the thinking behind it, was that it wouldnt get in the way of someones shins, and also the fact that to clear the plastics, you have to have a 5" long rear mount. with that curve, we only had to have a 2" long rear mount, so it wouldnt bend as easy. but we have now redesigned it to go straight across.

and i think it would also prevent it from going onto the tank, because the bar is higher up on the bike. but like i said, we have gone away from that design on the 954 because it just didnt seem to work as well as the new design.