Side cover info needed.

Are the aftermarket kz 900 side covers the same as the original ones? I was told they mount diferent, is this true? I was thinking on a pair from dennis kirk. Some guy emailed me and said he had a pair for 200$ and that sure seems high to me.

this shows how the aftermarket sidecovers fit. i bought a pair and they're fine. my only gripe is i wish they had marks where to drill the holes for the sidecover emblems.

www.redlinecycle.com/Sidecovers%20Aftermarket.html

kzmarvo wrote:

Are the aftermarket kz 900 side covers the same as the original ones?

Nope. Neither the Redlines or the Maiers you're looking at are one-up original copies. They are, however, pretty much identical to each other.

Somtime, somewhere, I've seen much closer copies, but they're up around $90 each, as I recall, and I'm not sure of the manufacturer.

I was told they mount diferent, is this true?

Yep. These use a screw/anchor fastener to hard-mount them to the bike - to avoid the largest single cause of bike night wailing and gnashing of Kaw teeth: the missing sidecover. Bin there, dun that... :S

Trouble with that arrangement is that it requires a recess in the cover to get at the screw, and immediately paints it as an aftermarket item. That may or may not be an issue.

I got around that by installing a cable in the upper-front push pin on each cover to an eyelet that meets at the air intake hold down screw....

Anyways...

I was thinking on a pair from dennis kirk. Some guy emailed me and said he had a pair for 200$ and that sure seems high to me.

Depends.

If having a one-up set of originals and maintaining an original configuration is important to you, that's about current market tariff. I've seen original cop covers go for over $250 *each*.

If any sidecover is better than no sidecover, which is certainly true, the aftermarkets 'll do, paint up nice and look good enough for the average looker - and nothing gets hacked up in the process, so you can stick a pair of originals on anytime you'd care to....

I think all the repros mount with screws instead of the original plastic tabs that plug into the rubber grommetts. They look OK, but not stock at all. Better than nothing, but I always wonder why "All" aftermarket stuff has to be somehow goofy. Either different mounting, wrong spacing between mounts, mirrors that are not convex, ect, ect. All crap and it's so darn close to being usable, but never is.

damn i agree tith Ron!:S those bolt on covers are definately not as hi-end as the origionals i personally prefer the stock pieces.

I just sold a set of side covers and boat tail on eBay for $128.00. That was a decent price. the guy that bought the set got a good deal if he was wanting the set because they were made in the USA. I don't like the after market pieces. Roy

Yep, that was a good deal. I saw them on ebay, i think they were blue. I bought some shocks from you i think roy.Small world;)

I think that there is a guy called "oldkawman" who sells a lot of parts. I think I saw side covers on his site.

www.oldkawman.com

I don't know if he sells side covers separate, but I know he sells body part 'sets'.

I used an aftermarket sidecover for my left side. Bought it for $30 a few years back. It had no holes, no mounts. I ended buying these plastic t-connects for a buck. Then cut them into sections and used CA (super-super-glue used for aircraft model building) to affix them to the side cover. They fit perfect in the stock side-cover grommet's. Will still secure with a strap internally to keep the dreaded side-cover fly-off from happening! :S

The inside.....

American Classix has the exact reproduction covers:

www.americanclassix.com/kawa_plastic_covers.html

I actually PREFER the aftermarket bolt on ones..... they won't fly off and it'll actualyl take some effort and at least a screwdriver for someone to steal them vs. 5 seconds when you're not looking.