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Hello Guys,
my name is Victor and I live in Toronto, Canada.
I have a beautiful Honda Varadero 2008 model. It is great. I bought it from the first owner. He bought it with all the nice sweet original accessories: crash bars, GPS all that. But I have a problem. The bike crashed before I bought it.
It doesn't look too bad as you can see from the video, but the first owner sealed the crash bar extender with some sort of tape. I realized it after I bought the bike, so I took the tape out, and it is noisy.
It is noisy between 2450 - 2550 RPM. The bike runs fine, but it's this noise bothering me.
Any help is welcome.
Thanks, Victor -
Hi Victor and welcome to the forum. Great bike there. I had the same problem when I took my bike apart to change its colour and then reassembled the crash bars and the distance piece started to rattle.
From the video I could see that there is too much freeplay on the distance piece which rattles. I suggest that you loosen all the bolts of the crash bars, insert rubber O-rings on each side of the distance piece, tighten first the bolt over the distance piece followed by the rest. That 's what I did to my bike and the distance piece has never rattled since. Hope this helps.
Brian
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Hey I have had the same problem 2 years ago, secured that moving with this:
Its hard to see , cause its black and thin and that thing is no longer moving... but if you want to do it better, try to seal it with some plastic pads from sides. Its common problem with these crash bars, and GIVI crash bars (since these are Honda, as you say). -
I loose a little bit my Givi and put some glue.
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Great replies with proper technical solutions; ooor....you could put the tape back till the winter.
JK -
Great replies with proper technical solutions; ooor....you could put the tape back till the winter.
JK
...or buy SW-Motech that don't rattle
...although I would like to improve the cross-brace design on these (any ideas?)
However, as I've noted before, they survived a nasty drop on the left side.
@jackyork ...sounds like you had a good European tour...now you've learned how to post photos, do we get ride report? Hope you're keeping well!
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@ Jasper... be carefull or else someone will fall over you telling you that SW is simply overrated...
I guess we know better...
Another proof that Honda Originals 'by Givi' are far from the quality we are used to as Honda riders. Its time that Honda goes back to H&B as main Honda Original accessories. -
There is only one solution to improve the cross brace on SWM engine bars....replace them with GIVI bars.
My bike has fallen over a number of times, both sides I dare say. The GIVI bars always did the trick shielding the bike's body from any damage. -
Yeah I have SWM on mine and yes they protect it when it decides to lay down in the bush, but they seem flimsy (and are bent) compared to the Givi's I had on the VStrom. The previous owner siliconed the connection for the cross brace and there is no rattling.
There is only one solution to improve the cross brace on SWM engine bars....replace them with GIVI bars.
My bike has fallen over a number of times, both sides I dare say. The GIVI bars always did the trick shielding the bike's body from any damage. -
(You Tube: comparing SW Motech vv Givi)
Conclusion... they are both good, but the SW is simply a little better (and... more expensive)
But the vid embedded above has a SWM logo in the background which makes its objectivity questionable I guess...
Note... I love SWM which is obvious I think... But that's again, based on my on personal experiences with SWM products for the last 2 decades and 450.000 km... The only two BAD, VERY BAD experiences I had with GIVI where with the Honda original panniers and racks which again, are build by Givi. They came with the bike (all included), but I will never buy Givi even if its the only remaining alternative.
I guess its logic... if an product don't step up to the expectations, you won't buy it again. But again, its again up to personal preferences, isn't it... Its also how you use the bike.
Brian (jolly green giant) uses and maintains his bike different than I do, and uses his wonderful bike in a different climate. So my expectations and prevalences are different than Brians which makes different views almost obligatory. Which is fine!
I live in the Netherlands where they love to through tons of salt on winter roads, so the risk of material being affected by corrosion (and so, looking at how materials are protected against corrosion) is another important issue for me on which I base my final choice of buy. Corrosion protection of Givi parts was always far below what is necessary in the climate where I live.
So what I share, are my personal experiences with an certain product. My current SW Motech crashbars have covered 110.000 km (from which the last 10.000 on my current bike) and there are simply no signs of rust or corrosion whatsoever. Not on the bars, not on the nuts, not on the bolts. And... I am not a very good cleaner...
The pannier-rack (Givi - Honda original) of my previous bike (my black 2004 MK2) showed rust after the first season despite the provisional protection with wax and silicone spray!
Best part of forums like these... they provide the best test grounds and collection of owner experiences Word Wide, despite the fact that they are based on personal prevalences and choices!
And that's just fine!
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the discussions on crash bars and skid plates are as endless as that of chain lube discussions.