I like to warm up my 2009 R12 (30k miles) about every two weeks during the winter. During the latest warmup, I drove into a winter trap: the grooved wet concrete road descended and turned under a bridge. I could see the road was wet, so I slowed down to about 30 - 35 mph. In hindsight, the wet was ice, shaded from the sun by the bridge. The R12 fishtailed once, and before I knew anything, the bike was down, heading one way in a shower of sparks, and I was impersonating a hockey puck, fortunately having cleared the machine, heading in another direction.
Well, some kind motorists picked us both off the ground. Once on the side of the road, I surveyed the damage: besides being covered in salt mud, damaged to me and the machine was very light! Damn, I might be able to drive this thing home! After I cleaned the mud I took the following pics:
Picture 1 shows the cylinder head scar and severely warn scars on three points of the MoTech bars. No doubt the bars saved at least the head, possibly the valves and engine also.
The third picture shows the panniers - scarred, but not destroyed. I believe some Armor All and very fine steel wool will go a long way to restoring those. The center picture shows the damage to the rest of the machine: None! The bike skidded on three points: the MoTechs took most of the weight. They are very ground down. The panniers some of it, and the rear tire defined the third point of the plane, with no damage. The upper half of the machine rode out the event completely off the ground!
There was absolutely no damage to the handle bars and fuel tank! Not even missing paint on the end of the bars, they never touched the ground!
Two other points I would like to make: My BMW Atlantis leathers made the slide quite comfortable, and due to the wet icy concrete, only suffered cosmetic damage - nothing close to wear thru -
A final important point: The area between the panniers and the crash bars is a "sanctuary" for your legs. The weight of the machine never came down on my legs. This is a very important safety feature often overlooked by riders, but I believe it kept me from serious injury this time.
I have just ordered my third set of MoTech bars. Maybe I should try stamp collecting instead of riding. Can't say enough about these bars.
