R1200rs Hugger

[adam]

I collected a fibreglass hugger for the RS today and have just done a trial fit up. I may be over thinking this, (I'm not an engineer) so I'd value the advice of others who've put one on their bike. It came with all the necessary hardware, x8mm allen set screws which fit behind the bevel case, and one 70mm 8.8 grade stainless cap head bolt that replaces one on the torque arm above the shaft drive. My problem is, the alloy bush that fits over the 10mm cap head doesn't seem long enough to allow the hugger to float, instead it princes it quite solidly. I assume the manufacturer does this to protect the fibreglass from being crushed when the bolt is tightened. Should I make a new bush a few thou longer to allow the front mount of the hugger to fully float because this part will be moving in an ever so slightly different arc to the hugger itself, and I think it may eventually stress and fracture? I'm thinking of making a longer Top Hat spacer out of stainless to replace the soft alloy one in the kit. Anyone here, got one of these huggers (that just auto corrected to buggers on my ipad ) fitted and, if so, how's it been?

[Paul]

Hi Adam,

Sorry, I don't have a hugger on my RS, but instead opted for a Mudsling, which does the same job and is attached to the rear subframe rather than the drive shaft. It protects the suspension gubbins from crap thrown off the rear wheel and seems to be the most popular choice, rather than a hugger, for the more recent BMW boxers.

Cheers,

Paul

[Topcat]

+1 for the mud slings, do a very good job of keeping the bike clean.

[adam]

Looks good, but how does it affect the air flow in this low pressure area over the Rectifier? If it's a shunt type reg,(Mosfet type less so) it'll need to dump lots of heat.

[Topcat]

No idea what type the regulator is but no problems so far. Most of my miles have been slow commutes through London. I believe that some BMW dealers fit then to the bikes before they leave the showrooms?

[adam]

Thanks, that's good to know. I've just been fitting the bush in the hugger and took a good look at the reg/rect and it appears it's a Mosfet type like the ones that I replaced on one of my Buells and my Ducati. They run a fair bit cooler than the more usual shunt type as they only take the current they need and don't have to dump excess heat to a large heat sink.