Ryan, correct me if I am wrong, but the only two sets I've seen delivered in "raw" were Necron and mine. For those who have forgotten, we had ours powder coated to match the Neptune Blue and they turned out flawlessly! It is a great look and several folks have commented that they look OEM. I think the Reds (9 and 12) and the 13 blue would also look great color matched.

A friend of mine is a powder coater and did these for $90 a set (front and rear), but I bet this could be done by others for a similar price.

You two were the only ones to get a raw set during the Group Buy, I believe. However, we have sold other raw sets in the past as well. Not very many of them, though. I'd say only 4 or 5 sets have gone out raw in our history of making the Connie, ST1300, and FJR accessories.

They do look spectacular, though. It doesn't surprise me that you guys have gotten tons of compliments. The bars themselves look great in my opinion and getting them color matched makes them that much better!

Mine are raw and as of yet unmounted.  Been too busy with other projects.  Once things calm down I'll be doing my own prep and paint, I'm wanting to color match and knowing once I have these on they will be seeing some actual use I want something easy to touch up.  I may even just keep them in the raw.

Oh man! Hopefully you get them installed before, God forbid, something happens and the bike goes over. I hope I didn't just jinx you, though...

Gotta be riding it for that to happen, been busy with the GS and the YZ as of late.

Gotta be riding it for that to happen, been busy with the GS and the YZ as of late.

Ahhh, good call!

Went with MCE canyon cages and bag bars. Ordered direct from MCE with Ryan handling the sale. Shipping was prompt and bars were well packaged. The fit and finish is very good. The bars are sturdy and probably stronger than the mounting points.
One note-the instructions suggest a breaker bar for removing the two forward socket head cap motor mount screws as they are installed with threadlock compound. If you attempt to remove these screws, make sure you have a top quality hex socket. Those babies were super tight and I had to clean out the threadlock compound from the engine to get the new screws to thread in easily.

Another note- the service manual recommends replacing these screws after they have been removed. I wonder if this is because of the the thread lock compound or that Kaw feels these screws a stretched during installation.  (44FT/LBs.) I've read comments about retorqueing the  motor mounts and nothing about replacing screws. Anyway, put blue Loctite on screws MCE supplies and torqued. Hope the gremlin bell works.

Another note- the service manual recommends replacing these screws after they have been removed. I wonder if this is because of the the thread lock compound or that Kaw feels these screws a stretched during installation.  (44FT/LBs.) I've read comments about retorqueing the  motor mounts and nothing about replacing screws. Anyway, put blue Loctite on screws MCE supplies and torqued. Hope the gremlin bell works.

I believe the service manual calls for you to replace the hardware because of its grade. It's lower grade hardware that isn't meant to be torqued that high repeatedly, if I remember correctly. However, the hardware we supply (that replaces the stock bolts) are extremely high grade, expensive hardware that can handle being torqued repeatedly to the proper specs. That way, you can remove the guards for maintenance without having to continually replace hardware when you reinstall the guard.

Thanks for the all the replies to my question and your follow up Ryan. You and MCE have my recommendation.

Thanks for the all the replies to my question and your follow up Ryan. You and MCE have my recommendation.

No problem and thank you very much! I appreciate that!

Ryan, correct me if I am wrong, but the only two sets I've seen delivered in "raw" were Necron and mine. For those who have forgotten, we had ours powder coated to match the Neptune Blue and they turned out flawlessly! It is a great look and several folks have commented that they look OEM. I think the Reds (9 and 12) and the 13 blue would also look great color matched.

A friend of mine is a powder coater and did these for $90 a set (front and rear), but I bet this could be done by others for a similar price.

Do you have pictures? I'd love to see what that looks like.

Do you have pictures? I'd love to see what that looks like.

Of the color matched bars, you mean? I know they're around the forum here somewhere. I'll try and find them for you! I think they're on the "Show Us Your Canyon Cage" thread from a while back, though. If I can find them, I'll repost them here for you.

Of the color matched bars, you mean? I know they're around the forum here somewhere. I'll try and find them for you! I think they're on the "Show Us Your Canyon Cage" thread from a while back, though. If I can find them, I'll repost them here for you.

Somewhere around page 15-17 maybe.

Yes I meant a pic of the colored matched canyon cage.

I did find this pic on page 17 of the "show us your canyon cage" thread but would like to see a more complete picture.

Rhino, the full bike pics should be close to that one.

Reply 130 page 9

Sorry, was out of pocket for a couple of days and saw the request for pics of color matched. I don't have a good one with me at the moment, but will get one and post. Also, there are a few of the other thread.

Rhino, the full bike pics should be close to that one.

Reply 130 page 9

Got it! Thanks! Exactly what I was looking for.

Here is the link to the pages with photos - http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=9353.120

Here is the link to the pages with photos - http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=9353.120

Man, I forgot how awesome those color-matched bars look! Great job by your powder coaters to match that paint!

Great job by your powder coaters to match that paint!

Yeah, he (Kevin Ayers) does/did good work!
Unfortunately, I believe he has quit the business. His website is down and the Two Wheeled Texans forum talk is that he quit.     

Yeah, he (Kevin Ayers) does/did good work!
Unfortunately, I believe he has quit the business. His website is down and the Two Wheeled Texans forum talk is that he quit.     

Awwww, man. That is truly unfortunate. Do you know if he was forced out of the business (went bankrupt, too far in debt, etc.) or merely decided to quit and sold the business?

Kevin is a great guy, and the powdercoating business was part-time as he is a full-time firefighter. It is my understanding from others that the pc biz was consuming too much time, and the frustrations dealing with clients who wanted to haggle over price instead of quality just became not worth the hassle. Too bad because his work was/is phenomenal. When I used him, I never even considered shopping the price because his reputation was so good.

I will pay a few bucks more for perfection, but that is just me.

Awwww, man. That is truly unfortunate. Do you know if he was forced out of the business (went bankrupt, too far in debt, etc.) or merely decided to quit and sold the business?

I only know what was said on the TWT forum, it seems only one person actually talked to him there. There maybe other forums that have more info but I'm not on those. Here is a blog or something but no recent updates. The Facebook page appears stripped of info. I always thought he was too much of a perfectionist, he would strip his work down and redo it for minor stuff, hard to complain about that though as a customer. I'm not going to bother him until I have more work to be done, then I'll give him a call just to be sure that he's finished with it. Hopefully it's just a temporary hiatus. He did some pannier's for me that held up well even though I tried to scrape and mash them out in Big Bend.

Time will tell I guess.

Kevin is a great guy...

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