Another oil leak :-( Or removing cyclinder head protectors

[Bendy toy]

Its a GSA with OEM bars. They are really needed around the petrol tank and do the job well. But they are rubbish around the engine.

TBH I've not seen any that don't look like they wont increase crash loads at the mounting points. A pad of crash bung material bolted to the rocker cover is likely to be the best option but making that fit would be a nightmare. Next best option is the X-heads. But they will look cruddy after the first tumble so perhaps need alloy plates bolting or riveting on to take the cosmetic hit.

Failing that just run with bare rocker covers, expect to have a few scars and replace them if necessary. Any hit hard enough to scrap a rocker cover is likely to total the bike anyway.

TC rocker cover £45 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2010-BMW-...867766?hash=item3d16c2c336:g:DCwAAOSwVL1WEPiN

SC rocker cover £90 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-R1200...081114?hash=item4d4232669a:g:EloAAOSw5VZXA5w6

Cheap damaged covers to fill and repaint. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-R1200...620220?hash=item25ba8d6b7c:g:ZcsAAOSwWTRW0zOL

These Ilmbergers are pretty but expensive and offer no useful protection. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ilmberger...759193?hash=item210c541a99:g:6gYAAOSwwpdW9oQQ

 

[RSavage]

Its a GSA with OEM bars. They are really needed around the petrol tank and do the job well. But they are rubbish around the engine.

TBH I've not seen any that don't look like they wont increase crash loads at the mounting points. A pad of crash bung material bolted to the rocker cover is likely to be the best option but making that fit would be a nightmare. Next best option is the X-heads. But they will look cruddy after the first tumble so perhaps need alloy plates bolting or riveting on to take the cosmetic hit.

Failing that just run with bare rocker covers, expect to have a few scars and replace them if necessary. Any hit hard enough to scrap a rocker cover is likely to total the bike anyway.

TC rocker cover £45 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2010-BMW-...867766?hash=item3d16c2c336:g:DCwAAOSwVL1WEPiN

SC rocker cover £90 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-R1200...081114?hash=item4d4232669a:g:EloAAOSw5VZXA5w6

Cheap damaged covers to fill and repaint. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-R1200...620220?hash=item25ba8d6b7c:g:ZcsAAOSwWTRW0zOL

These Ilmbergers are pretty but expensive and offer no useful protection. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ilmberger...759193?hash=item210c541a99:g:6gYAAOSwwpdW9oQQ

I like your jaundiced view of the durability of the bike If there had been any rocks in the mud that I dropped my GSA into, I can imagine that they would/could have punctured the cam cover as it is the bit that hits the deck. Dented fuel tank? No problem. Broken oil line? Game over. Punctured cam cover? Game over! I a punctured rocker cover is what prompted AdventureRider to make their - horrendously expensive - add ons to the OEM bars. Rockfox look to be the best compromise because they fix fore and aft of the cylinder.

Anyway, I'm going round in circles

Cheers

Richard

 

[Bendy toy]

These bikes survive small falls extremely well, though my view of BMW's farkle afterthought crash bars is certainly jaundiced.

My point is that a hit bad enough to directly damage the engine will leave the rest of the bike well smashed up not to mention the rider. My other pint is that uber tough head protectors will actually over load the small (M6) mounting points. Crack the cylinder head and its not only game over for the ride but also a very costly fix. Cracking the magnesium rocker cover is annoying but it is replaceable for under £100.

The lower crash bars are also questionable. The GSA tank bars are attached to the front of the engine with M6 screws but the brackets are at a narrow angle so force should go into a tough part of the engine. The lower engine bars however attach in the middle of the sump finning area. A good clout around there could crack the crank case.

So I believe the best option is remove the lower crash bars and rely on head protectors that press against the rocker covers. That way, the M6 mounting bolts into the cylinder head don't get rammed too hard. Failing that don't use any sort of head protector other than a 3/4" thick strip of crash bung poly material screwed along the cover. That will take the abrasion and might avoid cracking the magnesium casting. Cutting a shape to fit is well beyond my means so I went for X-Heads covers instead.

BTW, I also have a crash bung on the rear paralever bearing. That's got a flat worn on it so must have protected the FD casing. Not bad for £20 worth of black nylon.

 

[RSavage]

These bikes survive small falls extremely well, though my view of BMW's farkle afterthought crash bars is certainly jaundiced.

My point is that a hit bad enough to directly damage the engine will leave the rest of the bike well smashed up not to mention the rider. My other pint is that uber tough head protectors will actually over load the small (M6) mounting points. Crack the cylinder head and its not only game over for the ride but also a very costly fix. Cracking the magnesium rocker cover is annoying but it is replaceable for under £100.

The lower crash bars are also questionable. The GSA tank bars are attached to the front of the engine with M6 screws but the brackets are at a narrow angle so force should go into a tough part of the engine. The lower engine bars however attach in the middle of the sump finning area. A good clout around there could crack the crank case.

So I believe the best option is remove the lower crash bars and rely on head protectors that press against the rocker covers. That way, the M6 mounting bolts into the cylinder head don't get rammed too hard. Failing that don't use any sort of head protector other than a 3/4" thick strip of crash bung poly material screwed along the cover. That will take the abrasion and might avoid cracking the magnesium casting. Cutting a shape to fit is well beyond my means so I went for X-Heads covers instead.

BTW, I also have a crash bung on the rear paralever bearing. That's got a flat worn on it so must have protected the FD casing. Not bad for £20 worth of black nylon.

Mmmmm. That's an interesting and persausive line of reasoning. It reminds me of chat about 'bull bars' and how they either folded into the owning vehicle causing more bodywork damage than would have been done in their absence or transferred seriously damaging loads into the chassis. Regarding the useless OEM bars: Honda got it right with the, replaceable, wings on the Pan European which took any side impact. Why couldn't BMW learn from that?

Richard

 

[Bendy toy]

I really believe that BMW's cylinders are more than strong enough to protect (most of) the bike. All they need is a sacrificial wear pad along the bottom face that can be replaced cheaply. If a rocker cover hits a kerbstone it will crack but that's still better than a cracked cylinder head.

That would be the BMW version of the Honda Pan Euro bumper wings.

 

[RSavage]

I really believe that BMW's cylinders are more than strong enough to protect (most of) the bike. All they need is a sacrificial wear pad along the bottom face that can be replaced cheaply. If a rocker cover hits a kerbstone it will crack but that's still better than a cracked cylinder head.

That would be the BMW version of the Honda Pan Euro bumper wings.

I would have added a 'smiley'. Not sure that a sacrificial part should render the bike unusable no matter how much damage it diverts from (more) vital areas

 

[Bendy toy]

I mean the relatively soft but tough material used to make crash bungs. A block of that screwed to the rocker cover would take the rub of a slow speed tumble and could be cheaply replaced. The rubbing block is sacrificed to protect the magnesium cover. It would probably look ok even with a few scrapes.

Here's a smily