch in the paint.  You can see it in the photo on the right, at the top of the left-hand bar, near the bend where the bar begins to curve downwards.  Can you see it?

How about a closer shot...over there on the far left...still don't see it?











How about now?  Yep, that's it.  That tiny little scratch was all the damage there was.  As I said over at Stromtrooper, consider it "factory distressed." :)






Anyway, I unpacked the bars, set up a work table in the garage and got to work installing the bars, which was about a one hour job.  It was pretty painless, and as others have said, the hardest part of the install is breaking loose the threadlock that Suzuki paints on the engine mount bolts.  The bolts are allen-head bolts, so you'll need a 6mm allen head wrench, and a piece of pipe to use as a breaker bar, because unless you hail from Krypton, there's no way you're getting those suckers loose with a just four inch long allen wrench.

Step 1: remove the two allen bolts at the rear of the frame.  In this photo, I have already removed the rear-most bolt, and am removing the next bolt.  SW-Motech points out in the instruction sheet that you should be careful to only remove the bolts on one side of the engine at a time, because if you remove all eight bolts at the same time, the engine could shift in the frame.  I started on the left-hand side of the bike, and only after fully installing the crash bar on this side (and tightening all four bolts) did I remove the bolts on the right hand side of the engine.

Step 2: you can get three of the four engine mount bolts loose without removing anything else, but to get access to the fourth engine mount bolt, you will have to remove this plastic trim piece (in black).  It's held in place with a single allen bolt (shown in the picture) and two snaps inside the trim.  Remove the allen bolt as shown, then wiggle the trim piece to pop the snaps loose.  It's probably easier with the seat removed, but I was able to wiggle the trim piece loose with the seat still in place.

Step 3: now that the trim piece is removed, you can easily get access to the last two remaining bolts.  Remove them.  The engine will be resting on the large hex bolt at the apex of the "vee" in the frame trellis and the four bolts on the other side of the bike, so it's secure.

Step 4: the crash bars ship with all new bolts, washers and aluminum spacers.  Six of the bolts will be 8mm in diameter, and will be the longest bolts in the kit.  These are the three rear-most bolts on the frame.  Two bolts will also be 8mm in diameter, but will be slightly shorter.  These bolts go in the front hole of the crash bar.  Slip a lock washer over the three longer 8mm bolts, then slide the bolts through the mounting holes in the crash bars.  Then, slip the shorter 8mm bolt through the forward hole in the crash bars (no lock washer on this bolt, and the crash bar is slightly recessed for this bolt).

Step 5: if your bike is on its side stand during the install (as mine is), you'll need a way to keep the bolts from falling out of the crash bars while you maneuver the bars into position.  I wrapped electrical tape over the bolts, which worked pretty well.

Step 6: slide the aluminum spacers over the bolts (on the opposite side of the crash bar mounting flanges) and apply Lock-tite to the threads...

Step 7: then maneuver the crash bars into position and twist all the bolts into place, finger tight.

 Then tighten...

 ...all four bolts...

...to the torque values...

...given in your Suzuki service manual (or as tight as you can get them with a four inch long allen wrench, if you're like me, and don't have either a torque wrench with an allen head or a Suzuki service manual).

Step 8: slip the two shortest bolts through the clamp, lightly thread them into the nylock bolts (make sure the bolt heads are on the side of the clamp with the round indentations and the nuts are on the side of the clamp with the six-sided indentations), then slip the clamp over the crash bar, just above the oil cooler and in front of the cylinder.

Step 9: I'm cheating a bit here...duplicate steps 1-7 on the other side of the bike.  Installation of the other crash bar is identical to this side, so I'm not going to write it up separately.  After installing both crash bars, slide the clamp so that it is centered on both bars and tighten the bolts to lock the two sides of the crash bars together.  Then, reinstall the trim pieces you removed earlier, and you're done!

The completed installation

The Final Verdict: at either $159.99 for the unblemished bars, or $127.99 for crash bars that might possibly have a tiny scuff mark, the SW-Motech Crash Bars are cheap insurance for your V-Strom, and in my opinion, they add to the rugged good looks of the V-Strom to boot.  The installation was brain-dead simple, so if you've got the dexterity to remove the lid from a soda bottle, you can probably install these crash bars.  Since it's currently winter here in Anchorage, I haven't had a chance yet to see how the bars affect handling on the Strom, but since they are one of the first additions many people put on their bikes, I really don't expect any problems (but I will post a ride report once the weather improves enough to get the bike out again).  So, barring any unexpected ride-test problems, I'd say if you are considering these crash bars, stop considering and order them already! :)

SW-Motech Evo Quick-lock Side Carrier Installation

Installing the SW-Motech Evo Quick-Release Rack on a 2009 Suzuki DL650 V-Strom

Disclaimer: I am not a mechanic.  I build computer networks for a living.  Therefore, I am not qualified to tell you that anything I have posted here is the right way to do things on your motorcycle.  These instructions are offered in the hope that they might show someone considering the SW-Motech Evo racks the work involved in installing them on an '09 V-Strom.  The instructions *may* work on other year DL650's and *may* work on the DL1000 V-Stroms as well, but I don't have access to these bikes.  You *MUST* use your own judgment when working on your motorcycle.  If you break your bike following these instructions, I accept no liability since I am admitting up front that I do not know what I am talking about!

Still here?  Good!  If I haven't scared you off yet, let's get started :)

This first picture is the starting point.  I have layed out all of the parts including in the SW-Motech kit (besides the Lock-tite -- you have to provide that yourself) on the table.  I highly recommend you do likewise.  A clean, organized workspace will make the job a lot easier and a lot more fun.

The first step is to remove the four bolts -- the four bolts that I have loosened in this photo -- that hold the factory luggage rack on the motorcycle. Use a 10mm socket to remove these bolts, then lift the luggage rack off the bike.

Next, you have to remove the rear fender. This is the point where I stopped when I first received the racks, because I thought there had to be a better way. There wasn't, at least that I could find, and it really wasn't nearly as ard as I first thought it would be. Just remove these two screws...

...and pull up and back on the fender. You will see four round cut-outs in the fender -- two for two of the four bolts that attach the luggage rack and two for the two screws that hold the fender onto the motorcycle -- and underneath the fender, there are little plastic rings that protrude through the fender. If you pull and wiggle the fender, it will rise up over these plastic rings, and the fender will pop off the bike.

Now, remove the seat release cable. The cable ball end fits in a circular housing that you can see near the middle of this photo. Pull the housing towards the cable (to get a little slack in the cable), rotate the cable towards the cutout that you can see at the four-o-clock position on the housing, then lift the ball end out of the housing. Lift up on the cable where the cable sheath snaps into the plastic frame (just left of center in the photo. It's just pressed into place, so it will just snap loose when you pull on it hard enough. The cable should now be free of the motorcycle. If you want, you can disconnect the wire harness quick-connect between the motorcycle and the tail lights and turn signals, but I didn't find it necessary. I was able to lay the fender on the under-seat storage to do all the work. If it makes your life easier, release the disconnect. If not, you can leave it attached.

This was the scariest part of the install...no turning back now!

Next, it is time to remove the turn signals. The first photo shows the nut (on the left-hand side of the photo) that holds the turn signals to the fender. Use a 17mm wrench to remove the nut. The second photo shows the quick disconnect for the wires to the turn signal. The turn signal wiring will have the black quick disconnects, and the tail light wiring will have the white quick disconnects. Cut the wires on either side of the quick disconnects (make SURE you cut the wires for the turn signals *ONLY*!!!) Once you've cut the wires, slip the nut off the wiring, and remove the turn signals from the fender.

Now, remove the license plate bracket from the rear fender. The SW-Motech kit replaces the stock license plate bracket with a much stiffer bracket (shown in the second photo) to hold the racks, so you will be discarding the OEM part. There are two nuts inside the fender that hold the OEM bracket to the fender. Use a 10mm socket to remove them...

...then replace the OEM bracket and hardware with the parts supplied in the SW-Motech kit. Make sure the SW-Motech bracket is approximately centered on the fender before tightening the nuts down! [b]Note:[/b] The SW-Motech instructions say to drill two new holes in your license plate to attach it to the bracket with the same hardware that attaches the bracket to the fender. You can do this, but I opted to...

...drill two more holes in the fender at the outer reach of the slots machined in the SW-Motech bracket and use the original mounting holes in my license plate. This way, if I ever want to remove the license plate, I don't have to remove the entire bracket to do so. You probably should put spacers between the plate and the SW-Motech bracket under the bolts that attach the plate, since the bolts that hold the bracket to the fender will lift up the center of your license plate! (see the third photo to see what I mean)

Unfortunately, the SW-Motech kit requires you to relocate your turn signals. Fortunately, they include brackets to let you do this (shown in the first photo). I got creative at this point. The astute observer will notice that in the second photo, there is another hole in the brackets that isn't shown in the first photo. I decided to route the turn signal wiring through the hole that was used to align the turn signals in their original mounting location. In hindsight, I probably wouldn't do this again -- you end up making some rather sharp-radius bends with the wiring, which I suspect may lead to early failure of the turn signal wiring. I think it would probably be better to drill a new hole in the fender (use a rubber grommet to keep the fender from vibrating through the insulation on your wires!!!) and route the wiring through there.

