Will '81 GS1000 GLX Engine Guards work on a '80 GS850G?

[Guest]

Title says it all. If not, are there any engine guards from other sizes/models that will fit on the 850? (I'm unsure if this is the wrong forum, this doesn't seem like a "technical" question to me.)

 

[bwringer]

Yes, these will work. The engine mount points are the same on all the 850 and larger shafties.

I don't see any hardware or instructions in that photo. There are some very important things to know about installing these so you don't crack the cases.

 

[Guest]

Found these on eBay, no hardware or instructions included. I figured it would have been straight forward and gotten hardware from a big box store. I'm all ears though, how should I put these on?

Edit: Looking more closely at them, looks like the one of the three mounting tabs is broken off on each of them. Here is the eBay listing with more pictures.

Does anyone make aftermarket guards for these? I don't see anything on Z1.

 

[Steve]

You will not find the necessary hardware at ANY box store.

And, with that broken tab, you will need to weld on a replacement if you want full protection.

.

 

[bwringer]

There's no one making these engine guards any more; you have to work with used stuff, or I guess it's possible you might run into dusty NOS aftermarket stuff somewhere.

Many, if not most used examples are cracked or part of one of the mounting tabs has cracked or broken, so it's common that they may need to be welded. This design doesn't hold up to vibration that well, and '80s chrome wasn't the greatest either. And many of these guards didn't have perfectly accurate dimensions, or weren't installed with the washers quite right, so they were often installed with a lot of stress when tightened down. It looks like the tabs may be slightly bent in that photo.

The hardware includes a long piece of all-thread with washers and two nuts that replaces the 12mm front engine mount bolt. Back in the 80s it was very difficult to find metric hardware in the US, so these are usually 7/16"-20 fine thread. (This has caused no end of confustimication, angst, and many fruitless trips to hardware stores.) Nowadays, you can easily order metric all-thread from McMaster-Carr.

It also includes three longer bolts. Two M8 bolts (don't remember the length) are used on the triangular front engine mount plates on either side.

The lower mounting points are under the engine. These bolts are different lengths stock, so you move the longer stock bolt to the other side of the engine and then use a new bolt (M10x1.25 thread, don't remember the length) to replace that. The tricky bit here is that you have to be VERY careful about the bolt length because these thread into nut plates inside an engine mounting lug with very little spare room. If you use a bolt that's too long and tighten it down, you'll puncture the engine case.

I don't remember the lengths, but if you find a set of guards that don't include hardware, those of us with guards on hand can measure and let you know.

 

[Guest]

Great, thank you. If I decide to get those and weld them up, I'll be back here for those bolt measurements.

 

[Grimly]

If you use a bolt that's too long and tighten it down, you'll puncture the engine case.

Stop when you hear a crack and trudge into town for some JB Weld.
Hey, it's kept the oil in for more than 20 years, so it must be good.