Really good cylinder head protectors?

[GSXR-Chris]

Hi there.
Wondering if there are any top notch cylinder head protectors out there that can withstand a decent lowside? The enthuiasts guys who raced r1100ss what did they use?
The kind a R and G or GB Racing provide for other bikes.
All the ones I have seen seem flimsy.

[brokenwasp]

These are where i'd be heading, pricey though.
http://www.sandbarcomposites.co.uk/disp ... ory_id=134

[Blackal]

Don't think there are - for the 1100s............

The first decent head protectors appeared on the R1200GSA, which some folk also fitted to their R1200r, R1200s and R1200st.

Unfortunately, the 1100s being out of production for 10yrs now - the chances of finding something - is probably a bit unlikely?

Al

[brokenwasp]

Don't think there are - for the 1100s............

Oops, my mistake

[wicker]

Don't recall the R1100S racers using cyclinder head protection; saw them race in the Bowercup at Oulton Park in 2002

I had the Touratech head protectors fitted and they were reaonably tough surviving three lowish speed trips down the road. Last spill was when I was rear ended by a car when stationery waiting to join a roundabout. The Touratech protector gouged a 3ft track in the tarmac and the cylinder head survived unscathed. It did bend one of the protector mounting brackets.

Touratech still list these in their catalogue but looks like a special order job as they quote a long lead time. I would phone Germany and see what the story is before considerign whether to order
http://shop.touratech.de/aluminium-cyli ... 50-gs.html

[f90x]

The standard BMW ones although plastic were quite thick and quite tough. If you can find any.

[SP250]

I bought a pair of the standard plastic ones from Chris (Boxerscott) and they are near enough unmarked.
Unfortunately they will not fit my single spark engine heads, as they are from a twin spark engine. The third mounting underneath is totally different. My mistake - I should have asked.
Up for sale at the same price £65 +P&P

[tanneman]

The standard fitment protectors from BMW is only good enough for a topple over at standstill. Any faster than that and it breaks. The carbon bits as fitted to the BCR is only to reduce the friction when the head touch down. Best bit is to keep the upright. If you do feel the need to lay it down rest assured the cost is minimal. Only £130 or so per side.

[GSXR-Chris]

If you lay it down and it wears through or shatters the cover, you're resting on the valve gear ''shudder'' it would cost more than £130

[Motocod]

Scroll down a bit - I've considered these:

http://www.motorworks.co.uk/vlive/Shop/ ... 5&spPage=3

A bit to GS though really.

I was looking a while back - there is a company in Italy that was doing some nice cast Aluminium ones but they were out of stock. I emailed them and asked if they were re-running them and they said they were and would email me. That was almost a year ago.

I had my bike blow over last year and it broke the plastic protector. Also ended up with a small dent in my cylinder head cover, although it didn't go through - seems like the metal is fairly thick (as you'd want it to be). The standard plastic ones look neat but they're next to useless!

Nik

[Dog Tyred]

I suspect if you laid it down fast enough to wear through the head cover the cost of the valve gear would be the least of your worries...if you had anything to worry about at all that is

DT

[metropolis2k]

The BMW ones are only good for stopping scratches when you drop it but won't last long in a proper spill.

The carbon fibre ones the race teams used also did not for protection.

I bought some Touratech ones but instead of getting them from the UK it was cheaper and quicker to get them from Germany: http://www.kohl.de/webshop/product_info ... _id=255568 Unfortunately it looks like they're out of stock at the moment.

The other well known tough ones are 'Steptoe's headguards' http://www.gsshop.biz/shop/non-gs/headg ... ter/s.html but again they're out of stock at the moment.

[Blackal]

Well - it looks like you can still get plastic protectors, which at least will absorb the petrol forecourt "laydown".

The metal ones ain't exactly a thing of beauty for sure. I just took the CarbonFibre ones off my BCR, but the most I would do with the head covers now - would be to paint them satin-black.

Al

[tanneman]

If you lay it down and it wears through or shatters the cover, you're resting on the valve gear ''shudder'' it would cost more than £130

Crashed at Snetterton just before Riches. Geustimate a 110mph off. The RH head took all the force of the impact. Bike slid down the tarmac for a considerable distance before making its way onto the grass. Barely worn through the cover.

Also consider the fact the Boxer Cup race teams didn't bother with cylinder head protectors. The rocker cover is tough enough.

[GSXR-Chris]

That's good to know. The standard covers are thick and tough then?