[Geesse]

Hi,

Do anyone know the difference between these two brand of crashbars? SW Motech is cheaper and can be purchased of eBay, Touratech is much more expensive and in the website there is a video explaining how good it is, no vibrations etc.

Has anyone bought the SW Motech crashbars?

 

[kurt1305]

SW Motech uses thin mild steel tubing as opposed to the tougher tubing of the Touratech bars. Watch the Touratech video and pay attention to the the way the bars are mounted on a separate plate as opposed to directly to the engine. It is designed to flex and give potentially preventing engine damage in a crash.

 

[sizzlingbadger]

I have the SW Motech, they are fine. They are mild steel so will give a little in a crash and do not need an "engineered weak point" like the stainless steel Touratech bars.

Personally I find most of Touratech's stuff way too expensive for what it is, but maybe thats because I'm an engineer

 

[marc]

To throw another idea out there I had very good results with Hepco & Becker bars. They were put to the test many times with dirt crashes, twice skidding down the road as a result of a low side, and surviving a wayward deer. The bars were bent up a bit and scratched. I mostly straightened them out but still needed to at least loosen them to remove the valve covers.

Anyway, they did their job well enough that I just ordered the wethead version of the H&B bars for my new GS -- the one BMW just started building and may not even show up in my garage for another month or two.

 

[twistedthrottle]

SW Motech uses thin mild steel tubing as opposed to the tougher tubing of the Touratech bars. Watch the Touratech video and pay attention to the the way the bars are mounted on a separate plate as opposed to directly to the engine. It is designed to flex and give potentially preventing engine damage in a crash.

SW-MOTECH uses 2.2mm thick (not thin) mild steel tubing. The purpose of this thickness and this material in the design of the SW-MOTECH bars is to help absorb the crash and not transfer it to the frame.

 

[kurt1305]

SW-MOTECH uses 2.2mm thick (not thin) mild steel tubing. The purpose of this thickness and this material in the design of the SW-MOTECH bars is to help absorb the crash and not transfer it to the frame.

Thin in comparison to the Touratech bars which are not designed to bend. I understand the different engineering philosophies at work here and do not endorse one over the other. Only pointing out the differences. I have used SW Motech bars and rack in the past with complete satisfaction. They would be on my current GS if finish matched my Touratech pannier racks.

 

[Geesse]

mmm interesting set of answers, cheers guys. So people like the Touratech but buy the SW's.

 

[gdayjr]

it's not the head thats wet

To throw another idea out there I had very good results with Hepco & Becker bars. They were put to the test many times with dirt crashes, twice skidding down the road as a result of a low side, and surviving a wayward deer. The bars were bent up a bit and scratched. I mostly straightened them out but still needed to at least loosen them to remove the valve covers.

Anyway, they did their job well enough that I just ordered the wethead version of the H&B bars for my new GS -- the one BMW just started building and may not even show up in my garage for another month or two.

Why do some people call the new liquid cooled bike a "wet head". the heads are still air/oil cooled, not liquid cooled?

Have a look at this great little engine video.

BMW R 1200 GS. Air--water-cooled boxer engine with vertical flow - Video Dailymotion

 

[Fudmucker]

I have SW Motech bars on my 2008 GS.
I had one spill that was hard enough to rip the LH passenger peg off the rear frame, but the engine bars only got paint chip marks.
Nothing wrong with them at all, in my book.

 

[marc]

Why do some people call the new liquid cooled bike a "wet head". the heads are still air/oil cooled, not liquid cooled?

The heads are cooled by water (and air). The cylinders are cooled by air.

The name is mostly used to differentiate the bike from the earlier camhead, hexhead, and oilhead bikes.

 

[gdayjr]

Save my money

Just had a test drive comparison on three R1200gs bikes.

I ride a 2004, and had a 2005 GS.

I rode a 2010 model. The only thing i found better was the ability to change suspension settings on the fly. A bit more horsepower was usefull.

A 2013 air cooled runout model....same answer.

A 2013 liquid cooled. Great front end, bags of power, and lots of electronics.

Conclusion. I own the 04 model. ( value in Au$ 13k)
2010 s/h 30 thousand kilometers, all luggage.$22k
2013 run out 3 thousand kilometers, no extras. $24k
New liquid cooled. a few add ons, but pretty much stock $27k

I think my 04 with 60 thousand kilometers will do me for quiet a few years yet.

 

[Eff]

Good video! It’s nice to see the camshafts geared together, less lash on the drive chain. On the last twin cam, inlet & exhaust cams were on the same shaft so no gearing was necessary. As for cooling; all engines are air cooled in a way (even "water cooled" ones) since the air cools the water.

 

[Absolutediver]

SW-MOTECH crash bars

I went with SW-MOTECH bars, saved a bundle. Installation was a breeze and they look good. Fortunately I haven't tried them out yet in an actual crash.

Pic's are from when I installed my alt-rider oil cooler guard.

Regards,

Brett

 

[iride4u]

Just for information ALTRIDER makes some very nice bars and they will end up on my GS LC

 

[Willem GS]

For the LC take a look at rockfox.co.za . Well engineered, good material, look very good. I dont want to test it but I believe it will work like mentioned prviously take the impact and not only transfer it to the frame.

 

[1200maniatr]

Do you know sw motech shop in Turkey?

Hii everyone
I am living in Turkey and i am looking for a shop which i can get sw motech products, please help me

 

[twistedthrottle]

Hii everyone
I am living in Turkey and i am looking for a shop which i can get sw motech products, please help me

Hello 1200maniatr.

I looked up the Turkish distributor on the SW-MOTECH site and this is where they direct people:

MotoPlus | Anasayfa

TÜMOPARSAN MOTOR SANAYI VE TIC. LTD.
SULTANCIFTLIGI 2.CEBECI YOLU 2568/2 SOKAK
NO.1 GAZIOSMANPASA
34265 ISTANBUL

E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +90 212 668 9700
Fax: +90 212 668 9414

 

[MinnBobber]

vs BMW bars??

So how do OEM BMW engine crashbars stack up vs these?
Who makes the BMW bars?
Thanks
Dealer says the BMW ones are great, are they?

 

[kurt1305]

The BMW bars will still allow the valve covers to contact the ground. You still need the covers which are not necessary with aftermarket bars.

 

[marc]

The BMW bars will still allow the valve covers to contact the ground. You still need the covers which are not necessary with aftermarket bars.

Why?

Serious question. The after market covers take away flex room for the bars. That makes it more likely that the force of any crash will be transmitted to the valve cover/head instead of being dissipated as the bars flex. I don't think that's what you want.

Also, the after market protectors are often about as expensive as the valve covers themselves. If you are going to be concerned about scratches then aren't you also going to be concerned about scratches on the protectors? Replacing either will cost about the same.

If your concern is about a puncture a tube of JB Stik in your gear should cover your worries. I remember a video (Jimmy Lewis?) where a hole in a valve cover was punched by the valve cover protector. Had the rider not had the protectors mounted his valve covers would have suffered no more than a few scratches.