Forum bmwbike.com

I recently obtained from Mark Huggett a tail light protection bar for my almost restored R60. It looks really good and I am keen to get it fitted. My enthusiasm stopped when I realised that I don't know how this bar is located on the mudguard. No documentation I own describes the fitting of this bar and I can't get a clear picture of one.

Can someone advise me where the holes should be drilled and how high the centre bar sits above the tail light housing? Is the bar parallel to the housing or at a slight downwards angle to the rear? Do the side bars locate over the mudguard support bar rivets or are new holes required? Where would these holes be located?

In the not-too-distant future I intend to add a folding chrome carrier as well. Will this carrier foul the bar or are they compatible? I will be in the same boat when I get the carrier and won't know where to drill the locating holes. So if someone knows how to properly fit one of these and can kindly pass on this apparent mystery I would be most appreciative. All help is greatfully received. Thanks.

The protector does require that a new hole be drilled in the fender for each bolt. To me, it looks odd, and serves no practical purpose.

I think the side bolts must go very close to the edge of the fender to make the protector either level or point downward a little. It always seems that people put the holes too far from the edge, which makes the protector point upward, which looks odd to me. Even more odd is the protector mounted on the shallow R27 fender, which causes the protector to point skyward at a jaunty angle.

The Denfeld folding rack requires no additional holes to be drilled in the fender, and also serves to protect the tail light when folded down.

I have the Defeld racks on two of my bikes, and I think the rack and protector would have to touch each other. Even if they could be installed together, I think the combination would be strange.

In all the years of owning these bikes, I have never seen the need for a tail light protector. It is very rare for anything to be able to hurt the coffee can. In the US, a complete coffee can with reflector and lens is $200 from Bobs BMW, a plain coffee can is probably no more than $50, and a protector is $45.