Fitting an XTR lower front mudguard could be the answer…

Been thinking about fitting a high mudguard, but don’t fancy the idea of all this winter’s salty crud getting all over the engine. Thought I’d experiment a bit before shelling out for a high mudguard. After pondering the options for a while, I went and bought an XTR lower front mudguard (�16.78 from your dealer) to see if it would fit on the Tenere…



I got my XTR guard here (see part number 5). I plumped for the 2008 model (for no particular reason).

The hole centres are at 50mm, a lot narrower than the XTZ original guard mounts, which are at 100mm. However, it doesn’t really matter because you need to drill new mounting holes anyway. All that is required is to drill two 6mm holes to accept the rear mounting bolts in this position…



There is some room for adjustment here; I set the XTR guard to about 20mm clearance, but by relocating the holes you could get as much as 35mm clearance (which would easily avoid excessive mud build up off road). Bolted the new guard using the original rearmost bolts with new M6 nyloc nuts and a 2mm washer either side of the guard.



I thought I’d worry about the front mounts next, but as it happens they are not needed as the guard is pulled tight against the forks and the recess in the guard for the fork bottoms stops any movement – it’s as solid as a rock.



Added bonus of the XTR lower is that is actually an inch loger than the standard Tenere guard. Now all I need to do is get the high guard! Tempted by the slightly shorter Aserbis Supermoto guard as I can get away with it’s lack of a back section due to the XTR lower guard being fitted, and I reckon it’s a better match with the Tenere’s styling?

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