[Ninjawarrior]

Would like to hear any reports or stories good or bad regarding crashbars you had on your bike and had a tip over, crash, wreck any type of incident where crash bars saved the bike from major damage or made the incident worse.

Ninja

 

[1004ron]

Why do you see so many fitting both front and rear bars?

 

[J-Luv]

I have the Ilium bars front and rear. They will protect the bags and fairings in a no/low speed drop....IF certain conditions apply. If you're near a curb, for instance, it is higher than the bars when the bars hit the asphalt. No bueno. Or, if you're on a side slope and need to put a foot down on the low side. If it's too low and you can't reach, the bike falls, and with it falling "downhill" or down-slope, if you will, the bike can pick up momentum and roll beyond the bars, or over the bars, and the the mirror of fairing or panniers or even the top box can get scratched. For the best protection, I suggest the biggest, ugliest bars you can find that wrap up the fairing. And even then, conditions at the drop may still overcome the limits of the protection. But, most bars protect against broken plastic or internal metal mirror mounts and such. Scratches, on the other hand, are likely to occur unless it's just a flat garage, drive, parking lot etc. Bars will reduce the scratches most likely and eliminate many from happening; just not all. I added the protection film to aid in resisting scratches. If you don't like scratches, and want to repair, you're likely ordering a new component from the factor anyway. I'd get the bars that look the best to you, and are at the price point you like. It's a heavy bike. You will drop it (more than likely).

Oh, nothing protects in a sliding crash. Things will bend and break and scuff.

 

[djfalkenstein]

Of course they work. Every police bike made has bars on them.

 

[icing777]

Would like to hear any reports or stories good or bad regarding crashbars you had on your bike and had a tip over, crash, wreck any type of incident where crash bars saved the bike from major damage or made the incident worse.

Ninja

 

[tsuintx]

Absolutely they work. Of course they're not going to save you in each and every situation, but in most they do. Most accidents tend to be slow speed tip overs anyway.

 

[joe-r]

Yes, rear Illium bars have worked for me in a stationary drop with no damage except to a bit of scuffing on the bars themselves.

Some bars do interfere with the passenger's legs, Illium does not have that problem, but they are expensive.

Highly recommended, these are heavy bikes and foot sliding on gravel can result in a disproportionate cost to repair compared to the triviality of the drop.

Joe

 

[KAS_UK]

Confirm what others have said, they work at low speeds. Dropped mine twice on holiday last year and only damage was the paint on the crash bars - and easy repair when I got home. Yes the bars are expensive but have a look at how much a replacement pannier would be if you damaged one. Pretty sure the bars are cheaper than even a second hand side case.

 

[mlheck]

Yep, tried mine out twice and they worked both times.

 

[coyotek]

They should be called tip over bars. Only thing they'll do in a crash is bend or break off.

 

[TarkusNY]

They should be called tip over bars. Only thing they'll do in a crash is bend or break off.

I actually think the better name is engine guards. Most, if not all of these front bars do a poor job in protecting the body work of the K1600 models, even 0 kph/mph tip overs.

Without intending to be disrespectful to the OP or anyone else who uses the term "crash bar" is a lousy name, even though it seems to be an industry standard.
Crash bars are not designed to cause a crash. The bars are designed to protect and really the only they seem to protect is the engine.
OK enough nitpicking...

 

[coyotek]

I actually think the better name is engine guards. Most, if not all of these front bars do a poor job in protecting the body work of the K1600 models, even 0 kph/mph tip overs.

Without intending to be disrespectful to the OP or anyone else who uses the term "crash bar" is a lousy name, even though it seems to be an industry standard.
Crash bars are not designed to cause a crash. The bars are designed to protect and really the only they seem to protect is the engine.
OK enough nitpicking...

Actually I think there's a fair number on the site that would disagree with you. The one time I dumped my bike (making a very slow turn in a motel lot that was potholled to heck - was looking for a room number and failed to see the pot hole) my front bar did prevent any damage to the front of the bike (although it did break the foot peg). I didn't have the rear bars at the time so I got a slight muff on the side bag. I'm sure if I'd had the rear ones I would have escaped undamaged.

 

[djfalkenstein]

The "crash bars" are there to protect your legs more than the bike. Granted, they do sometimes protect the plastic, but isn't the real intent to allow you to escape the bike when pinned? I feel the real money is not in the bike; it is in your legs.

 

[TarkusNY]

You just made my case that they're protection bars and not crash bars and are not properly named! But enough of this silliness.

 

[Route66in18]

Would like to hear any reports or stories good or bad regarding crashbars you had on your bike and had a tip over, crash, wreck any type of incident where crash bars saved the bike from major damage or made the incident worse.

Ninja

With bag and engine guards together they work most of the time and reduce, for the most part, damage to the plastic. On one occasion, on a sloped parking lot, the bike actually went over so far and hard that it pivoted over on the bars and scuffed the bags, mirror and an upper plastic piece. $700.00 in paint repairs including the little chrome strip on the bag.

 

[ArmyMutt]

This is the result of a 45mph collision (both vehicles at that speed, point of impact about 11 o'clock) with a slide down the road after impact. Provided enough stand off to prevent injury to my leg.

 

[justcharlie]

The engine protection bars (Altrider on my GTL) and pannier protection (Ilium) bars in a stationary tip over kept any part of the bike (including the panniers and top box) from contacting the ground.

Another thing they provide is that the bike is a lot easier to pick up because it won't be laying as flat.

Worth putting on, IHMO.

 

[Lou Sid]

I had a 0mph tip over(my foot slid on loose cinders as I came to a stop). There were a few minor scratches and it tip of the clutch lever broke off. My leg, and everything else except my ego were fine. I believe the damage would have been worse without protection. A good investment for me.

 

[Lee510]

I dropped my GTL in March. I had been telling myself to get the rear bars from @C 4 or somewhere, but kept putting it off. I bought them after the drop thus insuring that it'll never happen again. Never say "never"!

 

[BMWGuy]

Mine worked during my unintended, low speed, dismount:

Not a scratch on the bodywork.
(Wunderlich F&R).

Joe

 

[dlevine61]

There are many options for protection, but let's say engine Guards, pannier guards, bumpers to put over the engine guards, disc brake caliper guards, and Front Axle slider. Have I left anything out? If all bought new, parts cost are at closing on $1K? This is my quandary.
First, like my iPhone my GT is beautiful. I hate the idea of covering it up with an exoskeleton. While I want to protect it (her?), I have a $250 insurance deductible.

I must get some Whisky and contemplate what to do.