Frankenbike: Suzuki Handguards on a Honda NT1100

A few weeks back, I made what I thought would be just another social media post. I’d been getting the Suzuki V-Strom 800RE ready to go back to Suzuki, and as I was removing the handguards came up with the idea of fitting them to my Honda NT1100.

I put the post on one of the NT1100 forums, and since then, there has been a gentle but steady flow of questions about how I did it.

The short version of this story is that you can fit V-Strom 800RE handguards to an NT1100, and they fit very well. No modifications, cutting or bending is required; only a couple of spacers, some mirror extenders, and, naturally, the handguards.

If you own a Honda NT1100 and are interested in a better solution than the generic AliExpress handguards, here is how I did it. But please do remember that I’m an idiot, and I know nothing about motorcycle engineering.

Where Can I Find

I used genuine Suzuki handguards, so I’ve no idea how good the Chinese Suzuki copies are. The one advantage of going to AliExpress is you can buy just the plastic handguards. You don’t need the bar end weights or bolts from the Suzuki kit. Only the plastic handguards are required.

Before You Start

A few years back, Honda had a problem with some of its heated grips. No matter how high the heat was turned up, they never really got that hot.

I was told that the answer Honda found (this is an unsubstantiated rumour) was to put a metal plug inside the handlebars. This plug is then drilled and tapped for the standard bar end weights screws.

If you have removed these inner plugs, typically to fit lever guards for a track day, you will have a problem fitting the handguards.

I fitted a lever guard over the standard bar end weight for a track day at Cadwell. It wasn’t the best idea, and the guard would occasionally drop slightly, resulting in me being black-flagged for a “mechanical” in one session. Strangely, my colleagues enjoy reminding me about this.

Ponderings

Top Tip: Fit one side at a time. The left-hand mirror mounting stud is reverse-threaded and looks identical to the other stud. When all the bits are on the bench, and you pick one at random, you can waste 15 minutes wondering why the thread won’t bite. Please don’t ask me how I know.

I needed to adjust the mirror arm position at the end of the job, and I found it easier to undo everything while attached to the bike. The locking nuts and mirror studs were a bugger.

Looking at it all again, I think I could have fitted the handguards without the mirror extenders if I’d trimmed the handguard plastic. I opted to use the mirror extenders, which removed the possibility of any of the parts rubbing.

The mirrors with the extenders fitted are within the handlebar width, so there is no limitation on filtering, and I’m no longer looking at my elbows. Bonus.

The original bar end weights are retained. The smaller spacer goes outside the standard bar end weight, and the larger spacer goes outside of that.

The handguard clips over the inner spacer. It isn’t held tightly in place but doesn’t come off when riding, either. The larger final spacer stops the handguard from “escaping”. It isn’t a clamp to hold the handguard in place, just a “fence”.

I could have bought longer screws, but there appeared to be sufficient thread for a solid connection.

The perfect answer would be to use the Suzuki bar weights, but there are a couple of differences.

Suzuki uses bigger bolts to attach its bar end weights, so the Honda bar end screws fall through the Suzuki spacers. Someone did ask if they could use a sleeve to narrow the width and retain the original screw. My answer was I had no idea if that was practical or not. I’m not an engineer.

The other oddity is that where the Honda bar end weight and the plug in the handlebar meet, there is a 50/50 stepped offset. One-half of the bar end weight is higher than the other.

I think the idea is to stop the bar end from moving. However, the Suzuki bar end weights don’t have this feature.

Screens

One of the problems I found with the generic handguards was that they hit the screen on full lock. In the UK, this is an MOT failure.

With the MRA screen I have fitted to my NT1100 and with the Suzuki handguards fitted, there is a comfortable clearance between the edge of the screen and the handguard.

Swapping the MRA for the standard screen, I found they touched, but only just. A 2mm thicker plastic spacer between the screen and the mounting bracket looks to be all that is needed.

Where you have your handlebars set may differ from mine, but even rolling the bars back slightly may be enough to give you the required clearance.

There is enough clearance between the bottom of the handguard and the winglet to ensure that wherever you position the handlebars, they won’t interfere with each other.

Take Two

So, with it all assembled for the first time, I wasn’t happy using two spacers. It worked, but it didn’t feel like the right answer.

Luckily, I know Robert, a man with a lathe. Robert is a retired mechanical design engineer, and making an all-in-one spacer, complete with a countersunk M6 hole through the middle, was 20 minutes of work for him.

I then finished them off in rattle can black with a coating of spray-on varnish, and the spacer looked factory-made.

Picky Picky

If I wanted to get into the fine details, the Suzuki handguards need to tip down slightly to keep the wind away from my fingertips. Yet, as I haven’t removed any of the standard Honda aero-plastics, it is a minor consideration.

For me, the main objective of the handguards was to add rain protection with the bonus of working as a lever guard for the odd track day.

There isn’t any Suzuki branding on the guards, and in black, they look made for the bike. The outer plastic arm has a slight curve, but I’ve found this beneficial as it puts a little tension on the handguard, keeping it in place. As it is plastic, nothing will fracture or break over time.

If you have any improvements or suggestions or know a good source for the spacers, the comments box is your friend.

Enjoy.