Hi all,

Trying to mount my crash bars and they dont want to go on straight.

Can those that have them fitted please post some pics of the various mounts? Particularly the left.

The parts diagram is vague on the left hand mount. 

cheers

Could be that you have got a very early version?, which didn't have rubber at the bottom mountings.

[Edit] Guilt at 01.00 hours is a terrible thing... Complete post re-edit with pics for anyone that read the TL;DR original!!

As Inge says, the original crashbar design bolts directly to the sump at the rear. Don't use them; BMW re-designed them into the later fully-rubber mounted type because impact stresses were shattering sumps. The later crashbars are recognisable because the leftside lower mounts have a cast piece at the front and a tube at the rear, whereas the early ones have flattened ears (same as the rightside which has flattened ears on both early and late versions). Also, the early type require a triangular mounting piece on the leftside which isn't required with the later style crashbars. OEM Parts shows the early type. That's my experience: someone else may have other information.

Caveat here: it's an 8mm thread on the rubber mounts. Getting the nuts over the threads inside the crashbar mounts requires a quarter-inch drive 13mm socket because there's no room for anything else (except perhaps a box spanner). If the nut rusts on then there's a high chance that the socket will round off/shatter. I put a 20mm deep 8mm thread inside a length of 13mm hex bar (approx 30mm long) and used that instead of a nut on both lower mounts. It means I can get a standard half-inch drive socket on the end.

First pic is the leftside lower. Sorry about all the sheep and cow poo obscuring most of the engine, so I've outlined the mounting blocks. The engine shadows are hiding my extended nuts.



Second pic is the rightside just for reference. The rear rubber mount is just visible below and behind the rear crashbar nut.



I can't show the top mounts as they are inside the fairing and 01.00 hours guilt isn't that powerful.

Just to remove any confusion on the second pic: you don't have another screw/bolt below the front mounting. On mine, the rubber block started to come adrift from the mounting bar that bolts to the sump, so I cleaned it, glued it and then put a 5mm screw through it for good measure.

3/8 drive socket will go inside the bar for the top mount.

Dai wrote:As Inge says, the original crashbar design bolts directly to the sump at the rear. Don't use them; BMW re-designed them into the later fully-rubber mounted type because impact stresses were shattering sumps. The later crashbars are recognisable because the leftside lower mounts have a cast piece at the front and a tube at the rear, whereas the early ones have flattened ears (same as the rightside which has flattened ears on both early and late versions). Also, the early type require a triangular mounting piece on the leftside which isn't required with the later style crashbars. OEM Parts shows the early type. That's my experience: someone else may have other information.

With this info it seems to even one more version, the very early I have in mind
all four bolts is mounted directly in the sump.
And the triangular plate on the left hand side is also used on later models.

Thanks all for the info.

I have ended up mounting the LHS by using the rubberised doubled ended bolts at all three mount points. 

Inge, i cant for the life of me figure out how the triangle plate thingy works. I have 1 here, and it does not seem to fit with the crash bars I have. I have the spacer that the triangle bracket needs etc and it mounts to the sump fine but the holes in it do not line up with where the crash bars holes are. 

The crash bars I have are the newer style I believe. 

Anyways, I have them mounted now using the factory bracket on the RHS (I need a new one too, the rubber is coming away) and the LHS using only the rubberised bolts. (as pictured by Dai, thanks mate)

The top mounts presented no drama as I used the suitable engine mount bolts when I assembled the beast in anticipation of using the crash bars. I also have a full range of sockets/drives and long T handle hex drivers too. However I now realise I am going to need to carry a tool specifically to remove those top nuts, if I ever need to out in the field. Say I have a spill and break some rubber mounts and I need to remove the bars to replace the bolts with the spares I have and will carry....bit of a pain...

floyd wrote:
Inge, i cant for the life of me figure out how the triangle plate thingy works. I have 1 here, and it does not seem to fit with the crash bars I have. I have the spacer that the triangle bracket needs etc and it mounts to the sump fine but the holes in it do not line up with where the crash bars holes are. 

The crash bars I have are the newer style I believe. 

It seems to be a lot of different versions out there.....on my 11LT with factory
mounted bars the triangular plate is used.

Inge K. wrote:

floyd wrote:
Inge, i cant for the life of me figure out how the triangle plate thingy works. I have 1 here, and it does not seem to fit with the crash bars I have. I have the spacer that the triangle bracket needs etc and it mounts to the sump fine but the holes in it do not line up with where the crash bars holes are. 

The crash bars I have are the newer style I believe. 

It seems to be a lot of different versions out there.....on my 11LT with factory
mounted bars the triangular plate is used.

Maybe I pulled the plate off the K1100 engine....perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.