Crash bobbins - Worth it?

[Kris]

On a recent rideout I was almost caught out by a suicidal pheasant who decided the front wheel of the looming Fireblade was preferable to the safety of the verge.

Front wheel lockups at 50 certainly wake you up eh. Now, as I ride my bikes early or late in the day I tend to come into contact with the ol' wildlife a bit more than most. The Sussex hedgerows are teeming with life at present and the coffee and choccy bar mid-ride gave me a chance to reflect on the vulnarabilty of the bike if a lowside occured.

So this morning I browsed for crash bobbins and a local chappy offers frame and front fork bobbins as a set for £40 delivered.

https://www.coyotemoto.com/default.asp

Worth it? Or will the bolts seize in the frame and the plastic obliterate upon impact?


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[Pol Anorl]

as discussed before there good to protect panels at low speed, but major impact would do more damage to the frame with them than it would without them.

its like smashing your frame with a large hammer and chisel.

the road is not likely to be pointed and aim for the frame where as crash bungs do.

Id say get some cheapy ones that are likely to snap on higher impact , ruining plastics saving frame.
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[Paulington]

If you get a decent set like R&G ones they can help quite a lot I think. I've seen a few 600s dropped with those on that ended up wearing about 5mm off the crash bung but left the fairings underneath untouched.

I'd worry about using 'budget' ones just in case they snap/don't work properly in a crash.

Essentially, they are protecting both sides and when combined with crash bungs on the swingarm/forks too it basically prevents any part of the bike apart from the bungs touching the floor so if your bike doesn't flip then it will work well.

From those I know who have crashed with them on they have told me they save huge money in a bad crash, means you don't have to replace LHS/RHS fairings, tank and other parts as they sacrifice themselves so the bike ends up in better condition.

So, IMO, they are worth it if you buy a DECENT set, I personally wouldn't chance it with 'budget' ones.

Cheers!
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[Pol Anorl]

[Kris]

Everyone I've spoken to seems to say R&Gs are worth the extra but I'm having a hard time seeing what the difference is...


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[WannaBeDude]

G owns half of the company, he .. naturally .. swears by them.

Last time i said this - he sig baned me !
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[nowhere.elysium]

[Frost]

R&G seem to do some development and testing work for each bike rather than just suppling a generic kit with apropriate sized bolts. The location and size of each bung is important so that the 3 contact points required to keep the bike statically stable are the wheels and the bung. Other fancy things that can be done are designing the bolts and spacers so that the bung will shear off before it will destroy the frame / engine mount

https://i606.photobucket.com/albums/tt146/alexwitham1990/s.jpg

See how those ones fit to a plate that comes with the kit?

[Kris]

On my bike the R&Gs and the cheaper ones are fitted in the same manner, i.e. the long bolt goes through the bung, through the fairing, through a spacer and into the frame / engine mounting bolt. There's no mounting plate or difference that I can see.

The cheaper ones also claim to have debrittled bolts, just as the R&Gs do. Other than a possible grade of plastic difference I struggle to see why I should pay an extra £30+.
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[anthony_r6]

Definitely worth it. When I got my bike I had these crappy looking silver round things on it. Wasn't sure of make, but felt a bit flimsy and weirdly, hollow to me, so I wanted to replace them ASAP.

Hadn't got around to it, so when I came off, it ground-away a bit, and bent back, but protected the bike from too much damage.

https://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g401/theeanfone/Bike%20Damage/DSC_1085.jpg

I will be getting R&G ones when I'm back to riding though. I'd rather not find out the hard way that these kind are inferior.
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[0l0dom0l0]

Be VERY careful.

Some bikes I would fit them too, and others I wouldn't.

It mainly depends on where they mount and what bike you've got.

I won't be getting them on the Daytona due to the fact they mount through the frame and into the cylinder head. Someone on triumph rat dropped their Daytona 600 with the R&G's fitted and cracked the cylinder head. So they saved their fairings as the sacrifice of the cylinder head, and I'd hate to see the damage if they'd come off at speed.

In some cases though, I actually disagree with how R&G mount them. The 675 is a classic example. They use one of the cylinder head and frame bolts. However another company use both the cylinder head mountings and frame bolts which I think is better, plus you don't have to cut the fairing.

It's up to you. The fireblade ones I think are good though

I did a post on this a while back, have a read through:
https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=201965&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
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[Redoko]

[edb]

I have R&G Crash Bobbins, they seem to be secured through the engine and by an extra bit which attaches to the frame. In fact exactly like AnPhonEh's picture but black rubber.

No idea what they're like in a high speed crash but I'm pretty sure they saved the engine when I came off at low speed. The rear bodywork took a whack but it would have been worse without!

[Jim Mc]

If the bike slides, then the bobbins will protect it even at 70-80. If it impacts something, then you'll likely bust the frame/forks/whatever.

I think they're worth it no question.

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[0l0dom0l0]

[Kris]

Well after reading a couple of good reports about these on Greybikes and a KTM forum I've ordered some.

We'll see what the fit is like when I get them.
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[G]

You've talked to me and as suggested, I've seen a lot of cases where R&Gs have caused more damage than saving it.

They seem to have a god-like worship amongst many - any damage saved is a miracle to be praised, while any extra damage caused "you should be thankful wasn't worse".

They do make some good bungs - though I was going to mention the Hornet as an example - but in too many cases I find that their 'sacrificial' nature damages both the engine mount and the fairings. On or the other, fair enough, but the bolt bending (the idea being not to transmit force to the engine, I presume) is supposed to save the engine mount, but tends to be a hell of a lot of stress on the thread. It still mashes in to the fairings, cracking them in a place they wouldn't be touched, while the bike continues to slide down the floor as if there was no bungs.

So, personally, I'd go for strong and non-bending from my own experience and what I've seen of other's crashing.

And, err, seems it's too late actually, now that I've read the rest of the thread of splurging my bile out - I'll leave it here regardless. Good luck with them, sometimes they do work and actually save you money .

[Kris]

Cheers anyway G.

The debrittling process is to reduce shear. If it shears then there will be no crash bung and no bolt end at all. Do not want.

Hard bolts that do not bend are more likely to snap off. Not willing to try that TBH.
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[Bendy]

I've always maintained that it depends what kind of damage you're trying to prevent.

In a big crash, all bets are off. In a 0mph drop they keep things off the floor. Inbetween, inbetween things happen - it really does seem to depend on the design of the bungs and the mounting system.

I've had them on most of my bikes but am under no illusions that they're a cure-all. Engine casings are the bits that bother me most, so I go for the GB Racing covers (https://www.gbracing.eu/) these days and don't worry so much about fairings (although I do have R&Gs on my bike, they were already there when I bought it).

[Deckx]

Always use them... gone through of couple sets last few years..
R&Gs are definitely a better fit out of box, come with correct length aluminum spacers and bungs that will wear opposed to cracking..
have bought some from Hong Kong and Tawain which were crap and needed me to put longer bolts and alu spacers..think they were more designed to protect your pride and joy from scratches when falling over opposed to full on crash.

Heres one i did a couple weeks ago with about a 15 foot slide you can see the protruding bolt where the bung sheared off after a little wear... although, just looking at it now..it could have been responsible tearing out a chunk of the fairing

[G]

[WannaBeDude]

Hey G - don't like the rng bolts i have, u think i should risk it and change to stainless like the rest of bike ??
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[G]

It's more complex than that unfortunately, taking your question seriously.

It's also to do with the material and size of the bungs amongst other things.

Me? I wouldn't be a tart either way .

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]