I was thinking the same thing, but then remembered another set of crashbar mounted lights I have... They work pretty well from that height, and it's about the same height of something you would put on the top of the Sw-Motech bars. No idea how you would protect them, but height wise they'll work as good as these do, and I like these.
krussel, you are the man. Those are the photos that I needed to wrap my head around the SW-Motech design.
I suppose I was wondering if it was teetering vertically. In other words is there a chance that if the bike falls it would rotate over the crash bar and hit the top of the tank? See the SWM bars are lower than the AltRider bars. I guess what I am wondering is are they too low so that the bike might roll over them and damage the plastic faring/tank on top?
By the time you get over far enough to hit the plastic your handlebars will be fully involved, and will have had to give up some bend or dug in a ways. Then you have the side panels, which stick out a ways before you get to airbox or coolant tank. And then you finally get to airbox or coolant tank. I don't think it's going to be a common thing to get damage that far in, but a poorly placed large rock under just the right circumstances, or ruts, etc. could all lead to shredding. The good news is you have to go a long way before you get to fuel, most of the tank is in between and below frame rails. If you haven't already checkout HiFive's strip show at http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=20555846&postcount=189.
Hmm, I think I'll wait until I can see reviews of both sets before I make my decision. They are definitely needed as those shrouds stick out a fair way. I wonder if Touratech will also bring out a set ? I'll ask them and let you know.
Thanks. I suspected as much. I don't really want the lights on the handelbars because I think that is too high and they may mask out the turn signals. I am leaning towards a fork mount about where the sidemarker reflectors are. Fork mount is a possibility because we have updsidedown forks. LED lights don't really have an approved beam pattern, and get them up too high I am worried about blinding drivers.
Really can't beat the light a LED puts out. That said I would never run mine in traffic just for that reason... Well unless there's a stupid driver and you need to get their attention...work well for that.
There are wiring harnesses that allow you to run the lights dimmed for daytime conspicuity and are also tied into the high beam and horn switches to go to full bright (horn is optional). I like the idea of a dimmer, should be able to find a tolerable level.
Apparently you missed something. All but one of us are waiting on our crash bars to arrive. Gotta kill the time somehow.
I have to add myself as another happy SW-Motech customer. Bars are solid and fitted easily. IMHO they will do the job nicely.
I want to apologize for not checking in on this thread since June 5th. Like most of the people posting in this thread I am anxiously awaiting crash bars (and several other items) so I can do specific things with my bike. The latest shipping date change for the ALTrider crash bars just put me in a bad enough mood I needed to walk away from the computer for a while, and I especially did not want to look at this thread. I know what I want for a ____x but they are working on it. I know what I want for a ____y but they are working on it. I know what I want for crash bars... and the date slipped again. Just put me over the top. Sorry. I also want to publicly thank everyone for not jumping on my last post in a 'bad way' to make me the bad guy, that could have easily happened, but you fine people are a class act. And I want to publicly thank everyone who contributed - it really does help. Thank you!
I am waiting on a reply and I guess I will go with which ever one will ship me the bars first I was hoping to get the alt rider ones but I am not going to wait forever to get them something is better then nothing. lol
i seldom make the right bet, but I did go with the sm mototech bars, and I just got notice from twisted throttle that their next batch arrived from Germany and that it will ship tomorrow. Woo-hoo !! I now have to figure out how to transport the right amount of tools to the cabin to install the crash bars, koubalink's lowering gizmo, and also to wire up my Garmin Zumo harness.
