crash bar compatability

[Bendy toy]

Gazzabart's bars look solid and the laser cut plate under the cylinder should allow some movement to absorb crash shock.
What about ground clearance on bends?

 

[Gazzabart]

Gazzabart's bars look solid and the laser cut plate under the cylinder should allow some movement to absorb crash shock.
What about ground clearance on bends?

Is this the moment when I admit that I don't chuck it round corners lol nah its fine no probs

 

[Bendy toy]

Is this the moment when I admit that I don't chuck it round corners lol nah its fine no probs

Thanks.

I dont chuck mine around but it handles so well that I often touch a toe down. I don't mind a chamfered boot but a solid crash bar hitting a cat's eye wont be on my list of fun things to do.

My plan is to have my old bent crash bars remodelled by a stainless tube expert. The top end that plugs into the under tank cross bar will be replaced by a marine angle clevis and longer bolt with a new curved tube down to the frame mounting lug. For now the Touratech head protectors will remain but they bolt to the cylinder head on little M6 lugs. They also look like candidates for a cracked cylinder head so carbon fibre covers with sacrificial rubbing plates look like a better bet.

 

[Bendy toy]

The metal tube bars are bolted to what is effectively the side of the engine sump. The back end mounts carrying the rear subframe will not be built to handle side loads. The fronts look even more at risk. The bars shown above are without doubt tough and strong but is the engine case strong enough to take the point loads from a side impact? I'm not happy to be the ginea pig on that one.

By far the most solid crash bars on the bike are the cylinders themselves. Certainly the rocker covers would take a mashing and they are quite brittle. So protective covers make sense. However, the mounting lugs onto the actual cylinder heads are weak so choose carefully. I've had bent M6 fasteners come off mine. Any more of a thump risks scrapping the cylinder head itself.

My solution is to use Machine Art X-head covers. Made from nylon reinforced plastic they have some resilience. Unlike the Touratech covers that have solid stainless steel mounting brackets the wont even try to absorb forces by bending.