Day: November 9, 2017

Mileage: 9,811

Today I installed BMW Hand guards.  Why BMW and not Barkbuster or some other after-market brand?   Well, in this case I think the BMW design is the best.  Most of the hand guards are aluminum, which is fine for knocking the brush out of the way.  However, I suspect the aluminum is more likely to bend if the bike goes over.

The BMW hand guards use steel tubes.  They’re strong!  I suspect it would be hard to break a clutch or break lever with the BMW solution.

A second reason I went with the BMW solution is that there’s no advertising on the plastic guards.  Frankly, I don’t want to be a rolling advert for Barkbusters.

The BMW guards come with aluminum bar ends to replace the heavier steel ends that came with the bike.  Given the weight of the steel tubing used in the guards I don’t expect that the handlebars will feel any different.

I fitted the large plastic guards with the optional spoilers to the steel bars.  Mostly I’m seeking a little more wind and rain protection.   The plastic guards need to have two holes drilled in them before the spoilers can be attached.  I don’t know why, but BMW chose to provide shiny bolts to attach the spoiler to the guard.  I think black bolts would look much better.  I may replace those bolts at some point in time.

One problem with the factory guards comes with the availabilities of  throttle locks.  Fortunately I was able to purchase a compatible Kaoko, but it appears that that particular model may have been discontinued, so there’s not a lot of stock available.

The bike was lacking an SAE plug for attaching accessories, or a battery tender.  I installed a fused connector directly onto the batter with the plug end tucked in below the handlebars on the left side.  It has a cover and tucks away out of sight when not in use.

Mileage: 9,811

Today I added AltRider Crash Bars.  I purchased them directly from AltRider.

Why AltRider?   Three reasons:

1. Best mechanical design in terms of crash protection
2. Best materials (stainless steel — no rusty scratches)
3. Cleanest design (no visible nuts and bolts)

Most of the other crash bars that are available, including the factory bars, tie into mounting bosses on the front of the engine.  I don’t think this is a good idea.  It might help a little in terms of forces pushing the bars towards the rear of the bike, but a lot of the force in a crash will be from the side.  These front mounted solutions are likely to be much stiffer, which means  a lot of shock force will be transmitted to the front engine bolts as a shearing force.

The Altriders top mount fits into the frame providing a strong anchor against forces which push the bars rearward.  There will be some shearing forces on the bottom engine case bosses, but that’s true for all designs as they all attach at those locations.  Without being rigidly mounted to the front engine bosses, it looks to me like the AltRider bars are better able to transfer stresses to the other side of the bike and are more likely to flex, which if true would absorb some of the shock stresses and reduce the potential for cracked engine cases.  That said, I don’t know how much the bars will flex, they’re pretty stout.

The AltRider bars don’t look bad, but I think some of the other solutions look a bit more integrated with the bike’s styling.  However, for me, it’s function over form when it comes to crash protection.

I chose not to install the upper crash bars at this time.  I don’t know that they’ll add that much more protection. I do know that they’ll add weight higher up on the bike.

Pictures to follow.