i made my own from a vent cover from loves for about $10 and its saved my rad from june bugs at high speed, at the very least it kept it from being caked in the cooling fins reducing efficiency IMO

 

$640 radiator or $130 rad guard? Your choice

RADIATOR
39060-0072
Your Price: $639.09

http://www.ronayers.com/oemparts/p/kawasaki/39060-0072/radiator

http://www.radguard.com.au/products....au/products/kawasaki-versys-1000-2012-2016-radiator-guard.html?setCurrencyId=3

BTW RadGuard = top quality product, they will not rub holes in your rad and they do protect from damage. I have bought around 6 RadGuards and every one fitted easily and without trouble and are very well made. Worth every cent

 

http://www.kawasakiversys.com/forums/images/dto_garage/users/131017/1161.jpg

http://www.kawasakiversys.com/forum...ys.com/forums/9-technical-discussion/18345-another-cheapass-radiator-guard.html

 

How did you fasten yours? Got any pics?

Thanks!

 

...- but do I need a radiator guard if I'm only doing highway riding?

What do you think?

Bert - I'd call a rad-guard "cheap insurance"....

 

There's bugs, there's debris, there's gravel/rocks on the road...never know where you might wind up. Best to protect your investment!

Just my 0.02 (CAD)

 

Several choices out there. I use the R&G rad guard and header guard combo.

 

In Canada I went to the Home Depot and got some gutter guard, exact size of rad, made of aluminum, wire tied it in place--7 years later it still works fine, a few small dents from stones and debris but that's it. Less than $20

One other thing, it is slightly larger vertically, so it is bowed forward, so a direct hit in the center will distribute the force to top and bottom of rad.

 

Wizard, do you have a picture of your set up?

 

home depot gutter guard

So I did a search for previous posted pictures----after much time it became apparent it would be faster to take new ones--here goes;

#1 is close up, observe the wire ties holding the rad guard, I used black 50 LB wire ties, also the curvature bowed out in the middle---side note I have the Denali horn with remote compressor and far side Thermo-Bob --very bottom right of photo is the Speedy Highway pegs mount

#2 another shot from same side

#3--well repetition

#4 shot from rad cap side showing Thermo-Bob and more wire ties----By the way this is aluminum painted black with aluminum approved paint

 

You guys up north must have bigger gutters than the mid west, I can't find that wide of gutter material at my homecheapo.

 

look for attic vent cover

 

I've got a '14 model and the front fender seems to be lower down than Gen 1 models, thus protecting the radiator, is that true? I've also read that people damage their radiators with ho-made covers and attachment screws. It looks like the Radguard fits up proper, but again, is it really necessary? It appears the fender protects the radiator from flying debris.

 

fender didnt stop the huge june bugs i hit last year.... just me .02

 

Definitely worth-while. I've had them on all my street bikes. Prevents a stone flying up and poking a hole in your radiator. I've used the ones made by Cox on all my bikes, including my Versys. Good product.

 

Based on your advise, I got a metallic Red one from the Cox racing site. They are $10 more on their site, but you get choice of metallic colors (ewe!)

For the flat or any kind of black ones, I'd do the Home Depot gutter screens. The red color trim makes it go faster.

 

Maybe I'm running with scissors, but I've done probably 250 thousand kilometres with liquid cooled bikes and have never had debris- caused damaged to a rad. What I have done is install a Fenda Extenda on every one of those bikes, which definitely keeps the rad clear of debris kicked up by the tire.

I do admit that I get bugs in the rad fins, but a good soaking from a hose followed by careful use of a slight pressure from hose nozzle clears the crap out nicely. A plugged rad guard might be more detrimental to cooling?

I always enjoy playing with fire. >

 

I've been looking for a guard and the RadGuard looked good, nice warranty. Just bought it for my 15' based on MaverickAus's recommendation, so I'll post pics/update when I get it. Also bought their 90° valve stems as it can be a bugger trying to air mine up at the angle they are now. Thanks for starting the thread so I got some good info.

 

I did the same thing, those 90 degree valve stems look great and are very useful. I got the black ones for the Versys

and the gold ones for the ZRX

The photos don't do the colours justise they look heaps better IRL

1st mod I did to the V

 

I went with the R&G a little over a week ago, before riding up to Dallas from San Antonio for the International Motorcycle Show. Glad I installed it when I did because my buddy's GPS took us on some serious gravel and mud caked county roads! :surprise: