Firstly, is a belly pan worth fitting to keep crap off the bottom of the bike/exhausts, or are they purely cosmetic? Can you access the EXUP valve without removing them, or only on some makes? Can the fitting of them be damaging to the bike frame paint? What ones have you found to be the best, and can I buy them in original bike matching colours? Amen! You Guru's on here will know.
If at first you don't succeed, pull your foreskin ower yer heid!
I have an MBD belly pan for my Gen 1 but it isn't currently fitted. It's made in Germany and is good quality. Mounting is quite clever, using internally threaded bosses that replace some of the sump bolts. Makes it quick and easy to remove for exhaust cleaning and EXUP maintenance.
I think you'll find most belly pans require removal for EXUP access. Likewise, they can't keep crud off the lower part of the headers and arguably make them more difficult to clean on a regular basis.
I had a Pyramid Plastics belly pan. Quite fiddly to remove and the frame would need some tape to protect it on the rear mountings. I replaced that with a genuine Yamaha bellypan. Very straightforward to remove, but the rear clamps are similar to the Pyramid, so the frame paint would need protecting. Personally I think they only fulfil an aesthetic purpose as need removing to clean the lower section of the headers properly, also to remove the sump drain bolt. You can access the exup with the genuine one, although I can't remember if that's the case with the Pyramid.
Whizz kid sitting pretty on his two wheeled stallion.
There's a good selection on ebay , I got mine from cactus comp in spain , which is a copy of the yamaha oem ,good quality , but like others have said more for looks really.
the night i was born, lord the moon stood a fire red., my poor mother her crying,
she said the gypsy was right, and she fell right dead
Very much a matter of taste, although judging by the stone chips on mine it must have protected the downpipes and front of the motor a bit.
Just ordered mine from cactus, just waiting for it to arrive.
When I bought my 2010 FZ1S the seller also had a brand new black gloss Yamaha OE belly pan that he hadn't got round to fitting.
Paid £50-00 which was an absolute bargain as about £200+ & fits perfectly. As a previous poster said there's some serious stone chip damage so has really protected my bike.
Paradox - A bit like paracetamol but different.
