What did you do to your R18 today?

estoma said:
03ECFFF0-1272-4880-A085-42A582954E33.jpeg
These must be the nuttiest crash bars ever. Simply TOO low.

www.dkdesign-global.com

DKdesign - BMW R18 Side Crash Guards / Single Seat | DKdesign Accessories

Part Number: BR18007.Original Design.Made with Stainless.Stainless Hardwares.Hand Polish Finished.High Quality Materials.High Protection for your side.Install without any modification.＊ Sell As A Pair. ＊ This item is for BMW R18 Single Seat Version. ＊ Can Not fit on BMW R18 Classic. ＊ Contact us...
www.dkdesign-global.com www.dkdesign-global.com

I appreciate that they are intended to protect our $1600-a-piece fishtails, but when (not if) you touch them down in a corner, you will have every chance to lose traction at the back, potentially resulting in a spectacular Crash Bar Test.
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I suggest these instead.
 
estoma said:
These must be the nuttiest crash bars ever. Simply TOO low.

www.dkdesign-global.com

DKdesign - BMW R18 Side Crash Guards / Single Seat | DKdesign Accessories

Part Number: BR18007.Original Design.Made with Stainless.Stainless Hardwares.Hand Polish Finished.High Quality Materials.High Protection for your side.Install without any modification.＊ Sell As A Pair. ＊ This item is for BMW R18 Single Seat Version. ＊ Can Not fit on BMW R18 Classic. ＊ Contact us...
www.dkdesign-global.com www.dkdesign-global.com

I appreciate that they are intended to protect our $1600-a-piece fishtails, but when (not if) you touch them down in a corner, you will have every chance to lose traction at the back, potentially resulting in a spectacular Crash Bar Test.
Click to expand...
All fun aside you are completely correct. The danger of these bars is real and a result of no oversight.

The moment these touch down the rear wheel will lift, lose contact with the ground and create an irreversible situation.

As you suggest, scratched pipes will be the least of your worries.
 
Installed the Freedom pipes today. MUCH better sound than the stock mufflers, and sounds like a proper 1800cc should imho.

Couple notes on the install:

- As others have said, no instructions with the kit. But there is a set of instructions someone else posted online (I am including them here). Freedom's website seems to be a bit wonky lately and I could not find this or an updated version on their website.

- The instructions I have suggest the pipes come with rubber hose connectors to join the mufflers to the header pipes. Mine came with metal pipes with a chrome finish (which doesn't really show anyway because the heat shield still covers it). Seems like Freedom switched to a chrome pipe for this part.

- It was a pain in the ass to get the mufflers to seat fully on the header pipes. Whether this was because of the new metal connector pipes or not I do not know. A rubber mallet was absolutely necessary to get it to fit right.

- Fit and finish are good. No complaints about the looks at all.

- The instructions are not clear how the heat shield for the connector pipes are to interface with the heat shield that covers the cat. It looks like the cat heat shield is supposed to go over the connector pipe heat shield. But on the left pipe for me it didn't fit quite well enough. This could be due to the alignment of the system but I did my best to get it to seat fully and still no luck.


Will post pictures once I have time and energy.
 

Attachments

  • Freedom Exhaust Instructions.pdf
    1.7 MB · Views: 21
burangs said:
The latest … black rear rack, black Indian tracker handlebars, R18B front fender, Rizoma bar ends, and a bit of white pinstriping.

View attachment 4467
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Wow. Very nice striping. I pondered a bit about adding them to the side, but couldn't decide on what angle. Parallel to the ground; you nailed it. And love the fender.

Nice touch with the loom at the bar. Well done all around!!!
 
Gr8adv said:
Wow. Very nice striping. I pondered a bit about adding them to the side, but couldn't decide on what angle. Parallel to the ground; you nailed it. And love the fender.

Nice touch with the loom at the bar. Well done all around!!!
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Thank you. There is not a lot of real estate to work with on the side panels! A case of simpler is better was in order, I think. The horizontal ties the fender and the tank together and seems to reinforce the bike's low stance.
The loom was pretty straightforward. Though the bars were pre-milled for pass through wiring, the exits were under the clamps! Rather than mill another hole that risked weakening the bars, I decided to wrap everything to include the hydraulics. If I can find another similar bar that is not pre-milled, I might reconsider.
 
A2D2DBC3-88B9-410F-BB8F-75993EAF6C90.jpeg8A53F5AE-C8A9-46B6-B7D6-0A884BAE8CD6.jpeg6C0AE62C-9D58-4A0B-A868-47C08F38E7E7.jpegInstalled wunderlich black engine bar, wunderlich knee pads on the fuel tank. Deleted the US red reflectors on the saddlebags and installed RSD exhaust tips on factory classic exhaust. Time to put some more miles on it now that the weather has finally melted the snow here in Michigan!
 
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