Anyone have grill guards for their Ryker?

[MonPaul]

I got my Ryker for back roads and realize how many critters I am sharing the road with! I am thinking about getting grill guards, does anyone have any experience with Slingmods or Can am's version? Slingmods are crazy expensive but look better than Can Am's do. It is really hard to judge the Can Am guards because there is only one small stock picture and I have never seen any on a Ryker.
Anyone with experience good or bad I would appreciate your input. Is one a lot better, are they worth it?

 

[Beginner]

I am considering ordering the air intake and front grill covers from RLS exhaust. His are aluminum, so you don't have to worry about rust. He offers them painted in several colors or polished aluminum. I made some for myself, but I didn't like them. I had painted mine with about 5 coats of white paint, then they cracked/chipped when installing. Pissed me off. I tried to find some other metal to use, but the price of that crap skyrocketed and there was none to be found at the scrapyard. The local metal supplier didn't have aluminum and didn't know when they were going to get any. I live in the boondocks, so your mileage may vary. 5 years ago I could have gotten scrap off a couple of manufacturing plants for free, now they are holding onto every bit.

 

[ziggy]

You mean like grill mesh you can order on Amazon and cut to fit. A few videos on you tube and then there are assorted things like
the teeth guard you see in my Avatar, I have steel mesh over the radiator too.

 

[sKiZo]

Grill mesh here, tied to the stock grill with hidden zip ties.

Also working on a new project, converting an old Mercury Monarch grill to fit over the stock fascia ... should be able to fend off the occasional squirrel I'd think. I've cut the grill down and it's good fit - just have to dress and paint the cuts where they show.

Here's the look I'm going for, courtesy of photoshop.

** The frunk treatment shown will be a photo of the final front end, printed to a decal ... or not. I think it's kind of a neet touch.

 

[chris56]

you get different versions of this - Aluminium black powdered - works fine for me !!

 

[Beginner]

Is that stuff thick or thin? I'm looking for a little beefier stock so it doesn't flex as much. The stuff I had flexed too much upon install, hence the cracking.

 

[Beginner]

Didn't dawn on me to cut out an old car grill. I love these forums, sometimes I trap myself into thinking one way. I don't care about rust per se, I can always give it an acid bath then dry and paint.

 

[sKiZo]

I don't expect rust would be much of an issue - most car grills are either plastic or pig metal ...

Some mention of grill mesh thickness. I went with a 40x13 12mm painted aluminum. Just cut it to shape, then a slight fold on each end so it tucks in tight. A few black zip ties pretty much disappear after trimming.

 

[Beginner]

Yeah, I don't want plastic, it is worthless. I'm going to the metal shop today to see if things changed while I am out running errands.

 

[TIMEMACHINE]

Are we not discussing this?

 

[MonPaul]

Are we not discussing this?

View attachment 197448

Yes! I was talking about this model and a new one coming out from Spyderextras. I might have thrown people off by calling it just a grill guard but that's what Slingmods calls it.

 

[Peter Aawen]

Yes! I was talking about this model and a new one coming out from Spyderextras. I might have thrown people off by calling it just a grill guard but that's what Slingmods calls it.

There's at least one Spyder here in Oz that's been written off through having one of them ^^ fitted! IIRC the owner said the bump that did it was just a gentle off-centre 'parking type' nudge that didn't even leave a scratch or mark on the bar, but the frunk wouldn't open/close properly afterwards cos the lid &/or sealing lip of the frunk was sorta twisted & they wouldn't match up properly! :shocked: . So he took it to his dealer...... and they found it'd been a heavy enough off-centre 'gentle nudge' to bend the guard on its mounts, break the bottom out of the frunk, & bend the frame & cross-member that all hung off - and when they saw the potential repair bill for a strip & refit on a new frame with new front tupperware, the insurance company wrote the Spyder off as uneconomical to repair, so paid him out! :yikes:

Mind you, there's been a couple of Spyders here written off thru hitting the projecting 'leading edge' of their Bump Skid too; so hitting anything that's mounted out front and projects beyond the tupperware hard enough o&/r on an angle might well do the same... :dontknow:

Just Sayin'

 

[BanditoRS]

Check out a company called Zarate Steel Works in San Antonio, TX ( see - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8D88aF3FuqE ) as they seem to have a lot of Ryker grill stone guards, etc.. I made my own but I have machines and a TIG welder so I can fabricate anything for myself ( see photos in Ryker section under BanditoRS username ).