All Bunged Up

[Matt]

I've been umming and arring and assuming and... festooning, and am currently contemplating the whole crash bung/bobbins thing.

1. Is R&G the way to go?
2. Are they still/Are they a hole in fairing job?
3. I took of the Akra exhaust and put my sc-project back on today.  Am I mad?  It sounds hilarious still 'playing on the sidestand'.

Lots of regards,

Matt

p.s. I'm camping at Silverstone next weekend so if I drop it in a field there expect expletives.

[Phmode]

Yes, for me!

Yes they are! I closed my eyes when I drilled the holes in The Beast to fit mine/Pierpaolo's bungs.

If yer chicken I'll bugger yer fairing for you!

There are other types that don't need holes in the fairing but they bolt to the clutch cover etc and might bugger that in a drop! They also cost a fortune by comparison!

Dropping it in a field shouldn't be too bad and if it's soggy then the bungs won't stop the fairing hitting the deck 

[Matt]

Ok ok I see what you're saying, no need to get pushy.  I'll pick yours up next Friday and take it, fine!

[Phmode]

You can take the 12 with pleasure, full deposit needed!

[black-k1]

I’ve always been in two minds with regards crash bungs. For slow speed “drops”, there’s no doubt that crash bungs will protect expensive plastic panels. However, there’s a school of thought that says that any off involving a bit of speed and bungs are counterproductive. Where a bike without bungs will slide on the plastics the bungs will dig in and cause the bike to pivot, or worse, tumble.

[Costas]

Or in cases of a light frame dent it.

[Phmode]

My rationale has always been that if they save the plastics in a car park drop (or, not that I have ever done it of course, at the top of the ramp onto the ribbed steel deck of a cross-channel ferry  ) then they have paid for themselves and I have heard of many, many more such drops than I have heard of folks throwing it down the road at speed.

The only person I know who threw it down the road and it didn't hit anything solid, was Costas. His bungs saved him a fortune! Normally a bike will hit something very solid after a slide on the road.

Others I know? One Old Git in Spain (and that doesn't count cos he threw it into a ditch which made a mess of a lot more than the plastics). Rae who bent it big-time, probably still upright in a hedge. A mate who rode into a motorway ditch in Belgium needed a lot more than crash bungs and it appeared that the bike remained 'upright' anyway!

If it goes down the road at speed then my dealer has told me of two cases of K12/13's where the thing looked OK'ish, but closer inspection revealed that the frame had bent caused by the R&G bung on the side!

You have to look to your own abilities and tendencies. Cases definitely help save the plastics in a drop but if you are prone to dropping the bike, and I have dropped quite a few whilst stationary'ish, then I would suggest the R&G type route.

If you are prone to chucking it down the road at speed I would highly recommend  some training, better tyres and a few track days   

Brian (who has an excellent sence of balance but finds most bikes do not    )

[Costas]

Andy had a similar skid and fell in Luxembourg in his case bans saved him with damage only to : side panel,  right engine cover, cluch pump , up to here similar to me , then additional damage in his case were the right bar end and steering rod , all new close to 2000e .
He like me has no side protectors.

[Matt]

Hmph.

The only thing I've done with the old k1300s was drop it in Italy up that annoying steep hill.  So the panniers helped there but then side panel, headlight surround and the bottom engine cowl black thing all got scraped or cracked for the latter.

Of course I binned my first bike, an sv650 sport fully faired, with bungs, at about 20mph and still somewhere caused 2k of Suzuki dealer cost damage.

So anyway.  Yeah.