Givi Crash bar review

Tallgears

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I wanted to post up a short review on my experience with Givi's crash bars.

I guess it is one of those things that you get what you pay for? I really like the look and how encompassing the bars were. It was only until after I purchased them that I found out how easily they bent and that they were rather disposable.

Two weekends ago I had a get off in a water crossing that was rather low speed, 10-15 mph max? The water crossing was one of those paved "ice like" crossings, so the bars landed on pavement, not rocks.

After just one crash they needed to be replaced because the welds have cracked in multiple places and it bent the frame mounting locations.



It pressed all the way into the right side panel..



Other view..



Had to bend the bars back straight and re-open the holes to get a socket extension down there and take the bars off.



You can tell on this pic the left mounting point is bent upwards when compared to the right one. Not too big a deal 1 swift wack and it was back to normal.





Another broken weld



Don't get me wrong, the givi's did their job, nothing was hurt on the ride side. I just sort of expected them to not need replaced after 1 slow get off.

I switched to Altrider bars from RideonADV. As far as I can tell and read they should be sturdier and good for more than 1 get off... Assuming of course the whole bike isn't wadded up or something...

We will see if the altriders do any better.
 

greg the pole

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shitty.
Wonder how my givi's will do when needed.
I had them on my v-strom and they did good on several occassions.
 

Nimbus

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I put my bike down in a grass field with the Altrider bars, but the bike fell down hill and the bars/bike were 100% unscathed. I think the Altrider bars are tough, based on their weight, mounting, and reviews.
 

avc8130

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My bike dropped off an atv jack on straight onto the right side Givi. Only damage was a large chip in my concrete fall. Every crash is different, sucks that yours was so damaging. I'd switch bars too if I were you.

ac
 

fjrden

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I have just put Puig bars on mine. On other talks it was said because I am 98% on Metalled road the standard should be ok so I looked for best value. Did look at Givi/Touratech/Altriders/SW Mototech. Think I would go for Altriders for my next S110. They are aand look the best. But the pocket or prior knoowledge talks folks,
 

Dirt_Dad

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I've had 2 Givi bar test so far. Wife's bike in a pave parking lot, no damage. My bike on dry dirt road, no damage.

Better than the one test of the SW Motech bars. Wife's bike on a muddy road, bike protected, bars bent beyond future use.

Based on my personal test the Givi are much better than SW Motech. Can't compare them to any others.
 

Tallgears

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I'm really happy with the construction and looks of the Altrider so far. NO crash testing for a while I hope.

I am glad to hear some of you had get offs with you Givi's and didn't have to buy another set, I just wanted to post up my experience. I would recommend anyone looking into bars spend the extra money and get something else.
 

FacePalm

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I bought the bike with Givis already installed, or I would have chosen the Altrider version. A close inspection of the design makes it pretty clear these are "one time only" deals.
 

Karson

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Agree that each crash is different. I have the givis and think I paid just north of $160 from Revzilla and so far haven't laid it down yet. If they save the radiator and side panels on just one get off, then they've EASILY exceeded their worth.

Hard to imagine, but I consider crash bars as almost a disposable farkle that adds a level of insurance. There's a youtube video of a guy testing a tenere in a paved water crossing, just like you explained, with the OEM crash "bumpers". He had minimal damage like scuffs to the bar weights, and I'd put the givi's at least a few levels above those.

Anyway, just goes to show that most low sides are subjective to lots of factors and angles of pressure from the fall. If the water crossing wasn't paved and had 4-6 inch rocks in them, I'm not sure any crash bar would save a bike from at least some battle wounds.

Super Tenere 1200 - crash test
 

snakebitten

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Got Givi's. Excellent price point. But I could tell they are far from indestructible.

But like the OP showed, they did their job even when they got tortured.

I have only had a couple of soft landings. Grass/dirt/mud. Only damage I have is the bars themselves are showing some patina from weather.

Can't wait to add some used Rumbux lowers that a fellow inmate is parting with. They'll finish the industrial look of my Tenere.
 

KENAROO

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This was the scene of the crime.. This was a long sketchy water crossing. what made it very difficult was the setting sun that we were riding into.. the glare off the water was crazy bright and made choosing a line very hard.. tall Gears hit the snotty slipperiest slime area of the concrete.. 1 ft farther and he'd would have ended up in the river.. it was hard to even walk across.

Need to give Kudos to the OEM Yamaha Paniers as they held up pretty well. the Givi's were/are definitely sacrificial and did their job. I think they took the grunt of the weight as the bike was sliding off the bridge.

