► Bashplates, crash bars and other protection

[jimbob59]

H-B crash part p/n...

Jim...
The part number is different for H&B crash bars for 650 and 800. It could be because of the radiator.
I have these bars on my 800GS and and I am quite happy with them.


BMW F650 GS Modell 2008
Art.-Nr.: 502.935 00 01 schwarz
BMW F800 GS
Art.-Nr.: 502.936 00 01 schwarz

Thanks Kalli!

After reading your append, I found one of the USA-based retailers:

www.advworkshop.com

And had a nice e-mail "chat" with Andrew who seems really nice and very knowledgeable ... He says:

"The part numbers are different due to the fact they are two different bikes. I just had this conversation with the Hepco Becker US importer and we discussed that just combining the bikes under one part number would be easier. He didn’t update that on the website yet."

So yeah... apparently H-B is just trying to give me a headache ;-)

I think I sitll like the SW-Motech a bit better but am waiting for price from Adventure-tech for USA delivery ... alas, the shipping cost and weakness of the US Dollar may kill that deal!

Thanks,
Jim

 

[jimbob59]

The engine bars in my post #98 and below, are made by H & B specifically for Wunderlich and only available from Wunderlich. H & B produce a different engine bar for the F800GS which they market themselves.

I'm across at Wunderlich next month and I'm being allowed to fit the bars while there, so we'll know then if they fit with the BMW bash plate

Mickey:

This is the first time I noticed that the Wunderlich bars have an attachement point far back on the frame behind the engine castings. Most of the bars just pick up the two lower bolts of (what I think is) the engine casting.

I think I like the idea of not having the engine castings be the ONLY mounting point along the bottom... also the lower-horizontal bar helps protect...

Anybody know if there is a US distributor?

I wonder it the bars work with the BMW bash plate?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[kalli]

Jim.
My first choice was SW-Motech as well, but the shipment was 120 GBP from Britain. And 85 GBP for shipping the GIVIs. For that price they would have been able to buy a seat for the package in economy class with refreshments during the flight. So I guess this was just the shops way of saying that they did not want so sell me the crash bars.

 

[jimbob59]

$$$

Jim.
My first choice was SW-Motech as well, but the shipment was 120 GBP from Britain. And 85 GBP for shipping the GIVIs. For that price they would have been able to buy a seat for the package in economy class with refreshments during the flight. So I guess this was just the shops way of saying that they did not want so sell me the crash bars.

Geezzzzzzzzzzzz and I thought it was only us Yanks that got burned on shipping...........

SW-M crash bars are $190USD and their bash plate is $210 USD so ... that may be it for me..............

Thanks,
Jim

 

[jimbob59]

Eight places?

Anyways, the Motech bars are a bit more than the Givi ones, about £125 I think. But the do go higher up the plastics and bolt in eight places as opposed to six on the givi, so I am happy with the cost/benefit....

T:

Sorry to regress, I'm reviewing my notes... my 658 is now "in production" ... so they say...

Question: I see the one mounting point up high, and the two down on the bottom of the casting on each side ... where are the other two mounting points? Too many pints on my side of the pond tonight?

Jim

 

[F800 Rob]

Mickey:

This is the first time I noticed that the Wunderlich bars have an attachement point far back on the frame behind the engine castings. Most of the bars just pick up the two lower bolts of (what I think is) the engine casting.

I think I like the idea of not having the engine castings be the ONLY mounting point along the bottom... also the lower-horizontal bar helps protect...

Anybody know if there is a US distributor?

I wonder it the bars work with the BMW bash plate?

Thanks,
Jim

Jim,

The US importer for Wunderlich is BMW of Santa Cruz County. In regards to the HB bars - I've been told they are the exact same part, despite the different numbers. HB actually has a pattern of doing this - they did the exact same thing with the pannier mounts for the F800S/ST.

My F650GS Twin is in exactly the same spot as your's, and I'm kinda glad. I haven't made up my mind between the SW, GIVI, HB, or Adventure Spec crash bars. The SW set is the only one i've seen in person, and it's quite nice, but I want to get all four in and do a detailed comparison.

 

[twisticles]

T:

Sorry to regress, I'm reviewing my notes... my 658 is now "in production" ... so they say...

Question: I see the one mounting point up high, and the two down on the bottom of the casting on each side ... where are the other two mounting points? Too many pints on my side of the pond tonight?

