Which engine bars?

[v8guy]

I've come round to the idea of fitting a set of engine bars. Any recommendations?

So far I've found aftermarket sets from Givi, SW Motech and Hepco & Becker, in addition to the OEM. I'm leaning towards the SW Motech set atm, but any comments or experiences are welcome!

[Skids]

I went through the same process before getting the Givi. My reasoning was the mounting points and robustness of the Givi bars made them more effective than the others.

JMO of course.

[stubax]

When I got my bike I enquired about the Honda bars, dealer talked me out of them as he said they wouldn't offer any protection and where only for mounting aux. lights

[AndrewP]

Mine's got the SW-Motech ones, and the protection on both sides "should" be adequate. Not keen to test the level of protection they offer any time soon.

[v8guy]

Thanks for the replies. I think I'd agree, in some respects, with the notion that engine bars won't make much difference for some kinds of crashes.. a big, heavy bike like ours will go down hard if it goes down. At the same time some protection for engine casings and plastics in the event of a low speed drop seems an entirely sane idea.

@skids - the mounting point of the various options seems to be the same, no? The Givi bars do look more substantial wrt cross-bracing though.

Part of my reasoning for fitting them is so I have something to attach those Lomo bags someone posted about a while back.. can't get enough wine in the cases!

[Goggins]

Hi, V8guy, have you decided which ones to go for? I like the look of the hepco + becker ones as they almost follow the lines of the plastic covers. On the other hand, the other two mentioned above do look as though they might offer a bit more protection as where they mount to the frame is more in line with bar it’s self.

[v8guy]

Originally Posted by Goggins

Hi, V8guy, have you decided which ones to go for? I like the look of the hepco + becker ones as they almost follow the lines of the plastic covers. On the other hand, the other two mentioned above do look as though they might offer a bit more protection as where they mount to the frame is more in line with bar it’s self.

No, not decided yet. It's hard to know which would provide better protection, really.. it's just speculation. I just ask that they can protect the bike in a stationary or relatively low speed spill. I think any accident at higher speeds, short of encasing the entire bike in a roll cage, is likely to result in a write-off based on the cost of fairing parts and the weight of the bike. The laws of physics apply; heavy bike == much momentum == big damage.

[Skids]

Originally Posted by v8guy

No, not decided yet. It's hard to know which would provide better protection, really.. it's just speculation. I just ask that they can protect the bike in a stationary or relatively low speed spill. I think any accident at higher speeds, short of encasing the entire bike in a roll cage, is likely to result in a write-off based on the cost of fairing parts and the weight of the bike. The laws of physics apply; heavy bike == much momentum == big damage.

Yr absolutely correct. 

A week after I fitted my Givi's, I dropped the bike on the driveway. 

The only damage was scuffing on the bars themselves so they did their job.

I imagine most makes will do the same job.

[DaveT]

first thing i fitted to my bike were givi bars. oh boy am i glad i did. pulled up on slope whilst out today and dropped bike on to left side thought the worst. givi bars took the whole weight, light touch to front indicator and rear pegs scratch on bars which took whole weight. best £100 i've ever spent 

[Skids]

Originally Posted by DaveT

first thing i fitted to my bike were givi bars. oh boy am i glad i did. pulled up on slope whilst out today and dropped bike on to left side thought the worst. givi bars took the whole weight, light touch to front indicator and rear pegs scratch on bars which took whole weight. best £100 i've ever spent 

  Glad yr ok.