Engine bars or not that is the question ?

[Johnwhit]

guys, I'm looking to get engine bars for my 1150gs (22 ltr fuel tank) and wondered about Sir Steptoe's guards and have a question.
has anyone been 'lucky' enough to use them and has anyone ever had the engine damage itself (yikes!!) with protection on the head cover and nothing to save the head as I would think engine bars would and lost 1/2 the engine ? just wouldnt make my day to see a a cyl snap off in a falldown, is this something that has (or could) happen to anyone ?

any crash test dummies with a bit on input on this

cheers dudes !

John

 

[John Armstrong]

I'd guess that if you're going fast / hit soemthing hard enough to trash the Steptoe head guards then:

a) the rest of the bike will be un-rideable.

b) you might be in no fit state to worry about the state of the bike.

 

[elevensies]

its common knowledge that engine bars cause the bike to ''turtle'' and cause lots of further damage.
steptoe's headguards allow the bike to slide on the side without flipping it.

no you wont break the engine

yes there have been lots of tests, just do a search.

its there if you look

harry

 

[motobiker]

The point of the headguards is that in a slide... they will grind down and prevent this happening to the cylinder heads.. which can very easily be 'holed'.

I personally do not like the idea of engine bars due to the perceived (and real risk in some situations) of the bike catching and 'flipping' - this has happened.

in a crash that caused actual damage to the cylinders.. snapping off. I believe you'll have a damn sight more to worry about. Though I've never heard of this happening - but regardless.. this is what insurance is for.

 

[Johnwhit]

cheers guys for the fast reply's
you make good points,
guess I'm going to give the great one a call when I have saved a few quid for his engine guards.

 

[D6]

its common knowledge that engine bars cause the bike to ''turtle'' and cause lots of further damage.
steptoe's headguards allow the bike to slide on the side without flipping it.

no you wont break the engine

yes there have been lots of tests, just do a search.

its there if you look

harry

depends which bars they are

 

[sockpuppet]

I've erm tested Steptoes head guards last week

Photos to be posted when I have time and the bike gets back. The impact was quite severe and it bent all 3 mounting bolts and forced the head guard into the rocker cover - but the rocker cover wasn't holed.

I also had the standard engine bars as they came with the bike (adv) and they also took a hell of am impact in the crash but didn't cause it to turtle. The thing I like about the crash bars apart from being a nice place to rest your legs while riding are but as they are wider than the cylinders even with head guards allow you to roll the bike onto its wheels meaning its at a slightly smaller angle to lift from

 

[Twotter]

I've read of bikes flipping which were fitted with BMW bars, but I can't remember any other types being affected.

My old bike had Wunderlich bars fitted and also had the plastic BMW rocker cover protectors. Only tested them in anger the once whilst riding slowly along a snow & ice covered back road a few years back. The bike slipped away from under me and span down the road about 20 metres.

The edge of the bars was nicely ground down and the plastic protector was broken on the corner. Rocker cover was fine.

So I suppose I'm saying get both

 

[ian6760]

IIRC Pumpy managed to snap a bit off her engine after an off with Steptoes head covers fitted. To be fair though it was a hell of an impact straight on to a rock. No other damage, but it would have been a right mess without them.

 

[elevensies]

depends which bars they are

your right of course digger, but do we have any definitive answers to ones that do, and ones that dont

but i think the best starting point is the steptoe guards, and should one wish to get bars too, well thats up to them.

 

[DrFarkoff]

Yes or no

I'd say Yes!

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2191004&postcount=32

 

[elevensies]

woops, that looks impressive

 

[guzzimag]

I fitted hepco and becker bars on my 1150, but never dropped it. The new owner did about 2 months after I sold it and he said the bars did their job well.

I'd say fit some for peace of mind, and then don't crash it!

 

[bsogri]

crash bars or not

Why not fit both then you can drop it when you want,I have H G crash bars fitted and stops rocker damage when it falls over and are easy to touch up,
And you have to be a verrrrry long way over to touch them down,I think they would bend in a crash,

 

[Packer]

There are pictures on the web of a BMW boxer engine that lost a pot in an accident. I think that it slid into a kerb at high speed. No mention of what happened to the rider.

I just use Steptoes items. They've done the job on a few low speed spills, one as a result of trying to ride with a disk lock fitted and the others off road.

 

[Timolgra]

The head guards would be good in a slide up the road, but life's not always that simple......

BMW crash bars are shite

Hepko and Becker are good

 

[Explorer]

I have just fitted the H&B bars - hope from all this talk I have not wasted my money!

My thinking was:

Big Crash - it probably won't make things worse (at least)

Over-Balance/Slow speed drop - they will prevent damage to something more expensive

I have a tendency to perform the latter and hope to avoid the former.

 

[ian6760]

I have just fitted the H&B bars - hope from all this talk I have not wasted my money!

My thinking was:

Big Crash - it probably won't make things worse (at least)

Over-Balance/Slow speed drop - they will prevent damage to something more expensive

I have a tendency to perform the latter and hope to avoid the former.

No you've not wasted money, I got the H&B bars on mine and dropped it a few times off road. About 20 mph was the fastest I've dropped it, and I was just left with a few marks on the bars and had to reset the forks.