your thoughts on case savers?

[Jon_P]

i read an article by duane about his thoughts on case savers, he didnt think you should. i see some of the members here have them. do you like them? i have a nice set the seem to be bigger and wrap around the cylinders more than the ones i have seen here. the ones i have mount to three points of attachment to the frame. i can see them saving the tips when they in the parking lot, but what about ridding? i like to ride pretty hard. i have had my kz's over enough to scrap the center stand peg.

maybe i should wrap a piece of magesium on them and see if i can scrape them off at night! alots of sparks!! sorry, like i said i ride hard.

[airhead]

He He, you wanna see some sparks fly??? You chose the right topic!!!

I have them and am quite happy to use them, in fact they have saved my heads a couple times in the early years when I was coming to terms with the Airheads width. I have asked extensively over the last couple years many people who have been riding Beemers for years, and some of them are hard riders. They have never experienced, or heard of happening, the sort of problems reported in the article written by Duane, namely statistically larger likelihood of hi siding caused by them. I've even talked to a guy who slid with his bike for quite a distance and is convinced they saved his leg.
Hi siding happens, but apparently not with any greater frequency on Beemers, or indeed any bike, so equipped, than normal.  I'm not sure if it is just the luck of the draw, or how or where the perception that they do cause hi sides comes from, but you can hi side any bike, any time.............or not.

Bring on the cannons...................sorry, semi automatics!!

Bill..........................;-)

[MrRiden]

I have 'em on my LS and plan to use them as a mount for driving lights at some point. I've heard it said that in a hard fall there is the possibility of bending the frame. Some sneer at their use for this reason. I'll be leaving them on myself, I've had similar bars on other bikes I've owned and in 3 different instances, where I got off the bike unexpectedly, the only damage other than bent levers was to the crash bars. I've never bent a frame and figure that if the bike stops suddenly enough for the bars to leverage the frame you're gonna have bigger problems. YMMV.
rich

[Justin B.]

Jon, I think that maybe the kind you are describing that you have might be the ones Duane like's the least.  Visualize the bike sliding down the road and if where the bars meet the road results in a pretty sharp radius I think his contention is that they are highly likely to dig in and cause the bike to flip over.  I think ones that have a gentle bend he is rather ambivalent about.  Half our bikes have 'em and half don't...

[NC Steve]

I'll vote with Bill and Mr. Riden, and keep mine, thanks very much.
However, others feel differently, as you'll no doubt soon see.  

I'd like to think in a sudden go-down that, between the cylinders, crash bars and the non-folding footpegs, I might just salvage a leg out of the deal...

[Jon_P]

i will get a pix of the one i have. they are these big u shape things that start on the down tubes then bens in front of the cylinder then wrap around them in a u shape. they then have a bar that mounts to the lower engine mount that curves up real easy. that bar looks like it would take the biggest hit if it would tip over or on the lean, though that bar would be the one to hook on something also. i need to post some pixs to see what you think.

i for one believe in case savers, i have had them on my kz's. they saved my covers enough times to pay for themselves.  

i just wanted to see what everyone else thought of them. i like them and will most likely use them unless the group thinks i have the wrong kind.

[NC Steve]

Jon, are yours more like this?
These are similar to the wraparound engine guards the cops use on the R1100 & 1150RT-P models.

I've always liked these, myself...

[Lowen]

After seeing my friend Bruce's totaled R65 I have removed mine. A deer took the rider off the bike and when the bike fell over the case saver dug into the pavement fliping the bike into the air. Without the case savers the bike would have slid down the road on it's side and could have been fixed instead of having a frame twisted beyond repair.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

I was surprised by how common case savers are on pictures from Europe.  Especially the aftermarket, one-large-loop type.  
Don't see many of those OEM optionals though.



I've never had them on any bike.  Yep, my heads are scuffed.  Gee...

[Jon_P]

yep steve mine look alot like that. little differences but close to the same.

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

I think one of the drawbacks to that style in Steve's post, is that the piece needs to be removed in order to adjust the valves.

[Jon_P]

the ones i have dont have that cross bar going though. i could remove the valve covers without taking them off.

lowen, what kind of savers where there on that bike? what kind did you have?

[NC Steve]

How's about these, some serious guards, uprights front & back, as favored by the CHP?

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[Justin B.]

I came very close to bidding on one of those on e-Bay a couple years ago...

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

Yeah, they are definitely planning on those bikes being laid down at some time or another...