R1200RT '16 Engine bars

[Will Lucero]

I'm planning to install Engine bars in my R1200RT '16. I've noted there are plenty for'13s and previous years but for 16's the offer is limited. so far I've found 2.

 

http://www.iliumworks.com/index.cfm?pn=30-200BL&pID=98 These are Ilium they look really good and I can add lights and foot pegs, but I prefer chrome or aluminum color. Apparently they only come in black.

 

Second option I've found are these ones:

http://www.wunderlich.de/shop/en/engine-protection-bar-r1200rt-lc-3.html The brand is Wunderlich and I have to order from Germany.

I like Ilium, especially because it will be a country delivery and I like the video they posted to help with the installation, the problem is the color. My bike is gray.

 

The Question: have any of you tried the Ilium bars? any experience?

Are there any other recommended brand or website that have Engine bars for R1200RT 16?

 

Thanks!

[Mike]

I have the Ilium bars. The installation was relatively easy and they're beautifully made. They seem extremely robust; I can't imagine others could protect better.

 

The installation took roughly an hour, including removal and replacement of the body panels.

[Will Lucero]

I agree they look very robust!, thanks!

[gordiet]

I have them in black. Look good, hope they work good!

 

GT

[LATiger]

I'm planning to install Engine bars in my R1200RT '16. I've noted there are plenty for'13s and previous years but for 16's the offer is limited. so far I've found 2.

 

http://www.iliumworks.com/index.cfm?pn=30-200BL&pID=98 These are Ilium they look really good and I can add lights and foot pegs, but I prefer chrome or aluminum color. Apparently they only come in black.

 

I just installed the black. They look great on my '16 R1200RT Ebony Metallic. Here's a link for the silver metallic Ilium bars:

 

Ilium Engine Bars

 

[Stbell]

+ 1 for the ilium bars. They look awesome.and I am sad to say the work well too. I dropped my bike coming off the center stand when I slipped but the bars did their job and protected my bike from damage. Well worth the investment!

[Mike]

Not that I've put them to the test yet--and I hope not too--but this photo from the Ilium Works website is what sold me:

 

 

If you crash at speed, you're going to do some significant damage, regardless of the bars. However, if it's a simple tip-over, the Ilium Works bars offer enough protection that you may not completely destroy the sidecase on that side.

 

Someone posted somewhere (I believe it was on the MOA forum) that the Wunderlich bars had bent when put to the test. I can't say from personal experience whether they're of similar quality to the Ilium bars, but the Ilium setup has a bar that runs from the right cylinder protector to the left one; once you get everything connected and snugged up, it seems that that design would offer quite a bit more rigidity.

[Artee]

I put chrome Wunderlich on my 2016RT (San Marino Blue). Took about an hour and I think they look great.

 

(After having a K exclusive, my appreciation for chrome was renewed)

[Will Lucero]

Thanks y'all for the feedback, I will go for the Ilium and I will add LEDs and Pegs. It is not my firs bike and I dropped others, so better to be covered and I like the idea of adding accessories like the Pegs, for long rides they are really comfortable.

[Will Lucero]

Awesome, thanks!

[RTnger]

I tried to put the illium on a 2014 wethead and the installation was a nightmare. I had to call them on the phone. They advised me that some did not fit as expected because of some kind of manufacturing deviance depending on the manufacturing date.

 

I did not like them

 

I prefer the Ztechnik style for an RT. But they haven't produced them yet for a 2016

[moshe_levy]

I have seen both the Ilium and Wunderlich side by side. My take is that the Ilium are beefier overall, and definitely more conducive to mounting footpegs in a reachable position.

 

I have the full Wunderlich setup including the top bars, mainly because I needed to mount the big Sevina lights and other accessories to test. Aesthetically it is horrendous, but again, my RT is a functional bike, not a pretty one.

