F700gs Crash bars recommendations please

[Kathy5326]

Can anyone give me some recommendations for crash bars on a f700gs?

 

[hairysteve]

I asked the same question recently for my GS 800 and the most popular suggestion was to go for Adventure Spec crash bars which are around £220 ish but there are lots of others on e-bay to choose from....Puig bars look ok too but more sensibly priced.

 

[Halfa1200]

I have the SW-motech bars fitted to my F700GS, I am impressed with their quality as they are quite substantial and have protected my bike twice now. I got then from Nippy Normans and used stainless steel nuts and bolts. Regards Ian

 

[REM]

Can anyone give me some recommendations for crash bars on a f700gs?

The first question is what do you want them for? I have some because I do trail riding and expect to drop the bike and want to increase the chances that I can pick it up and ride on. I would not have them if I was just road riding - but that is my view.

It comes down to

level of protection and what - engine only ie shorties or plastics and radiator ie tall
ease of access
aesthetics

but maybe not in that order

I have the Holan Pro bars which are lighter gauge/weight than most bars but still provide very effective protection to radiator and engine casings (tried and tested for medium impacts) and IMO are more in keeping with the look of the bike.

However one peice of advice would be to find out maybe form any of those giving recommendations on other bars in particular the tall bars is whether you can remove the plastics with the bars in place - it might affect your servicing costs and general ease of maintaining the bike.

Because the Holan bars are a wrap-around fit you cant take the plastics off without at least removing some of the bar fixing bolts.

Enjoy choosing!

 

[Dean]

For me crash bars on Road and off road, it's your cheapest insurance

The lower Givi bars on my F650 GS doing there job, against black ice on road



On my F8 ADV spec works for me, higher and protecting them expensive plastics

 

[REM]

For me crash bars on Road and off road, it's your cheapest insurance

Dean if I understand you correctly I agree that bars can avoid an insurance claim with an excess to pay and a couple of years of higher premiums, but bars dont protect everything - they are not total insurance and this all depends on how much your excess and premiums are.

Drop the bike when it is stationary then yes, but with any off at speed the chances are that something that is not protected by the bars will get damaged. You would be very lucky in an off to have only the engine bars take the initial impact and then to slide down the road with only the engine bars and tyres making contact but I dont doubt that it can happen.

I would have thought that the handlebars on an F650 or F800 would most likely take the first impact but luggage/paniers and so many other factors come into play as to what gets damaged.

I would say that you should perhaps view engine bars as being more of an insurance that you wont have to abandon your trip/journey because you avoid putting a hole in an engine casing or in the case of tall bars you save your radiator or even protecting you from a crush injury. I would agree with you that for this reason they still have a value for road riding and not just off road as I said in my previous post.

 

[Marjie]

Which crash bars?

Hi Kathy
I have the SW Motech bars on my 650GS . I believe they also fit the 700. Can't tell you how effective they are as fortunately I haven't had to put them to the test so far. They look substantial & are around £140.00 if I remember correctly.
Hope you find the ones you want
Marjorie

 

[Dean]

Dean if I understand you correctly I agree that bars can avoid an insurance claim with an excess to pay and a couple of years of higher premiums, but bars dont protect everything - they are not total insurance and this all depends on how much your excess and premiums are.

Drop the bike when it is stationary then yes, but with any off at speed the chances are that something that is not protected by the bars will get damaged. You would be very lucky in an off to have only the engine bars take the initial impact and then to slide down the road with only the engine bars and tyres making contact but I dont doubt that it can happen.

I would have thought that the handlebars on an F650 or F800 would most likely take the first impact but luggage/paniers and so many other factors come into play as to what gets damaged.

I would say that you should perhaps view engine bars as being more of an insurance that you wont have to abandon your trip/journey because you avoid putting a hole in an engine casing or in the case of tall bars you save your radiator or even protecting you from a crush injury. I would agree with you that for this reason they still have a value for road riding and not just off road as I said in my previous post.

I was thinking more along the lines of insurance as in: "A thing providing protection against a possible eventuality"

crash/ engine bars was one thing, there was indeed three points of impact on the bike and the other two points also had protection





Which hit the ground first was the lower first as it was indeed a slide on black ice, tyres loosing traction and washing out nothing like a bolero and no sign of Torvill underneath the protection the bike was mint The insurance worked


So it's engine bars for me on and off road

 

[REM]

Beware the Iceman Cometh!

Dean I love your outlook on life, the glass is half full:

underneath the protection the bike was mint

To me this reads as " apart from the damaged bits there were some undamaged bits"


So it's engine bars for me on ICE and off road

By the way when I had my off with the Holan bars on a dirt road the bars must have acted like a deflector for the loose stones as it scraped along the track, which were thrown up against my plastics - a few stone chips - actually rock chips

Back on topic Kathy might now want to eliminate Holan from her shortlist. (Although for me they did their job as I could ride away from the middle of nowhere).

Stay safe on those icy roads Dean

 

[Halfa1200]

One thing I have found useful is to make an adjustable strap with some 40mm webbing that I can feed through my SW- Motech engine bars and over my shoulder so that picking the bike up the bike is a lot easier.

 

[tuttobicci]

When someone asks for a recommendation for a certain piece of equipment, in this case Crash Bars, why do so many of the threads descend into peoples opinions as to whether you need said item? Just interested in why this happens....... You asked for a recommendation Kathy5326, mine would be Adventure Spec

 

[REM]

why do so many of the threads descend into peoples opinions as to whether you need said item?

Tuttobicci.............MY OPINION WOULD BE THAT I DONT THINK YOU NEED TO ASK THAT QUESTION

 

[SERVDAVE]

I've had both givi and metal mule pannier frames, and both did a good job.

The givi one I came off mid corner at around 40mph and the bike was rideable and still got me home. Not much more you can ask for really. Went to the metal mule bars as they came up at a good price and looked cool.

 

[HedgehogX]

I've got a brand new BMW set, boxed, bought for my F700GS not used for sale if anyone is interested...

RRP almost £300 - selling for £185 delivered.

Have pics but as newbie not allowed to post.

HH

 

[katyotter]

Adventure Spec without a doubt - very substantial and they look great too

 

[PaulinBont]

Touratech bars on mine and when I got taken out by a myopic Frenchman in a campervan they did the trick.
The bike apparently went end over end (bending both the front and rear crashbars) but apart from a smashed screen and mainly cosmetic damage the bike was ok for me to carry on to Morocco and do a further 3000 miles. Worth every penny IMHO