Well...it finally happened!

[NeilCol]

Fell off the bike!!
Stupid **** bus driver stops mid roundabout to let his mate on in front of him...just at the same time I'm looking to check company car man is stopping as he flies up to the give way line....I look back and the car I was following has anchored on for the bus so I grab the brake and bang...over she goes.

Clearly grabbed too much while I was turning, but what the feck is the bus driver doing stopping while going round the roundabouts!! Plus the shiniest surface didn't help I'm sure. Gutted

Anyway...crash bar is goosed....had the panniers on so right side looks "rugged" and the BMW badge has been ruined, along with the parts which hold the windscreen to the frame at the front.
I can live with the scraped windscreen for now as its on the angle so not too noticeable.


Anyway...main point of the post was to say amazing service from Motorworks.

Rang yesterday at 2 pm, and Windscreen parts and BMW badge arrived half hour ago. Will be up and running for the weekend (minus a crash bar mind)

 

[MWH]

Bugger, sorry to hear that. At least you're ok.

 

[Tayls]

yep, sorry to hear that, glad it's just injured pride

 

[kyrano]

Main thing your ok, the bike can be fixed

 

[Bendy toy]

My crash bar got goosed when I fell off on back lane mud. Entirely my fault for going that way just after the floods with road tyres on the bike. But I was seriously not impressed with the crash bar. The head protector got gouged but it was wrecked by the crash bar bending back. Any further and I'd have been looking at bent rocker cover bolts or worse. All at 20mph or less.

 

[tanneman]

Maybe a protector for the crash bars then is the answer

 

[Bendy toy]

The GSA tank crash bar is a good idea as that plastic petrol tank wont cope very well with tarmac rash.

Im not bothered about the bent engine bar - its sacrificial after all. But they are supposed to protect the expensive bits and I don't believe they do the job.

Mine rammed into the head protector and totalled it. The scrape was cosmetic only. But had the crash bar gone back much further, the rocker cover would be shoved back. That risks at least bend studs but could also risk cracks in the cylinder head where the studs screw in.

I now believe the engine crash bars are a liability. The heads would be better off with carbon fibre covers to slide along the road and handle the gravel rash. With luck they wont wear through into the underlying rocker cover. But they also wont lever into the rocker cover and risk internal damage.

 

[karlp]

In a crash something usually gives.

I would rather have a bent crash bar than a bent frame

I would rather have a totalled rocker cover than a bent frame.

Maybe that is the reason for not having totally rigid crash bars

 

[Bendy toy]

I agree 100% they should bend but they need space to bend into. Due to lack of rearward space I'm saying the engine crash bar is more likely to cause real harm than it would if there was nothing at all.

If the bike goes down with no crash bar, the rocker cover gets scarred, but unless it hits a kerb or some such it will just slide down the road. Fit a new rocker cover and the bike looks as good as new.

The crash bar sticks out but not enough to protect the rocker cover (hence the various add ons). Worse, it puts a point load on the rocker cover or cylinder head and being small it can dig in rather than sliding. The forwards force then gets thrown into the rocker cover, bending its mounting bolts and potentially cracking the cylinder head lugs. My RHS crash bar became banana shape BTW. The LHS has no space to bend so reward force is all going into the rocker cover at a single point.

So while crash bars "can" be good (as in GSA petrol tank). IMO the standard engine crash bars are worse than useless. They don't protect the rocker covers and they can't bend to absorb shock. They risk internal damage worse than bare rocker covers would cause.

 

[Dahoum]

Gives the bike character.

 

[Nutty]

We all make mistakes. Glad you're ok.

 

[Greenman14]

Sounds similar damage to mine last year. That took Cooper Sunderland about 6 weeks to repair, mostly thanks to appalling service from Aviva insurers and their loss adjuster. Cost north of £3,500 in all as they replaced everything that was even slightly scratched.

Do you have ABS? I don't and front locked and folded; I feel the brake can be a bit grabby at times.

 

[NeilCol]

No, no ABS on mine.
Never needed it til yesterday I guess and always said I have never had it's never missed it. Will never know if it would have prevented it yesterday.
I will also have to get a new visor for my helmet and new gloves.

I'm going to look at getting head protectors rather than crash bars I think. I have noticed a very light scuff on the cover now, nothing major it might polish out and fade, but I can get replacements from Motorworks for £70 and in the meantime a cover will...well cover it anyway.

Any recommendations? I have a Lupin Blue GS with I think grey heads....so plastic? Aluminium?....best quality and brand?

Any advice would be grateful.

 

[Bendy toy]

There are rocker covers on eBay for low prices depends if it's single or twin cam.
I have Touratech head covers but for the money I think carbon fibre cover plates will do at least as good a job and no risk of broken lugs on the cylinder heads. Some even have a sacrificial metal plate.
Wunderlich also do some (did some?) with removable rub plates but you'll need a mortgage and hope the right spot gets rubbed.

 

[DGB]

The main thing is at least you're ok. The bike can be fixed.

As for recommendations for head protectors - MachineArt Moto X-Heads.

 

[Bounce]

Main thing your ok, the bike can be fixed

Exactly.....