Anybody add a bumper guard?

[Spyder Hawk]

Hello all!

I was just considering a bumper guard because of a long trip I plan to make. I have heard lots of stories of how much damage even a small animal can do if hit on the road. One of the tubular bumper guards might help protect the front end in case of a road mishap but I don't know anyone that has one. I was curious if anybody has installed one on their bike, did it make a difference, did the weight drag the front down any, things like that. Trying to make an informed decision.

 

[racoon]

Unless it's a mesh guard I don't think it's going to help much, as parts of whatever you hit will go above/around/between the bars.

And if you hit something large enough that a guard does stop it, the energy generated by the impact is going to be transferred to the mounting points of the guard.

I've seen a few that look pretty cool, though.

 

[fatboy]

over 80000 miles across the country felt no need for one dont really like the looks

 

[troop]

I had the old style Spyder Extras one on my old F3S. I liked the way it looked. If you have the soft OEM suspension it will occasionally scrape underneath, but it was designed for that. It would likely protect a bit in a soft hit, but not so much a major hit. I like the newer smaller profile ones better. I like the small one for the RT too

 

[Poppie65]

I'm considering one after driving through a local town that had uneven brick roads. Our bottom scrubbed a couple of areas where the newer RT guard would have absorbed the impact.

 

[RayBJ]

Funny you bring this up as I just installed a bumper guard today on my '20 RT.
Last month I smashed the 'chin' and the entire frunk, except the hood, needed replacement. All the black tupperware was destroyed but no mechanical damage at all. I was able to clean up the pieces enough to continue our long weekend w/o any problems - other than ugly frontend. Repair cost was $2700. parts & labor OTD.
I got the guard from SlingMods (a sponsor here) and for 1/10 the cost, I'm hoping IF I ever do stupid again, I can laugh it off and rub some dirt in it.

it was easy to install but my RT already had bolts where the instructions indicate empty holes possibly due to the dealer repair of the frunk. I removed them and used the bolts in the kit.

 

[2dogs]

There isn't much you can do to protect the front of your spyder other than watching where you're going. If you see an object in your path coming at you that you can't avoid, try to take it on directly under your foot and not dead center it. There isn't a lot you can do in the last half second. Maintaining control will become the number one priority at that point. Good luck I hope it never happens to you.

 

[Peter Aawen]

Just beware, there's been more than one Spyder written off here in Oz BECAUSE they had those 'bumpers' fitted! nojoke
And at least a couple of those were from fairly light parking nudges too!! :lecturef_smilie:

What would've been relatively simple 'tupperware repair' jobs like Ray's, albeit possibly expensive repair jobs (got insurance?? ) were converted into total write-off's of the Spyders concerned simply because those bolt-on guards don't 'spread the load and absorb damage' like your car bumpers do, instead they 'concentrate the load onto a few (fairly critical!) spots and INCREASE the damage'!! AND ALSO they project out further & low down in front of the already fairly low front lip under the leading edge of the Spyder's frunk, so they reduce the approach angle and tend to hit on MORE things - things you'd most likely usually clear without the bumper!! :banghead:

Add to that the potential for hitting things up front on the corners of the bumpers rather than square on, which will introduce some fairly significant angled forces into the equation, especially on the mounting points, with a consequent much greater potential for 'twisting &/or distorting' expensive &/or critical things under your Spyder, I wouldn't fit one of those bumpers in a pink fit! :bdh:

 

[pauly1]

...I wouldn't fit one of those bumpers in a pink fit! :bdh:

Gotta love the "pink fit" descriptor!

I've not had a "bumper" but have had a "bump-skid" on one F3 Spyders. At a rural railway crossing, the lip of the bump-skid got hooked on some part of the crossing: it was ripped off the Spyder. The crossing was rough and I was not going over 10 mph while crossing. During the repair process, I found there are no solid points in the entire front end to attach anything to distribute impact load to the frame. Every component is a plastic, although some were glass reinforced nylon (GFR PA6/6). Had the bump-skid not been on the machine, I would have, at worst case, scraped the chin of the grill. After $400+ in new parts and hours to repair the damage, the bump-skid was not reinstalled. Personal resolve is to not put anything on the front end under the guise of impact absorbing/distributing. (We've got over 200K miles of riding fun on Spyders.) I would install parts for aesthetic reasons, but also accepting the increased risk of damage during an impact event.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

There isn't much you can do to protect the front of your spyder other than watching where you're going. If you see an object in your path coming at you that you can't avoid, try to take it on directly under your foot and not dead center it. There isn't a lot you can do in the last half second. Maintaining control will become the number one priority at that point. Good luck I hope it never happens to you.

:agree: ..... and I have NEVER seen where this has ever been '' CRASH TESTED " ... to me it's COSMETIC only .....Mike :thumbup:

 

[2dogs]

:agree: ..... and I have NEVER seen where this has ever been '' CRASH TESTED " ... to me it's COSMETIC only .....Mike :thumbup:

For so many years on 2 wheels, I've been able to dodge objects that I now have nightmares about confronting that I may not be able to avoid. You know what I mean?