Jim

The Motech bars are the only bars I have seen so far that have mounting points for the cross piece that passes in front of the engine.

The cross piece is separate to the side pieces (I think the givi bars come in only 2 pcs), it bolts at either end to the side bars, then has two struts that run backwards and downwards to bolt holes in the engine casing.

You can see the left side front strut in this photo:

Both struts extending backwards visible here:

When I get round to it, I'm going to fit my fog lamps. The point that the cross piece attaches to the side bars looks like an ideal protected spot to do that, and the bolt is already there - no bracket required.

 

[jimbob59]

The Motech bars are the only bars I have seen so far that have mounting points for the cross piece that passes in front of the engine.

The cross piece is separate to the side pieces (I think the givi bars come in only 2 pcs), it bolts at either end to the side bars, then has two struts that run backwards and downwards to bolt holes in the engine casing.

You can see the left side front strut in this photo:

Thanks... somehow I missed that shot!
I am waiting on prices of the Adventure-Tech, and just asked for prices on Wunderlich brand from the US importer so am holding off on decision, but I think you may have the best combo --- BMW Bash plate with good front coverage of oil filter and oil cooler + good rear coverage of cat. converter w/
SW-M bars - 8-point mounting & higher up protection for the plastics that is about as good as it gets..... (Adventure-Spec being the best in this regard.. but USA price with shipping may be .... ).

Thanks!
Jim

 

[jimbob59]

Keep us posted!

Jim,

The US importer for Wunderlich is BMW of Santa Cruz County. In regards to the HB bars - I've been told they are the exact same part, despite the different numbers. HB actually has a pattern of doing this - they did the exact same thing with the pannier mounts for the F800S/ST.

My F650GS Twin is in exactly the same spot as your's, and I'm kinda glad. I haven't made up my mind between the SW, GIVI, HB, or Adventure Spec crash bars. The SW set is the only one i've seen in person, and it's quite nice, but I want to get all four in and do a detailed comparison.

Thanks Rob!
I have just sent an e-mail to BMW-Santa Cruz asking for pricing and availability of the Wunderlich items. I'll post back the answers when I receive them!

Let us know what you decide once you see/touch/price what you can get your hands on....



Jim

 

[jimbob59]

Nice thread in ADVRider......

Here is a relevant comment on crash bars from nice thread in ADVRider:

"1. Crash bars - a must as you have a big blob of plastic around the rad that is the first to hit the sand if you crash. Plus the rad is only suspended by a plastic tab on the bottom so a fairly light dump will break that and your rad will be hanging from the hoses until you get back to fix it."

See: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=377088

Jim

 

[F800 Rob]

The Motech bars are the only bars I have seen so far that have mounting points for the cross piece that passes in front of the engine.

I was thinking about that, but I had a reservations which result from not seeing/having one of these bike yet. Does the mounting bolt ('specially on the brake side) come close to the exhaust?

 

[KeeF650]

Mickey:

This is the first time I noticed that the Wunderlich bars have an attachement point far back on the frame behind the engine castings. Most of the bars just pick up the two lower bolts of (what I think is) the engine casting.

I think I like the idea of not having the engine castings be the ONLY mounting point along the bottom... also the lower-horizontal bar helps protect...

Thanks,
Jim

Like Micky I also favour the idea of bars that mount to the frame over ones which have engine casing attachment points. My thinking being that I'd rather have the force of a bike drop transmitted to the frame than the engine casings. This is because I believe the frame would be more able to absorb the energy of a fall than the casings. I don't really have any evidence to support this view - just intuition.

I've therefore decided to go with the Touratech bars. Touratech claim that "an intended bending point will protect the frame and screw attachments against damage". No knowing how effective this would be, but at least it shows they have thought about the effect a fall might have on the part of the bike the bars attach to.

Touratech also supply extension bars which attach to the basic bars and provide additional protection for the panels and radiator.

 

[kalli]

I recently installed Hepco and Becker crash bars on my 800 GS. Few pictures below.

 

[Berin]

KeeF650:

Do you have these installed?

Here in USA the TourTech website says "accepting pre-orders" ...
Which from what I have read means "we don't know when they might actually be available"

Thanks,
Jim

Mrs Berin has had them installed for over a month now.