 

 

These top bars mount on flimsy plastic beneath the tupperware, so I seriously doubt they would offer anything at all in a tipover (other than the added expense of fixing what they're attached to beneath the tupperware.) But, in fairness, I was just nailed on the highway at night by a flying chunk of shredded truck tire. It hit the front end, breaking the headlight surround and LED turn signal, before swinging toward the right side. (The headlight assembly, worth $650+, was completely saved by my Cee Bailey's headlight guard.) The Wunderlich bar took the side impact, and completely protected the Sevina and the tupperware. A little elbow grease with compound, and the bars look like new. If those things WERE hit, it would run into the thousands to repair / replace properly.

 

The rear bars IMO are worth their weight in gold. They saved my 2009 RT on an errant trailer ride when the tie straps broke and the bike tipped violently at speed. The design for the 2016 RT is MUCH sturdier and easier to install than the old Hexhead bars.

 

If going engine guards alone, I'd go Ilium over Wunderlich, for sure. But if going for the whole set, only Touratech and Wunderlich offer such options.

 

-MKL

[PadG]

......

 

I prefer the Ztechnik style for an RT. But they haven't produced them yet for a 2016

Why would the '16 bars be any difference to the '14 or '15? I prefers the Ztecnik bars also, but when I needed the bars, for my previous '14 RT, the only ones available was the Wunderlich, and so that is what is on my '15 RT now.

[AndyS]

Pad, I think he means that the Ztechnik did them for the Pre Wethead RT's but not the Wethead.

[roadriderg]

Ztechnik does have the wetheat bars available. The look great but also a hefty price tag of 499.00 model z7103

 

http://www.nationalcycle.com/z7103.html

[PadG]

Pad, I think he means that the Ztechnik did them for the Pre Wethead RT's but not the Wethead.

They do make them for the wetheads. Unfortunately, the product didn't arrive until more than a year after the '14 came out! Yeah, they are a little pricey, but I like the look of the product when I had the bars on my '07!

[Sam Rowland]

No Wunderlich don't have to be ordered from Germany...

http://www.wunderlichamerica.com/

[RTnger]

I tried to put the illium on a 2014 wethead and the installation was a nightmare. I had to call them on the phone. They advised me that some did not fit as expected because of some kind of manufacturing deviance depending on the manufacturing date.

 

I did not like them

 

I prefer the Ztechnik style for an RT. But they haven't produced them yet for a 2016

 

 

 

Though someone already corrected me. Yea, sorry folks, I found out I was incorrect about there not being a ztechnik bar for the 16s

[themagicone]

Enough lights?

[moshe_levy]

Is there such a thing?

 

-MKL

 

(But seriously, I was testing them for a magazine article - my RT is my test rig.)

 

-MKL

[themagicone]

Which ones you like best? By the front fork or on the engine bar? Trying to decide for my new bike. Also the rear bag guards, did you try them with a passenger? Reviews have been saying legs hit them and get sore.

[Ralphie]

I like both the Ilium bars by themselves. Love them with the highway pegs. The highway pegs are really versatile and comfortable.

 

If you are using highway pegs I'd put Ilium at the top of the list for engine bars. I went for black for my Ebony RT and like the look.

[Dave Stephens]

Ilium does make a silver metallic finish engine guard as it is what I have on my bike. They're beefy and you can hang pegs, lights, whatever on them.

 

Ilium Engine Guard Bars - Silver Metallic Finish

 

http://s33.postimg.org/pdbw5umu3/2015_RT_with_Ilium_Engine_Guard.jpg' alt='2015_RT_with_Ilium_Engine_Guard.jpg'>

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[Copper]

How do you like the Sargent back rest? I have the seat but am looking for input for the back rest. Thanks.

[zenwhipper]

I went with the Touratech bars. Very solid and nicely done. They do tend to make the bike look a 'cagey' if you know what I mean. Perhaps a bit too much steel. But, I like them.

 

 

 

 

[Dave Stephens]

How do you like the Sargent back rest? I have the seat but am looking for input for the back rest. Thanks.

 

Love the Sargent back rest. A real back saver on the longer rides.

[strataj]

To do the valve check/adjustment you need to remove the Touratech bars, that's something to consider. On my 02 oilhead you needed to be very careful not to over tighten the valve cover screws or you would strip the threads, on the wethead it's only 10nm which seems the same torque to me.

 

Jay