Sibirsky Extreme 2012 - The Toughest Ride of Them All

[CavDoc]

Originally Posted by ROD CURRIE

And presumably that wire you can see is attached to his balls as an "incentive" to keep up if his feet should slip off the pedals

Haha either that or a kill switch...

Wish I had one of those attached to me when my knee blew on the treadmill a few years back!

(And no, I'm not a geezer...just a fit 26 year old with a few extra "aches and pains" from life choices I've made!)

[Minora]

Originally Posted by lakota

I read that as the F800 was not ideal for the job, not the crash bars.

I guess so, makes sense. But while on the topic, I noticed that none of the bikes on the trip had bars fitted - again, except for the additional weight, any specific reason why nobody rides with them?

[cablebandit]

Every bike I've ever seen with "crash bars"...the bars just seem to prevent cosmetic damage.

[vitamintwin]

Hi Walter, Gérard Depardieu is now a Russian citizen. You are next, because of your promotion and reverent attitude to RF.

[Lornce]

Better late than never.

[Mehaniotis]

Originally Posted by Minora

I guess so, makes sense. But while on the topic, I noticed that none of the bikes on the trip had bars fitted - again, except for the additional weight, any specific reason why nobody rides with them?

From what I read it was due to not wanting them to get tangled on brush and such. Makes sense to me with the quality of riders along on this trip.

[ciedema]

Originally Posted by cablebandit

Every bike I've ever seen with "crash bars"...the bars just seem to prevent cosmetic damage.

I have them on my 990, but wouldn't give them a second though on the likes of any the 600cc odd DS bikes, be it the BMW, KTM, DR etc. waste of time IMHO on these little bikes.

The stock BMW 800 ones arent the best either, they bolt to the engine and can crack castings in an off.

[ErwinL]

I don't know if this is the case with the crashbars on the F800, but some crashbars will prevent a lot of cosmetic damage as said, but can also cause frame damage at the same time. Destroying you bike in what otherwise might have been some scratches, there arent any cilinderheads sticking out.
Another point might be that it makes the bike wider, but in this case the panniers are the widest point it seems.

I keep on being an avid reader, please continue!
You guys have spread the virus well, just got my first off road motorcycle (an old XR600R) for practising while in college.

[vitamintwin]

Originally Posted by vitamintwin

Hi Walter, Gérard Depardieu is now a Russian citizen. You are next, because of your promotion and reverent attitude to RF.

[Colebatch]

Originally Posted by vitamintwin

Hi Walter, Gérard Depardieu is now a Russian citizen. You are next, because of your promotion and reverent attitude to RF.

13% flat tax - yeah i'll take on another nationality for that. But somehow I doubt I will get a personal invite to the Kremlin.

As for Depardieu - all the Russians I know keep making uncomplementary jokes about the guy. So please dont put me in the boat with him.

[Goldburg]

Originally Posted by Colebatch

As for Depardieu - all the Russians I know keep making uncomplementary jokes about the guy. So please dont put me in the boat with him.

That boat would sink fast, Walter.

[Colebatch]

There are no crash bars because on a narrow bike crash bars dont actually protect anything.

Even on prutsers boxer - there are no crash bars - because the engine that sticks out is tough.

Have you ever seen a Dakar bike with crash bars??

We all crashed our bikes many times. I have dropped mine at high speed a few times. Dakar guys usually have a couple of spills during the Dakar. and their speeds are always high. And yet no crash bars. In the BAM Road video teaser from EtronX I posted earlier, loads of bikes falling down in rocks ... and yet no damage to the engines.

Crash bars really dont add value. It might look like they do. It might look like they add toughness. But in most cases the bike is tough enough. As someone said above - check where they attach. Is the attach point strong enough to handle the stress? Often the answer is no. In the main, they are bling that are sold by Touratech and their clones to make money. They are designed and marketed to look tough and create a tough image. But always go back to stuff like the Dakar bikes. They ride huge distances off roads, often very fast, often quite technical, sometimes in sand, often in rocks, for half a month, day in, day out. They crash the bikes. They spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to get there, for one race, once a year. They know they are going to have crashes, but if they hole an engine, their entire year, and all its money is wasted. AND STILL they dont have crash bars. That tells me all I need to know about the value of crashbars.

In the main, crash bars dont add any value .... but they do add weight and they do cost money.

On a lighter narrower bike they are never necessary. The handlebars and luggage keep the engine miles away from contacting anything. If you have a fat bike you might guard against cosmetic damage.

But on balance - I vote no to crashbars.

You need good handlebar protectors, and you need a good bashplate (again, go back to look at Dakar bikes ... thats what they use) ... the rest is usually just bling - with a few exceptions. On my XC I have also added protectors under the footpegs, but thats because on this particular bike, the back brake mechanism and side stand attachment can and do get hit. But thats purely bike specific.

[EtronX]

Sorry for being so quiet for a few days. Sometimes a man has to work. I work in northern Norway and the weather has been pretty shait the last week. Here is a little link of what we do up north.

EC225 Bristow Norway SAR Operations Hammerfest from EtronX on Vimeo.

[Aarrff]

Awesome work...hat's off to you!!!

[Olaf]

EtronX - Cool, my second cousin works for Bristow, He flies an S92 out of Norway to Oil Rigs. Great ride report once again Walter and friends.

Olaf