Hi

How do you rate them? Did you have any problems fitting them?

They look good. I've fitted the extensions as well. Fitting was easy enough once I'd got the updated instructions in English - on the brake side the rear mounting is not obvious, and you have to remove the brake pedal, footpeg, and also install some new mounts on the rear MC. On the LHS you have to remove the footpeg. took about 45min - but I'm not very fast at this.

I like the fact that the bars aren't just braced on engine mount points. The rectifier, clutch cover, upper plastics and rad are all protected well.I'll take some pics at the weekend if I get chance.

Thanks if you have time for pics.

Question on attachment/extension - where does the top end of that rectangular mounting bar attach? It look like it goes up inside the cowling but ...???

Thanks,
Jim

It fits onto a flange on the lower bars.

 

[jimbob59]

Wunderlich stuff in the USA.....

Thanks Rob!
I have just sent an e-mail to BMW-Santa Cruz asking for pricing and availability of the Wunderlich items. I'll post back the answers when I receive them!

Let us know what you decide once you see/touch/price what you can get your hands on....



Jim

Here are details I have just received for USA customers:

The engine bars will be available in two versions, "Adventure" and
"Street" . Each will be available in silver or black. The estimated
price is $349.00 and $289.00 respectively.

The sump guard is also not available yet. The estimated price is $375.00

Unfortunately, it's not possible for us to give you a firm date of
availability.


I've only seen one version of the crash bars so have asked for clarification.... and also asked if the bash plate came with both pieces (bash plate proper, and the oil filter/cooler extension or if that was extra) so have asked for clarification.... but no reply yet...

Jim

 

[jimbob59]

Crash bar summary?

Here's what I think we have going for us at least on the USA side of the pond...
let me know if I've made any errors?

Jim

 

[F800 Rob]

Jim,

The MSRP on the GIVI bars in the US is $200. (or so I was told this morning) They should be available in limited numbers within the next week or so.

The HB bars will arrive to the US distributor tentatively on 9/5 and then to dealers probably the week after.

 

[Gert]

why letting the engine casing taking the impact of a crash?

Hello all,

I am also looking to fit some crash bars on my newlie F 650 GS (my very first bike ).

But as someone here earlier pointed out: the engine is nicely tucked away in a frame (well, the engine is actually structurally part of the frame).

Then, is it really a good idea to attach the crash bars to the underside of the engine casing (as do the GIVI ones, but almost all of the other ones too, EXCEPT the ones from wünderlich)? Surely, this way the bars will transfer some (if not most?) of the energy of the impact to the engine.

This just does not sound right to me. Why would you let a fairly well protected engine get involved with absorbing the impact energy?

For me the wünderlich crash bars, which - afaik - only attach to the frame around the engine, are the preferred choice.

What's your take on this issue? Anyone actually installed these wünderlich crash bars, and cares to share some real-world expreience with them?

Take care, all
Gert

 

[twisticles]

Hello all,
Then, is it really a good idea to attach the crash bars to the underside of the engine casing (as do the GIVI ones, but almost all of the other ones too, EXCEPT the ones from wünderlich)? Surely, this way the bars will transfer some (if not most?) of the energy of the impact to the engine.

This just does not sound right to me. Why would you let a fairly well protected engine get involved with absorbing the impact energy?

For me the wünderlich crash bars, which - afaik - only attach to the frame around the engine, are the preferred choice.

What's your take on this issue?

Take care, all
Gert

Take another look at this picture.

The wunderlich parts are all in silver. They attach to the lower part of the engine in exactly the same way as the Givi/Motech/BMW/TT bars all do. (Lower red arrow). They have to, or there would be no lateral support from the bars low down at the front.

They also attach at the top of the engine. That bolt on the frame there (upper red arrow) goes right through to the engine.

So whichever bars you choose there will be three bolts into the engine on either side. The wunderlich bars have an additional point on the footrest, and the Motech bars two additional points on the front of the engine.

All this talk of "impact energy" is a red herring when choosing which bars to buy. Remeber: bars are to protect your plastics from low-speed drops. For everything else there is insurance.

 

[twisticles]

I was thinking about that, but I had a reservations which result from not seeing/having one of these bike yet. Does the mounting bolt ('specially on the brake side) come close to the exhaust?

On the Motech bars, not at all. If you want to attach lights at those connector bolts, no problem.