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Tire Hugger Experiences


whiteknuckles

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It really only helps keep the shock area clean. The hugger would have to extend way on out there to eliminate slinging stuff on the tail light.

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That big fender sticks way out there for a reason. Mine is usually off but if I go for long distance rides, especially if I think I may encounter heavy rain, I put it back on. All of the extra bags on long runs kind of hides it anyway. I also leave bolts hanging through the holes in the under-seat area when the fender is off. Otherwise when you DO go through water, it comes up through the holes and gets you tools/manual/etc. wet. The hugger just protects your shock.

OFF - ON - OFF - ON :comp13:

Shelter From The Storm

Does this make my butt look big?

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What the others said. I will add that I have a Red Fox hugger on my 5th/ 6th gens. Within a year of installation and maybe 5k ish miles, the 6th gen fender has a vibration crack. I am getting it plastic welded, and hope that will save it. But if I have to buy another, it won't be a Red Fox.

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I took my fender extension off for awhile, but found it made things messy in the rain. Also noticed my top box mount was getting chipped from the rocks that were kicked up. When I bought my saddlebags, I put it back on. A hugger may be nice to protect the shock, but it won't replace the fender extension.

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I have the Harris carbon hugger and chain guard on mine, expensive but lovely bit of kit. Questionable sales/aftercare service in my experience though. Hugger arrived snapped in half after a long wait. They tried to say not their problem, but replaced after a very strong complaint and reminded them of my consumer rights.

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I have the Powerbronze hugger and it is not ideal either. After few thousand miles, it's own vibration caused this crack:

gallery_14465_7345_1421768.jpg

P.S. why is this the only forum where basic things like making a picture smaller are so hard to do?

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I have the hugger Rivcyko made (no longer in production). It's fiberglass, and for the past 20,000 or so miles has held up great. I would have designed it slightly differently, but overall no complaints. I have seen a few on ebay. If I ever sell the 6th gen, mine will be for sale too (not holding my breath). Geelong in Australia also makes a very nice (but expensive) carbon fiber piece which includes the chainguard.

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I tried a number of plastic ones (redFox etc.) and the all cracked.

Chucked them all away and went for the Geelong Carbon Craft CF one that incorporates the chain guard as well and have not had an issue since.

It's been great. Is expensive, but I recon that if I added up the cost of the plastic ones that failed, it would have been cheaper in the long run to go with the GCC unit from the start.

As everyone else has already said, without the rear mudguard, the back of the bike gets pretty dirty in rain from the road spray, but gee my shock is really clean!!

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I started a hugger thread a while back to get info on various offerings and got quite a bit of feedback. Geelong (Australian) and Harris (UK) carbon and fiberglass models were the only two that didn't have any issues with cracking, including my inquires on the UK VFR forum. All the rest had varying degrees of reliability over time, mainly because they are all plastic (some have fake carbon fiber vinyl on them). I don't think anybody mentioned Rivcyko's home cooked hugger in the thread, but since they are fiberglass they should hold up.

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I have the Harris carbon hugger and chain guard on mine, expensive but lovely bit of kit. Questionable sales/aftercare service in my experience though. Hugger arrived snapped in half after a long wait. They tried to say not their problem, but replaced after a very strong complaint and reminded them of my consumer rights.

I also have a Harris carbon hugger. Very nice craftsmanship. It does a decent job keeping the exhaust pipes and cans clean.

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Member Rivcyko made me a beautiful one for my '07 RWB, painted a color matched metallic blue. Too bad he's no longer doing it. I can understand though. Each piece was a individual hand layed masterpiece involving hours of work.

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I've got the NWS carbon fiber hugger on my '02 that the PO had installed. It's just now starting to sort of delaminate on the rear lip but overall is still in great shape for being 15 years in service.

My rear fender is trimmed but mostly in place from the licens plate upwards. I get some chain lube flung up onto the underside of my left Staintune, but as others have said, my shock sure is clean!

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