Crash Bars

[dogdoc]

Greetings,

 

I am new to the forum. I am a longtime GS rider looking for an ST to replace my '02 HD RoadGlide (30K) that I just totaled. The Japanese sport-tourers just do not seem to speak to me and I am familiar with Boxers.

My GS has crash bars and has been down on a number of occasions with inconsequential damage. What products do you recommend to protect an RT's expensive plastic?

 

Thanks,

 

DD

 

 

[Jerry Duke]

Common sense and riding within your abilities has worked for me.

[johnlt]

Welcome to the board dogdoc. I believe Touratech and Wunderlich both make a nice set of stainless steel bars. I have Touratech on my RT and they work great but I do have to remove a section to take the valve covers off. I believe Wunderlich has a design that allows the valve covers to be removed without taking any of the bars off. Nice feature.

[moshe_levy]

Z-technik also has a nice set of bars for the valve covers, and in a current thread it seems Wunderlich is coming out with a set for the system cases.

 

-MKL

[Deek]

Common sense and riding within your abilities has worked for me.

 

....so far!

 

Seriously, the OP might be interested in some of the valve case protectors (crash bars seems a little too much to me!). I have had a pair on my last two BMWs, and they worked well the one time I made the mistake of rolling backward out of a parking spot, with sand, used the brake with the front wheel cocked - and BINGO, down she went. There was ZERO damage other than a few scratches on the case guard. Well, that was to the bike; my ego was horribly shattered......first "drop" I've even had. Hopefully the last.

[notacop]

Common sense and riding within your abilities has worked for me.

 

Apparently you've never met a diesel slick, or a bit of gravel or an incline at parking lot speeds. You must not ride much or be very lucky.

There are those that have and those that will. Dang the bad luck!

[Vic Purvis]

The Z-technic bars work for me.They look good and go on easy,about 20 mim or so.

[mwood7800]

the Z-technic bars are great, they are stainless so I welded 2 tabs at 20degree angles for my drivers foot rest.

was spot-on

[markgoodrich]

I had bad luck with the valve cover type. Zero speed drop onto pavement bent the one which hit the ground, bent the valve cover bolts, too, and the bending of the "protector" scratched up the valve cover. I went with full bars, can't remember the brand, bought them used. Tupperware, valve covers, all come off without having to remove any part of the bars.

[Jerry Duke]

Oh, I've been down. But when I have gone down, it was always preventable and my fault. Showing off, trying to go too fast through a corner, stuff that I meant was not using common sense.

Over 250,000 miles on BMW's and every time I've gone down it was preventable and my fault. When I ride and pay 100% attention to my riding and what's around me, I don't go down.

Lucky? Yeah, some. But if you use common sense and ride within your abilities, luck doesn't have much to do with it.

 

Common sense and riding within your abilities has worked for me.

 

Apparently you've never met a diesel slick, or a bit of gravel or an incline at parking lot speeds. You must not ride much or be very lucky.

There are those that have and those that will. Dang the bad luck!