I was looking at my P650 today and I noticed that the front grill where the Kawasaki emblem is located seem very easy to break. The horizontal plastic pieces seem very flimsy. I was thinking that it probably wouldn't be to hard to break these if somehow a branch or something got in this area. So I started thinking that it might be a good idea to buy some wired steel mesh and tack weld a piece on the front bumper to stop any objects from breaking the front grill. Now I assume that there are gaps in the grill to allow air to pass throught, and I was wondering if I added wired mesh, would this somehow be bad for the machine by limiting the amount of air going throught the grill. Are the gaps used for cooling or just for looks?

Here is what the front looks line now.

Before

And here is what I'm thinking of doing. I would paint the added grill black, but this is just to give you an idea of what I'm thinking of doing.

After

 

I've had the bike in some serious off trail excursions and haven't broken the grill yet. Maybe it's not a problem or maybe I'm just lucky.

I know the 650 likes to run hot, just a little mud in the rad seems to let it run warm enough to trigger the light. So I wouldn't block off your air flow too much if possible. And try to keep the rad as clean as possible.

 

Where did you get the black grill guard and what brand is it? Thanks.

 

I purchased it from my dealer when I bought the bike. It's a Kimpex brand guard. It can be purchased from pretty much any aftermarket supplier.

If you also do a search on ebay for Prairie 650, you can also find them.

 

Scotia650

I don't think it would be a problem. But I figured better be safe then sorry. I was just wondering that by doing this it might affect the cooling of the bike. From what you are saying, I think I may hold off on doing this. I haven't had a chance yet to run the bike in the summer time, so I have no idea how hot she will run.

 

If you keep an eye on the rad and keep it clean you won't have any problems. It's not like it's a time bomb, just a little preventive maintenance. Another thing too, I sometimes stick my pressure washer through the front grill to wash around the rad, the screen would prevent this. Just my thoughts.

 

Kawidan's proposed mod is a great idea! The Grill is the one ***** in this beasts armor.

Wish this had been posted a couple of weeks ago. EVERYONE listen to this man, he knows what he speaks.

I didn't even see it coming-- a dead branch took out my grill, radiator, fan & fan blade[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-frown.gif[/img]

An ounce of prevention can save you big bucks fellas. Radiator is about $450-500, Fan Blade $42, Fan Motor $140 vs. $10 bucks in metal and a couple tack welds. Not to mention the lost weekend of riding waiting on parts, and it was a great weekend for it.

By the way the grill is not a seperate piece it's integrated into the whole front $kin. I'll be trying out my new plastic welder this weekend.