BMWBMW

I'm contemplating adding crashbars to my R1200 GS which already has the bmw aluminum cylinder head guards. Not looking to get the bike into major off-road mode, but want some addl protection and maybe a mounting point for auxillary lights. Do not want to have to remove the things for routine maintenance like valve adjustments. These SW-Motech bars look like a reasonably good value for the money. Thanks in advance for the advice.

Can't comment specific to the 1200GS, but I had the SW Motech bars for my 1150R, sturdy and held up to a few minor tips. Great protection, easy to install though an extra hand is useful. Hardest landing on them was in a lot after a RTE. I put my foot down to stop and my ankle just buckled/rolled under me, dropped the bike on left as the throttle twisted - the effect was like screwing the bike into the pavement. Bars held up great with scratches you would expect but no other damage to mounting points or to the bike.

Gene,

I've got the Hepco Becker on my 1200. I've never had to take them off doing routine maintenance, including the valves.

gastone wrote:Gene,

I've got the Hepco Becker on my 1200. I've never had to take them off doing routine maintenance, including the valves.

I like the HB's as well. Mostly because you can get them in black.

The Hepco-Becker ones are nice, and you might want to check out the Wunderlich bars, as well. Both offer the option of adding upper protection for your gas tank. Here's a link to our Wunderlich catalog:

http://www.wunderlichva.com/

And here's a direct link to the "Protection" part of the catalog:

http://www.wunderlichva.com/catalog/8-protection/index.html

If you have any questions, give Patrick a call and he can talk you through any of this stuff.

When I rode a 12GS I installed Hepco-Becker bars. They did decrease cornering clearance a little, but only hit asphalt when encountering bumps during aggressive corners, and then only when I was lazy about body position . I'd install them again in a heartbeat. Scott

ERC Scott wrote:When I rode a 12GS I installed Hepco-Becker bars. They did decrease cornering clearance a little, but only hit asphalt when encountering bumps during aggressive corners, and then only when I was lazy about body position . I'd install them again in a heartbeat. Scott

Being the current owner of his former R12GS, I can say the Hepco-Becker crash bars are good

I installed the SW-Motech bars on my 08 GS. So far I've adjusted the valves and replaced the plugs without having to mess with the bars. No drops yet (knocking on wood). Let me know if you'd like me to email some pictures.

I ended up going with the SW-Motech, which seemed a good value for my needs. Altrider makes bulletproof gear, but bars have to come off for every valve adjust. I ordered them before reading Chiba's post - that bike has certainly given the bars some good testing opportunities!

As I did my searching, I read some cautions about mixing crash bars with the plastic valve cover protectors, on the theory that in a tipover the bars could flex into the protectors leading to damage from the very things you've installed for protection. these both installed pretty close to my BMW aluminum protectors, but I'm confident that the Aluminum protectors can come off for maintenance without needing to remove the crash bars. To my eyes, it looks as if any deflection of crash bars into the BMW protectors will apply force where the protectors have potential to flex, so I'm not really worried about that. It's a bit of a belt-and-suspenders setup.

They nicely attach to the engine and frame and the cross-bar between the two and in front of the engine should help (and shouldn't be an excessive impediment to wrenching).



The added benefit of having crash bars is that they provide a nice handhold for when I want to bend over to check the oil sight gauge without kneeling down on the garage floor.

Twisted Throttle had a good price and very promptly responded to my compatibility question, including their having a quick back and forth with SW-Motech.

The marketing copy said that the grey color goes well with the 1200GS frame, and that's correct - being a bit darker and a bit less silver in tone, they go fine with the bike but don't match. But they are crash bars, after all.