I have heard that these funny things can be fitted without draining all the coolant, so I thought I’ll have a go and see if that’s possible! And well, the short answer is: yes and no!

I wish it was possible to push the plates that should mount closer to the frame without disconnecting any tubes! Position them in there is one thing, to attach the cross bars is the other!

I managed to fit them without losing too much of the coolant, and if i was a bit more careful i’m sure it would have been even less spillages! Anyway, here is how I fit them!

After taking all the plastic covers off, I loosened up and pushed aside all the jubilee clips that held both radiators connected. Made sure that the tubes can slide freely too. Didn’t touch the bottom pipes. Also loosened the radiator cap to let some air in too. I’m sure that’s where I made a mistake that caused me to spill more coolant when necessary.

After another 4 bolts, 2 on each radiator, they are ready to accept guards!

At this point I wasn’t sure if I should push the metal plate behind first and screw in cross bars, or cross bars first and then try to mount guard halfway assembled on the radiator…

I went the lazy way and assembled one side of the radiator guard with cross bars, when gently pulled the radiator away from the bike (just a bit – tubes stayed attached to the other radiator) and outer side of it towards the back, just enough to push the guard on the radiator.

And then the other metal plate on top!

The other side did the same way, only when I pushed the radiator away from the frame, the upper tube got detached and I spilled some coolant! Not a lot, but I’m sure that if I kept the radiator cover screwed in place I could have avoided spilling it!

One more thing!

Like someone mentioned online before, it’s a good idea to make the original radiator grill slightly stronger by extending it both ways, up and down, to let it rest on the stronger part of the radiator frame. Reason: if something hits the grill, it will bend radiator fins, it might even puncture it! (read more about radiator mud guard mod here)