I like mine.
On the bikes maiden voyage I came to a stop sign in unfamiliar territory.
At the stop the ground was away and lower. The bike started to lean and I couldn't stop it.
Only damage was a broken peg feeler and few scratches on the bar.

 

I like mine, though the right side is damaged now. I had a slow speed drop in the mud, right bar got scraped up and bent. Zero other damage done to the bike, not even a scratch. I am disappointed it bent on such a minor incident, but they are sacrificial after all. I'm sure I would have fared worse without them.

 

I tried some on my Pure, but I missed and prefer the naked look without them. It's not an adventure bike, and the difference between crash bars and cylinder guards isn't going to be the difference between me riding the odd fire road and not. I think they fit the bill better on a scrambler or UGS than on a classic/pure.

 

I like crash bars because they allow you to put some big ass lights on them. Ruby Moto lights allow you to be the sun god at night. I have the cheap knock off crash bars. They are the hepco&becker look likes

 

I had the same thoughts as you when I picked up my new R NineT so I picked up the SW-Motech for mine. According to the salesman (selling BMW's since 1978 or something) and the Assistant Parts Manager, they have only ever seen actual engine damage from one wreck where the guy did a low side and the bike slid into a curb tearing the head bolts out of the block. Apparently it was a weld job and it held up and was good to go, but I was just too nervous to let it go so I caved and bought some.

I trust them because I was going to buy them from the dealership and they essentially talked me out of it at first. They told me 99% of the time, the engine itself will be fine, but the valve covers would get messed up (obviously). Personal preference I suppose, but I don't mind the look of them at all. I almost forget they're there.

 

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate your thoughts. I think I am going to go naked for a while and see what I think. If I decide to add some protection, the SW Motech bars look very nice and ‘visually’ unobtrusive.

 

Just get some head protectors.

 

Think twice about the metal head protectors.
In an impact, these will crush against the heads, their fastening screws will get bent, resulting in a damaged (or scratched, at the very least) head and the threaded holes in the cylinder also possibly damaged.

 

One of the crazy challenges is this is such a beautiful bike (i splurged on the 719 upgrades) that I don’t want to take away from that. In the end, I think I will take delivery, ride a bit and think it through. Really appreciate everyone’s thoughts.

Cheers

 

great decision,
Well when you do, you might as well go full bling and get those matching red ones from Wallet lick. I don't know who else is producing colored engine bars but they seem to have the color codes down pat.

 

Went with head protector.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Went with head protector.

Looking very nice with the new designed Cylinder Heads. 👍
Love the silver/black kontrast.

 

I went belt and braces….

 

Man some of y'all have some good lookin' bikes... I look at my pure and don't know what to do with it, then see things like this. Nicely done... and now I feel unimaginative.

 

Personally, I've never bothered on any of my boxers. They haven't been off road bikes I'm expecting to drop, and I don't like the way they look generally. I did put some MachineArt head covers on my R1200GS, but that was mainly to avoid the heads getting scuffed when squeezing through a small back gate rather than actually expecting to drop it.

Anecdotally, I've never actually experienced anyone getting serious engine damage from dropping a boxer without engine guards. In the majority of cases you're just looking at a new cylinder head cover (my dad dropped his R1100S a couple of times and only ever dinged up cylinder head covers), whilst with the engine bars you're risking bending the front subframe or snapping bosses off of the engine with loads they weren't designed to take (although I would hope the more premium engine bars are designed not to do this). Personally I'd rather take the risk, have the bike look sleeker, and if I do drop it I'll just buy a new cylinder head cover.

 

Everybody talks about drops but I'll put out another benefit of engine bars

More places to put your feet will be a huge boon for your backside on extended rides.

