My 2013 XL1200C has V&H Big Radius 2 into 2 pipes and the rear heat shield has only one bracket left holding it on, the top one. It's pretty loose and rattles. I'm expecting the shield to fall off if I keep riding it. I noticed the rear bracket missing just after i pruchased the bike and now the second one has broke. I ring Richardson's and they tell me the shield will cost bewtween 3 and 4 hundred bucks and take 3 or 4 months to get here . I'm told they are very hard to weld and will leave the chrome blue if I decide to get someone to repair it. Bike Show on tomorrow, just my luck. I'm not sure how long the last bracket is going to last. Any ideas on how to tackle this problem?

Tazz

Take some photos and E-mail V&H and tell them you not happy as the pipes are only XX? old. The brackets shouldnt come off it they have been welded properly unless you or someone has droped the bike.  In other words no marks on the covers.

If your refering to the worm drive clamps then just buy the clamps as they slip through the brakcket insde the covers.

Or just ride the bike without heat shields on. For something a bit different you could try heat wrap too. Or just ride it until the last one falls off and then get rid of the heat shields altogether. I'd also be inclined to to save that $300-400 and just buy another (better) exhaust.

V&H spare parts are a rip off. Today I ordered some brackets for a set of power duals I have and each (small) part cost between $50-$60 each and takes 2-3 months. I'm an idiot and ordered these parts.

Thanks for the good advice. The bike isn't going in the show but I did want to have her looking her best for the carpark. They do pick a winner for best bike in the carpark but I wasn't expecting to win that anyway. I was worried about the shield falling off and causing an unfortunate event. I would have to agree with the buy better pipes advice and that will be where any major amounts of money will be going. The pipes on my bike are spotless, never been mistreated at all. The welds holding the brackets have come apart.
Anyway I took the bike out to a local muffler place and it turned out that the bloke running the joint owns a 1200S. He took the shield off and spot welded one of the brackets back on, leaving only a couple of small marks in the chrome. It's not going anywhere in a hurry and will do until I can afford new pipes. He recommended ceramic shields as one option, which would break the chrome up a bit. $20 seemed like a pretty fair deal since he did the job there and then for me. Looking at where the welds had come adrift, they looked to be rusty and not built to last at all. No more V&H for me. I did email V&H about the issue, yet to receive a reply.

Hi Tazz. Is the show in question the one at Old Beach? Or is there another one on somewhere.

Cheers for the info Tazz. Completely unaware of that show.

 

I've been checking the bracket screws on both the heat shields since this issue appeared and they continue to come loose. I'm thinking this could be a big part of why the welds are breaking. I did read somewhere that there can be 3 reasons why the heat shield brackets break, 1. loose brackets, 2. over-tightened brackets and 3. the weld is compromised. Might pay to keep a close eye on your heat shield brackets to make sure they aren't coming loose.