Hello, simple question... should I buy TT cylinder protection guards? They worth the money? They are quiet cheap in comparison to bars...
For about the same money, you can get Hepco Becker engine guards which cover the cylinder heads and you won't need TT valve covers, plus for service, you don't have to remove anything if you have HB engine guards, and they are a lot stronger than the TT valve covers.
My wife has the HB protection bars on her bike and are a very good match to the GS frame. I have seen Gadget Boy's after they were in action and they appear to work well and paint up nice. I have the BMW engine guard with TT alum clyinder guards. They look great and I got awesome deal on them. I hope I never have to use them but I understand they work well.
I had the Touratech valve cover guards. One was mangled in a driveway tipover. It was essentially beyond repair. The bottom screw pulled the threads out of the hole on the engine causing me a "helicoil episode". I put them in the trash. Although they would probably save you from getting a hole on rocks (once), I would not buy them again. I went back to the stock ones.
This is how my stock cyl.guard ended up, soft aluminum was bent all the way back. It did its job though. I swaped it for the TT guard and it looks ugly and does not cover spark plug. I have not tested it yet in some real "crash" so cannot comment the functionality.
+1, the HB ars are cheap, and very effective. I've been down on mine several times in the dirt, and they take abuse well and keep the cyl heads looking nice. A friend of mine has the TT bars, but they casue trouble for service getting the valvecovers off. The Tank bars are available from HB as well, and I got them as well. Only set available for a non-adv that will cover the tank. The tank bars are a bit more of a pain since they keep you from getting your side covers off. Of course they also keep others from taking your side covers off. Integrated light mount is great as well. IMO the HBs were the best choice, but choice is a personal matter. figure out what's important to you, and choose the product that best fulfills the requirements you have. I personally don't think the little cyl gaurds offer enough protection for my riding style where I find my bike falling over occasionally.
I'm new to the GS world but have been pleased with the SW-Motech stuff on the VStrom. I'm kind of curious to hear what you guys think of these... http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/1852/252/
Ditto. TT head guards work wonderfully on the 1150, but the mounting points on the 1200 mean you can actually do harm with them in a fall. Still have mine on though. I don't want the bulk of engine bars, and the original plastic don't look up to much. So until I spot a suitable alternative...................
Get 'em. They look really cool...and break nicely without even crashing. These are mine, after about 20K miles. I (sigh) just replaced 'em with more T/T....cool-aide finished. (I think we need a "touratech zombie" emoticon)
Wait, are you saying your TT guards broke without even crashing on them? How did they break? I was up in the air about getting them, but I am not too impressed with the quality of TT to be honest with ya. Not for the money at least.
Vibration. According to the techs at my BMW shop. [these are the same guys who, I just found out, put my front suspension back together without a few pieces - the words "un" and "safe" were used together by the tech that discovered it]
