I checked in with Altrider on shipping date for their bars. The 26th is the new date. Cancelled my order. Ordered a set of Motech bars from Twisted Throttle. None in stock but more expected the 14th. I like the idea of the cross bar anyway and a more traditional look.
Just a heads up, the dates from Twisted are ESTIMATES. They make them sound like they are solid, but as soon as they miss them they emphasize they are ESTIMATES. My crash bars were shipped 13 days after the date I was told when I ordered. Hopefully yours and others will be on time or better, but be careful to not get your expectations up again!
William42, any thoughts on the amount of coverage? Do you think it will adequately protect your radiator?
Good point krussell. I placed my Altrider order Mar. 21st, shortly after they started accepting preorders. After watching several shipping dates come and go I started to get that old "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" feeling. And is June 26th the last 'adjustment'. Who knows? Anyway, it felt good to pull the plug on that deal. And hey, it helped out all my Café Husky brothers and sisters by moving everyone up in the waiting list.
For what it's worth, I'm going to stick with the Altriders. Looking at the SW bars they appear not to protect the bike at the most vulnerable part, the leading edge of plastic on the plastic "tank". I've dropped mine twice off road and the tank is the contact point. The SW's appear to protect the engine and not the plastics. The Altriders will accomplish both based on points of contact.
yeah, I'm opting for patience too...the product design seems worth the wait. Just don't drop the bikes!
I agree with Kawagumby and Wolftrax about the additional protection provided by the Altrider bars. But I've got trips planned and some protection is better than none. There is a good reason I have the name dangslow. Most of my 'oops' moments are at dangslow speed and I think I can deal with the protection offered by the Motech product. I understand Touratech is working on some crash bars also. Be interesting to see what they come up with.
William, Is there a place on the Motech bars to mount 2" dia driving lights in such a way that they are protected. I am leaning towards mounting them on the forks.
The higher the better for lights. BigDog has some very nice lights with handlebar mounts. that might be the way to go if you have room there.
I believe the idea behind the SWM bars is that they flare out lower than where that tank contact point is. Therefore resting on the bars before that tank plastic can hit the ground. I am sure William will give us a pic of the bike laying down ...
That's the deal, right? Wasn't the first person who got bars supposed to kick their bike over to prove they work?
Mounted my Sw-Motech's today. Bars and hardware are 8 lbs 3 oz. Went on easy, although I routed my clutch cable under instead of over the first time and that didn't work out. :-) I've got the Sw-Motech skid plate, that all went together just fine as expected. Full gallery of bar and plate install at http://krussell.smugmug.com/Other/husky-sw-motech/29889922_BSrbn3. Here's some highlights, hopefully not dups...
I stared at mine a while, and I don't see how you would get lights mounted with any protection at all. I guess in under the cross bar MIGHT be possible, but I think that's too low personally.
WOW - Thanks for those pics - really a wealth of information. I think you have added a lot to this thread. Answered a lot of my questions about the SWM bars. When it is on its side - is the weight still down low or does it feel like it is teeter-tottering on the bar? How do the bars feel - flex at all? do they flex when they are down on its side? Really a great post thanks a bunch!
I layed it over on it's side, gently, in the garage. Added pics to the gallery at http://krussell.smugmug.com/Other/husky-sw-motech/29889922_BSrbn3 I think the rear brake lever is the biggest outstanding issue on my bike. Likely shift lever too.
It's teeter tottering on the bar, you can see the front wheel is a bit off the ground. That's a piece of 3/4" plywood that I layed it on, perhaps not the best example but even without that the handlebars are going to be in the air. There is zero flex in the bars. Granted I didn't throw it over, or otherwise torment it, but it's an extremely solid assembly.
