OEM Crash Bars. Are they any good?

[Mav]

Hi

Got my new CT and am wondering if the OEM crash bars are any good.  Can anyone vouch for how well they protect the side of the bike when dropped.

Is it worth getting crash bungs aswell?

Thanks

[__Ray__]

The OEM version are not crashbars but is just for looks and mount some lights on.
You can push them by hand to touch the fairing.
If you want protection the Hepco & Becker or SW Motech are the better option, i have the Hepco & Becker and tested them already a few times in off-road (loose sand) and one time on asphalt (bad footing).
One time i demonstrated the difference to a friend by showing him that i could let them touch the fairing by hand and kicked my Hepco so hard that my bike almost dropped (kicked the left side while sitting on the sidestand).

[Mav]

Grand, thanks for the reply, I’ll look at the crash bar makes you mentioned.

Mav

[Fat Bert]

Givi ones are worth a look as well.

Givi Panniers and Givi crash bars have saved my CT on quite a few occasions - all low speed tumbles or over-balancing

[navigator1946]

Yes, I have the Hepco & Becker bars.  Bloody strong and good looking, almost the same shape as the originals.

[Big Tex]

I have the Givi. I paid $150 USD and another $50 to have them dealer installed. I think they look great. And are very sturdy.

[AussieKiwi]

I have had on 60kmh crash and a drop with the OEM bars. They work great. Not one mark on the plastics in either case. In the crash bike slid along the road on them for about 5m.

[VFR1200XDH]

The OEM bars are plenty sturdy. I'm not sure about being able to push them so they touch the fairing, I sure can't on mine. I have GIVI bars on a different ADV style bike and the Honda OEMs seem just as strong. I would much rather have the bars bend and reduce the impact to the engine than for them to just transfer all the force. I can replace the bars for a few hundred dollars, the engine not so much.

It isn't the bars that are going to bend first, its the stays the bars mount to. Look underneath the front light and you see where and how they mount. Those are the weak points, not the bars. The OEM bars are a one piece item. If you can push one side and it bends then something else is wrong, they aren't mounted properly or they are defective.

The OEMs are attached at 4 points, if one side can be bent by hand force then the other side will also move the same distance or when they were installed the front mounting points were missed, there is no way they will bend by hand.