Grab rail/seat cowl advice?

[tweakedtay]

Hey everybody.
I was able to procure a stock Suzuki read seat cowl this season for my curvy, and I'm not sure if I should remove the rear grab bar/rail or not. It kinda loks strange comming out of the tail of the bike, but it can be usefull...
Any comments would help, thanks!

[turnerj_2001]

I got rid of mine the second i bought the bike, the way i looked at it, if I have someone on the back they can grab onto me:)

I personally think it looks better with just the cowel.

[enzoalex]

I thought about taking mine off, but it is very useful when you have to push the bike backwards.

[Serdna]

Took mine off. I almost always sit on my bike to push it backwards. I dropped it once doing it the other way (no grab rail). These days if the incline is so steep i have to push the bike backwards uphill i will just rest my gloved hand on the cowl/seat. If the ground is uneven or particularly tricky (like the day i dropped it) i take the cowl off and grab a load of rear sub frame.

[srobrien]

I took mine off and it looks 100 x better, even though it is now 100 x more of a pain in the ass to get on the paddock stand!

[tweakedtay]

Okay, I found a problem with removing the grab rail, it leavs gaps where it came out of the tail (left and right of hte pass. seat). Are there any inserts that I can buy that will fill these gaps? Or am I gonna have to break out the table saw and make some....

[TamSV]

You can buy them - search for "saddle shutters". They seem quite expensive for what they are - I'd have a go at making them.

[tweakedtay]

They seem to be around $50 wherever I look. Which is a little much for me. Time to fabricate my own!
Thanks for the info.

[MJC-DEV]

I went to great trouble for find a grab rail for mine when I bought it as I prefer the look with the grab rail.

[tweakedtay]

I find it kind of kills the back end, like in my avatar, I like the 'clean' look

[Sid Squid]

Leave it on, it's useful and you can't see it when you're riding - well, unless something unfortunate has occurred.

In which case it will be the least of your worries.