Need to know what crashbars to mount on my R1100GS (-97). Most of them seems to be made in Germany (surprise). I don´t want to remove them when changing the oil or adjusting valves. Good protection is also an issue.
:confused1:
Any knowledge about Zweckdesign in Germany? Are they still in business? Tried to contact them by e-mail in english but no response.
They have a nice front-end modification as a set to remove the "schnabel".

Zweckdesign seems to be in business. Got a reply from Manfred today.

Really no one out there with experience of crashbars on a 1100? Need opinions, good or bad!:confused1:

Hi, I have no idea about 1100GS crashbars cause I have a 1150GS but when I was to buy mine I got many information and my conclusion was that Hepco Becker crashbars were the best. Even the Touratech dealer recomended me to buy the Hepco. Also check Krauser and decide what you like best. Greetings...

I've had both stock BMW and Hepco&Becker on my R1100GSes. They're both good in their own ways but if I had to pick I'd recommend stock OEM guards.

They're lighter, doesn't bend that easily (they just don't have any "room" to be bent) as H&Bs do and if they do they don't damage header pipes and they're easy to bend back. Also BMW sells all the parts separately if you damage one of the sides - a big pro. I've done through a serious high speed crash and stock guards did amazing job - engine was one of the only "non-touched" parts of the bike.

Now I have H&B guards, they're nice, but I've done through a smaller crash - they're now bent, they dented one of my header pipes also, it could have been much worse, and now can't do valve adjustments (valve covers don't come off coz of bent guards) w/o taking the whole guards off anymore, and it's so bloody hard to bend them back because of their design. Currently I've just taken them off, I'll try to bend them again, if no success I rather ride w/o the guards or buy BMW stock engine guards again.

Touratech's are very similar to stock BMW 1100GS guards, but a bit easier on oil replacing and made apparently from a bit stiffer metal (on the contrary, I think the "softness" of the stock guard were they key that the engine was OK after the crash while I think stiff guards would have damaged the engine in contact). Removing sump guard with stock engine guards is easy if you learn the easy "trick" how to lift out the sumpguard out. I removed the 4 sump guard bolts and one of the inter-connecting arm bolts between the two sides of engine guards, lifted them a bit apard so they give enough space to slip the sump guard out on the bottom of the engine, and again in after you're done with oil.

Patrick,
I subscribe to the "no crash bar is best" theory. More hasle than they are worth.
Some bars cause damage to the engine/frame by transferring impact energy.
Think about adding some rocker cover protection and leave it at that..

Steve.

Hi Margus, thanks for giving your opinion. The main diference between the H&B and the original one (at least in the 1150) are the side bars, which give much more protection. I understand that if after your last crash the side bar of your crashbars is bended, if you would have had the originals one the crashbar wouldn´t be bended because they have no side bars, so your engine would be much more damaged. In some accidentes the side bars are not necessary, but sometimes they are, and in that case I prefer my crashbars to be bended but my engine to be in one piece. Greetings, Carlos.

R1100GS after the high speed crash I did through:



We've kicked off by a polish fully tatooed chav who did illegal maneuver on the road with his car.

(PS: thanks to boxer cylinders my and g/f's (thanks to alloy boxes too) leg bones were saved, with any other bike I'd very probably had a broken leg)

That's the point where I'd recommend "soft" protection like the OEM guards are. They just 'softly' "wrap around" the engine/cylinders (it's on the left side cylinder on my scenareo) during the hard crash scenareo, while some HARDCORE protection like H&B will probably basically crack your engine casing or mounting since they're much stronger than the engine casing material.

Don't get me wrong, I think H&Bs do their job well too. But from my experiences H&B has apparently one big design flaw - they have tendency to damage the header pipes being too close to them, like they damaged on mine. And it was a relatively slowspeed crash while I did some enduro riding. I wonder if it were a bit higher speed or faster impact crash then I'd probably had written off header pipe and I'd be left on the road while I'd probably would continue with OEM or TT design-like protection...

From my practice I tend to agree and I think the "soft" minimalistic protection is the best choice - not some hardcore stiff pipes that can do a lot of damage to the engine alone.

This seems also good idea:



Any experiences or "crash testing" with these?

Oh my God! What an accident you had! I hope you where not bad injured after that. The Spanish Wunderlich dealer (Boxertodo) had a big accident with the H&B including 4 or 5 somersaults, and the frame and engine resulted intact. As I can see in you picture the black side protector was damaged after the accident so the engine was beaten. This is what side bars avoid. But of course I also understand your opinion and probably the effectiveness of each part depends on the kind of accident. Sometimes H&B can be worse and sometimes better...What I definitly disagree is with the non protection, any silly fallen without crashbars can cost you lot of money to repair....Greetings

I have the H&B bars on my 1100 for about 100,000km and "so far" I like them. I can get the valve covers off without a problem and an oil change doesn't involve dismantling the bike. A big plus for me is when riding long distance I can stretch our my legs over the cylinders and my heels rest on the leading edge of the H&B bars and I can sit with stretched our feet forward legs for miles and miles - very comfy. I put some non slip tape around the front of the crash bars and my boot heel just sits there very comfortably

__________________
...on the road to nowhere...

Biking roads by bikers for bikers www.bestbikingroads.com

I'm with Steve. I have just binned my crash bars. Useless. They just fold into the engine and get crushed out of shape by the road and the motor.

Anything too substantial could deform the frame in a crash. You are unlikely to survive a crash that takes a pot of the engine so why worry... and you save a bit of weight...

John

__________________
Nostradamus Ate My Hamster

I only own older boxers but I think there are some similarities.

IMHO crashbars are nice:

• When you drive to close to big stones the stones hit your crashguard instead of the lowest parts of your cylinder. Cooling fins get ripped of that way…
  
• Yes the crashbar bends and folds but that’s okay. They are absorbing energy that way, instead of sending the energy directly to the cylinders/heads.
  
• When the bikes slides on it’s side on tarmac for a long distance it will hopefully rest on a solid crashbar and not a soft alu-cylinder head.

Yes you might call this crashbar overkill but after a crash in 100++km/h where the bike slide for 50-100 meters I started the bike and kept on driving.

Hey guys! I knew that you had experienced the hard way things that I want to avoid. I understand your point, and I have to admit that the decision is not easy to make. I think I will opt for the light crashbar. At least it is useful if the bike simply tips over. I also want something between those aluminum fins and Terra Firma. Thank You very much for your answers!!!!!

I’m also not a fan of crash bars. I can't speak for the TT guards but it’s a huge pity that Jim has stopped producing his fantastic Stanton head guards for the GS. If you ever see a pair on eBay, they are worth buying.


Mine had a fight with a car and won.
Stephan

Attached Images

   

They tend to be pricy, but worth the expense, IMHO. They do not have to be totally removed to change the oil, which is a big plus.