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I ordered new shocks last night and a Mudsling to protect the rear one. Is that the best option for protection? I looked at the Ilmberger, too, but don't like the price and not sure about the practicality of it either.

Bill

Ilmberger will protect the shock but the under side of the seat (bikes rear fender) still can become a mess.

I'm very satisfied with the Mudsling; something like it should have been standard on the bike. It keeps the shock way cleaner.

Two notes. First, if you store things under the seat, be aware that the underseat area is not wholly protected even with the Mudsling, and things get damp down there in wet weather. Second, the front lower lip of the Mudsling was IMO too close to the tire tread; I changed its angle by putting a spacer (an 8mm nut) over each of the two mounting screws, between the Mudsling and the under-seat pan. Doing so pivots the Mudsling a bit CW (facing the bike from the shift-lever side), and moves the front lower lip away from the tire.

When your paying hundreds of dollars (or whatever) for new shocks it's kind of a no brainer to spend a Little more to protect it. Naturally IMHO

On a recent foray into the dirt and mud my hugger came out looking like this:


Still can't figure how the mud got on TOP of the hugger but the shock was relatively clean

Thanks for the quick response guys. I think Harry's photo confirms David's point that if the fender it too close to the tire, then stuff that should be deflected escapes capture. You just can't beat this kind of information, this forum rocks. Much obliged.

Bill

I've had the Ilmberger on mine since almost new (when I put the Hyperpro suspension on it..) It keeps the shock, the storage areas and battery beneath the seat nice and clean. There is a small amount of crap thrown up on the rear-side of the license plate mounting, but that's about it. I've ridden it in almost everything except deep mud (including day long torrents of rain, some small amounts of slush..)

Good item IMHO - mine has about 60,000 miles on it and still looks like new. Cost is an issue, but I found mine for $125 on Ebay so it wasn't a big issue for me. I also like how it mounts concentric to the rear-drive, so the actual "fender" part of it can be located rather close to the tire (it moves with the rear wheel/tire) which I think makes it more effective.

And I've got to speak up for my Nippy Norman hugger, a cheaper alternative to the superior Ilemberger one. I will note that the screws tend to back out, so always use LocTite, and the mounting fractured once, but Norman sent me a new one free of charge and within the week. So I'm satisfied, if cheap...

Mke -- it's frugal not cheap. When I was working and squeezed a nickel it was cheap. When I retired it became frugal.

Why thank you, Harry; I must indeed be frugal. Sounds better, eh?

dbrick wrote:I'm very satisfied with the Mudsling; something like it should have been standard on the bike. It keeps the shock way cleaner.

+1 on all accounts

A frugal choice to really protect the shock from flying debris is a shock sock, lots of brands out there, but the Ohlins version seemed to be the obvious choice for me.
Connect to itself with velcro and can be easily removed for occasion cleaning.
About $35.

I forgot to mention that the Ilmberger will rub the standard shock protector. I had a set of Ohlins and didn't have a problem.

NakedRider wrote:I forgot to mention that the Ilmberger will rub the standard shock protector. I had a set of Ohlins and didn't have a problem.

That's entirely possible, but I can't imagine the reason to have the Ilmberger if you have the standard shock with standard shock protector installed. I only felt the need for one after I installed the Hyperpro rear shock (and there is no clearance problem there..)

Happy New Year everyone, I've had the Nippy Normans hugger and now the Mudsling, Which I think keeps my bike cleaner ,and looks better! keeps the Hyperpro very clean. Gibbo