Crash Bars A Wise Investment for Your New Motorcycle

A question often asked is “what’s the first accessory I should buy for my motorcycle?” A good set of crash bars or highway bars, as some call them, is a great place to start. The crash bars are designed to protect your motorcycle in low speed (under 15mph) tip overs.

I have witnessed instances where crash or highway bars have limited damage to the motorcycle and the rider at speeds up to 30 MPH when the rider low sided from over-braking the rear brake and then slid along the ground. Crash bars can keep the bike from laying flat on its side on top of the rider’s leg in that type of incident. These bars will also keep the rider from getting trapped under the motorcycle in a parking lot tip-over and make it a lot easier to pick your bike up in that type of event.

Keep in mind that every manufacturer of these bars includes a disclaimer that states they are not designed to protect the rider and should not be relied upon for that purpose, in other words, the usual lawyer stuff. The reason for these disclaimers is partly due to a lawsuit filed some years ago when someone slammed into a bus at 70 MPH and then suffered severe injuries, even though his motorcycle was equipped with crash bars. The lawyer may have argued that a reasonable person should conclude that crash bars should prevent crashes and injury to the rider. In any case, they won’t prevent crashes, but you that you are much better off with them than without them. Generally, the wider the bar, the more they protect the bike in a low speed tip-over and if you can get the rear crash bars as well as fronts, that is even better.

The crash bars made by Harley Davidson that come standard on the Road King as well as the Standard bars on the Kawasaki Nomad are among the best around. Both of these models can be dropped at parking lot speeds all day long with no damage to the bike. This fact will come in handy when practicing your low speed maneuvers and should help take away your fear of taking an MSF Experienced Rider course or a Rider Skills Improvement Course. If you wrap some heater hose and duct tape around the bottom of the bars you do not even have to worry about scratches.

Along with Kawasaki and Harley Davidson, there are many after-market companies manufacturing highway and crash bars for just about all cruisers.

Once you bolt a set of crash bars on your bike it is a good idea to gently lay the motorcycle over onto the bars and check how well they will protect your bike. Have someone there to help you with this test in case you have trouble lifting the bike up by yourself.

Keep your head and eyes up, and look where you want to go, the motorcycle will follow.