 

I don’t know, …and I’ve already dropped mine once and only once in 6 years…. and yes I scraped up the valve cover … it’s been that way ever since. I look back at the “olden-days” when Cafe’ was born in England and the common ground was always weight and to remove any and all extra weight, not bolt more on….. Now that’s primarily about Cafe’ and not all the other iterations of 9T. You Gents who ride adventure fully expect to fall down so it would make solid logic to protect your mill. However street people like me have the opposite attitude … never fall down … remove most anything that isn’t necessary to go fast … so a roll cage around the engine is not on my list … otherwise I’d probably never take my helmet off my head, never know when you might trip and fall.
Coincidentally I stopped wearing a helmet when I found out I had Cancer … I’m a dead-man walking anyway and I’ve always hated wearing a lid, you can’t feel the wind in your hair or listen to your machine talking to you as you push her to the limit. The machine that we ride, the reasons we ride, the way we ride, the city we are in, the road conditions and traffic we face …. It all plays into how we dress .. or un-dress our selves and our motorbikes. Make yourself happy, confident and comfortable … this machine you straddle can do it all, and then some … make it you own and R I D E …. StayUpOn2 people …………. And Smile BIG ………….Blitz

 

I wonder how many riders here (who don't go off-road) never dropped a bike in their lifetime? For some reason I think close to none. Personally I put engine guards on all of my bikes.

 

I like the Machine Art Moto guards, crash bars look like shite on these bikes, IMHO of course.

 

I have to raise my hand to a silly drop just before I put my bars on. I'd just gone and got a covid vaccination and had gone back to where I'd parked the bike. Started taking the rotor lock off when a nice bloke who had a GS parked next to mine started chatting. We conversed for about 5 mins and he went on his merry way. By this time I had completely forgotten that I hadn't finished removing the lock. I put the helmet on and started up. Luckily I didn't cane it from the start and drove away gently. I opened my eyes up to find myself confused and lying on the ground and the lady sitting in the SUV parked next to the bike bays laughing her arse off. Picked the bike up and luckily the only damage was to the right side valve cover. If I'd had the bars on it'd be a quick spray job with black paint and no-one would have been any wiser. As it stands now I'll have to sand the valve cover down and spray it with the correct paint code or get it powdercoated. The bars are sacrificial, the valve covers aren't.

Plus I kinda like how the bars make the bike look beefier.

My point is, doesn't matter how experienced or confident you are, there is always a potential situation where the bike may go over whether its your fault or not. The bars are peace of mind and cheap insurance. If you are hitting something hard enough to not only damage the bars but the heads or case as well, then your engine would have been screwed with or without bars anyway.

I got the motoguard bars from Germany. I liked their aesthetics (and price!). I think they work in the looks department but that is my personal preference. I think they are worth it.

 

wow wow wow …Great story @dodgybugga, thanks for the insight. That bike of yours is immaculate, there’s not a spot on it Mate. Did you just detail it or is it just brand new … how many miles at the time you took that shot ? Not bad bugga, if your gunna have crash bars that’s not bad looking …. Not bad looking at all. Beefier ? ..Not sure that’s a word I’d like to use to describe my ride … that would be more like “lean” not beefy ….I guess it’s a generational thing …. Junk in the trunk …and such. I just don’t speak the same language. ..I’d be sooo protective of that beautiful aluminum tank n’ tidy. I’d be scared to ride it … afraid I’d scratch it. It was actually kind of a relief when I dropped Blitz. Nothing major, not moving, slow roll to the ground with me fighting it down the whole way. I thought I deployed the side stand but it had snapped back up not down and I didn’t realize what happened until it was 1° past the point of no return … down I went. Scratched her a bit on the valve cover but that’s about it … she was no longer a virgin. That helped take the sting out Blitz getting backed over by my girlfriend in her car about 2 weeks later. Seems we were all just getting used to the latest member of the family, a beautiful German motorbike named Blitz. She’s in her teenage rebellious stage these days and is looking more like MadMax material than a BMW jewel. Your machine looks like it’s prepped for the latest TomCruse movie …or maybe James …. James Bond! Whistle clean all over. Once I scratched Blitz the pressure was off … I let down my guard and time takes care of the rest … with Blitz I stopped fighting to keep her pristine and she’s slowly morphing into …. Something …. Not sure what just yet … “polished” … No … polished or beefy would not be the words that apply to Blitz. The story is still unfolding…
wash occasionally no problem,
polish… never again.
R I D E fast !… often and repeatedly! …….Blitz

 

Heh heh. Thanks @BlitzSchnell. That photo was a week old. I am a bit of a clean freak and wash it after most rides where I've hit a puddle or something or at least every second ride even if no puddles. The roads get pretty dusty down here. I keep the car pretty clean too, much to the girlfriends dismay. The bike has 27,000kms on it now. I've put 11,000kms on it in the last 2 years just doing weekend rides. The previous owner put 16,000 on it. He was a Chinook/Blackhawk pilot from up Queensland way so knew the value of looking after his stuff. At 2 years old, when I bought it off him it only had 1 tiny scratch that I could find.

