Wunderlich Fender Eliminator/License Plate Bracket
Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 12:10 pm
I spent about four hours last night installing the Wunderlich Fender Eliminator/License Plate Bracket on my R1200R. It's an easy bolt-on install once you remove every light and trim piece from the bike that is located behind the gas tank. That took me two hours. Removing the seat lock from the old bracket and installing it in the new bracket took another two hours. The challenge is that you have to tighten two bolts without touching the head of the bolts. After I gave up for the night, a possible fix occurred to me. I'll try it tonight.
Has anyone else installed this farkle?
Based on searching the board, I don't think anyone has so I assume I am the test mule. It's nearly impossible to find it on the Wunderlich site because the part number doesn't return the result if you put it in the part number search box. You have to go to the R1200R section of the International PDF catalog at Wunderlich.de. It doesn't appear in the online store either. Wunderlich America ordered it for me. I think it was about $250 including shipping and it took about three weeks to ship from Germany to California to Atlanta.
The Wunderlich picture isn't real good because the biggest issue with eliminating the license plate bracket from the R1200R is that the seat lock is integrated into the license plate bracket yet the picture doesn't really show how that issue is resolved. I see it now and it appears to be a very good solution. If you want to see a decent picture of the bracket, go to www.steelbike.it who actually manufactures the part and puts its logo all over it. I'll post pictures of the installation process once I get over the hurdle of installing the seat lock.
There are two problems with the product (in addition to the difficult task of installing the seat lock). First, it only includes a Euro size license plate holder. The license plate holder can easily be trimmed to length for a US plate but I'm trying to decide if I want the extra length to hold a fender extender in the wet so my back stays dry. I think I will probably leave the euro size license plate holder as is and install a fender extender on it and get a US size holder for when I want the minimalist look.
The second problem is that the Euro bikes do not have a separate license plate light module and the Wunderlich bracket doesn't include one either. The license plate light is integrated into the bottom of the OEM tail light on the euro bikes. There are quite a few solutions to that. The most elegant is to purchase a euro aftermarket led taillight from Wunderlich or Hornig at 99 and 89 euros respectively. They have cheaper and more expensive solutions as well. Euro led taillights in the BMW accessory catalog are double the price and my dealer says he can't the Euro version in the US. Other options include using license plate mounting bolts with integral LEDs, reusing the OEM light which is pretty bulky, or buying another license plate light. I would like the LED taillight so I will probably get one from Wunderlich.
If I had it to do over again, I would cut the OEM bracket off below the seat lock and install the Rizoma Fox Universal bracket. It's only $155, much simpler, ships quicker and includes both a Euro and a US size plate holder and a nice small license plate light. I almost went that route but couldn't visualize it all going together. Now that I have stripped the rump end of my bike naked, I see that it would be necessary to fabricate an attachment point but that would be very easy. All that would be required is a piece of relatively thick black anodized aluminum cut to size, bent to a 90 degree angle and drilled for attachment bolts. All in all, it would be easier than installing the lock in the Wunderlich bracket.
I'll post some pictures that show how it all goes together as I progress.
Has anyone else installed this farkle?
Based on searching the board, I don't think anyone has so I assume I am the test mule. It's nearly impossible to find it on the Wunderlich site because the part number doesn't return the result if you put it in the part number search box. You have to go to the R1200R section of the International PDF catalog at Wunderlich.de. It doesn't appear in the online store either. Wunderlich America ordered it for me. I think it was about $250 including shipping and it took about three weeks to ship from Germany to California to Atlanta.
The Wunderlich picture isn't real good because the biggest issue with eliminating the license plate bracket from the R1200R is that the seat lock is integrated into the license plate bracket yet the picture doesn't really show how that issue is resolved. I see it now and it appears to be a very good solution. If you want to see a decent picture of the bracket, go to www.steelbike.it who actually manufactures the part and puts its logo all over it. I'll post pictures of the installation process once I get over the hurdle of installing the seat lock.
There are two problems with the product (in addition to the difficult task of installing the seat lock). First, it only includes a Euro size license plate holder. The license plate holder can easily be trimmed to length for a US plate but I'm trying to decide if I want the extra length to hold a fender extender in the wet so my back stays dry. I think I will probably leave the euro size license plate holder as is and install a fender extender on it and get a US size holder for when I want the minimalist look.
The second problem is that the Euro bikes do not have a separate license plate light module and the Wunderlich bracket doesn't include one either. The license plate light is integrated into the bottom of the OEM tail light on the euro bikes. There are quite a few solutions to that. The most elegant is to purchase a euro aftermarket led taillight from Wunderlich or Hornig at 99 and 89 euros respectively. They have cheaper and more expensive solutions as well. Euro led taillights in the BMW accessory catalog are double the price and my dealer says he can't the Euro version in the US. Other options include using license plate mounting bolts with integral LEDs, reusing the OEM light which is pretty bulky, or buying another license plate light. I would like the LED taillight so I will probably get one from Wunderlich.
If I had it to do over again, I would cut the OEM bracket off below the seat lock and install the Rizoma Fox Universal bracket. It's only $155, much simpler, ships quicker and includes both a Euro and a US size plate holder and a nice small license plate light. I almost went that route but couldn't visualize it all going together. Now that I have stripped the rump end of my bike naked, I see that it would be necessary to fabricate an attachment point but that would be very easy. All that would be required is a piece of relatively thick black anodized aluminum cut to size, bent to a 90 degree angle and drilled for attachment bolts. All in all, it would be easier than installing the lock in the Wunderlich bracket.
I'll post some pictures that show how it all goes together as I progress.
