Crash Bobbins

[Bruce]

I fancy fitting some decent crash bobbins to my 748bip. Are they easy enough to fit myself (i'm not very good at DIY) or should I get them fitted by a specialist.

Also do you have to drill holes in the pannels or not.

[KeefyB]

Have word with Guido mate.I think he has done a fair bit of research into crash bungs,and tested them too!;)

[yeti]

Did anything else ever get posted on this subject?

I am caurrently looking into manufacturing some bobbins specifically aimed at the 9** series and would welcome any comments from those that have experience of these.

As I see it most of the bobbins on sale at the moment would probably bend the frame or worse if there was a hard touch down, so I'm hoping to design something that would minimise this eventuality.

[rockhopper]

Certainly a market for it john. If you can come up with something for the ST that doesnt require cutting the fairing then that would be nice!

As we were standing on the pit wall at Snetterton something fell off a bike as it wizzed by. Turned out to be a crash bung!!

[Felix]

Do a search, Yeti, as this has been discussed ad naseum.

[yeti]

Thought it must have been Felix, but my searches didn't turn anything up, maybe need to dig into the archives

[Felix]

Here is a start, yeti:
http://217.199.188.40/xmb/viewthread.php?tid=4414#pid34818

[yeti]

Good thread Felix. Has certainly made me think again. Had always agreed with the fact that the frame is very strong in certain directions, but not from a side impact which was why I was hoping to pick up on the engine mounts and transfer the load through the frame. Think I'm prpbably going to reinforce the fairing wherever possible.

No idea what to do about the AP brake lever though, I just know that's gonna be expensive to replace. Best not crash then....

[Felix]

Yeh, levers and pegs are the most common victims of crashes. And I had my share of them! What I found works best is to:

[list=1]
put bungs on both ends of the front axle
don't use crash bungs but reinforce the fairing
use a master cylinder that has either fold-up levers or inexpensive rigid one (brembo's are about £20)
use rigid footpegs as they can act as a bung
keep levers, pegs, and handle bars in your toolbox, at least on each
[/list=1]

This worked pretty well for my race season this year. I never had to abandon a track day or a race meeting, even though I crashed 4 times. And, the fairing including the carbon fibre clutch cover just now needs repairing, which will be limited to renewing the kevlar reinforcements and giving it to the sprayer.

As they say, you mileage may vary...