We thought from day one that our crash bars for BMW R1200GS and BMW R1250GS would perform well in real life. Little did we know they would shrug off such as an impact though!
Photo credit: Wheels of Morocco (www.wheelsofmorocco.net)
A few months ago we were asked for a collaboration with Wheels of Morocco, a prestigious, BMW approved and certified touring company with BMW certified guides! A one of a kind business running tours in Morocco and they pride themselves in being the only crew which takes clients on off-road trips in the saddles of 750cc + adventure motorcycles. Mostly 1200GS and 1250GS though.
Long story short, we had personally outfitted a bunch of their GSs with our crash bars and skid plates. Immediately afterwards we “test rode” them for a couple of days courtesy of Greg, the founder and owner of the company. We didn’t drop the bikes once though!
Nevertheless, we knew that the crash bars are capable of handling decent impact as per our rigorous test results below:
Then again, the question arises: Do our crash bars perform in real life?
Yes, we tested them!
However it was “only” a series of simulations in certain scenarios.
How about, real-real life? Like when a GS’s front wheel washes out at high speed, or a GS high sides?! Unfortunately, to know the results one must crash in real life, in real traffic conditions or on trails with various objects lying around. Those crashes often times end up with bruises at best!
Sure enough though, there was a tour a week after we left Morocco with all the bikes featuring our drop tested, tortured armour. A couple of days into the tour, on one evening a message came through from Greg: “Two riders went down really hard… “. The next thing was a bunch of photos coming through and it did not look good!
The Outback Motortek plaque came off to begin with.
First I received photos of the “downed” F850GS. It was in rough shape!
Apparently it was after a rain storm and the rider of the F850GS lost the front end due to slippery road surface (asphalt) and the bike ended up in a ditch. Luckily both the rider and the bike escaped with bruises only. The small GS remained rideable as our crash bars kept the engine and the radiator intact. Just as advertised!
Then came the images of the 1250GS! It does not look so dramatic at first glance but wait..
And voilà! That’s some serious, indisputable impact caused by a quarter ton flying bike!
The good news: rider and passenger escaped with bruises, mostly psychological impact while the 1250GS remained intact as our lower crash bars absorbed and handled all the impact to save the engine and the clients’ tour!
All in all, while it’s pretty bad to crash, it’s part of riding motorcycles. Plain and simple.
The best thing one can do is wear properly tested motorcycle gear as well as armour up their motorcycle with properly tested crash bars and skid plate. The combination of both can save lives, prevent broken bones, prevent shattered dreams of a potentially once in a life time motorcycle tour.
As for protecting motorcycles? Come to Outback Motortek and we’ll provide you with the only protection in the world that’s brutally tested by the manufacturer in order to exceed the expectations and to raise the bar really high.