HEPCO & BECKER ENGINE / TANK BARS AND "GOBI" CASES

[kondorpilot]

Need some bars and various posts seem to rate these.
I previously purchased HB Bars for my 1100 GS and found that fitting was a bit of an ordeal with holes,spacers and bolts unwilling to line up without a fair bit of "persuasion",even than I felt the "alignment" was putting unwanted stress on the bolts.Protection good but build quality pretty poor.
Have they improved any with the latest offerings before I purchase or should I look elsewhere. If so any recomendations?

Also anyone bought the HB "Gobi" cases? Verdict ? and do you need to buy a separate rack to take mount them or do they fit on the pre fitted mounts. Web sites not very informative.
Thanks

 

[nedflanders]

SW Motech make some good ones and came top in a recent German mag test, plus they make tankbars as well now, some pics are here
http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94548&page=2

 

[mje]

Gobi Panniers

I have Gobi panniers on my 1150GSA, not sure if it would be the same on the 1200 but the mounting kit is a bit of a lash-up. There is no cut-out for the exhaust either which means you get more capacity but also means they are very wide so you need to be a bit careful when filtering. They came with the bike but not sure I would have bought them. They are very light and seem pretty sturdy. Nil points for the designer of the mecanno set though!
Mike

 

[Thunder]

Would go with the Motech engine bars anytime, have been proven to do exactly what they are made for on many occsions and in addition they don't conflict with aftermarket headers like the Hepcos.

All Hepco panniers need a Hepco rack.

There was a recent post on the Gobi's which you can find here:

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95326

 

[kondorpilot]

Thunder,What like the build quality and ease of fitting/alighnment and what made you go for them over other kit available ie TT , HB, OEM

 

[nedflanders]

Can't really say how hard other bars are to fit as only got the Motech ones but the only way they could be easier to fit was if someone else did them , everything lined up straight away and can't fault the quality. You do need a decent set of torx drive but you'd need that with any of them anyway

 

[RichP]

Kondorpilot, to answer your question, I just recently installed the H&B bars on my GS. I didn't have any of the problems you experienced, everything seemed to line right up. The directions were in German, but with the pictures it was very easy to follow the directions. The torques were understandable, so no problems there.

I would buy them again.

 

[kondorpilot]

Many thanks guys but even more undecided given the further reading done on site re pros/cons

 

[Phil Clarke]

I've got H&B engine and tank bars. they fitted no bother - the tank bars required a bit of patience and the u bolts supplied needed cutting down a bit but nothing beyond the home bodger. Good quality, good protection, solid and not too expensive
Phil