Multistrada 1200 Tail Tidy – Pillion Grab Rail Removed
If you mention a Multistrada 1200 tail tidy to most MTS1200 owners they’ll assume you’re just referring to a product such as the R&G Tail Tidy that replaces the Multistrada’s rear mudguard / fender and licence plate holder. Not this time, although there is a Tail Tidy (fender eliminator) used this is a much more drastic ‘tail tidy‘ 🙂
Multistrada 1200 – Pillion Grab Rail Removal
The Multistrada 1200 shown here belongs to German rider ‘Orish’ who is a well known member of the multistrada.at forums.
Obviously this is a ‘cosmetic’ modification done purely to enhance the looks / appearance of the bike. Needless to say as good as it looks there are potential drawbacks to this modification:
- Makes life a little difficult if you should take a pillion (in fact in some EU countries it would be illegal to do so without the grab rail and may even be an issue just because there is a pillion seat present;-)
- The hand / grab rail is handy for tying down luggage
- The hand / grab rail can be handy for moving the bike (manhandling)
…..but if non of that matters to you……it does look great! 😀
Almost forgot, perhaps the major influence in NOT doing this modification for a lot of owners would be the fact that it’s not reversable…….without spending a lot of money to replace the whole rear section of the bike – the pillion seat mount, under seat storage area/tool tray etc is one piece…
Update 06Apr2012 – many thanks to another multistrada.at member (well the ‘boss’ actually;-) ‘Piero’ (aka Pierre) for the following three photos.
So how is it done? Sorry not too much detail available or a ‘how to’ pictorial as ‘Orish’ had the work done by his Ducati Dealer.
I don’t even know if his Dealer managed the job without taking the whole rear of the bike apart or not. I guess it could be done in situ.
Basically……the grab rail is carefully cut away at the four mounting points with a hacksaw leaving slight ‘stumps’ that can be ground flush. Lots of rubbing down / sanding with some filler to get a really smooth finish before painting.
NB: Larger version of photos here
And to finish a really nice shot ‘Orish’ took of his bike that’s had a little Photoshop work done…very nice!
