Best crash bar?

[Peter M DK]

I am very close to ordering a T7, but are in doubt regarding which crash bar to get. 

 

I am looking for the balance of style and protection. 

 

Which one is the best?

 

Currently the candidates are:

The OEM? +OEM +Looks like good protection. -Is going too high up/ugly/heavy. 

Outback Mototrek (only the lower part)? +Looks like a strong mount +Light. -Is not going high enough to protect the sides well. 

SW-Motech? I can not see how strong it is mounted. +Covers a good area. 

 

Any others?

 

Which one to go for?

I can get a good price on the OEM with the bike. 

[FAR&FURTHER]

I have the Outback crash bars. Both upper & lower and I'm using both of them, if you know what I mean   For normal use lower could be enough, for off-roading I'd definitely recommend getting the upper part as well.

 

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https://farandfurther.org

https://instagram.com/farandfurther

https://facebook.com/farandfurther

 

[OU812]

delete

 

Edited October 3, 2020 by OU812

[Rainville]

4 hours ago, DORTx2 said:

I had to bend mine to fit as well

F*ck that was my 1st choice. They looked pretty strong on that video, and having that nice blue option was a huge plus look wise.

 

Is there really issues with the Outback Motortek fitment? 

[DORTx2]

10 minutes ago, Rainville said:

F*ck that was my 1st choice. They looked pretty strong on that video, and having that nice blue option was a huge plus look wise.

 

Is there really issues with the Outback Motortek fitment? 

Yeah I've heard of a lot of issues with fitment. Honestly the fit and finish just kinda sucks. They fit horribly and the welds are kinda Shet. But I still believe they are designed well and probably one of the stronger options on the market.

 

I did mention the fit issues that people were having on outback's Instagram page and the guy running the page got pretty defensive.

 

All in all I don't really regret buying them but I won't buy their products again in the future.

[Burner]

56 minutes ago, Rainville said:

F*ck that was my 1st choice. They looked pretty strong on that video, and having that nice blue option was a huge plus look wise.

 

Is there really issues with the Outback Motortek fitment? 

The fit on mine was extremely tight, some bending/flexing required.

The issue I had was with the supplied hardware, it was too short. I had everything lined up and finger tight, once I started to tighten everything one of the bolts that threads into the engine casing pulled out.

This has been documented on other threads.

I sent those bars back, I will never consider or recommend Outback products ever again.

[OU812]

By now everyone knows I'm Heed Bunker fan. 

I  like the lines, the way the tubing runs, it follows the fairings lines,

The diameter of the tube, How it mounts, (to the frame not the engine.)

Heed shipped fast and packaged well.

It has also been reported a member has tested them with positive results...

Get the Heed HERE

 

[Rainville]

19 hours ago, OU812 said:

By now everyone knows I'm Heed Bunker fan. 

I  like the lines, the way the tubing runs, it follows the fairings lines,

The diameter of the tube, How it mounts, (to the frame not the engine.)

Heed shipped fast and packaged well.

It has also been reported a member has tested them with positive results...

Get the Heed HERE

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Shame they only do them in black.

[OU812]

37 minutes ago, Rainville said:

A Shame they only do them in black.

Why would u want any other colour ??

[Melv]

It's all a matter of personal preference, I went for the Hepco and Bekker lower bars just to protect my engine casings with Heed rear crashbars, whereas my son hates all crashbars and tells me, 'just dont drop it'.   !!!! 

[Veider]

Hi from Czech Rep. I am standing before the same task. Here are my favourites:

 

1) 

Adventure Spec | Tenere 700 Crash Bars

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Our crash bars are designed to protect your fairings in the event of a crash. Constructed from 6000 series aluminium they are designed to be strong and light.

 

 

2) 

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A set of Basic crash bars and headlight guard for Yamaha TENERE 700.  

 

 

3) 

Yamaha XT 700 Z Tenere padací rámy 5024564 00 01 | motoshop motokufry-motobrašny Givi Kappa SW-Motech

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Yamaha XT 700 Z Tenere padací rámy horní 5024564 00 01

 

 

 

[EODTenere]

I ended up rolling with the Outback Motortek bars, though, Adventure Specs were on my radar as well. At the time, I couldn't find any reports of people dropping their bikes hard with any specific brand. Then, I saw that OM drop test video and that settled it for me. 

The fitment is a little bit funky. I whacked them once or twice with a rubber mallet to get holes to line up enough to facilitate easy threading. Overall wasn't bad though. I thought I was going to have much more trouble than I did. 

Their durability is good, and I tested that the first day I put them on (it was a spontaneous test). I didn't get a good enough grip on the bike and it touched down pretty hard. The bars did their job well, didn't even shift around on their mounts. Between the touratech back the OM front bars (and the pegs), nothing touched the bike. I was impressed. This is before I had barkbusters on the bike, and I've noticed those handguards take most of the beating in a fall. The bars definitely saved my lever, by taking enough of the brunt that those crappy OEM handguards could do a good job. I'm going to keep em on there. 

I didnt think I'd like the color at first, but I realize they color matched it to the lower blue graphic and now...I kinda like the color separation on the bike it gives. So, I like the color now.

 

Those are just my thoughts on the OMs.  

