Getting rid of engine guards and modifying fairing to clean up the lines..

Gleason969 said:
Has anyone ditched the engine guards and smoothed out the lower fairings for better lines?
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Just a thought...... perhaps a compromise to give the appearance of a smoothed out lower fairing....paint the covers to match body color. Couple of coats of filler primer will 'eliminate' the hair cell texture.
 
Gleason969 said:
My ST has a center stand....figured if I made the modification I could use that instead of the traditional kick stand
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All ST's have a centerstand. I always park mine on the centerstand. It won't help you though when you are rolling it around your garage or out of a parking space and your foot slips.
 
Gleason969 said:
If I go through with this....I would buy a used set of lower fairings, trim the bump out and work a fiberglass patch over the hole then fill, sand and paint to match. The engine guards (by the service manual pictures) seem to be just bolted on and not integrated into anything else. I would also fabricate braces on each side to support the fairings where they connect to the guards.
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FWIW, I crashed my 1100 a few years ago, bounced it off a curb, and it flipped onto the other side, so both crash guards were bent in the process. Since the bike is old, and I really didn't care to spend much to fix it up, I removed them on both sides and just ride it with the holes open. So yes, they're very easy to remove. I actually like the look better without the little grey triangles sticking out.

I don't think it looks all that bad even with the holes, and now I can remove and replace the oil filter with all the fairings in place. If you cover up the holes I think you'll like the look, but if it tips over you're going to break a lot of things that would normally be protected.
 
Gleason969 said:
Has anyone ditched the engine guards and smoothed out the lower fairings for better lines?
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First off, welcome to the forum.

I don't think anyone has done this. Some have stripped all (or most) of the plastics to make the bike into a street fighter / bobber / naked bike look.

ST1300 examples:
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ST1100 examples:
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If you did want to do it, you'd end up something like this. Reminds me front on of a BMW K1200/1300GT

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But as others have said if you dropped the bike (or when you drop it...) it will incur a lot more damage than with the guards in place - and you'd have to remake damaged fairings from scratch.
 
Something no one has mentioned is a drop is inevitable, its not if but when. Second side note is will the side bags hit the ground as well if there is no tip over/crash bars installed. Lary igofar informed me that the 1300 was originally designed without them. During testing honda reilised that when you drop them you not only damage the side panels but saddle bags and dont for get your mirrors and covers. They are there for a reason.
On the other hand i personally would like to see what it would like. Good luck with your modification and I look forward to seeing the picks. Also take picks during the modification. It will make a good story here. We all await your next post.
Jim
 
I was literally amazed at my first drop, doing a low-speed tight turn, the bike slid and pivoted on the right side but neither the mirror nor saddlebags had a scratch.
And this was before I purchased and installed the rear crash protection.
Twenty bucks for a tipover cover is CHEAP compared to the alternative!
 
Southwest Ranger 217 said:
Lary igofar informed me that the 1300 was originally designed without them.
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I find that hard to believe. Tip-over protection was a feature from the first year of the ST1100. It would seem only logical that they were intended to be carried over to the ST1300 from its inception as it is an equally heavy motorcycle.
 
I think we're being trolled here. Seriously, the ST1300 is known world wide for two things, 1)Pan Weave and 2)it's natural state at rest is tipped over. How about deleting the tip over wings with boat fenders? Or, do a DABOO and slap some airbag vests on both sides. This thread could be more historic than the 'what oil should I put in my Pan?' threads.
 
I only repeated what i heard. Again i would not remove them as they were installed for a reason. I cant count the bent ones on our 13 st 1300s. The police tip over/roll over bars have saved a many mirror covers im sure. My bike took a nap in an intersection the other day while i was directing traffic and my back was turned. Thank God for the tip over switch. I suspect i failed to deploy the kick stand all the way. How embarrassing. When you least expect it. Loose gravel has snuk up on me once too. It happens. I would personally not remove such an important safety feature as the replacement cost of parts would eat you alive for a sleepy bike.:D
 
Hey ya'll - personally I wouldn't change anything on mine (save for adding wind deflectors), but always curious to what people do.
Actually I'm not good at arranging furniture either - in spite of where the TV is!

 
I'll call this my vanity shot, I was practicing some low speed maneuvers in an empty parking lot while checking out my new light weight high vis jacket in the adjacent building glass, yep, I sure looked sharp, too bad everyone couldn't see me now.

The highway pegs on the engine guards provided a bit more space by the look of things as well.
 

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never dropped my Shadow for the 10 years I owned it. Had the ST 3 days and dropped it in the driveway. heavy son of a gun I thought as I was headed down to meet the driveway.
 
Chris09 said:
I'll call this my vanity shot, I was practicing some low speed maneuvers in an empty parking lot while checking out my new light weight high vis jacket in the adjacent building glass, yep, I sure looked sharp, too bad everyone couldn't see me now.

The highway pegs on the engine guards provided a bit more space by the look of things as well.
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Perfect shot of the tip over guards doing their job! Imagine the cost of repair if they weren't there?
 
Gleason969 said:
STs have great lines....just think they would look so much better without them. Balance doesnt seem to be an issue for me...but I'm 6'2", 240.
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Thats why they call them "accidents"? I was backing out of a kum and go and the cement in front of the store was about an inch higher than the tar. I turned the wheel, and unknowingly, hit the drop with both tires perfectly(?). Down I went, faster than I could react. Yes, I waited for someone to help me lift my well packed bike and my bruised ego.
 
Pop-Pop said:
...............I was backing out of a kum and go and the cement in front of the store was about an inch higher than the tar. I turned the wheel, and unknowingly, hit the drop with both tires perfectly(?). Down I went, faster than I could react. Yes, I waited for someone to help me lift my well packed bike and my bruised ego.
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I did much the same thing at a gas station convenience store. My front wheel ended up several inches higher than expected, my left foot slipped in some pea gravel and down it went on the left side. Needed help getting bike up onto 2 wheels (thanks Doug).

Zero damage to bike, but I banged right shin on something hard on the bike on the way down. Within 30 minutes I had significant swelling, lots of pain for about an hour and then a bruise that took 4 -5 weeks to resolve. Whatever I had hit my shin on (foot peg, brake pedal ??) actually gave me small crack on my tibia based on MD and an x-ray.
 
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