Use the new hardware supplied by SW-Motech to attach the turn signal brackets to the fender (the bolt uses an 8mm allen wrench, I believe, and the nut requires a huge 19mm wrench or socket), then attach the turn signals to the bracket. Two things to notice here: 1) the bracket bends *upwards* when installed on the fender, and 2) make sure you attach the right turn signal to the right side of the fender and the left turn signal to the left side of the fender. They will fit on either side, but it's easier to match up the wiring if you attach the appropriate turn signal to the appropriate side (IIRC, the right side turn signal has one blue wire and one black wire with a white stripe, whereas the left side is one black wire and one black wire with a white stripe). Yes, I initially put them on the wrong side. Yes, I was neurotic enough to swap them :)

Once the turn signals are relocated, the stock wiring isn't long enough to reach. SW-Motech includes additional wire for the turn signals.  The SW-Motech kit does not include heat shrink tubing to cover the butt splices (in blue, in the photo), and it's probably not necessary. However, I had some laying around (in dark grey), so I cut a few lengths of heat shrink tubing that was longer than the butt splices I used to reattach the turn signal wiring.

These metal tabs will fit over the passenger footrests and are used to attach the luggage racks to the bike.  Notice the angle in the tab, and make sure you insert the bolt through the correct side (!) and slip a spacer over the bolt.

IMPORTANT NOTE!  At this point, only tighten the bolts on the mounting tabs enough to hold them in place -- do not lock them down until you have fit the luggage racks on the mounting tabs!

Use an allen wrench to remove this one bolt from the passenger footpegs on the right side of the bike...

...and replace that bolt with the tab assembly.  The spacer fits into the recess in the footpeg mount.  Once again, don't tighten it all the way yet!

Next, replace the fender on the rear of the motorcycle, then place the two aluminum spacers in the holes where the bolts attach the cargo rack to the fender.  The aluminum spacers are smaller on the bottom than they are on the top, so make sure you orient them correctly.  The spacer on the left is already in place; the spacer on the right is upside down to show the smaller underside.

In this photo, the factory cargo tray is shown upside down on the fender, with the mounting tab for the rear of the Quick Carrier shown in place on the cargo tray. Notice how the mounting tab bends upwards in this photo? That's important -- when the tab and the cargo tray is installed on the bike, the tabs should angle downwards.

Here is how the rear mounting tabs should look when the cargo tray is installed on the bike, as seen from the rear...

...and from the top.  Notice that I haven't tightened these bolts down yet!

Now, install these mounting tabs under the passenger grab rails.  You guessed it -- leave them loose for now!

Now, to install the mounting tab at the left side passenger footpeg.

The procedure is similar to the left hand side, but the left side tab is a little longer since the passenger footpegs are not quite symmetrical. Make sure you use the correct tab for the correct side!

Here's a photo with the left side mounting tab in place.  Notice that the left tab is under the passenger footpeg mount, while the right side was over it.  And no, I still haven't locked the mounting tabs down, yet.

Once I had all the mounting tabs installed, I found these odd little washers left in my hardware tray.  At first, I wasn't quite sure what they were...

...but then I figured it out. These washers fit over the cam-lock screws to keep them from falling out of the luggage rack when you remove it from the bike. I found out the hard way that you do NOT want to test fit the washers on the cam-lock screws until you have already inserted them in the luggage rack! They are a snap (literally) to install, but a real bear to remove.

Here's a shot of the installed luggage rack on the right side.

Here's a shot of the left side.

And one from the rear.  Now that the racks are in place, go ahead and tighten up all of the bolts on the mounting racks.  If you tighten them before this point, it will be impossible to adjust the mounting tabs into the proper position to install the luggage racks, unless you are incredibly lucky and got it right without fitting the racks :)

I used some square aluminum tubing to rig up spacers so I could install a set of Pelican 1430 boxes to the luggage racks.  This procedure is outside the scope of this blog entry, but I might do another entry in the future describing how I did it.

The 1430s are probably a little small if you want to use your V-Strom for any real touring, but for commuting around town, they are great.  You would not believe how much groceries I can fit inside these little boxes, LOL!