[Mookie B]

The H-D chrome belt guards look good- IMHO they nicely balance the great glob of chrome of the mufflers on the other side of the bike. You can get them through most any H-D dealer - some will offer a discount, ranging from 10-20%. I looked at the Rizoma guard, and while it is nice, I'm not sure that it provides as much functionality as the H-D set. If you ever ride your V-Rod in the rain - you'll be glad you had the full set. If you only ride on sunny days - well you have more options.

The coolant hose running right between the cylinders fairly begs to be covered up. H-D gives you two options - the solid chrome cover, which is cheap and easy to install; and the braided covers - which are neither. Personally, every time I see the chrome cover I think: "There's a guy who cheaped out" - but then I'm a judgemental SOB... If you do decide to get the braided set, do yourself a favor and have the dealer install it; unless you are very handy doing this sort of work. I've even heard some dealership technicians complain about what a difficult job this can be to do right.

Cheaped out? What's the cost on those braided ones, including install? $500? That just seems stupid, especially for something that is eventually going to over time turn to a darker color...Also remember if you ever have it serviced by the dealership and they take off the hose you will have to buy another braided line ...

Its a tough call. I still haven't made it and still have the black hose. But I took off the belt guards, and seem to have more black on my bike than most (with the gas tank showing, various cables) so I don't think it looks too bad. Just waiting for a good option!

 

[Mookie B]

The dealership charged me an hour labor ($60) to do it back in 2002 - it may have gone up since then. The labor chart shows 1.1 to "replace coolant pipe, engine in" - I'm not sure if this covers the whole operation, but at most they would charge you for two hours. Even paying full retail for the braided cover ($80) thats a long way from $500.

I've had mine in for almost two years - and it still looks great. To be sure, it has acquired a very slight yellowish patina. But I look on that as a badge of honor - that my bike gets ridden, rather than just sits in the garage.

As far as longevity is concerned, I'm not too worried. I'll flush the coolant every two years, so the hoses shouldn't rot out from the inside for a very long time. And if the bike ever requires such major surgery as to require removal of the hoses, I'd have to pay for the install of new ones anyway.

Well put. I meant to say $250, but according to you its probably closer to $150. I saw one that was on for a few years, and the "yellowish tint" was pretty distracting...no longer looked in tune with the rest of the bike's schematics.