R & G Crash Bungs... Are they worth it?

0l0dom0l0 · World Chat Champion Joined: 21 Oct 2009 Karma :

So after dropping my '98 yamaha fazer, and getting lucky and not causing to much damage i have been considering getting some crash bungs for it. now my friend has a daytona 600, and they are fitted with all sorts of reinforcements, and the bike has been down on them with only a few scratches on the bungs to show. no other damage.

Now my concern is, during an off, people have reported the damage to have been worse where the bungs have bent the fram etc. now on the fazer, they are mounted directly to the frame, with no reinforcement bars in place to dissipate the force, and im worried they are going to damage the frame was anything to happen.

what are peoples feelings? am i just being paranoid?

thanks

SamJL · Nearly there... Joined: 14 Aug 2009 Karma :

I use them, but mine have a bolt wich is intended to bend before the frame does.

Some people say they can do more damage then good, and they can also hit things in the road when you drop the bike, causing it to flip and cause more damage then without the bungs. I use them, mine are quite small, and I don't intend on dropping the bike. To be honest, there more for low speed drops, or dropping the bike on your drive when turning it around, rarther then higher speed crashes!
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Polarbear · Super Spammer Joined: 24 Feb 2007 Karma :

You'll get mixed reactions but the consensus will say fit them.

If you go down the road hard enough to fuck the frame, the chances are you would have done it with or without bungs.
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Spit-Fire · World Chat Champion Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Karma :

kawakid · World Chat Champion Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Karma :

Engine bars are better, but only suite naked bikes.

I have R&Gs on my Z and somewhat protected it when I dropped it. (The engine casing still broke, but no damage to the upper fairing or anything else). Engine casing cost £20 to fix.

I had R&Gs on my ER5 also and I crashed at about 30, the only damage was a mirror and a bent brake leaver.
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Ben. · World Chat Champion Joined: 10 Jul 2007 Karma :

R&G are better than any other make. The bolts bend and snap before it will do any damage to the frame. They save a lot of damage.
They are great but they will not save the bike if you have a spill at 140mph... People think they are miracle workers, they're not.
Seen loads of crashes on track where they save a lot of damage. On the road they can dig in and flip the bike etc.
So its your call. I would defintley have them.

I've crashed with them (30mph, 60mph and 100mph) and only had scrapes and cosmetic damage (maybe a snapped brake lever or foot peg). The one time i crashed without them at a considerably slower speed (25mph) it broke the crankcase and I had to take the engine apart.

Definitely a fan here.
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woll · World Chat Champion Joined: 01 May 2010 Karma :

jay12329 · Dr. Evil Joined: 02 May 2003 Karma :

As I've said before all my bikes will have some sort of protection, normally R&G's

I had them on my Hornet, dropped it at high speed mid corner at copse silverstone. 80+mph like slid to the gravel at the far side of the huge tarmac run off.

Only damage was pair of bent brake leavers. Engine didn't touch down. Bike would have been well and truly written off without R&G's. And the replacement parts from R&G was <50% of the cost of a new whole set.

With the added bonus I could hang my legs over them on long m-way stints to stretch my legs.

HTH

J

G · The Voice of Reason Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

I see a lot of people that use R&Gs that go on about how amazing they are, even when they have a bad experience.
Great marketing has gone on somewhere it seems.
Some R&G are good and some are bad. I suggest you look for pictures of the bike after it has crashed with them. For me I do not entirely trust owners opinions of them from what I've seen.

FURBAR · Banned Joined: 04 Apr 2010 Karma :

Yes, for some reason .. i;m a fan of their stuff .. no sense of why besides the free stickers i got for my 60 quid .. Very Happy

For my naked 125 .. they are good imo .. main reason i bRought them were because they were for the mito 125 and was told would fit ... well after about 6 hours work .. Laughing

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0l0dom0l0 · World Chat Champion Joined: 21 Oct 2009 Karma :

thanks for all the replies.

i guess as pointed out, if the crash was bad enough to brake the bungs off etc, then it would of done a lot more damage without.

i think for £60 they are worth a shot. seeing as im going to have a pretty heavy load alot of the time too, with a heavy bike, me, my girlfriend and a top box, the chances of another drop are fairly high to be honest.