I have video too.. it anyone wants me to up load.. plus tall gears owes us beers for falling....LOL
 

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Tallgears

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KENAROO said:
This was the scene of the crime.. This was a long sketchy water crossing. what made it very difficult was the setting sun that we were riding into.. the glare off the water was crazy bright and made choosing a line very hard.. tall Gears hit the snotty slipperiest slime area of the concrete.. 1 ft farther and he'd would have ended up in the river.. it was hard to even walk across.

Need to give Kudos to the OEM Yamaha Paniers as they held up pretty well. the Givi's were/are definitely sacrificial and did their job. I think they took the grunt of the weight as the bike was sliding off the bridge.

I have video too.. it anyone wants me to up load.. plus tall gears owes us beers for falling....LOL
Awesome picture lol... Why wasn't that one included with the rest of them you sent me!

Yes the glare was killer.. If it hadn't been for the glare I would have picked a different line and not needed the sudden adjustment in direction ::010::

Maybe its time for a helmet with some sort of visor..

Oh well, next time we ride together Kenaroo, beers on me!
 

dave6

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My 2 cents, I have slammed the bike down on both sides hard. The first was a slime concrete water crossing just like yours and the one in the video. I went down so fast and hard I did not have time to take feet off pegs or hands off handle bars. I slid for about 6 feet, loud scrape noise, brand new bike. The givi bars held up great, I think I paid $149.00 for the set and would do so again. The second was in wet grass so no big test there. I wonder if you hit something under the water while in a slide. I guess its better the bars bending than ripping the aluminum lugs out of the engine case. Interesting post though, thanks.
 

Tallgears

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dave6 said:
My 2 cents, I have slammed the bike down on both sides hard. The first was a slime concrete water crossing just like yours and the one in the video. I went down so fast and hard I did not have time to take feet off pegs or hands off handle bars. I slid for about 6 feet, loud scrape noise, brand new bike. The givi bars held up great, I think I paid $149.00 for the set and would do so again. The second was in wet grass so no big test there. I wonder if you hit something under the water while in a slide. I guess its better the bars bending than ripping the aluminum lugs out of the engine case. Interesting post though, thanks.
The price point is nice. I will see someday if the higher Altrider price point actually pays off or not.

I know a lot of people have the Givi's and I hope they do well for them, just wanted to post my experience since I was a bit disappointed.

I don't know what I would have hit unless the concrete was uneven and there were "ledges" that it could have slid into ... There were no rocks or anything that I saw.
 

MidlifeMotor

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I think a better term for these bars would be "drop bars." The OP says he was doing 10-15 when he went down. At that speed you can expect some damage to most any bars. Most drop bars do well on the the straight over falls or very slow speed (0-5mph). I have three tests of my Givi bars so far, one in red clay mud, another in very deep sand, and another in the desert sand being an idiot. All three falls I had almost no forward speed. No damage to bars or bike.

My Concours PD duty bike has a very sophisticated drop bar system. We can repeatedly drop the bike over and over with no damage whatsoever. It's a 1000 dollars for the drop bars. However, if the bike goes down while moving forward, that's another story. While the drop bars help minimize the damage, going down at 10-15 mph is gonna screw something up. I don't think there's a system that can withstand that kind of force.

We are running a motor school right now and one of my motor instructors was hot dogging it in a cone course. He ate it on a slow speed 180 turn at about 5-10 mph. The bars bent back and the bike received some pretty good damage to the plastic. Without the bars the bike would have been trashed.

My point? There's no bar system that will totally protect our bikes. If you are moving forward and go down, there's gonna be some damage.
 

offcamber

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The only issue I have had with the Givi's is I can't get the left side cover off without removing the bars. If there is a method I'd like to hear it.
 

Karson

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offcamber said:
The only issue I have had with the Givi's is I can't get the left side cover off without removing the bars. If there is a method I'd like to hear it.
That's very odd. I've had my left side fairing off a number of times to lift the tank up. Granted, I can't just drop it down vertically and get it to fit, but going in with the fairing from the front has never given me fits. On the other hand, getting those damn bolts started took some learning (don't tighten them till they're all in)

Take a front on picture, if you can, and let me take a look. Something doesn't seem right...
 

offcamber

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Karson said:
That's very odd. I've had my left side fairing off a number of times to lift the tank up. Granted, I can't just drop it down vertically and get it to fit, but going in with the fairing from the front has never given me fits. On the other hand, getting those damn bolts started took some learning (don't tighten them till they're all in)

Take a front on picture, if you can, and let me take a look. Something doesn't seem right...
The light doesn't seem to be the issue unless the method is the pull the cover towards the front. I tried a lot of methods. If the top and bottom halfs were seperate like the right side I wouldn't have an issue.

::026:: on the bolts holding the faring....one gave me quite a fit to get it back in...



The problem seems I can't get the faring far enough out to clear the radiator fan
 
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