Do engine protection bars cause damage??

[jed1]

Ive been reading and doing many forum searches about engine valve covers and engine protection bars.

Ive read that some people are of the opinion (or have seen) that some engine bars/valve covers cause more damage in the event of a fall (cracked engine cases and bolts sheering off etc) than if no protection had been installed?

At this stage I only have the plastic BMW valve covers installed and Im looking to upgrade the level of protection for the lovely boxer on my bike, for some upcoming longer trips. I have/had decided on the Hepco and Becker engine bars, but Im now a little apprehensive to do so as Im not to keen on cracking engine covers/breaking frames etc, in the event of a minor fall.

Does anyone know of any negatives with the Hepco and Becker bars. Also, what are people's thoughts on the Touratech metal valve covers? Again, Ive done a search on this forum about them, but there does not seem to be much info on them.

Any advice would be kindly appreciated.

Safe riding,

Jed.

[GeorgeRoberts]

I had Hepco-Becker bars installed on my R1200R at the time of purchase. I had recently totalled my R1200RT on the Blue Ridge parkway, grinding a hole on the valve covers (both sides!) in the process. No protection on the engine at the time. Since I am anal now about engine damage in a tipover, or a slide, I ordered X-Head guards (www.machineartmoto.com) for extra protection. Problem is, they don't fit with the Hepco-Becker bars.
So now I have just the Hepco-Becker bars installed. What would happen in a slide like I experienced on the Blue Ridge? I can't say, and I hope I don't find out! I feel better with the bars on the bike than to have no protection, and I think they offer more protection than those plastic covers. TheHepco-Beckers seem sturdy enough, but the forces exerted in a 40-45 MPH slide are pretty severe. I wouldn't worry about damage in a tipover though. I'd like to hear comments from other folk.
George Roberts, Lancaster, PA
2007 R1200R
1983 R100RT
1966 R50/2

[Liam]

Hi,

I bought the Hepco and Becker bars with my R1200R mostly as insurance against tip over damage. They look good.

About a month ago I had a zero speed tip over. I was on the left side, putting the left saddlebag on, the ground wasn't level, the bike went down on it's right side. The right saddlebag got some scratches, the right engine guard got some scratches, and, of course, the right engine cylinder got some scratches. No cracks, no bending, no leaks, no problems, but the bars didn't do what I bought them for.

I replaced them with the SW Motech bars that have received so much praise on this forum. I think they deserve it. To find out what part of the engine would contact the ground in a tip over, I put a block of wood across the gap between the part of the bars that are in front of each cylinder and the part behind each cylinder. No part of either cylinder touched the wood. It came close, but no touch. My guess is the closeness is to minimize the effect on the lean angle.

I hope that tip overs are as serious an accident as I'll have. If most of my accidents are low speed, then I win the gamble. I did read someplace that the cylinders on the boxer tend to keep the bike off your leg in a low side. I can't see how the bars could do anything but help. That makes the bars good for my wallet in the low speed case, and my legs in the high speed case.

Of course the protective effects of the boxer cylinders could be urban legend, but for now, I'm glad I have them.

Liam

[Edmundo Amado]

I had a slow speed (10-15 mph) fall, and my protection worked great!! I have the plastic protection, which had some grinding and crushing as well as the side pannier. That was it, no damage to the cylinder head, frame.. Not even the mirror!!! I don't think that any protection will work at a higher speeds.

[icecave]

Replacing the protection and cosmetic damaged parts, hundreds of dollars. Pick up the bike and ride it after a tip-over or crash, priceless.

[ShinySideUp]

While I have the Hepco & Becker bars, I'm somewhat worried after seeing a photo of a busted out piece of the case after a crash. (Link found in another thread on this forum, somewhere).

That said, I had my bike hit fairly hard by a woman backing out of her driveway. She veered out of her driveway, over the curb and slammed into the back of my bike. The bike went all the way over, flat with the street, and was hit with enough force that it slid along the asphalt for about a foot or so. Result: abraded paint and some metal on the crash bars, scratched side case lid, and busted bar-end mirror. No damage to the valve cover.

Crashes are random, unpredictable kinds of events. I don't think it's possible to figure out exactly what will end up being destroyed. Short of being confronted with a set of statistics derived from a sufficiently large sample of crash data, I feel better with the bars, and will take my chances on a big repair bill.

