huggers

[philr]

Hi yawl - this is my first registered comment although I have been reading the site since Jan. 2004 when I bought my R1150R. It is about to run out of warranty so I can begin to tamper with it. Love the bike apart from the left timing chain rattle on a hot restart. Have been through the tensioner thing but the bike has done it from new.

Anyway - does anyone know where one can source a rear hugger that fits or is adaptable. Not one like on a GS but a sports bike type.
Cheers.

[beemer-biker]

Anyway - does anyone know where one can source a rear hugger that fits or is adaptable. Not one like on a GS but a sports bike type.
Cheers.

Funny you should write in about this. I was just looking around myself today for the very same thing.
Here is a link to one site, and I am sure there are probably at least 10 million more out there. http://www.streetfightersbydesign.com

Oh, and congrats on your first post.

[philr]

Yes thanks bmrider, have checked out 'streetfighters'. I have emailed 'Powerbronze' and am waiting for a reply. The streetfighter may be a powerbronze?? I'll let you know.

[DJ Downunder]

One of the best is from Geelong Carbon....they have moved from Geelong near Melbourne to the Gold Coast I think.

http://www.geelongcarboncraft.com.au/

Hey philr...where in Oz are you?

DJ

[philr]

Ah, the prolific DJ - how are you. I am at (or, on, as we say) Buderim, Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Previous bikes were Dukes and Kwakas, and still have a 350 desmo and Cucciolo. Been riding for 37 years (and boy am I tired - boom boom).

Yes - Geelong Carbon Craft are at Nerang (?) on the Gold Coast about 2 hours south of here. Their web site has been down lately so I have been unable to check them out but will do so. Going by your photos theirs looks better than the Streetfighter one. Still, horses for courses.

BMbiker is right in that there are many suppliers so a bit of research is obviously necessary. Incidentally. I am working on a fix for the timing chain tensioner problem but it is a bit of low priority project.

[DJ Downunder]

I'm good thanks..hope you had a good Chrissy.. ...mmmm Queensland..nice..

You could try this link http://www.geelongcarboncraft.com.au/netcat.htm

Be careful with the rear huggers because the guys on the R1100S site often take of them failing..and it could be nasty..for you and someone behind you.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/kse ... s&x=10&y=8

Although a bit pricey the Geelong Carbons new model seems to be one of the best and safest...keep us informed on how you go with it.

DJ

[philr]

Well - I recommend that everyone try the URLs listed by DJdownhere just for the experience. What an eye opener. I was astonished at the heated interchange between several riders that led from the broken hugger episode. I haven't noticed anything like that on this site thankfully.

Try the following for huggers:

<http://www.pyramid-plastics.co.uk/>

<http://www.n-w-s.com/bmw/r1100s.html>

The problem with BM huggers appears to stem from the difference in the arc of the paralever compared with the wheel on bump and rebound.

Note that the NWS item attaches from the paralever pivot rather than the brake caliper bracket bolts. This may be better, I will have to look into it.

I am reluctant to part with the hard-earned for something I have not seen or touched. In addition to that, it is difficult to know how much weight to give to some comments on chatsites (no disrespect meant folks) as enthusiasts of all types tend to know just enough to be dangerous (you may treat my comments with similar suspicion).

Unfortunately, few shops around here carry aftermarket stuff for BMs.

[beemer-biker]

The problem with BM huggers appears to stem from the difference in the arc of the paralever compared with the wheel on bump and rebound.

Note that the NWS item attaches from the paralever pivot rather than the brake caliper bracket bolts. This may be better, I will have to look into it.

philr,
Can you please explain this to me? I am no mechanic, so keep it simple It seems to me that the wheel can't make contact with the hugger mounted to the caliper, so what touches? The shock? I am thinking also that the CF fenders may be more of a nuisance here than plastic, which is more flexible. I could be wrong, for the millionth time.
Thanks

[philr]

Hi bmbiker

I must admit I am going off this hugger thing as I can't find one that is located in what I consider to be a satisfactory way. Having said that I appreciate that there are limited possibilities with the paralever rear end.

The Metisse unit looks good, is ABS and locates in a similar fashion to the N-W-S unit (I think) which is carbon fibre. The Metisse site shows 7 photos including the fitting kit.

<http://www.metisse.de/frame_daten/start_D_GB.html>

Anyway, back to the question. The hub is attached to the drive shaft and is also pivoted off the bottom link and so forms a parallelogram although I don't know if the 'arms' are of equal length 'cause I'm no where near the bike to see. Imagine equal length wishbones on the suspension of a race car. If they were of equal length the hub, as it rises and falls relative to the gearbox casing, (yes I know the wheel stays on the ground while the rest of the bike goes up and down but you know what I mean), would swing parallel to the gearbox.

From what I have read on other sites a hugger can hit the front of the 'swing-arm' just in front of the tire during suspension movement, thus flexing the hugger location points, causing fatigue and eventual fracture with possibly disasterous results. This would suggest that the 'arms', being the paralever and the lower link, are not of equal length and so cause the hugger to change position relative to the front of the paralever.

An interesting test (that I couldn't be bothered doing) would be to slip off the spring/damper unit with the bike on its center stand and move the wheel up and down whilst measuring the distance from the caliper to the front of the 'swing arm'.

This is why I like the Metisse and N-W-S units beter because they are located from the front of the paralever and will move the same as the arm - maybe.

Sorry about the long-winded reply, but one does tend to get a bit carried away with bike stuff.

Now for the disclaimer, I haven't done any measuring or even observing and have never fitted a hugger to the R1150R so I could be talking out of my nether regions.

Oh, and another point worth considering. Carbon fibre, when it does break, has lots of razor sharp bits to penetrate the tire. Carbon fibre splinters are a major cause of punctures in F1 racing (you know F1, the kind of motorsport yanks are no good at). However ABS is tough and may flex or tear but may also get jammed between the tire and the paralever - ooh nasty. The carbon fibre may just break up. I don't know - who wants to test them out, maybe the Mythbusters (another fine Australian TV program).

[Est51]

Two things. 1; Put thread lock on the bolts [one of mine came out on a ride]. 2; Don't know about "R's" but on Rocksters the hugger makes cleaning in the bikes "important little places" more difficult.

My local BM dealers recommends Pyramid huggers.

[leno]

Two things. 1; Put thread lock on the bolts [one of mine came out on a ride]. 2; Don't know about "R's" but on Rocksters the hugger makes cleaning in the bikes "important little places" more difficult.

My local BM dealers recommends Pyramid huggers.

The cleaning might be more difficalt but it sure needs a lot less cleaning with the hugger on. I'm not sure of the make of mine it was fitted by the BMW shop, but it is in no danger of braking in normal use. However it does look a bit like the first picture, the broken one. Much neater than the others.