My review of Rumbux crash bars, Skid plate. A couple of months ago I bought a set of crash bars/ skid plate from a fellow inmate who had a wreck. I'm fully convinced these Rumbux crash bars/skid plate either saved his life or at least prevented worse bodily damage. These Rumbux crash bars are stout! More than likely the toughest of all the crash bars. They were a lot of work for someone like myself who has limited experience working with metal and a perfectionist. I'm a tinkerer and working with metal is a weak point in my experience. I went through a long series of heating the bars with Oxy/acetylene torch, bending...letting them cool.... mocking up to bike, then repeat. At one point I was heating while my best friend was bending and I lost attention for a second and torched a hole in them! Tried to repair by brazing with a brazing rod, but had the torch too hot and made the hole larger and just about torched one part of them off! I was giving up which I don't do easy. I took them to a professional welder and he charged me $20.00USD to repair them and make them as strong or stronger and I did the grinding. The welder was impressed with the welds that Rumbux did from the factory and on the Rumbux website these bars are listed as 1010 mild steel, but he thought they were made of something stronger? Some emails back and forth with Eric V on advice...He was EXTREMELY helpful just as everyone who has bought from him has posted. This whole process was great experience for me and I've learned more about metal work.
So a good chance in the near future I could be buying some brand new ones from him I have confidence in him. Rumbux is lucky to have someone like Eric as a North American distributor and I hope he is being compensated well for his time and attention!
Previously I had Altrider crash bars. They were fine and survived me dropping my bike a couple of times on my driveway and once in a parking lot after riding "The Dragon" (Embarrassing but I rode The Dragon well!) But just eyeballing the Rumbux and factoring that Rumbux doesn't mount to the engine stays as most of the others do....Rumbux are more stout for sure. Also, like how Rumbux goes under the headlight. I wanted to mount auxillary lights on a crash bar as opposed to the plastic mounts as others have broken or cracked that mount in some way. My auxillary light is a tad heavier than some. Another factor in my decision on these bars were ease of taking off bottom pan for oil and oil filter change and of course taking off right side lower cowling. Just removing/reinstalling altogether is simple. I don't like putting off farkling or maintenance because I have to factor time to remove something else. I used a wire brush attached to an angle grinder to remove the powder coating to bare metal. I next spray canned them with Rustoleum primer, then paint, then a clear coat. Pictures are in the "what you did to your Tenere today" thread. But...if your doing pros and cons on the Rumbux crash bars and skid plate....They don't mount to parts to where they might do further damage if you wreck, hit a log, rock or boulder. Easy for bike maintenance farkling. Very sturdy and good workmanship. Dealing with Eric V is less to worry. If you sell your bike or the crash bars, resale will be higher. You and your baby (your bike) will be better protected. Good mounting points for lights under headlight. Honestly I like the way they look. ONLY con is they weigh 5lbs. more than my altrider crash bars / skid plate setup. But that speaks to the extra strength. And I did actually weigh them on a scale myself for comparison out of curiosity.
Thank You Eric for your help!