BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

Joe/Ric
What about the BMW GS valve cover protectors?

I can personally attest that you can do a 50 MPH slide down the road and the tarmac won't get to the valve cover. It's close to the cover and you'll only give away 5/8 of an inch. If you do touch it down it's a hard smooth surface that won't throw you on the road.

The hardest thing I put on my R1200R was the top case. I really hate those things as they completely ruin the looks of the bike. Downside is their like drugs, once you start using them you can't stop. Unbelievably convenient, and no end to the stuff you can jam into it. I've given up on 'pretty' with this bike, it's just a functional machine that will take you just about anywhere you want to go. And it does it's job very well.

Ha !
Lost Rider.....good job there fella ! Are you using Pilot 3's ?

I like rubbing the rails on my R12R but I usualy pick another bike from the garage to do that with.




Well...I'm thinking I might just stick with what I have......the ones Lost Rider had already posted in the pix below. I was also going to use bars to mount additional lights but I don't need bars for those.

Interesting, and thanks for posting that photo. I've dragged the pegs on my R1200R, but wasn't couldn't tell (while riding) what might touch down next. From this photo, it looks like it's possible to touch down the valve covers.

So how can Wunderlich claim "Does not compromise cornering clearance."? I had planned on mounting some bars as a good place for lights and insurance, but now I'm not so sure. Anything that doesn't interfere with cornering won't protect the heads much, if at all.

I think it all comes down to how do you want to ride the bike. I would imagine that their is a very small percentage of R1200R riders that would intentionally lean their bike over as far as the picture shows or put themselves in a situation where it was needed. On the other hand, I think a few of the guys (including me) on this list have seen their bike laying on it's side in a parking lot or on a muddy or sandy back road.

So like Ric and Joe have done you have to make an individual decision, what is more important to you, protection or maximum clearance, looks like you can't have both..

SF_Hooligan wrote: Interesting, and thanks for posting that photo. I've dragged the pegs on my R1200R, but wasn't couldn't tell (while riding) what might touch down next. From this photo, it looks like it's possible to touch down the valve covers.

So how can Wunderlich claim "Does not compromise cornering clearance."? I had planned on mounting some bars as a good place for lights and insurance, but now I'm not so sure. Anything that doesn't interfere with cornering won't protect the heads much, if at all.

It is very possible to drag the valve covers.
Centerstand, then foot pegs, boots, then valve covers. Even though it was close the exhaust never touched.






OK, I'll come clean.... These photos of my dragging my valve covers are years old, and most importantly with stock suspension. (Pirelli Scorpion Sync tires)
Ever since I installed Ohlins' I've not scraped any pegs or valve covers, though I do still drag my center stand now and then, especially when riding two up.
These photos are not a good example of how I ride all the time of course, just some old photos of me showing off.

I really was going to get some crash bars, if anyone should have them it's me in theory, but through this discussion I found what was probably better for me and understand I'm in the minority of R riders that's pushes the Roadster a little harder at times. I need that extra clearance and have confidence I can repair a broken valve cover in the field again if need be. Now, if I decide to take the R on my Round The World ride, I'll be putting huge crash bars on it.

I like the metal BMW ones, but figured I'd give these X-Black ones a try, just to be different. Plus my bike is undergoing a refresh and I like the design.

I do have a set of used BMW plastic guards I'll give to anyone who makes a $60 LIFER donation to this site. Actually I have 2 lefts and a right I'll give away.

hoot Yeah! Awesome pics!

I was getting worried that I was the only one with any balls left on this forum.

The "knee puck on the heads" idea is starting to look pretty good now.

This is about as far over as I ever get, once the peg touches down I back off.

mogu83 wrote:I think it all comes down to how do you want to ride the bike. I would imagine that their is a very small percentage of R1200R riders that would intentionally lean their bike over as far as the picture shows or put themselves in a situation where it was needed. On the other hand, I think a few of the guys (including me) on this list have seen their bike laying on it's side in a parking lot or on a muddy or sandy back road.

So like Ric and Joe have done you have to make an individual decision, what is more important to you, protection or maximum clearance, looks like you can't have both..

The idea that only a small percentage of R1200R riders actually ride their motorcycles around corners (I kid, I kid ) doesn't have anything to do with Wunderlich claiming that their bars don't interfere with cornering clearance when it looks like anything that sticks out past the heads would. I figured maybe other stuff would touch down enough first - like centerstand, pegs, etc - to make the bars irrelevant but that doesn't seem to be the case.

I thought BMW motorcycles were made for riding (there I go again ) and that's what I do with mine. I'd love an easy spot to mount stuff like lights and maybe a camera (action?) but there are ways around that. I still might mount crash bars or maybe the Machineart Moto protectors... need to do some measuring and see what I'd really be losing - I don't drag hard parts that often.

Lost Rider wrote:It is very possible to drag the valve covers.
Centerstand, then foot pegs, boots, then valve covers. Even though it was close the exhaust never touched.

In my experience so far, it's been boots (when I've been a bit sloppy with my foot placement) and footpegs. I have yet to drag the heads or the massive stock pipe. I plan to upgrade the stock suspenders when I've worn 'em out - maybe at 15 or 20k, and expect that will help a lot.

Tarmac wrote:----- Yeah! Awesome pics!

I was getting worried that I was the only one with any balls left on this forum.

The "knee puck on the heads" idea is starting to look pretty good now.

Hahaha! You are not alone.

hi chitown
thats the way to treat the r, the sparks came from the centre stand ?. i have some grinding marks on the edge of mine . i have used the touratech alu head guards on mine ,stand 20 mm off the head and they have had touchdown .you still useing the pirelli scorpian tyres.?
piston

Here's a bit more on this older post- I was T boned in a parking lot on my R1150R at low speed, but it knocked me off and the bike slid a ways on it's left cylinder head. Thinking the bike was going to be really screwed up, I was surprised to see that the magnesium valve cover did a great job of protecting the head. I'm still riding with it, but will replace it sometime soon. No damage to the cylinder or spark plug wire at all. I didn't have bags on at the time, so the rear bag mount kept the bike off the pavement - no damage at all to the exhaust, paint parts, lights, nada. Even the bag mount was only scuffed on it's end plastic piece, not requiring replacement. This was more than a drop- the bike slid around 10 ft or so. There's been discussion on the merits of cylinder head guards, and one thing mentioned was that a steel bolt on cylinder guard may turn a low side slide into a high side crash if the guard hits an uneven surface edge or digs into something soft- making the crash a lot worse by turning you into a projectile. These guards might be useful for a drop or low speed slide out, but I wouldn't expect them to help at all in a medium to high speed crash. Just food for thought.