With this mad weight saving competition the factories are on over the last decade, bikes are given very thin components:- fork outer tubes, triple clamps, frame and swing arms, bolts and linkages. The engine is constantly worked on to save weight and one of the big components that is now paper thin are case covers. They are the first part of the engine to hit the ground, so inevitably the grinding quickly allows asphalt, metal shavings and other debris into the engine when the case cover material is worn through. That’s a new/used engine or a full strip down, clean meticulously and then rebuild. No matter what, it is incredibly expensive………
Case covers for bikes for years have been solid billet machined pieces that can crash several times before showing signs of replacement by getting thin. Those require a lot of work in scraping gaskets, cleaning areas and putting (for example stators) OEM parts into those components. A few years back other alternatives started hitting the market place as case guards with bolt on billet augmentations to cover part of the OEM case. Now we have come full circle back to complete covers only this time they cover the entire OEM piece to provide more protection.
The Leo Vince SBK Carbon guard kit on my 2009 Yamaha R1 provides pieces for the left and right cases on the crank ends, the clutch over and the clutch actuator. The SBK carbon is reinforced and extremely thick – that makes sense given the amount of grinding that would be expected for a bike going on its side.
For the 09 to current R1, the stator, clutch and case guards have 3 bolt holes that re-use the OEM bolts except on the clutch actuator arm which has 2. Installation time? Minutes. here’s the video on fitting the pieces onto Dave’s 09 r1 product testing mule:
- clutch cover, clutch actuating arm cover, right side case cover cover
- stator cover
Leo Vince has an application guide for you to access to see if they make the SBK Guards for your bike:
http://www.leovinceusa.com/Carbon/SBK.php
The SBK guards in place on the 09 R1 test mule:
