I finally received my R-Gaza bars on the slow boat from Russia. I was wondering if anyone can give me feedback on installation. I installed other bars on my Z900 and you had to keep the engine jacked up as when the bolt came out the engine sagged and then you could not feed the bolt back in. Not fun! I do not want the same thing to happen on the FJR especially with all the fairings etc. The rear longest bolt that feeds through the back of the front bars looks like it could be an engine bolt. Everywhere I read it says simple installation but thought I would reach out to anyone with experience first to be on the safe side. Thanks to anyone who can help out.

Engine is well bolted in, no worries. Take that back bolt out and get started... engine isn't going anywhere. You have 4 mounting bolts in the frame for the front part. YOu are going to use the two big lower ones up there. Top ones are hidden from you unless you remove the fairings.

Thanks for the response. I am not sure what your experience was putting these things on but it was pretty brutal for me. I always do most of the work on my bikes so I have many other tough jobs to compare it to. The rear bars were relatively easy but the front ones were a PIA. I finally got the bolts to line up but it really took some hard work putting the different bolts in. The 3 mounting points have to be perfectly aligned or the main bolt is not going in. At one point I was convinced it was not going to fit. One bolt runs through the bike so tightening nuts on both sides by yourself is not the easiest thing to do either.

Also it does not help when the bars come from Russia and they send a bolt without threads. I was able to make things work with other parts so it was ok in the end. I am just glad the bald bolt was not a main one as it took a month for the bars to get here and would imagine I might have replacement parts by Christmas. I am not trying to scare anyone away from the job as I did it and was worth it. I also lost 10 pounds in the process Man it was hot in my garage. In the end I really like them, they look better than I thought, and now have peace of mind in case of a tip over. For anyone attempting this job or thinking about it and have questions I will be glad to help.

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Definitely fun snugging up both sides of that rear by yourself no matter whose bars you're installing.. BTDT. Best leave all bolts loose until they are all nicely started... I should have mentioned putting anti-seize on the front mount bolts while you had them out.

Well Blueridgerider, I wanna see some pics of the R-Gaza bars mounted! I won't believe it until I see it, LOL, Doubting Thomas I am!

Yeah I wish that I had known about that ahead of time. Do I dare take them out to apply that now? As tight as they are I think I will just let them be. They are a fixture of the bike now anyway and do not ever plan on removing them.

Here ya go Thomas

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Let's put it this way..... if you never remove those bolts for a year or two, you may find the dissimilar metal corrosion will make it very difficult to remove them, and you could bring all the aluminum threads with you.... major repair. They are in there at I think 33 ft. lbs.... it's two bolts... I'd do it.
I would also recommend anyone remove those two if you haven't..... you might be surprised what's been going on in those threads, especially if you installed crash bars/sliders with non-OEM hardware.... Do it by hand, not with a powered impact wrench, clean up the bolt threads, generously coat with anti-seize and reinstall..... sorry, I've just seen too many on all the FJR's I've worked on.

Thanks RaYzerman. I really appreciate it. It is people like you that help so many of us here. You probably saved me from a huge issue later on. I took your advice and pulled the bolts and reinserted them with the anti-seize on them. It is so much easier once you do this job once. I loosened everything up and the bolts went in without any problems. I once read that the torque values on the front would be less than specified with the anti-seize applied? I see 33 lbs. About right?

Great info guys. I had frame sliders up front and T-Rex bag guards in the rear on my 2014. They were tested and did the job with zero damage to the bike or to the guards. When I pulled them to prepare the ‘14 for sale, to save them for install to the ‘18, none of the bolts were something you’d want to put back in a bike. They looked bad. I obtained new bolts for all, installed the same sliders and guards on the ‘18, bit these were slathered with antiseize. Time will tell if these bolts fare better.