I am currently riding my P650 without racks (looks very cool) because I am having my old ones sand blasted. Gonna paint them black. I recently bought the bike used and the previously owner had them coated with truckbed liner and and did not like the unever bubbly looking finish, and it was peeling off in a couple of spots.

Anyway I was seaching some old posts and I saw that a guy broke his front shock mounts riding with out them.

Has anyone had much experience riding the bike without racks? Do you think it would be easy to damage the shock mounts, or other parts of the front or rear.

I put all the bolts back in. Just have the racks off.

 

i was gonna try this until i saw that post. i took a look at the moutns and they do look easy to break so i decided not to do it

 

Dont worry,Ive had mine off since new.just look at your racks they are flimsy and they lay flat even if the stock mounts could bend the rack wouldnt help.for example we were out riding on our track we went around a corner and hit,I lost it and hit a jump next to the corner I went over my other two buddies that were watching.they figured I was at least 7 feet up,I landed right on my front tires,I couldnt hang on and slid forward and put my knee through the fender on the left side.I thought the machine would be junk by the way I landed but we couldnt find any damage.bty Im 260#.hope this helps.........later

 

the rack seems to help support the front push bar too.

However, it looks like if it was bad to ride without racks those boneheads at Kawasaki would put a warning sticker or something on there.

They sure put a warning sticker on there for everything else under the sun. I think I will ask the local dealer about it.

People like Mike Penland do it and even ride without fender supports.

 

The rack does support the bumper my bumper is gone also.You dont want to hit anything with the bumper without the racks the bumper is quite flimsy without them

 

modboger, I was looking at your signature, I assume you have those Wagner headlight blubs,

I was thinking about getting those. Are they a big improvement over stock? or just a cheaper replacement blub?

Also did you have to take off the front plastic to get the bumper off? I was thinking about painting it black too, but it looked hard to get to the part up under the racks.

 

They are napa bulbs they arent much brighter than the stockers It wasnt worth it.Im not sure what you are looking at the grill guard is only four bolts two on rack two on the sub frame.the sub frame also is four bolts two on top two on bottom.the front plastic is very easy to take off anyway.you should be able to remove the screws under the headlights(front fender mounts)and get to just about anything under there.just shout i'll help anyway i can......later

 

I spoke with Mike Penland and he told me the rack in no way supports the shock mounts. Jim Dahl, the builder of the Rec Rider for Old Man Wheeler, told me it does. So, I am thinking it may just be luck if you break one or not. I have been riding pretty hard for about two months now with no racks and have not broken anything yet. Mike Penland did tell me that he is working on some kind of support for the shock mounts but didnt know when it would be ready.

 

Mudboger, I was thinking about the bottom part of the push bar/subframe, the part with the raditor guard in it. I was wanting to get it off without taking off the plastic, if I decide to paint it black to match the racks. That front plasitic just seems like it has a lot of things connected to it and it would be a lot of bolts and other parts to take off.

I am not that mechainical, but don't mind trying things. I change oil and do simple things like that. but I get nervous when start I taking off lots of things off at one time.


Good info js, I was thinking about calling Penland too.

I think I will continue to ride carefully until the racks are ready.

I wonder if the extended warranty would cover it if you broke a shock mount, It looks like to me they would have to since that's not a normal wear item.

 

This may be a greenhorn question..........buy why ride without the racks? I've only had my 650 for a few days but it doesnt seem to create blind spot- the wieght savings is minimal and if they do offer some protection to the mounts WHY bother?
Thanks