Choice of Engine Guard

[RTinger]

What is your opinion on either on of these

[RTinger]

I will appreciate your feedback.

What is your opinion on either on of these

[Semper_Fi]

Nando - the one in your first post looks the best (imo) but it is useless for anything other than a 0 mph tip over (DAMHIK)

The second one is more robust and would actually protect.

Also jumping back to the first one - it is made out of plastic.

:beer

[Beemeup]

I looked at the first set very carefully and through many of the posts on this board and the Sport Touring Board, most people stated that they are good for one or two tip overs in the driveway only and will either break or be scratched enough so that it will be so obvious on the black color that you'll want to replace them anyway. At $180 a replacement that didn't seem practical to me. I bought the second ones (the ZTechnik guards) and I installed them last Saturday myself. They cost $290.00, but I can tell you first hand that they are very solid and will easily deal with driveway tip overs and worse. They are mounted to 3 different places very solidly and won't move once you've got them on. Sure they'll scratch if you drop the bike, but you may be able to rub it out or at the very least it won't be as visible as it would be on black. The other thing that I liked about the ZTechnik guards is that you can remove the valve covers without removing the guards. Good luck with your choice Nando.
Don:scratch

[hjsbmw]

I have these: http://machineartmoto.com/shopsite_sc/xhead.html and like them. I didn't want the bar type simply due to the way they look. Also, the Machineart ones enclose the valve covers more fully compared to the plastic ones you posted. Taking them off is a non-issue. It takes under 2 minutes for both. I have seen the plastic ones you posted on eBay for under $50 but suspect it's for bootleg copies made in Asia. The latter may or may not be an issue.

[TourNut]

I bought the Wunderlich case bars that are in front of the jugs and out/under the sides. You can also take off the covers without taking off the bars with these and it gives you a lower horizontal bar to mount forward (highway) foot pegs.

[MPMARTY]

+1 on wonderlich bars

[waxer109452]

These are Hepco-Becker bars. They also don't need to be removed to adjust the valves.



2008 R1200GS

[womanridge]

I don't have either. I should think about buying one type or another. On the other hand, if you experience more than a tip over, does it really matter? I'm guessing any collision will harm more than the engine covers and/or heads. Just thinking out loud here.........
All the promos I see for the new 2010 camheads show covers. Are they trying to tell us something?

[deilenberger]

I have the BMW plastic ones..

The reason being - I don't want to crack the engine case, and that has happened with some of the bar type ones that fasten to the case. BMWs bar type (GS ones) have parts of the bar that appear to be purposely weak - designed to break off if enough force is put on them. I've heard people complain about the BMW design for this reason.

I also sorta figured that most any instance where I'd NEED the protection of bar type cylinder head protection, I'm likely to be in more trouble than a scratched or even cracked valve cover. The plastic ones may only be good for a garage sort of tipover - but that's what I'm trying to limit myself to. :blush

[dhgeyer]

I had plastic ones on the R850R that I just traded in. They were scratched when I got the bike (both of them), so I know it had gone down as far as the guards, but there wasn't any damage indicating it had gone any farther than that.

My daughter had a mishap pulling into the garage one afternoon. She panicked, and hit the throttle and the front brake at the same time. The bike spun out standing almost still and went down on the right side. It moved forward, which by that time was sideways in the garage, and edged into my wife's car, which arrested its forward motion, but the rear wheel was still spinning like crazy, leaving a crescent shaped burnout by the time she was done, and the bike was still rotating, on the cylinder head guard, in an arc around the immobilized front wheel. She finally let go of the throttle. She had stepped off the bike as it went down and was none the worse for wear. Why she didn't just let go of the throttle completely we'll never know. We laugh about it now.

There was some light damage to the right saddlebag, and the right plastic/metal cylinder head guard was bent and further scratched. I bent it back out, sanded and polished it, along with the saddlebag, and the episode cost me nothing. So, I'd say the plastic ones are a bit more robust than you'd think. I bought a set for the R12R. So far so good, but I haven't tested them yet, and I don't think the kiddo even wants to tackle the 1200, being quite content with the GZ250.

[Ludell]

After evaluating all of the above I ended up going with the GS aluminum head protectors on my R. I got scared off by the possibility of cracking the engine case due to impacts transferred to the case by protectors that bolt to the case... Probably just paranoid, though.

[snodraken]

I will probably pull the trigger on these after I get my taxes sorted.

http://www.altrider.com/images/thumbnail/product_large/feature-altrider-crash-bars-for-the-bmw-r-1200-gs.jpg:usa

All stainless construction, similar to TT's but just different enough to be unique. :drink

[bmwson]

I have SW Motech crash bars on my R1200ST. They are available for the GS as well. I have had two low speed drops. On on gravel at and intersection and one in my driveway against my brick house. They completely protected the bike in both cases. I have the black painted variety so all I had to do to repair the crash bars was a little sanding and some black spray paint. Good as new.

I got mine from Twisted Throttle

http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/2484/204/

[airoilheadbeemerguy]

After evaluating all of the above I ended up going with the GS aluminum head protectors on my R. I got scared off by the possibility of cracking the engine case due to impacts transferred to the case by protectors that bolt to the case... Probably just paranoid, though.

No you are not paranoid, had that happen to my bike and the bars will never go back on. I would like to buy the GS protectors, more info it you would please.

[Kenn45]

I am using the GS Adventure guards on my RT. They were suggested by the dealer service manager. They look like they were made for the bike and are much more substantial than the plastic ones. I have attached a photo.

[THEO]

What material are the GS Adventure guards made out of?

I was thinking about the Verholens:

http://www.ascycles.com/images/products/verholen/10159_verholen_12boxer_cylprotection.jpg

Any thoughts?

[TinyTrains]

Those Verholens look great. But they are the same price for a pair as a new valve cover, and I did not seem them listed separately.
If I had as much as a scratch on one I would want to replace it.

I went with the BMW plastic ones.
Good for a tip-over.
Can be easily replaced separately for $70 each
Won't show little scuffs.

If you lay it down at speed, I suspect none of the screw on covers will protect your valve covers completely. Then you get to buy at cover and protector.

Off road, is a different story.

Scott

[Kenn45]

The GSA guards appear to be heavy guage aluminum.