Crash Bar, crash test?
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"Well... After over 5000 miles off road and 5 drops I can assure everyone that the SW-Motech upper bars and hand guards really do their job."
This feedback was reposted from, "Crashbars - Anyone got any?" page 32.
I like the way you can access the air filters relatively easily.
This feedback was reposted from, "Crashbars - Anyone got any?" page 32.
I like the way you can access the air filters relatively easily.
I don't really consider the SW-Motech crash bars as "upper" but rather "mid". They're like frame sliders to me.
Anyhow, it's good to hear they're holding up. Were there any damage to any of your fairings/cowl/etc?
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329 Posts
Yep... that was me. I admit it. I crashed.... FIVE times. Not bad for 5000 miles off road though?
Here are the details:
Drop 1: Mississippi mud - no protection necessary except when you need something to tug on when you are slipping around in the weirdly slimy nasty stuff! I came round a corner and the mud started very quickly and I had no time to slow down and stop.
IMG_8222 by Jason WD, on Flickr
Drop 2: Arkansas sand - again... no need for the bars really, I think the hand guards did most of the work. Getting the bike up in this situation was a massive massive task. I even managed to put the panniers and my armour on an ant hill. Joy!
IMG_8234 by Jason WD, on Flickr
Drop 3: Oklahoma Farm road - a deep deep dry mud rut fell the bike into a field of cotton. Nice and soft!
Drop 4: Colorado gravel road - This was a very hard road and caused the most damage, but again, the bars took most of the force and scratched the guards. The bike came to rest on the right side engine guards. It was night time, midnight, and I was very tired doing a simple U-turn, had a brain fart and bang! Down went the bike.
Drop 5: Rockies - I'm surprised I only dropped it once in the rocks. It was tough. A Jeep was coming uphill and I gave way on an off camber loose slope. The front wheel tucked and the bike went down on the rocks. Again, only the hand guards got cosmetic damage and there are some little scuffs on the DCT filter screws. No kind of engine guard could have prevented this because rocks are random!
IMG_8419 by Jason WD, on Flickr
Here are the details:
Drop 1: Mississippi mud - no protection necessary except when you need something to tug on when you are slipping around in the weirdly slimy nasty stuff! I came round a corner and the mud started very quickly and I had no time to slow down and stop.
IMG_8222 by Jason WD, on FlickrDrop 2: Arkansas sand - again... no need for the bars really, I think the hand guards did most of the work. Getting the bike up in this situation was a massive massive task. I even managed to put the panniers and my armour on an ant hill. Joy!
IMG_8234 by Jason WD, on FlickrDrop 3: Oklahoma Farm road - a deep deep dry mud rut fell the bike into a field of cotton. Nice and soft!
Drop 4: Colorado gravel road - This was a very hard road and caused the most damage, but again, the bars took most of the force and scratched the guards. The bike came to rest on the right side engine guards. It was night time, midnight, and I was very tired doing a simple U-turn, had a brain fart and bang! Down went the bike.
Drop 5: Rockies - I'm surprised I only dropped it once in the rocks. It was tough. A Jeep was coming uphill and I gave way on an off camber loose slope. The front wheel tucked and the bike went down on the rocks. Again, only the hand guards got cosmetic damage and there are some little scuffs on the DCT filter screws. No kind of engine guard could have prevented this because rocks are random!
IMG_8419 by Jason WD, on FlickrI stupidly overloaded a top box and overbalanced at the end of a long day, when I had to stop suddenly coming out of a carpark somewhere in the Vosges region in France earlier this week. The bike is unscathed, apart from a slight scuff to the left-side hand guards (and so am I), but the D-shaped upper section of my Givi crashbar set was bent in about 3-5 cm. towards the top left fairing (i.e. the point of maximum mechanical leverage, given the choice of potential places for direct support), and now almost touches it. The engine-guard section, which is directly bracketed into the frame in 3 places, was unaffected. It saved the whole bike this time, but what is effectively a one-off result isn't good enough for a bike designed for off-road use, in my view. I thought the set would do better. The components seemed quite hefty when I fitted them.
Maybe Hepco and Becker, Holan or Touratech, et al., use stronger materials on their similar designs. And please bear in mind that the bars came down hard on solid tarmac, with the extra weight of me (78 kg.) and the heavy top box (maybe 35 kg.+ - yes, I know!) giving them an extra whack. I mean, that guy from Outback Motortek dropped his BMW riderless and unloaded on a gravel drive. But nonetheless, it looks like the verdict rests with SW Motech/Outback Motortek approach at the moment.
Maybe Hepco and Becker, Holan or Touratech, et al., use stronger materials on their similar designs. And please bear in mind that the bars came down hard on solid tarmac, with the extra weight of me (78 kg.) and the heavy top box (maybe 35 kg.+ - yes, I know!) giving them an extra whack. I mean, that guy from Outback Motortek dropped his BMW riderless and unloaded on a gravel drive. But nonetheless, it looks like the verdict rests with SW Motech/Outback Motortek approach at the moment.
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329 Posts
Back to bike, bar close to tank, squat, fail... swear lots, pace about, pull anything off the bike, try again, pull a muscle in your back and eventually get the thing upright.
I low sided in some deep dust here in socal last week doing power donuts...Honda uppers saved the fairings, not a scratch, but even with the super soft substrate I still punched a 2"x1" hole in my alternator cover dumping all my oil and ripped my passenger footrest hanger completely off...
Mind sharing pics plz?
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38 Posts
In the last 13000 Km i had some small falls off road, SW-Motech crash bars protected properly, the contact points were the handle bar (I do not use the passenger footpegs) the crash bars and the GIVI brackets.
I believe that for small falls are enough, but for something more dramatic ... you better have a good insurance
I believe that for small falls are enough, but for something more dramatic ... you better have a good insurance
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208 Posts
I am wondering if there are engine bars out there that will fit with the Honda upper Bars ? I had carbon engine covers on the clutch and alternator covers of my KTM 950SM, and they certainly worked when I fell off once.
I believe RuggedRoads version can fit the Honfa ORM bars. Check their website.
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379 Posts
It sounds to me like you got good value out of that guard. It saved your bike. With the SW-Motech you might have ended up with a cracked fairing. Take it off and straighten it out.
They certainly do - fitted to my bike.
I have the full bunker Heed set and Barkbusters on my DCT. On a steep hill turn around I found my left leg about two feet too short and had a hard (not on me) tip over. I then had to drag the bike around 180 to get the wheels pointing downhill to pick the bike up. No damage at all to the bars, levers, mirror, or fairings or anything actually.
The Heed bars did move in about 1/4" at the top. My son looked at it and said "looks like you got quite a few more drops left in the bars" lol.
After seeing many pics of scarred up AT's I knew high on my list was some protection and very happy with the Barkbusters and the Heed bars.
The Heed bars did move in about 1/4" at the top. My son looked at it and said "looks like you got quite a few more drops left in the bars" lol.
After seeing many pics of scarred up AT's I knew high on my list was some protection and very happy with the Barkbusters and the Heed bars.
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