Engine crash bars--which to buy?

[Stan Wyner]

I'm picking up a used 2011 R1200RT with factory low suspension--good for my short inseam. I'm interested in installing engine crash bars, but I don't know good from bad.  I'd like the selling dealer to install them before I hit the road--1400 miles to home. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[wbw6cos]

Welcome to the forum.

 

I have the new 1250 RT and just finally ordered the engine crash bars from Ilium Works (they just became available for the new motor.)

 

http://www.iliumworks.com/   

 

They had to design new ones as the motor is slightly different than the 1200 motor.  I already have the side case protection bars installed (2019 has same chassis as prior model year.)  You did not mention those, but they compliment the engine guards.

 

Check out the video of John dropping his RT on the pavement to show the protection ability of the bars,  The installation is pretty straight forward; they send you printed directions and also have a video of the procedure on their website.  

 

There are other options, but I like these.

 

Regards,

William

[Pappy35]

Illium doesn't offer any for a Camhead RT that I can find on their site. You could buy these from Wunderlich for $500 or get the exact same ones from EBay. Me? I bought the ones on EBay and they work ok. Looking at the reviews on Wunderlich I'd say I had some of the same issues installing them so, for $300 less, I'm glad I got them from China. Took 9 days to arrive.

 

Now, I'm not entirely happy with them for the issues you can read about in the reviews on Wunderlich. Next summer (or maybe never, who knows...) I'm getting the bar made by ZTechnik. The Wunderlich/China bars do allow you to remove the head covers but they need to be removed to get the side fairings off and that gets old after a few repetitions. After a few more times I'm going to cough up the cash to get the Z's because they don't appear to interfere with anything for normal maintenance.

[PadG]

Personally, I like the Ztechnik bars.  This is what it looks like on my prior hexhead '07 RT, and the one for your camhead would look the same, mounted:

 

[Pappy35]

Pad,

 

Am I right that with those Z's you can get the side fairings off without removing the engine bars?

[simskid]

With the Ztechnik you can get the valve covers and fairings off.  Had em on my 09 RT and now on my 16RT.

[Danny caddyshack Noonan]

The Iliumworks hiway pegs also serve as a crash bar.  I've (inadvertently, not in gear) pushed mine off the sidestand and never hit the cam cover.  Right side mounting - see the other thread.  When brand new, I stalled and dropped it on the right side and never hit the cover.  They stick out just enough that the mirrors and sidecases make a nice bridge with the peg mounts.

Edit: Forgot to add that the tube, normally covered with a black plastic plug, makes a good place to tack weld a nut inside for mounting aux lights down low.

[etitanic]

I was looking for my R1250RT and asked about the auxiliary lighting. Got the following response 

 

Hello Ed
The Z7103 will not work on the R1250RT.  We are working on a new bar for this application that will work with the optional bmw auxiliary lights.
 

--

Ride safe

Scott Durham
Technical Service Lead

National Cycle

[wbw6cos]

5 hours ago, etitanic said:

I was looking for my R1250RT and asked about the auxiliary lighting. Got the following response 

 

Hello Ed
The Z7103 will not work on the R1250RT.  We are working on a new bar for this application that will work with the optional bmw auxiliary lights.
 

--

Ride safe

Scott Durham
Technical Service Lead

National Cycle

 

If you go the Ilium Works route, you will have to buy their brackets to mount the BMW auxillary lights to the crash bars, which adds $110 to the purchase.

[Rougarou]

On 4/21/2019 at 8:05 PM, Stan Wyner said:

Engine crash bars--which to buy?

 

I just use the cylinder heads,.....they seem to work well at sliding across the pavement at 45ish and come standard on every bike, the side case will also act as a good buffer.

[PadG]

23 hours ago, Pappy35 said:

Pad,

 

Am I right that with those Z's you can get the side fairings off without removing the engine bars?

Oh, yes!  Valve covers comes off without interference as well, very much unlike the Wunderlich bars that I have on my '15 RT right now.  The other thing is that I often scrape pegs, but never had the Ztechnik bars touch down.  OTOH, I just scraped the Wunderlich bar again yesterday!!!

[PadG]

9 hours ago, etitanic said:

I was looking for my R1250RT and asked about the auxiliary lighting. Got the following response 

 

Hello Ed
The Z7103 will not work on the R1250RT.  We are working on a new bar for this application that will work with the optional bmw auxiliary lights.
 

--

Ride safe

Scott Durham
Technical Service Lead

National Cycle

That is very interesting, since I am planning on getting the 1250RT next year!  I knew that the existing Ztechnik bars do fit the 1250RT, and also knew that they are working on a new design for the 1250RT, but didn't know what specifically is being redesign.  Now I know, and that is very good!  OTOH, I still wonder why the aux. light bars cannot fit with the existing Ztechnik bars, because that end of the light bar is a threaded boss, which can replace the nut that is used to secure the crash bar to the bike!  Wunderlich simply provide an extra hole in their mounting tab at that location for the light bar, which makes it quite convenient, but perhaps unnecessary?