Crash Bars: Are They Worth It?

[Sea Lion]

I'm quite tempted by some crashbars. However they cost up to £100-120 and look a bit clumsy on a flat twin (IMO). In a slow speed spill, or the bike falling over, I assume the cylinder takes the punishment. As a new rocker cover is £55, this is still cheaper than crash bars.
Has anyone dropped their bike and suffered more substantial damage than a new rocker cover, and more to the point, would crashbars have made a difference? How resilient are the cylinder protectors?
This is of course assuming that you don't do major off road and expect to drop it regularly.

Thanks
CL- 1100GS

 

[Yellow Peril]

I dropped mine not long after i had it, got the rocker cover well marked, as is the spark plug cover. Crashbars? Well got them now and head protectors but then mine goes off road a fair bit now. Next bike will have them before it leaves the showroom.

Suppose the question is how many times will the rocker covers take a beating before more damage is caused. There was an article in Motorcycle & Leisure where a GS12 was on some off road trail and put a hole in the rocker cover but that was after hitting a large boulder. This was patched up with graffer tape and was ridden again to the next service stop.

If I was not going off road I think I would have stuck to the head protectors, mine are the tourtech ones and seem pretty robust but they cost £104.

So at the end of the day don't drop it.

 

[Wizard]

Not dropping it is easier said than done......

Pulled up at a red light, camber was OK, but put left foot down on top of a single tiny piece of gravel and slipped about 3 inches. Managed to hold it upright long enough to operate the (weird) killswitch before "setting" it down.

SW-Motech engine bars <£100 quid. You've just paid a fortune for a bike, now is not the time to scrimp!

 

[Droopy Dick]

The issue, surely, is not that the rocker covers can take the weight of the bike, it's whether thay can do so without being broken. And a break is possible even with a drop on the drive or at traffic lights.

And if the rocker cover is broken, you're no longer oil tight. Perhaps not much more than an inconvenience if it happens at home, but a total disaster if it happens elsewhere.

FWIW, I'd dropped my 1150 twice at standstill and on both occasions the weight was taken by the crash bars, the handlebar ends and the pannier lids. NO damage to the bike itself.

 

[Tarka]

In my February crash,the right hand rocker cover was smashed to pieces,the plastic 'protector' part was vaporised,three rocker cover studs snapped off in the head (one tearing out the threaded pillar cast into the head ) and the lower exhaust valve rocker pillar was chamfered.

I had the ability and means to extract the broken threads and repair the damage myself...but what would it have cost if I`d had to pay someone ???

Perhaps food for thought.....

 

[P.J.]

Crash bars....

...couple of years back in Kerry a tractor hit a vintage B*W & tore the RH head & barrel off, leaving the piston hanging on the conrod...not that crash bars would have helped much...