Sorry only just getting back on now. Been flat out with various things and haven't had a chance to jump on one of my fav forums for a bit.

That sucks that your girlfriend backed into Blitz. I would not have been happy. Would engine bars have saved any damage in either of your drop situations?

Incidentally, while I was out on a ride on Sunday up in Lane Cove National Park I was in a section of tight twistys with bush on either side and rode past a large jumper/pullover that someone had dropped in the middle of the opposite lane. It was in a position that would potentially cause an accident for a rider coming in the opposite direction around a blind corner and some people really hook it through there. So I pulled over and went to pick it up. As I walked to the side of the road I only just noticed that someone had stashed an almost brand new CBR500R about 10m down into the bush. Went to have a look at it and obviously someone had laid it down. Don't know if they had pushed it in there to hide it and come back and get it or if it had finished its slide there. It had those "crash bobbins" installed on the side of the frame which had obviously taken a big hit on the right side but the rest of the bike looked pristine. If it hadn't been for the bobbins the bike would probably have been wrecked. I'd imagine that crash bars on our bikes (since bobbins won't work on boxers) would have the same effect in the same situation. Couldn't find any sign of anyone around so just reported it to the Park Ranger.

(If you zoom in you can just see it just left of centre)

 

Crash spindles are not a bad option for what they cost and can save the axil from skid damage even on a boxer. They are designed to protect the spindle and axil bolts and they work well. Crash bars are the only thing that will keep the heads off the road and protect the valve covers. If it’s a major hit then nothing is going to help … it’s the slide and scrape that can benefit from “skid bars”. They are inappropriately named CrashBars … if you crash you’ll see what I mean. Will they help keep your valve covers nice.. you bet they will. If you don’t mind what they do to the look of the bike then bolt’em on by all means. If your not the best rider or drop your machine often, then bolt’em on. Some even like the “beefie” look they give the bike…….
Nothing is nothing …and something will always help … if you don’t mind the change in looks you could probably build and bolt on a custom roll cage that will let just the tires touch the ground .. and that’s all. I’ve scratched both sides of my boxer but in a way that you need to bend down and look close, no seals were broken and they don’t leak any oil so I’m good to go. Neither accident was a slider but just a drop. I’ve ridden for 50+ years and had one major crash and totaled the bike. I’ve gone off the highway at speed in a curve 5 or 6 times but never in a road slide, just a roll upright …and the worst one was into a fence. I’ve never like the look of skid-bars on any bike and I’ve never needed axil slides so I have neither. I don’t condemn them but they’re not for me. I dont mind a skuff or two on my machines … they, ..for me are to ride the hell out of not just to look at … if your babying your bike so it doesn’t get scratched then your riding style is different than mine. If you cafe’ race, and I often do, it’s ALL about First, not second or third… AND I usually ride my machines till they just won’t ride anymore. Only in the beginning did I buy a machine I really didn’t want in order to fix it up and trade-up to the bike I really wanted in the first place. Now I’m fortunate, I can just go buy what I really want and until this R9T Classic I wasn’t Quite sure what that was …. an HD, TR, Guzzi, even a damn Honda … I’ve never liked the Nija look. Cool, dont get me wrong… but I’m old school and I like a bike that looks like a proper bike not a rocket on wheels., and that’s said with respect to some of the fastest bikes on earth. They are just not for me …. I ride them and I feel like I’m in some Japanese anime’. Naaaaa. CrashBars, axil sliders … Naaaaa. Of them all I prefer the Bobber look. Stripped of most everything that doesn’t make it go faster. Im of the school who’s motto is “The Faster the Funner” … at around 140 the only things touching are your toes your butt and your finger tips … To me that’s being 100% alive. Only a biker would understand that one ….…… go fast - have fun ……Blitz

 

Are crash bars better protection than the head covers?
Your (forum members) thought, please.

Full disclosure: I have swapped the head covers for the crash bars.

 

If you are a newbie like me bars are a must... and black bars are easy to sharpie

 

I got my UNIT crash bars for the aesthetics, installation took about five minutes and I love the look of them. I hope to keep them aesthetic and never use them for their intended purpose.