 

Edited October 4, 2020 by EODTenere

[JamBoa]

On 5/13/2020 at 12:51 PM, Peter M DK said:

I am very close to ordering a T7, but are in doubt regarding which crash bar to get. 

 

I am looking for the balance of style and protection. 

 

Which one is the best?

 

Currently the candidates are:

The OEM? +OEM +Looks like good protection. -Is going too high up/ugly/heavy. 

Outback Mototrek (only the lower part)? +Looks like a strong mount +Light. -Is not going high enough to protect the sides well. 

SW-Motech? I can not see how strong it is mounted. +Covers a good area. 

 

Any others?

 

Which one to go for?

I can get a good price on the OEM with the bike. 

Hepco beker

[Buba]

I've ordered Heed basic bars, I think they'll do the job.

Touratech was my first choice but I cancelled my order after being deceived for 2 months by my local reseller

[DazR]

I fitted the Hepco and Becker upper crash bars.  They were a nice fit and neat and gave me somewhere to mount a LED Lightbar as well.  Hoping I don't need to put them to the test like everyone else. I did like the Adventure Spec ones as I have their rear rack and pannier racks but they were having troubles with their website at the time, so went local instead.

[jeff03064]

Still waiting on my T7 but trying to figure out which crash bars to buy. I think I'm going with either the Heed Bunker bars or the Adventure Spec ones. Leaning toward the AS ones based on cost and weight. Heed "seem" like they "might" protect better but they're so much heavier than the AS ones. Heed are 19.8lbs (9kg) vs the AS ones which are 6.2lbs (2.8kg). My buddy swears by the Heed based on what he has on his F800GS. Do you think I'd even really feel the weight difference between the two? I couldn't really find any "failure" stories for either of them. Thoughts?

[OU812]

This thread. Adventure Spec - Problems  turned me away from them.

[Heedcase]

In the interests of balance I've had absolutely no issues with several orders from Adventure Spec.

Ordered from the UK site and delivered to Thailand.

I believe the issues mentioned relate to their US outlet.

[TennesseeTenere]

On 10/3/2020 at 12:13 PM, DORTx2 said:

Yeah I've heard of a lot of issues with fitment. Honestly the fit and finish just kinda sucks. They fit horribly and the welds are kinda Shet. But I still believe they are designed well and probably one of the stronger options on the market.

 

I did mention the fit issues that people were having on outback's Instagram page and the guy running the page got pretty defensive.

 

All in all I don't really regret buying them but I won't buy their products again in the future.

I have the upper and lower bars on mine and have been (ab)using them since early July. The bars have taken the abuse and appear to be holding up very well despite my best efforts. It would be easy to recommend them if the proper hardware had been included. The bolts supplied for the lower bars were incorrect and when I contacted them to find out what size they should  be I received no reply. That said a lot.  No worries I solved the issue with correctly sized bolts and moved on

Having said that, I second .@DORTx2

“All in all I don’t really regret buying them but I won’t buy their products in the future”

 

[Svrider]

I like the HEED but they will not work with the Yamaha Rally skid plate which I already have, that's too bad.

[OU812]

33 minutes ago, Svrider said:

I like the HEED but they will not work with the Yamaha Rally skid plate which I already have, that's too bad.

I hear ya, they way the Heed Bunker mounts to the lower frame won't accept the Yamaha Rally Skid,  the Heed Basic will but your only getting fairing protection with those... I have my eye on the Camel Adv Skid . Now that the Tenere has started to sell to Cruise Land (U.S) it won't be long until others pop up but that doesn't help you. Good luck with your selection.

[Veider]

I have also a Rally skid plate. I dont think that Hepco-Becker lower bars will fit with it....

[CoreCass]

wondering if the heed bunker would fit with the adventure spec bash plate.

 

if someone knows i would love to know as my heed bunker is on its way.

[Treps]

On 10/3/2020 at 9:25 PM, OU812 said:

By now everyone knows I'm Heed Bunker fan. 

I  like the lines, the way the tubing runs, it follows the fairings lines,

The diameter of the tube, How it mounts, (to the frame not the engine.)

Heed shipped fast and packaged well.

It has also been reported a member has tested them with positive results...

Get the Heed HERE

 

 

The Heed bars look good. Did I see correctly that the total weight for the bars (lower and upper) is 10.5 kgs? How do they feel riding? Cheers

 

 

[OU812]

32 minutes ago, Treps said:

 

The Heed bars look good. Did I see correctly that the total weight for the bars (lower and upper) is 10.5 kgs? How do they feel riding? Cheers

 

 

Thats the package shipping weight, they were packaged very well no nicks or scrapes like some other inferior bars i also had the side bags, they were delivered in a coffin size box, enough packaging material to paper my garage and wrap that Dexter would be proud of.. I don't notice the extra weight at all. 

 

 

[BAM2002]

57 minutes ago, OU812 said:

Thats the package shipping weight, they were packaged very well no nicks or scrapes like some other inferior bars i also had the side bags, they were delivered in a coffin size box, enough packaging material to paper my garage and wrap that Dexter would be proud of.. I don't notice the extra weight at all. 

 

Did you have any delay with shipping.? I ordered a set but waiting for delivery - to the USA.