i guess R & G would have tested them and made them to reduce the amount of damage as much as possible. the cheaper alternatives dont offer the same protection.

any more opinions are welcome Smile

G · The Voice of Reason Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

grandmasterbo... · Scooby Slapper Joined: 30 May 2009 Karma :

i have then on the cbr 125 onley got them as it was a chrimbo prezzy there ok i kinda use then as leg rests on long rydes when legs get sore if onley they were loner theyd be more comfortable ha cost £70 then £20 for honda to dril the faireings and fit them as a bouns they polished the bike alro hah
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supZ · World Chat Champion Joined: 03 Feb 2009 Karma :

i've had em on all my bikes and wouldnt be without em.

i have dropped the blade (accidently stalled it pulling left off my drive and ended up in a very bad position so couldnt hold the bike up so had to lower it and roll off) and all i have to show for it is a little scuff on the crash protector. no scratches on fairing, mirrors, engine casing anything Smile

about a year and a half ago i came off the track at a high speed at cadwell (80mph+ lowside) on my road bike at the time (CBR600F) and although i will admit the crash bungs 'caused' more damage as they dug into the curbing and flipped it up in the air, they did their job of protecting the bike! one side of the fairing was actually ok apart from some scratches but the main thing is the bolts took the energy out of the impact, bend in and saved the frame and engine!

that bike has now been rebuilt and is my current trackbike!

for the sake of £60 they saved me having to buy a whole new bike as the engine would have surely split and spewed oil everywhere had those protectors not been there, and on the blade they've saved me a big fairing bill because of a silly drop.

worth every penny imo
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angryjonny · World Chat Champion Joined: 01 Sep 2006 Karma :

Pretty much agree with the consensus here.

My R&Gs were an immediate add-on to my FZ1 because at some point I will be stupid enough to try and ride it away with the disk lock on and drop it. I would quite like to get away with that if I can.

There's not going to be any real statistics on whether they do any good in a big crash. For every person who claims they saved their bike there will be someone else who claims they bent the frame. It's all opinion. My plan to avoid major damage to my bike in a big crash is to try not to have a big crash.

G · The Voice of Reason Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

chris-red · Have you considered a TDM? Joined: 21 Sep 2005 Karma :

Massive fan here, crashed loads and they have always saved the bike, they are a bargain at twice the price IMO. I have had at least 6 crashes with RG's and half the time the paint work has been untouched and every other thin it has been slightly scuffed or minorly cracked.
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Flip · Super Spammer Joined: 28 Feb 2004 Karma :

Spit-Fire · World Chat Champion Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Karma :

G · The Voice of Reason Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

Yea for being able to ride home, I think decent engine case protectors or armoured engine cases are well worth it - and personally I'd go for these before crash mushrooms I reckon.

supZ · World Chat Champion Joined: 03 Feb 2009 Karma :

chris-red · Have you considered a TDM? Joined: 21 Sep 2005 Karma :

G · The Voice of Reason Joined: 02 Feb 2002 Karma :

Spit-Fire · World Chat Champion Joined: 24 Jun 2008 Karma :

wouldn't the bending bolts only help in some crashes? not all?
and are you sure not one other manufacture that makes them, including the factory accessory, has clocked on to
"hey erm..., stiff bolts might actually cause more damage"
seems like that is a very easy design correction
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Bendy · Mrs Sensible Joined: 10 Jun 2002 Karma :

I've had/have them on most of my bikes in the last 5 years.

I like them because I know they're gonna help with low speed / stationary drops. I consider a 0mph cack-handed drop the most likely scenario for me, so something that gives the plastics and mirror a chance of staying off the deck is a good thing.

Higher speed stuff, I'm not assuming they'll help. I'm not even assuming they won't make things worse. I've seen cases that appear to have gone each way, though without re-running the accident you can never know exactly what would have happened with/without. But if they're fitted for lowspeed, they're fitted for highspeed so... see what happens. Out of 2 CBR crashes, they helped on 1 and didn't make a blind bit of difference on the other (which admittedly was mostly through gravel and mud).

What I do like a lot are armoured engine covers, as I'm considerably more concerned with making a hole in the engine that I am with scratching up or trashing fairings. These covers - https://www.gbracing.eu/ - are the dog's danglies.