Givi Engine Bars Removal - Bolt Size

[harmony]

I bought a Glee recently (photos to come soon) and am busy making it my own.

While riding it home from Reading, I was surprised how much vibration I got through the bars.  I know it's an old chestnut so I won't ask for solutions.  I've come up against the same problem on previous bikes and I've searched this forum extensively and have a few ideas.  I want to start by whipping the givi bars off to see if they're causing the problem in the first place.  Problem is that I haven't got the original engine bolts to replace the ones holding the bars on.

Would someone please tell me the size of the bolts needed to replace those that came with the bars.  A torque setting would be nice too 

[greywolf]

You should be able to use the bolts you have though adding a few washers may help. The 8mm shank bolts need 23Nm, not the 35 many manuals post. That is simply an error. The large engine bolt gets 93Nm according to the manual but that is crazy too. I never had a problem with adding anti seize to the threads and using 80Nm. Anti seize is recommended there just like at the rear axle to prevent galling.

[harmony]

Thank you Mr Wolf.  That's helpful.  I have some copper slip spray I can use.   

[alibx11]

I removed my engine bars and found the bike a lot nicer to ride, I had ordered the large replacement bolt off an ebay seller... problem was it came off a bike that had engine bars on and seller didn't state that.

I had to retun them and found it easier to order a set of bolts from an SV650 off ebay as they were the same bolts but don't come with engine bars so didn't need to worry about getting the wrong length.

[Gert]

IMHO rather solve the vibration problem than removing the protection of the engine bars. Read http://www.stromtrooper.com/dl650a-2012-2016/403082-buzzing-5200rpm.html, perhaps it could be the answer to your problem. FWTW, I used 2 tap washers on the joint described in the attached thread, to cure a vibration problem. Let us know how it works out for you.

[alibx11]

I tried a lot of methods others have tried to cure it but still couldn't get it to completely dissappear.

Removed the bars out of curiousity to see the difference and wouldn't put them back on now.... bike is a lot smoother.

May at some point put crash bungs on but who knows?

Must say I did prefer the look of the bike with the bars, but riding is a lot more enjoyable now when I go on longer tours.

[tdo]

I also added the Givi bars (Givi TN3101) to my Glee that I rode earlier.
And vibrations came along with the bars, although I was unable to find the root cause for those vibs.
The appeared around 5000 to 5500 rpm, IIRC.
Sold the bike a while ago, but I keep reading from other Glee owners too about the vibrations introduced by the Givi bars.
The issue seems to be the connection between the two halves, the joint in front of the exhaust manifold from the front cylinder:

 

If I remember correctly, there were some rubber inserts, and those might have gone in the meantime. Check these, and/or try to get the connection between right and left bar as stiff as possible, by adding some shims or similar.
 

[harmony]

Yes, I believe there was rubber washers there but they'd all but disappeared.

I've experimented with adding a couple of rubber grommets to the connection on the front of the bars.  Just drilled a couple of holes through them.

I also, re-torqued all the connections and did them up front first, sides last.

I'll change the bolt to a shorter length hex head later (this is all I had available in my spare bolts jar).

I found that the fix made a considerable improvement, but it still wasn't as good as it should be.

I have some other ideas to try next.  The saga continues...

[tdo]

I think the issue is really the connection between the two halves.
Take a look at page 3 of the mounting instructions at
http://givishop.de/media/products/TN3101_D_Anbauanleitung.pdf
In case the gaskets "6" disappeared and there is no damping anymore, that construction makes a perfect rattle.

[harmony]

Finally got round to putting the engine bars back on after stripping them off for a while.  As per the pictures, I bought a cheap set of o rings from amazon and added them in various combinations to the joints and bolts.

We'll see how it goes on the commute next week.

[Gert]

The bath tap washer in place of the "O" ring, will work as a damper. See lower pix in post #7 for the tap washer installation. It appears as though the tube spacer is omitted.

[Joe Rocket]

I used black tap washers on my Givi screen as the originals started to perish. The hole was larger but I centred them first and held them in place with a small drop of super glue.