More armor input: headlight guards

The Mountain

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No slight intended, I just happened to have read your post and then received that image which made me chuckle
I'm 100% with you on the headlight protector, I've just got one of those that Bimota posted about. I figured that £30 was much better than a replacement headlight at approaching £1000. Like you I didn't want a mesh one either as they don't stop the smaller stones from getting through.
There is an awful lot of trinketry available for bikes and for a lot of people it's pointless other than for pure aesthetics, as you say some of that stuff is of dubious benefit in terms of the protection it provides. If that's what people like and want though there's no harm done, personally I'm into function over form - if you need it then you might as well get the good stuff.
Just out of interest what ride have you got planned?
I'm planning to ride up into the Himalayas, through Ladakh. I want especially to reach Khardung La, supposedly the highest motorable road at over 17,000ft altitude. There are tons of videos of that ride, which have plenty of examples of the road conditions. Most locals who do the ride go on 350cc Enfield Bullets, so they don't have to deal with the weight, but I have seen guys do it on sport bikes, including doing water crossings through 8-10 inches of fast moving mountain streams.
 
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The Mountain

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Forgot to mention that the protector arrived yesterday. Really fast shipping. I highly recommend that vendor. I'll post their details in the morning.
 

Saint rob

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I'm planning to ride up into the Himalayas, through Ladakh. I want especially to reach Khardung La, supposedly the highest motorable road at over 17,000ft altitude. There are tons of videos of that ride, which have plenty of examples of the road conditions. Most locals who do the ride go on 350cc Enfield Bullets, so they don't have to deal with the weight, but I have seen guys do it on sport bikes, including doing water crossings through 8-10 inches of fast moving mountain streams.
There is a video series on Amazon Prime with 2 Germans on S10’s in the Himalayas, not watched it myself yet but it comes highly recommended
5D3F7ED3-4F90-4B52-8E7D-F080FF52BF13.jpeg
 
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The Mountain

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There is a video series on Amazon Prime with 2 Germans on S10’s in the Himalayas, not watched it myself yet but it comes highly recommended
View attachment 76409, though I
Watched it yesterday; it's pretty good, though I wished they had given a bit more focus to the bikes. The series was originally in German, and has been overdubbed in English, which is a bit jarring sometimes. If nothing else, I'm glad I'm not using whatever brand of skidplate they used.
 

bimota

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Watched it yesterday; it's pretty good, though I wished they had given a bit more focus to the bikes. If nothing else, I'm glad I'm not using whatever brand of skidplate they used.
they were sponsored by SW MOTECH if you look at the bikes its all SW MOTECH gear

rob
 

AusTexS10

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I went with "Lamin-X" film.
They come pre-cut for the S10, are easy to apply, and can be removed/reapplied.

View attachment 76273

I used amber/yellow for conspicuity, but they come in clear also.

View attachment 76274

View attachment 76275
I'm not certain I'd put this on a headlight that remains on 100% of the time the bike is in operation. I say this from the experience I had with my 4Runner where I used the amber Lamin-X over my fogs, which were rewired to stay on all of the time the engine was on, whether the headlamp switch was on or not (kind of poor man's DRLs). Anyhow, after a time they started clouding up and the Lamin-X people said it was because of the heat from being on all of the time (like our bike headlights are) which caused "champagne bubbles". Granted, I was using the stock halogen bulbs (HB4 9006) at the time. Cut to the end, they graciously sent me replacement films, but when I went to peel off the bad film it wouldn't come off readily, and when it did it revealed the lens had overheated and warped and discolored badly, making the purchase of new modules necessary (in which I installed yellow LEDs and all has been fine the last several years).

This is what Lamin-X told me: " There is nothing that you did wrong for the "champagne" bubbles to occur. These are caused by heat from the fog light that occurs on some vehicles. I apologize as I see now that I didn't mention how to prevent this in my previous emails. We try and recommend to customers that this happens to, to try and only have the fog lights on when needed and when the vehicle is in motion as the air flow helps keep the film cooler. Leaving the fog lights on while the vehicle is parked can create to much heat and cause them to do this."

