In the beginning there was stock, and the rider said "Stock Sucks"

The stock Kawi wind deflectors can be removed by using a nutdriver and 10mm socket.

Don't forget the ones underneath.

At some point you have to trim the end off your grip so you can insert the Acerbis hand guard, now is as good a time as any.  It is important to determine how much you need to trim before taking a razor to your grips, now is also a very good time to replace your grips if they are suspect.

I had to trim off quite a bit because of the Vista cruise throttle lock.

You can see that the grip is right up against the throttle lock, as soon as I pull it back I'll have the correct amount of spacing.

At this point Acerbis recommends lining up the guard to ensure there are no potential problems with the fit.  The throttle side is the most difficult part of the installation.  I felt the need to tackle it first.

Acerbis includes two sizes of bar end inserts depending on the inside dimension of your handlebars, our bike has a set of Renthal's on it so we used the smaller insert.

Ahh yes, the tools of destruction needed for this job, spreading the bar clamps wide enough to fit the bar.  Yes I was nervous the entire time I was bending the clamps, it just felt like they were going to break.  They didn't and this part is rather simple.

Remember me telling you that Acerbis includes two sizes of bar end inserts?  Here they are in living color.

You'll need a 6mm Allen wrench to tighten them when the time comes.

Let the games begin!  Don't even waste your time trying to get the plastic guard to line up with the insert end installed (it won't happen).  Let the bar end flop free allowing you to contort your body and the plastic guard into the various positions you'll need to get the clamp to fit into the plastic so you can bolt it together.  If you smoke, you'll need one before and after this bit of drama.

Here is where we had to pull out the heavy equipment.  The Acerbis guard is very tight on the brake line bolt and hard end of the line leading to the banjo.  This part of the plastic guard needed to be filed down.  Have I mentioned elsewhere in this article that the plastic is very hard?  This stuff doesn't cut with ordinary tools, noooo, we used a Makita to get our point across.

Not only did we have to grind off some plastic, but there is a small aluminum tit under the brake line that had to have a stern talking to also.  Once we cleared the air the Acerbis guard slipped on with nary a complaint.

Just when we thought we were in fat city, I turned the bar to the left and that's when I reached for my cancer sticks.

The Rifle fairing has an extra piece of plastic reinforcement that prevented the Acerbis hand guard from making an extreme turn.  This is not good I thought to myself.

Again I turned to the wrathful God of power tools (Makita) to help rid the bike of this bit of plastic.

It worked, I'm happy.

See that?  

Houston...We have a problem.

The Acerbis spoilers went on so easy I thought it possible that I might have done it wrong...Naah!

The hardware for the spoilers.

Tools of the trade.

It took a little over three hours to install the Acerbis Rally Guards and spoilers correctly.

Acerbis says you can use the lights for turn signals, I was going for a different look and felt that keeping them as running lights will increase the bikes visibility especially at night.

Final verdict?

The fit and finish of the Acerbis product is first rate, keep in mind that these Rally guards are intended to be used by people that are converting their bikes to street use.  The Acerbis instruction sheet warns of possible difficulties with the throttle side, just remember to take your time and look at all the angles.  I got frustrated several times during the installation process as it was my first time installing an aftermarket set of hand guards.  Since installing them I have tweaked them twice, playing with the different angle they can be mounted, I have since settled on a particular location and they are very secure.