You get in a bind, take a dab, in which case your leg and foot always move back some 'cause the bike is still movlng ...... then wham !! your pants cuff cycles around the pulley once and bangs your ankle up something fierce as the cloth gets sucked in while it is doing it ---- the yanking always shifts your weight on the seat some throwing your balance off ---- then you crash a little bit 'cause you lost your dab on the low side.

Or, you stretch out a bit while cruising down the freeway and WHAMMO, your pants cuff gets caught and pulled in at high rpm ......  breaking your ankle or worse.   Then you crash the rest of the way at 65 mph.

If you are talking about the chrome belt guard that is attached to the swing arm......about the only danger is the rear tire throwing crap onto the belt.  Little stones can be wedged into the teeth and damage the belt or pulleys.  My Cafe bike has a much smaller guard that is located where the front of the tire passes the belt.

If you are talking about the pulley cover on the engine.....it is best to leave that in place as your shoe laces and pant leg can get caught between the belt and pulley.

On my Cafe' conversion my foot is back by the pulley cover, and even with the pulley cover in place I did have my boot laces get blown into the narrow slots in the cover.....and the belt/pulley yanked my shoe laces off my boot!

You could possibly trim the cover a little bit and reduce the size....without making the area too dangerous.

Dave, yeah I was referring to the guard that covers the belt, not the one that covers the pulley. It's not a huge issue, just an idea I thought might make the bike look a bit more the way I want it to. Your comments have inspired me to consider having a go at making up something smaller.

Ultimately, I would love to do a bobber conversion but I ride the bike all the time and would like to keep it road legal. Most of the distinctive aspects of a bobber are definitely not road-legal here. So I'm just trimming mine down a bit for a more minimalist look.

I've been researching some options and I reckon I could probably come up with a legal-bobber but I'll have to wait until I can afford a second bike purely as a project.

The Savage was only released here for a few years originally. So there aren't many cheap ones around. On the other hand the older bikes qualify for 'club plates' so registration can be simpler and cheaper.

Rather than remove it I bobbed it just past the rear of the shock(I cut the curl off as I didn't like the look) the guard still provides protection for both me and my passenger.If your doing a bobber make the cut at a 45degree angle  or to match the angle of your rear fender.

Oldfeller--FSO wrote on 08/15/17 at 05:51:08:


Thanks for the compliment....however my trials riding did have some creative spills now and then.  One day I popped up onto a log and while I was balanced on the back wheel on top of the log......it turns out I was in 2nd gear and the engine stalled.  I was too high to reach the ground, and the bike and I tipped over to the right side and I slid down a creek bank head first and stuck my helmet in the mud!  My neighbor and his son were walking in our woods.....and got to see the whole thing!

Look at the RYCA site and there are plenty of cut down belt guards to look at.  Once fellow made cutouts and inserted screen - it looked cool.

http://www.rycamotors.com/RYCA-customer-builds-page2.html

Unless you intend doing extensive bobbing or modding, I don't really see the point, your resale on a stock bike may be better.

jcstokes wrote on 08/15/17 at 12:33:02:


I have considered the resale value. At the end of the day I've decided to make the bike they I want it to be, not the way I think the next owner might want it be

Not that I have plans to sell it!