[stogiepuffer]

I too am up in the air about this issue. I have hard crash guards and still do on my airhead but they bolt to the frame. I am concerned about bolting bars to the engine proper. ZTechniks has a new set of crash bars that they say bolt to the engine mounts. I e-mailed them to verify that they bolt onl to the frame, not the engine proper. They look clean and the price isn't too bad. We shall see.

[icecave]

Based on personal experience the Kawasaki KZP protection system works very well. "The primary crash-protection feature is the chrome-plated crash bars at the front of the frame and surrounding the saddleboxes and rear fender." During advance riding class, we (everyone taking the classs) either dropped/crashed these bikes during slow and high speed runs (bike tumbles) in the practice course. The bikes were immediately returned service after each crash even if the rider couldn't. The old Timex tag line "takes a licking and keeps on ticking" certainly applys.

For the R bike, system cases do not have the crash bars surround them and the Hepco & Becker (my cylinderhead protection solution and drive shaft) are mounted to the engine case and not the frame. This setup should work for most slow falls, of course the one the drop I will have it will not .

[icecave]

The author of the following article argue that crash bars are dangerous based on reviewing a number of crashes (older bikes).

http://w6rec.com/duane/bmw/crashbars/index.htm

[jed1]

Im very close to abandoning the idea of engine bars altogether.

What are peoples opinions of different brands of valve cover? As stated previously, I have the BMW plastic valve covers and I think they really do look nice. I also think they will be of reasonable/good protection in a stationary drop or maybe a VERY low speed one. However, I do think that they'd get eaten away pretty quickly by a faster tip-over.

I quite like the look of the Touratech metal covers, or maybe even the BMW covers (the metal ones that are supposedly for the GS series).

Thank all for your replies so far.

Safe riding,

Jed.

[NeilS]

Jed,

I agree that the plastic BMW covers look reasonably good and provide reasonable protection from a tip-over. But you should realize that they cause damage of their own: Dirt and crud gets between the plastic covers and the valve covers, causing damage to the paint on the valve covers. So you have a choice of cosmetic damage to the valve covers due to the "protectors" or cosmetic damage to the valve covers due to a tip-over.

I've also noticed that, due to production tolerances, there is sometimes interference between the plastic BMW covers and the SW Motech crash bars. It's not enough that it all can't be put together, but, in at least some installations, the crash bars touch the plastic covers at a couple of points. And it makes removal of the plastic covers (for valve clearance adjustments, for example) more difficult.

[dderrig]

Jed,

I agree that the plastic BMW covers look reasonably good and provide reasonable protection from a tip-over. But you should realize that they cause damage of their own: Dirt and crud gets between the plastic covers and the valve covers, causing damage to the paint on the valve covers. So you have a choice of cosmetic damage to the valve covers due to the "protectors" or cosmetic damage to the valve covers due to a tip-over.

I've also noticed that, due to production tolerances, there is sometimes interference between the plastic BMW covers and the SW Motech crash bars. It's not enough that it all can't be put together, but, in at least some installations, the crash bars touch the plastic covers at a couple of points. And it makes removal of the plastic covers (for valve clearance adjustments, for example) more difficult.

The plastic covers may damage the paint on the valve cover but you never see it because you have ...wait.... the plastic protective covers on! So it's not an issue unless you decide you don't want them anymore.

Dave

[zei220]

I've just ordered a pair of the new Ztecknic ones... Should be here by the end of the week.

[eddiepat62]

I've just ordered a pair of the new Ztecknic ones... Should be here by the end of the week.

So... How do they look and what are the secured to? The frame or the block?

[zei220]

I don't know yet, they're not due here until the end of the week. It's a long way to Cheshire from the U.S.

[eddiepat62]

OOPS! I was looking at the wrong date for the post date. lol

I am torn between leaving well enough alone or bars like SW-MOTECH.

[Ckaine]

Evening All:

I have a set of the SW Motech bars-can anyone give me clear directions on how to attach the lower bolts??? The included pages are not very descriptive!

TIA

Chris

[Mollygrubber]

Have you resolved this Chris? If not, I can photograph mine so you can see how they go on...