OEM Engine Guards and Wunderlich Bag Protection Bars

[Vyk]

I just installed Wunderlich Bag Protection Bars on my Transcontinental and I thought I would share some before and after pictures to give people an idea of what they may or may not do.

But first, I have the OEM engine guards and these bar clamps which work as sliders while reducing the angle at which the bike will fall.



As shown above the bike falls like so:



Muffler just touches the ground.

Wunderlich Bag Protection Bars installs on the bike like this:



With them the bike falls like this:



Muffler still touches the ground...

 

[Vyk]

These are some additional pictures to show clearance of these bars:

 

[Deleted member 1344]

Very interesting. Thank you for that.
So the next question is: How much damage and or scarring did you see on the mufflers?
Did BMW design the muffler mounts to support the bike in the fall position?

 

[Deleted member 1344]

Another question: With the topbox on the fallen bike, how difficult was it to lift it?
I have removed my topbox/frame and the bike is noticeably lighter but I’m not looking forward to pick it up off the ground.

 

[Dude_and_a_bike]

“these bar clamps which work as sliders…”

I’ve been looking all over for the bar sliders (harley has them from the ride like a pro crew) - would be able to share who makes them, or where you got them etc? Please.

 

[Vyk]

Very interesting. Thank you for that.
So the next question is: How much damage and or scarring did you see on the mufflers?
Did BMW design the muffler mounts to support the bike in the fall position?

I bought this bike used and it came... pre-"crashed". I don't know the story behind the fall but I suspect it was a low speed drop. The fall would have been with OEM engine guards and without bag protection bars which I just installed tonight. Even with Wunderlich Bag Protection Bars I suspect the damage would be identical in case of a fall.

 

[Vyk]

“these bar clamps which work as sliders…”

I’ve been looking all over for the bar sliders (harley has them from the ride like a pro crew) - would be able to share who makes them, or where you got them etc? Please.

I bought them from eBay. But they are also found on Amazon and various websites.
Much more pricey than Imperial spec ones unfortunately.
I was looking for stainless steel ones... but they were even more expensive!

 

[Vyk]

Another question: With the topbox on the fallen bike, how difficult was it to lift it?
I have removed my topbox/frame and the bike is noticeably lighter but I’m not looking forward to pick it up off the ground.

I've picked up my old Base model from a fallen position and now the TC but never a Bagger or a TC without the top case.

The base model was a breeze.

The TC is a pain in the backside but definitely doable. Wunderlich bag protection bars actually help to get purchase of the bike with the hand that's not holding the handlebar at lock, when pushing it up backwards with the bum on the seat and legs doing the work.

 

[VARG]

I installed the Wunderlich rear bag guards yesterday. Excellent fit, great experience.
It took a few hours, with an extra hour for cleaning while the bike was apart.
The electrical plugs were simple once i figured them out, unplug the rectangular part from the oval section, then release the catch under the oval part and slide it off the rails on the base.
The only thing I will be changing is the cap head bolts provided for the passenger footboards, I think the head should be larger, or it should be washered. I'm going to replace them with Fillster head bolts as original.

 

[adamchandler]

thanks for the photos. I don't think these are a waste of money but they are expensive. But Wunderlich had no place to mount on the rear so there wasn't much else they could really do. These will do a lot to save your plastic boxes but not much else.

 

[Deleted member 1618]

I just installed Wunderlich Bag Protection Bars on my Transcontinental and I thought I would share some before and after pictures to give people an idea of what they may or may not do.

But first, I have the OEM engine guards and these bar clamps which work as sliders while reducing the angle at which the bike will fall.

View attachment 6799

As shown above the bike falls like so:

View attachment 6803View attachment 6802

Muffler just touches the ground.

Wunderlich Bag Protection Bars installs on the bike like this:

View attachment 6804

With them the bike falls like this:

View attachment 6806View attachment 6807View attachment 6808View attachment 6809

Muffler still touches the ground...

Best forum post thus far, very informative... I've been wanting to lay my bike over in order to understand what actually makes ground contact, as well as working through the uprighting process..

Now I can skip those two steps..

 

[Deleted member 1344]

I installed the Wunderlich rear bag guards yesterday. Excellent fit, great experience.
It took a few hours, with an extra hour for cleaning while the bike was apart.
The electrical plugs were simple once i figured them out, unplug the rectangular part from the oval section, then release the catch under the oval part and slide it off the rails on the base.
The only thing I will be changing is the cap head bolts provided for the passenger footboards, I think the head should be larger, or it should be washered. I'm going to replace them with Fillster head bolts as original.

View attachment 6867View attachment 6868View attachment 6870

Hey Varg, about the bolts provided to replace passenger footboard fasteners, were you suggesting there isn't much surface area under the head bolt? I never thought about this when I installed the protection bars.

