1200 Sport; engine guard, crash bar, whatever you want to call it

[Bisbonian]

Well my 1200 Sport is 10 years old this year, I guess I'm going to keep it.

I've been thinking I might add some auxiliary lights, something down lower to make a bigger light triangle. I decided the best way to do this is to get some engine guards and mount the lights to them.

I swear that at one time there were a ton of options for these things. I'm sure most of them were very similar but at least there were choices. Now, all I can find are the Hepco-Becker bars. I'm not against the H-B bars but if there's something to compare them to then I'm all about competition.

I've looked at MG-Cycle, Harper's, AF1, and tried just a google search.

Does anyone have any suggestions that I might be missing? It's highly possible that my search skills on the sites I've mentioned are suspect.

Additionally, does anyone have experience with the protectiveness of the crash bars? Let's say that a person was doing a u-turn and fell over. Not that this has ever happened. Hypothetically the damage was to the little black plastic head cover over the spark plug, a smashed hand guard and turn signal. I'm fine with that but want to make sure a crash guard would not transmit force to something more important and create more damage.

[guzzisteve]

Be cautious of some can break your case in an accident more than others. Look at how they are mounted. I remember a service bulletin on the very subject.   

[Bisbonian]

Be cautious of some can break your case in an accident more than others. Look at how they are mounted. I remember a service bulletin on the very subject.   

This is the sort of info I’m interested in.

[guzzisteve]

I may have it in my books but the bul had pics of the bar in question. Mounting makes the difference.

[Bisbonian]

I see a service bulletin for crash guards on the Stelvio, it talks about mount between the engine and the frame and has pictures.

I think the H-B ones for my bike only fasten to the engine, but the pictures were not completely clear.

[Mackers]

My Breva 1100 is 12 this year and I, too, am going to keep it.  Late last year I took it up to Roperville for a mid-life make-over.  Mike and Peter found that both Hepco-Becker bars had cracked at the top weld where the bars mount to the frame.  They'd been on the bike for 6 or 7 years, I guess.  They were re-welded and reinstalled. 

A month later I noticed that the head of the bolt was missing where the lower part of the bar mounts to the LHS of the engine!  I obtained another bolt and it happened again!  I detected some slight tension when tightening up the bolt, so next time I packed it out a bit with a washer or two.  No problems since.

[guzzisteve]

I see a service bulletin for crash guards on the Stelvio, it talks about mount between the engine and the frame and has pictures.

I think the H-B ones for my bike only fasten to the engine, but the pictures were not completely clear.

Well, that could be what I was remembering.

[Kev m]

I had the HB bars on my B11 and loved the look and mounting, but can't personally verify how they work on a drop or crash.

IIRC they do mount to the engine cases at least at one of the mounting points. I liked that they didn't interfere with valve cover removal.

And I'm pretty sure I remember at least one report of a driveway drop that resulted in no damage with them around the time I bought them or when I still owned the bike.

But I realize that's not much to go on.

My thoughts on such guards is that there's always a chance they may not protect it or might do some damage too. But once the drop or crash is that hard I really suspect the damage would have been just as bad or worse without them about 99% of the time anyway.

[Sheepdog]

Nothing from Givi or SW Motech?

[Bisbonian]

Nothing from Givi or SW Motech?

Nothing that I've been able to find.
I swear back in the day there were numerous options. Stucchi (sp?) maybe being one of them?
Maybe I'm wrong and there is only the one. I'll think about giving the H-B a shot, they are not inexpensive.

[Kev m]

No I'm sure you're right there was at least one other, maybe Stucchi. The design was very different and it extended physically over the valve cover enough to interfere with removal. That's the reason I went HB in the first place.

[Sheepdog]

If the bars are just for auxiliary lights, there are other options...

[Dlutero]

SPAM: I was just about to post these to swap meet, did a search, and saw this post. These are made for the 1200 sport, I think they're Stucchi. Listing for $100 obo. If they came with hardware, I don't have it. I bought them when they first came out, thinking I could make them work on my 1100, but no dice. Interested?

Cheers,
Dennis

[rocker59]

I'd probably skip the "engine guards" and go with a set of lights from motolight.com