Hotbodies Undertail 02 R1 Review - FINAL THOUGHTS

I didn't want to keep adding to a thread with many pics, so I've started this one. Post your comments here. Here is a link to all the pics and comments from the other thread (take a look, they're pretty good pics and a lot of detail). http://www.r1-forum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7702 I'm backing all my thoughts up with pics and details (link above). I am not out to flame or give undue praise to Hotbodies. I don't know the guys and have never dealt with them before. This is about as unbiased as it gets. CUSTOMER SERVICE - A Roger Davis is a good guy. Customer service is very good. I emailed him back and forth several times and he stand behind his products and offered for me to return if I wasn't happy. He said he'd pay for all the shipping too so that I didn't lose a dime if I didn't like it. COLOR MATCH - C Unfortunately, like I said in the threads, the color is an OK match but doesn't hold up if the sun is not bright. Just the truth, not trying to flame. At least for the silver. Several others warned of this in other posts and I chose to find out for myself. I was disapointed, it was my first (of only 2) big disappointments. FIT - B- Like I show in my other link with pics, not perfect. From a distance it is perfect. Closer up, you can see that the tail end (at least for me) was in a bit and the sides protruded a bit. INSTALLATION - B- It was not very easy. It took me over 2 hours. I had all the tools ready too, so it was over 2 hours of work. I had to cut several times and be very careful. Next time I think I can probably do it in about half the time but your first time will take you at least that long and you may make a few mistakes. I highly recommend using a a dremmel tool. CONSTRUCTION - A I like the piece. It is light and good quality. Not perfect. The little plastic in the holes (like I said in my other link) does not fit perfectl in the holes, but that's not a major flaw. AMOUNT OF MOD. NEEDED - C You really have to commit to doing this. First of all, you kinda lose your glove compartment. The tool kit still stays on but the "floor" of the compartment must be cut out. Second of all, I didn't like at all that I had to cut little plastic pieces of the actual stock tail. So if you change your mind, you cannot just reattach the stock udnertail. Once you cut there's no going back. FINAL THOUGHTS: Overall, I like the look but I was a bit disappointed and wish I had not done this. However... it was too late to turn back once the cutting began. I am not overly dissatisfied - just that I feel I should've waited to see what the competition comes up with (Dussault, etc.). After I repaint the piece with Colorrite matching and try to fiddle with the piece here and there to see if it can fit better I will get over this mixed feeling I have now... I did NOT install the license plate piece because I'd had enough for one day. I'd put on a piece that was not as perfect as my silver R1 is and I'd permanently made changes to the bike that I had mixed feelings about. Therefore, the drilling required to put the license plate bracket is something I'll do some other day but not now. NOTE: Roger is a standup guy. I like the guy. No offense to him or his company for any of these comments if he or they feel I am not being fair. I am being very fair in this review.

I recently purchased and installed the Hot Bodies Undertail, and here are my thoughts on the entire process: 1. My bike is blue (instead of silver), but like tangun and Nude Rider, the paint on the undertail seemed to be lighter in color. Fortunately, this difference is not noticeable with the undertail being "hidden" for the most part, but stiill... 2. I installed this with a friend, and it took four hours (including license plate bracket). However, 20 minutes were spent going to the store to get amber colored bulbs for the turn signals (which I never got... different story) and wire nuts. If I had to do a second one myself, it would probably take 2 hours (maybe less). Most of the time during the first installation was spent trying to cut only enough of the glovebox to make it fit and trying to remove the stock bulbs without cutting the wires (obviously, the purchase of the wire nuts proved we were unsuccessful :) ). 3. As far as the cutting, we used a Rotozip and that seemed to work well. This job would be close to impossible with a knife or small hand saw. The directions might as well require a Dremmel-type tool. The pictures seem to indicate that you only have to cut the 'bottom' of the glovebox, but like tangun, I had to cut up the sides of the glovebox (as I'm sure everyone would). 4. The tail seemed to fit cleanly, I'll have to take a second look (we finished up in the dusk), and give it time to bounce around to see how well it stays in place. The tabbed screws holding the tail in place were a slight pain. They didn't seem to want to stay locked. We used a screw drivers to push the screws in deeper than they would normally go. My guess is that the HB tail is thicker than the stock tail. 5. Overally, I'd rate it a 6.5 (on a scale from 1-10). Cutting the glove box and the tabs is unfortunate. As this was the first undertail that I installed, I don't know if these types of modifications are 'normal'. The color (mis)match is also unfortunate, and I wish I had an explanation. I would think that this would have been checked/noticed at production. Other than that, the paint job itself was very good (no overspray, etc.). The directions are pretty useless. I think if someone handed me the undertail and told me to install it, I don't think it would've taken much longer. My only thoughts would be, "Do they expect you to cut your glovebox?", "I think we have to get rid of these tabs to get it to fit.", and "How the hell do you get these bulbs out without cutting the wire?" (oh wait, I still had that last thought). Of course, now that it's done, I like the way it looks, but if I had to do it again, I would have to consider waiting and seeing if any of the above mentioned problems would be fixed or wait for a different undertail to become available. Rexx

Rexx I agree with pretty much everything you said bro.

WoW ! I am Really glad you guys took the time out to really put together an honest review. It was super informative, i have been thinking about going this route but for now the con's far out weigh the pro's. Iwould like to thank you guys for saving me some cash and alot of work. I hope hb can make some modifications to it's product until then i'll be keeping it stock !:thumbup

(Iwould like to thank you guys for saving me some cash and alot of work.) I agree completly!! Thanks again guys for that great write-up on that product. I hope robert from Graphic Art Moto will come up with something soon that is in that price range for the 02 R1... and just for the record i have paint from Color-rite and it is not an excect match neither after them sending me 2 different colors so far. I must say the second batch they sent to me is the closest so far... Yammy1

yammy1, man, can you post the color rite codes for the Color Rite paint you got? Also, point out which one was the closest match. That would really help all of us here man.

No problem on the paint codes.. I do not have the first code from the original can but the code from the second batch is: MA5175 Keep this in mind when painting, the color will look very dark to begin with and even after it somewhat dries. the trick is applying lots of Clear Coat to lighten the color to your desired amount without it running. I put about 3 coats of clear on mine and it does look best in the sun while comparing a match. Hope this helps... Yammy1 P.S. If you would like to see a pic of my rear wheel let me know and I'll e-mail one to you..:thumbup :thumbup :thumbup

Personally I think a undertail was the right direction to go in for the previous years, but for the 02's I think all that was needed was a new tail light assembly that intergrated the brake lights and turn signals. I just couldn't justify buying an undertail when I already have one on the bike. I wish R1-Wheelie mass produced these http://www.r1-forum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=6052

I agree R1-Rydah, R1-Wheelie, hook some brothers up!

cmon now R1-Wheelie. Don't punk out on your R1 bros. Do it!