SW Motech handguards on a Stelvio

Technical All CARC models
1

The strong winds over the Easter weekend blew my Stelvio over on to its right hand side doing (as I later found out) no damage at all. I was away on holiday at the time so my daughter, who was back from university, discovered the beached Guzzi when she returned from the pub with her friends. They were unable to pick it up (no surprises there - I can hardly pick it up!) but their efforts attracted the attention of a neighbour who called the police. Once they had convinced themselves that they had not stumbled upon the world’s most incompetent motorcycle thieves, they called some motorcycle cops who helpfully righted it and decided that it would be better off on its main stand parked parallel to the kerb. (I live on a hill so I always leave it on the side stand angled about 45 degrees uphill so that the road camber gives the bike a decent lean onto its stand.) Unsurprisingly, the bike promptly fell off its main stand onto it left hand side hitting the kerb on the way down. Result - broken LH mirror, broken LH handguard, damage to the tank and sundry scuffing of LH pegs, engine bars etc.Thanks guys!

I decided to replace the handguards with the SW Motech Kobra hand guards as I have always wanted to trim a couple of inches off the handle bar width and obtained some from Ebay at just over a ton. The Kobra handguards are a substantial bit of kit that look like they actually could save the levers in the event of a hard impact or your hands from an errant tree branch if you are one of those super heroes who actually take the Stelvio off road.

First job is to remove the Stelvio handguards which means removing the mirrors (the police had helpfully removed the LH side for me!). You then mount the SW guards to the SW aluminium backbones. Easy enough but make sure you orientate the plastic clamps the right way around. You are screwing steel screws into plastic. Instructions say don’t over tighten. I concur.





Next, loosely mount the clamps onto the handlebars, then mount the backbone onto the bar end. Get the orientation right and then tighten then the bar end bolt. Only then do you attach the handlebar clamp following the tightening order given in the instructions. It all goes together really easily which, I think, reflects the quality of the SW product.

At first sight it seems like you have trimmed 1.5 inches off of each end of the bars but, when I test rode the bike I realised the actual reduction is much less as the SW backbones project forward from the swept back bars at 90 degrees as opposed to the Guzzi guards which are angled in. Still, there is a reduction. The SW units offer much less wind protection so I have now ordered the extender kit. Pictures to follow.

Richard

2

Cheers Richard,
Look like a possibility for a couple of my Guzzis.
Great pictures make it easier to appreciate the job
Steve

3

Hi Steve,

Glad you have found it useful. Fitment really is easy thanks to the quality of the SW product. Instructions are a bit terse but the diagrams are clear. I am a little disappointed that they have not taken more off the handlebar width but, that said, the mirrors are actually the widest part and cause the most problems in traffic clashing with the mirrors of vans and the Chelsea tractors that are now everywhere on the roads.

Good luck,

Richard

4

Hi everyone,

Have finally fitted the SW Motech extenders. Once again fitting instructions are terse to the point of non-existence but they just screw onto the hand guards with three self tapping screws. Normal warnings about over tightening apply. Fitting them with the guards on the bike is actually quite tricky as the control gear makes it very awkward to get a screw driver onto the screw heads. If you are considering fitting these guards I would recommend buying the extenders at the same time and attaching them before mounting the guards to the bike.

Before starting the job I laughed at the warning in the instructions that they should be fitted by a qualified professional. However, when I had finished I noticed something dangling below the clutch mount. All that fiddling about with a screw driver had pulled the connector out of the clutch sensor switch. Looking closer, I realised that, in another example of Moto Guzzi madness, it is not an electrical connector it is actually the back half of the micro switch assembly! Holding my breathe, I very gently pushed the tiny and delicate spring and rocker assembly back into the plunger housing. Operating the clutch produced a switch-like “click” and testing showed that I could start the bike in gear provided the lever was pulled. Phew! With engineering like that only neurosurgeons should be allowed to work on the bike! Pics to follow.

Yours,

Richard