Engine bars or not?!

Motocod · Post by **Motocod** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 3:02 pm

In view of my bike falling over recently, I'm trying to decide whether to fit engine bars.

1. Does anyone do tubular bars for the R1100S?
2. I've seen some Aluminium ones which look kind of cool, but are a bit more GS really. Has anyone tried them? Motorworks list a set which look quite nice.
3. Any other options, short of carrying around spare rocker covers?!

I'm mainly thinking about going away on trips - a small tip off could cause big trouble if I end up with a hole in a rocker cover, so it would be good to have better protection than carrying around a tub of chemical metal, just in case!

Your collective thoughts and wisdom are appreciated, as ever!!

Nik

RiceBurner · Post by **RiceBurner** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 3:39 pm

You could try and find some of the HP2 'rubber socks' that they apparantly came with - silicone rubber boots that fit over the heads in the event of a spill off-road and prevent the loss of (too much) oil through the crack.

in fact - that'd be a good little business opportunity for someone in the rubber game.....

Motocod · Post by **Motocod** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 3:42 pm

Interesting idea - as it would happen I work for a company that specialises in low-volume production, and we do all kinds of processes - metals, plastics, and some rubber parts too. It had occurred to me to come up with my own design.

I'd be interested in finding out more about these "socks" - thanks for the suggestion.

metropolis2k · Post by **metropolis2k** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 5:09 pm

I've got the Hepco & Becker engine bars on my GS and the way they mount at the top will never work with the S. It's designed to go round the tank and mount underneath it so the fairing will just be in the way. I'm not convinced there's any way to mount them properly with the top of the frame without having to do something drastic to the fairing.

slparry · Post by **slparry** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 5:49 pm

http://www.bmwmotorcycle.com/bmw-emerge ... d=10230881

http://www.boxer-parts.eu/szczegolyProd ... an=4&cur=2

Motocod · Post by **Motocod** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 5:56 pm

That's hilarious, it's a condom for your bike!

er-minio · Post by **er-minio** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:57 am

1) bring the spare "rubber sock" as posted above.
I've seen people using it... does what it says on the tin.

2) I gently laid my R bikes on the asphalt a few of times over the years and I never broke the magnesium head... said that, on the R1150R I always used metal protectors, and they always did their job properly.

Cylinder Head by er-minio, on Flickr

The bottom grinding is from trackday, but the top bit is from hitting a new jersey (the cement blocks we have in the middle of motorways in Europe) at speed... and why I did that is a long story I'll maybe tell another time

I should have another picture of the metal protectors after an high side crash I had 8 years ago. It was battered, but it did its job. I'll see if I can find the pic.

These were sold by a company called Bikerfactory in Italy. I don't think they trade anymore, but there is quite a lot of similar ones on the market.

Unless you have a BCR.
In that case you're fucked

er-minio · Post by **er-minio** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:58 am

Oh, sorry Motocod, forgot we met some months ago at Brands!
So, if I remember correctly you don't have a BCR. Go for metal protectors!

er-minio · Post by **er-minio** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 9:01 am

This is what they looked originally... then I painted them black.

This is after the accident I mentioned earlier.

I went down mid-corner at speed.
Dislocated a shoulder, spent 30 mins laying on the asphalt with my friends helping me, but the bike was fine. Drove it for 60/70 miles back to Rome and the closest hospital.
It was painful for me and the bike, but as you can see, the protector gets the brunt of the damage from sliding...

Motocod · Post by **Motocod** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 9:44 am

er-minio wrote:Oh, sorry Motocod, forgot we met some months ago at Brands!
So, if I remember correctly you don't have a BCR. Go for metal protectors!

We did indeed meet at Brands - over a year ago now - what a fun day that was!

Those look perfect - something along those lines would be absolutely ideal. Thankyou for your input - I'll see if I can find anything out about the Bikerfactory parts.

Nik

er-minio · Post by **er-minio** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 10:13 am

> over a year ago now

True.
I admit I went to brands quite a few times after that, last time was July I think... got confused.

http://www.bikerfactory.it/

Seems like they don't do them anymore.
http://www.bikerfactory.it/Ricerca-Acce ... racilindri

The italian word for those is "paracilindri".

Wunderlich used to sell something similar to those though.

Motocod · Post by **Motocod** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 10:17 am

Thank you - I had a look at their site, and I've sent them an email, so you never know. Really appreciate your input.

I'll check out Wunderlich too.

Nik

RiceBurner · Post by **RiceBurner** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 10:26 am

Motocod wrote:That's hilarious, it's a condom for your bike!

If you end up make them for the R259 series engines, I'd be interested. I think it's a brilliant idea even though I've got Stanton head guards on my Rockster at the moment.

Motocod · Post by **Motocod** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 10:44 am

The reality is that the cost of development for a rubber part would be pretty high for me doing it as a "hobby" project, and I wouldn't really have access to the proper grades of rubber required for temperature tolerance and resistance to oils. Really it would require a rubber specialist (stop giggling at the back!) who can process the correct grade.

However, cast engine bars may be possible - my employer's parent company in German has a foundry and regularly does aluminium and magnesium castings. If someone has a set I can borrow I could 3D scan them and get the ball rolling... Would obviously require quite a bit of interest to make it viable though.

Nik

Motocod · Post by **Motocod** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 11:15 am

I quite like this one, albeit a little "GS-ish"

http://www.motorworks.co.uk/bmw/prodima ... A35600.jpg