Crash Protection - which handguards and valve cover guards?

dommiek

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I'm planning to improve the standard handguards and add extra cylinder protection to my 2016 1200Adv Te.

I'm looking at either the Barkbusters or Touratecch handguards, I prefer the look of the TT ones, but as they don't have the ally brace I'm concerned they will not give enough protection after crashing. I don't want the levers breaking.

I have the standard engine bars fitted and want to add extra protection to prevent rocks from puncturing the fragile valve covers; the TT ones have holes ii to look pretty, has anyone fitted the BMW ones? Any experience with off-road crashes with any of these fitted?
 
The crash bars allow the x heads to fit, i went for this option,
The bmw ones may not fit with the bars,

Roamer
 
Machine Art Rocker Covers and Barkbusters ( with shields) for the handguards. And good balance :green gri

Barkbusters are solid and well made , use them on all my off road bikes , they have been well tested so that's the guard of choice for the TB.
 
You're right to be concerned about the valve covers - I got a hole through one simply because the bike fell over whilst stationary in a car park onto a stone. Gaffer tape across the hole kept the oil in until the cover could be replaced. I've now fitted Machine Art covers.

From experience of off-roading the 1200 LC in South Africa you should fit an improved sump bash plate that extends forwards to protect the headers. They're very easy to ding, and cannot be replaced individually - you'll need to buy the whole exhaust system at something like £1600 !!.

And keep an eye on the front forks - out of 10 GS's on the trip, one had the forks completely fall apart (stanchions separate from top yoke) causing a big tumble, two others were well on the way to failure and several others had the early signs of failure. Peel back the black rubber cover at the top of the stanchions and look for signs that the fork tube is separating from the crimped-in top mounting. Lots of threads on Adv Rider about this problem.
 
Cyl Head protection

Machine art x-heads and standard BMW engine bars have adequate clearance.
See here
DSCN4069.jpgDSCN4065.jpgDSCN4051.jpg
 
I have BMW Crash bars, Altrider covers and Barkbusters.

Covers: I suppose it depends on the level of adv riding you're doing, but I think they're a must really.
Perhaps it's bad luck, but 3 small offs and I pierced a cover on rocks twice, and a field repair was needed. (not on a bike with covers)
Altrider ones are light and solid, easy to fit.
Those machine art ones look lovely though!

Bars and handlebar guards: With the stock bars, when the bike is put down, they protect the handlebars ok, but if you're looking to upgrade as Stick says, the Barkbusters are well solid and a doddle to fit. They look much better too. A bit pricey I must say but I guess they've got it sussed.
 
The Nutty GSER said:
Don't crash, and you'll be fine :thumb:D
Click to expand...

Part of riding off road is falling off and crashing, and to improve I will be pushing my limits.

I've seen the Machine art guards and they look great if a little pricey at £149, plus I'm concerned they fit so snug they could cause overheating by restricting airflow. Having done two courses at ORS I've seen two instances with people in my group crashing and putting a hole in the valve covers so it's a matter of when not if.

I wasn't aware of the issue with forks separating, I'll look into that, thanks Tomcat.

I know the Barkbusters will give the best protection but has anyone experience with the Touratech plastic guards?
 
dommiek said:
Part of riding off road is falling off and crashing, and to improve I will be pushing my limits.


I wasn't aware of the issue with forks separating, I'll look into that, thanks Tomcat.
Click to expand...

Have a look here http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/428469-Fork-Twist-Loose/page2 for a picture of what happened when the forks came apart. There are also some links in this thread to the discussions on Adv Rider.

I don't think that the forks are an issue when the bike is only used on-road, but there is undoubtedly a problem when the bike is used off-road. We hired new and almost-new bikes from an authorised BMW dealer in South Africa. Not only did we have serious problems in 2 weeks of part dirt/part road riding but we heard that at least one customer who had bought an Adv from the dealer had the forks come apart within 600 miles. BMW is keeping its corporate head down and trying to ignore the problem.
 
Thanks for that Batman, I think I'll be buying a set!

Tomcat, the fork issue is a concern, I'll be keeping a very close check on them in future, thanks for pointing this issue out.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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