This may not happen in your instance (took about a year on my 4Runner, as I recall) and I hope it doesn't because my replacement fog modules were relatively inexpensive compared to a lens for our wee beastie, but I wanted to make folks aware of the possibility. Here's what my light looked like after about a year or so of being on at all times I was driving.
 

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SkunkWorks

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I'm not certain I'd put this on a headlight that remains on 100% of the time the bike is in operation. I say this from the experience I had with my 4Runner where I used the amber Lamin-X over my fogs, which were rewired to stay on all of the time the engine was on, whether the headlamp switch was on or not (kind of poor man's DRLs). Anyhow, after a time they started clouding up and the Lamin-X people said it was because of the heat from being on all of the time (like our bike headlights are) which caused "champagne bubbles". Granted, I was using the stock halogen bulbs (HB4 9006) at the time. Cut to the end, they graciously sent me replacement films, but when I went to peel off the bad film it wouldn't come off readily, and when it did it revealed the lens had overheated and warped and discolored badly, making the purchase of new modules necessary (in which I installed yellow LEDs and all has been fine the last several years).

This is what Lamin-X told me: " There is nothing that you did wrong for the "champagne" bubbles to occur. These are caused by heat from the fog light that occurs on some vehicles. I apologize as I see now that I didn't mention how to prevent this in my previous emails. We try and recommend to customers that this happens to, to try and only have the fog lights on when needed and when the vehicle is in motion as the air flow helps keep the film cooler. Leaving the fog lights on while the vehicle is parked can create to much heat and cause them to do this."

This may not happen in your instance (took about a year on my 4Runner, as I recall) and I hope it doesn't because my replacement fog modules were relatively inexpensive compared to a lens for our wee beastie, but I wanted to make folks aware of the possibility. Here's what my light looked like after about a year or so of being on at all times I was driving.
So far-So good.
Mine have been on for two years now, and are still crystal-clear. Not even a hint of becoming hazy.
Even in the Arizona and Utah Desert heat.
I'm running the factory Halogen bulbs, and on these bikes the outer lens doesn't get hot at all. The bulbs, and heat are behind the inner projector lenses.
 

AusTexS10

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So far-So good.
Mine have been on for two years now, and are still crystal-clear. Not even a hint of becoming hazy.
Even in the Arizona and Utah Desert heat.
I'm running the factory Halogen bulbs, and on these bikes the outer lens doesn't get hot at all. The bulbs, and heat are behind the inner projector lenses.
Good to know. I just had my bad experience and didn't want anyone else to have a similar one. Maybe it's because our bikes are cool!
 

EricV

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I got the OEM light guard from a Canadian dealer back in '11. They don't need to worry about DOT crap. Worth the cost. After two bikes and 150+ thousand miles it was still great, still easy to remove and clean anywhere, including hotel rooms and still did the job very well w/o being hazed or scratched up, despite bird strikes, gravel roads up the wazzoo and miles, miles, miles.

Cry once, then forget about it.
 

EricV

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.... including doing water crossings through 8-10 inches of fast moving mountain streams.
Well heck, if it's a cake walk like that, no sweat. ;)

In Peru on the way to Machu Picchu we went thru 12-14" water crossings with basketball size rocks jumping and bouncing thru the water. Buses were getting pushed from one side of the road to the other. Never mind the 1000' drop offs and log bridges. As in, just a few logs, running longitudinally across the raging river. And the road construction that generously ran the cat over the 12" boulders they called 'gravel' before letting traffic cross.

You'll be fine. Have the adventure of a lifetime and come back and tell us all about it.
 

EricV

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do I hear derision like a slow dripping faucet.
Nope. Close the garage door and go, adventures are out there. It's not what bike you're on that matters. Although personally, it would be a better adventure on what ever machine is locally sourced. My minimal experience is that in the rougher the conditions, the smaller bikes keep it fun.
 
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