 

[MonsieurNiceGuy]

I agree with this statement. I've been very curious especially after adding the crash bars, what would be the parts of the bike that make contact with the ground. Seeing this makes me feel alot better about geteting the crash bars and now really wanting to check if the wunderlich rear bars will work on my classic.

Best forum post thus far, very informative... I've been wanting to lay my bike over in order to understand what actually makes ground contact, as well as working through the uprighting process..

Now I can skip those two steps..

 

[VARG]

Hey Varg, about the bolts provided to replace passenger footboard fasteners, were you suggesting there isn't much surface area under the head bolt? I never thought about this when I installed the protection bars.

Yup, that's it exactly, in picture below I'm holding the BMW bolt, the one provided with the guards is installed. Note the big flange on the BMW bolt. An example of the installed bolt is in the inset. I ordered some BMW bolts that i think will work, same as original but a little longer. I'll update if they work out. I'd expect a washer would be better on the cap head bolt, but that would shorten the threads used which would not be optimum. I feel a BMW bolt will serve as well or better.

 

[Deleted member 1618]

I just installed Wunderlich Bag Protection Bars on my Transcontinental and I thought I would share some before and after pictures to give people an idea of what they may or may not do.

But first, I have the OEM engine guards and these bar clamps which work as sliders while reducing the angle at which the bike will fall.

View attachment 6799

As shown above the bike falls like so:

View attachment 6803View attachment 6802

Muffler just touches the ground.

Wunderlich Bag Protection Bars installs on the bike like this:

View attachment 6804

With them the bike falls like this:

View attachment 6806View attachment 6807View attachment 6808View attachment 6809

Muffler still touches the ground...

I returned my Case Protection Bars due to the paint and contact damage that they caused on my B model rear swing arm; I decided not to replace them, where I did a credit towards the purchase of the J-&-H adaptive exhaust system.

Wunderlich should re-design the case protection bars, towards the two below efforts:

1. Fix the swing arm interference issue; this causes paint damage and more importantly, reduces the distance of travel to the rear shock.

2. Add additional protection beyond what the engine protection bar already offers (based on the VYK pictures within this thread). I love the look of the chrome case protection bars; however, they should function with the intended purpose. (Especially at +$700 price tag)

Note: Wunderlich was absolutely great to work with throughout the return process; they stand behind their products and customers.

 

[Kickstand_Down]

I've picked up my old Base model from a fallen position and now the TC but never a Bagger or a TC without the top case.

The base model was a breeze.

The TC is a pain in the backside but definitely doable. Wunderlich bag protection bars actually help to get purchase of the bike with the hand that's not holding the handlebar at lock, when pushing it up backwards with the bum on the seat and legs doing the work.

The engine/bars (either way) make it not too terrible. I have to pull forward up an incline into my yard to then back into my garage. I tipped it over in the grass a week or so ago, and the angle made it very easy to get it back up to a balance point. Heavy, yes. I'd say it's easier than lifting a 5-600 pound adventure bike that actually tips flat over though.

 

[Deleted member 1618]

The engine/bars (either way) make it not too terrible. I have to pull forward up an incline into my yard to then back into my garage. I tipped it over in the grass a week or so ago, and the angle made it very easy to get it back up to a balance point. Heavy, yes. I'd say it's easier than lifting a 5-600 pound adventure bike that actually tips flat over though.

I've thought about this scenario, with and without the Wunderlich case protection bars; I agree that the case protection bars offer a great purchase point to grab if I ever had to upright my bike from a tip over. However, since removing my protection bars; I've considered that removing the plastic battery cover would provide a purchase point of the frame in order to lift.

Fingers crossed I don't have to test this concept...

 

[Kickstand_Down]

I've thought about this scenario, with and without the Wunderlich case protection bars; I agree that the case protection bars offer a great purchase point to grab if I ever had to upright my bike from a tip over. However, since removing my protection bars; I've considered that removing the plastic battery cover would provide a purchase point of the frame in order to lift.

Fingers crossed I don't have to test this concept...

Yea, I actually don't have engine bars (yet, want black which leaves me waiting forever from Poland or paying $800 from Wunderlich), but after a very slow fall in the grass I'm pretty keen on getting some for the inevitable "awkward angle out of a parking spot" drop that's going to happen. Luckily those usually happen around 50 other bikers, and everyone rushes to right-side-up someone else's baby

 

[Further]

for those of you worried about picking up a tipped over bike, I've done it a few times and the "use your legs" process works just fine. I"m only 5'7" tall but I have no problem picking up a 900lb plus totally loaded motorcycle.

This process is easy and instead of trying to explain it, this video shows exactly what to do:

 

[Further]

I emailed Wunderlich to see if the issues with the bag protectors had been fixed and was told that they just received a new shipment of the corrected ones.