I still need to post, probably in dumbest thing I've ever done on or rather too my bike as I reversed over it two weeks back. Quite alot of minor damage but I cracked my left tank panel which for those of you who don't know is R4870.00 from BMW. So it was off in search of a plastics welder......................
I got my broken panel back last night from Clives Custom Bikes in Paarden Eiland. All I can say is wow. The repair is absolutely fantastic and although I had heard or read a few times that no one can match the the BMW blue paint of the Dakar, it is matched perfectly. The only thing that is missing is the Dakar decal, but I am not too fussed about that. All this for R450.00.
On the inside of this panel though (left side), is a black air duct which seems to take air from under the beak to the oil tank on the left. I forgot to take this with and the three little attachements that this fits to were also broken off. So I either leave it off or epoxy it on permanently.
My question is does anybody know if this part is critical. I have looked carefully and it seems if this wasn't there, the oil tank would still have a good flow of air to it. I also look at the bikes prepared for the Dakar (race) for instance, they have a standard mud guard on and a Tourtech tank which don't have this duct.
I have also seen two Dakar's around town now that have standard mud guards on, so closing off the air intake area which would normally be there. I spoke to one of the owners and he didn't complain of any heating issues.
Even with the intake under the beak, if one rode off-road in muddy conditions, surely this little air intake would soon become clogged and therefore impead airflow through this duct.
Any help would be appreciated.
I got my broken panel back last night from Clives Custom Bikes in Paarden Eiland. All I can say is wow. The repair is absolutely fantastic and although I had heard or read a few times that no one can match the the BMW blue paint of the Dakar, it is matched perfectly. The only thing that is missing is the Dakar decal, but I am not too fussed about that. All this for R450.00.
On the inside of this panel though (left side), is a black air duct which seems to take air from under the beak to the oil tank on the left. I forgot to take this with and the three little attachements that this fits to were also broken off. So I either leave it off or epoxy it on permanently.
My question is does anybody know if this part is critical. I have looked carefully and it seems if this wasn't there, the oil tank would still have a good flow of air to it. I also look at the bikes prepared for the Dakar (race) for instance, they have a standard mud guard on and a Tourtech tank which don't have this duct.
I have also seen two Dakar's around town now that have standard mud guards on, so closing off the air intake area which would normally be there. I spoke to one of the owners and he didn't complain of any heating issues.
Even with the intake under the beak, if one rode off-road in muddy conditions, surely this little air intake would soon become clogged and therefore impead airflow through this duct.
Any help would be appreciated.
