I am not sure about the ALTrider bars. The furthest part out from the bike (that will hit the ground first) is also the furthest part away from any frame mounting point. This essentially creates a really long lever and there is no cross brace to transfer force to the other side of the frame. I would love to see a video of someone giving them a good kick, or standing on top of them when the bike is on the ground. I feel like they would just flex and wreck the fairing/radiator. Am I crazy?
In some ways, I like the idea of the portion of the bar that hits the ground the hardest not being directly mounted to the frame. That way the bar should spring a bit and not bend the frame. Maybe.
I've seen the Altrider prototype in person and It is plenty strong. There's a lot of subtle precision in their design. The welds, cuts, bends etc are top shelf.
steel tube is designed to to be strongest when pulled (tensile) and pushed (compression). It definitely could be strong enough - it just puzzles me why you wouldn't put a crossmemeber in it making it VERY strong.
This might be useful - but the pictures look like the bar is pretty close to the fairing. On the SW-Motech bars I like the crossmember but there is a piece of flat stock connecting the to the frame above the engine, this would bend easily. It seems like the ALTrider connection there is stronger.
This is good to hear. You're definitely right - seeing them in person is a whole different experience. I'm mainly going off of the pictures and what F1U has said.
Just looking here, but the highest attachment point on the front of the bike seems to be the same, which appears to be about parallel to the tip of the mudguard. Altrider SW-Motech
yea the top attachment is the same - and the ALTrider seems to be much better done vs. the SWmotech metal tab. However I just can't get over the fact that they wouldn't connect them. In my mind it essentially doubles the effectiveness of the guard. The crossbrace transfers force between the crashbars and makes use of four mounting points instead of 2... If ALTrider produces a crossbrace I would definitely go with theirs - or if I knew for sure I could get a piece of pipe in there and weld it in. Otherwise I would have to say the SWmotech seems better designed. Just my 2 cents.
I am enjoying this conversation, but think that there really is no way to truly evaluate these types of products until some are in the hands of TR650 owners.
Yeah, but we love speculating around here. Without it, we'd have nothing to do. I might be willing to tip my bike over in the name of science when the bars arrive.
That is definitely true. I just hope that we get some good pictures when they get installed! SCIENCE! Sorry for all the conjecture, I am a physics teacher ...
I see your point, but looks like there is a bit of room for a bit of flex. Pluse, the plastic isn't going to break (hopefully) if the bar deflects into it a bit. Going for too rigid is often as bad as too weak. Forces have to go somewhere, afterall. I would rather the bars be sacrificial than the frame. I am torn between the better radiator coverage of the Altrider bars v. the x-bar on the SW-Motech bars. Also, I will want to mount some lights to the bars, so maybe getting a light/x-bar welded between the Altrider bars would work. I imagine either set of bars will need to be removed to work on the motor - like valve adjustments. The great thing in my mind is niether set of bars mount to the engine cases. At least these bikes have a real frame. The BMW boxers (which I am more used to) use the engine as a stressed frame member, and crash bars often mount to an engine casing bolt, and its not unheard of for a crash to result in a cracked engine case. Kind of not the result of what is hoped for when mounting crash bars.
After several beers though we would never know if it was on purpose. I guess you could claim you meant to do it.
Very true. I am leaning more and more toward the ALTrider and then welding in a crossmember. Couplings like this are only about 30 bucks and I would imagine they have one in the correct size. That would make a home made radiator protector more easy as well as lights...
