YAMAHA SECA II: Now featuring MSR Handguards

A few weeks ago I took a short motorcycle trip on the Yamaha Seca II. Nothing crazy but the weather was a bit chilly. When I purchased the Yamaha Seca II from Red, it came with a set of soft MSR hard guards and heated grips. Those two things have made wearing 3 season gloves very tolerable. One issues with the soft hand guards were that they put pressure on the control levers. The left guard would ride the clutch while the right guard activited the brake light. To fix this I ordered a set of MSR Handguards.

The MSR Handguards come in two colors. Black and Silver. I went with silver because I like shinny things. After the package arrived I popped open the plastic on the dinner table. A spattering of small parts did a lovely dance towards the table edges. When I gathered everything up in a pile I realized some of the parts didn’t make sense. I tried my best to solve the parts puzzle but I was thrown off when parts that initially didn’t fit did. Some parts were in a small plastic bag and others were loose in the package. I wondered if there was some logic behind that. So far I've determined no.

I searched the package for some instructions and found none. I also went online to look at the pictures. Still didn’t help. Next step, to the bike.

The bar clamps were obvious so I started there. Once I got the bars attached to the clamps problems began to reveal themselves. Due to the length of the handlebars, the bar clamps needed attached close to the control cables. I assume this is because I’m attempting to put guards on a street bike other than a dirt or dual sport bike. The front brake side gave me the most grief. I had to negotiate the clamp under the control cables so tightly that it was necessary to remove factory the cable tie.

Once I got the claps securely on I needed to remove the bar ends. As a substitute for the bar ends, ideally two metals pieces would expand affixing themselves within the handlebars. I do not like the fact that this leaves an open area in the bar for dirt, water and other grim to get in. This mounting option didn't work for me. I suspect the Seca bars are two narrow for the MSR handguard bars. Using the rubber included in the package, I compressed against the "nut" inside the bar ends. The compression caused the rubber to expand and seated well within the bar end threads. I’m hoping the rubber does its job keeping stuff out and the nut doesn't vibrate loose falling inside the handlebars.

With the bars now on I had to position them slightly above the control levers. The ball ends on the levers will bump the insides of the bars. I’m hoping they are still protected in the event of a crash. The MSR bars feel solid and secure.

After the bar installation I strapped the MSR soft hand guards on. Perfect. I plan on riding in the cold weather this weekend to see how they work.

During the summer I may remove them or order the small plastic hand guards that attach on the inside of the MSR bars.

Overall they add another character to the bike and I have no doubt they’ll do their job on my next winter motorcycle adventure.