Machineart Moto - X-Head Cylinder Head Protection Guards for BMW R1200RT's 2005-2009

JochenWoern · Jan 15, 2011

Has anyone used these X-Head Cylinder Head Protection Guards from MACHINEART MOTO?

Here is what I got off of their add:

"X-Head Cylinder Head Protection Guards for BMW R1200RT's 2005-2009

Regular Price = $189
SALE = $169

Protect Your Vulnerable Cylinder Heads from Drops On and Off-Road.

X-Head Cylinder Head Protection Guards fit all 2005-2009 R1200 HexHead Models including 1200RT, 1200GS, 1200GSA, R1200R, HP2 etc.

X-Head's are injection molded in Xenoy, a polycarbonate and polyester alloy that is impact and temperature resistant. At 5mm thick, X-Heads provide wide coverage to protect both the valve and spark plug covers. Even a driveway drop will cause a bike to roll onto the face of the valve cover and X-HeadÔÇÖs wide shape helps to protect more area.

We have been very impressed with the strength and design of these X-Heads. They provide maximum protection for your vulnerable valve cover. The mounts are very solid and well designed. Includes stainless steel hardware.

* FITS ALL R1200 HEXHEAD MODELS INCLUDING RT, GS, GSA, R, & HP2
* WIDE COVERAGE
* METAL REINFORCED MOUNT HOLES FOR SUPERIOR MOUNTING STRENGTH AND DURABILITY
* TOUGH "XENOY" ENGINEERING POLYMER
* GREAT LOOKING UNIQUE APPEARANCE
* INCLUDES STAINLESS STEEL MOUNTING HARDWARE

Installation on a R1200RT will take approximately 1 hour and may require the remove of the fairing panels.

Compatability:
X-Heads fit with BMW 1200GSA OEM crash bars, Hepco Becker crash bars, Touratech crash bars, and many others. Please note: X-Heads DO NOT fit the 2010 R1200GS or GSA or a 2005-2009 1200GS BMW OEM crash bars.

This quality product is sold by Adventure Designs LLC which in located in California, USA (www.AdvDesigns.com). Adventure Designs has a strong reputation with BMW owners for quality tools and accessories".

I like the looks of the somewhat fully enclosed guard compared to the factory guard.

Has anyone had some experinece with these guards? The price also seems very reasonable.

THANKS!

JochenWoern · Jan 15, 2011

JochenWoern · Jan 15, 2011

JochenWoern · Jan 15, 2011

Pic4 - Last Pic

Semper_Fi · Jan 15, 2011

They are very nice but plastic - similar to the BMW ones.

This means they are great for 0 mile an hour drops.

If you end up doing anything more agressive it will not withstand and your option is an actual crash bar.

I had the BMW plastic ones on my RT and they worked great when I dropped the bike thinking the kickstand fully deployed :doh

So figure out want you want, aesthetics or protection.

:lurk

henzilla · Jan 15, 2011

Yeah, they look nice...however as Luis mentions, they will break. I took a set off a friends GS that took a low speed fall in the middle of a low water crossing. Protected the valve cover as designed, but totally broke in half .

wanderer · Jan 16, 2011

I have the Machine Art Moto's and am happy with them. I only intend for them to protect the heads in a parking lot tip over. I also spent a lot of time researching traditional crash bars and decided against them after reading several reports about low speed crashes in which the crash bars broke a hole throught the engine case at a mount point. Each crash is different, you spend your money and you take your chances. :bikes

JochenWoern · Jan 16, 2011

wanderer said:
I have the Machine Art Moto's and am happy with them. I only intend for them to protect the heads in a parking lot tip over. I also spent a lot of time researching traditional crash bars and decided against them after reading several reports about low speed crashes in which the crash bars broke a hole throught the engine case at a mount point. Each crash is different, you spend your money and you take your chances.

Thanks very much wanderer.

DID THE TUPPERWARE HAVE TO COME OFF FOR INSTALLATION?

Thanks in advance.

wanderer · Jan 16, 2011

No, they fit much like the plastic factory head guards except they cover a little more of the valve covers. I use them in conjunction with Ilium highway pegs.

The Tupperware can come on and off with the Machineart Moto guards in place.

I think you're really going to like your 12 compared to your 1150. I would recommend you change your final drive fluid whenever you change rear tires regardless of what Motorrad recommends.

It's a magnificent machine.

JochenWoern · Jan 17, 2011

wanderer said:
No, they fit much like the plastic factory head guards except they cover a little more of the valve covers. I use them in conjunction with Ilium highway pegs.

The Tupperware can come on and off with the Machineart Moto guards in place.

I think you're really going to like your 12 compared to your 1150. I would recommend you change your final drive fluid whenever you change rear tires regardless of what Motorrad recommends.

It's a magnificent machine.

Thanks again Wanderer. What I meant was, do the Moto Guards mount WITHOUT having to remove the Tupperware?

So far I love this bike, will go on a long cruise this coming weekend, weather permitting.

wanderer · Jan 17, 2011

I'm not at home, I'll take a look later today. I just don't remember. It takes me about 15 minutes to pull the Tupperware and I've done it so many times I just don't think about it anymore. Sorry that obviously was what you had asked.

JochenWoern · Jan 17, 2011

wanderer said:
I'm not at home, I'll take a look later today. I just don't remember. It takes me about 15 minutes to pull the Tupperware and I've done it so many times I just don't think about it anymore. Sorry that obviously was what you had asked.

No problem, thanks very much for checking. If you pull the Tuppoerware in about 15 minutes, it can obviously not be that big of a deal, right? It took about the same time on my 1150.

Thanks again.

In regards to your recommendation to change the final drive fluid whenever I change rear tires regardless of what Motorrad recommends, what does the manual say?
The bike had all services by the book at a dealership so far, so was it changed by the dealer?

Cheers.

gr8ridn2 · Jan 17, 2011

JochenWoern said:
In regards to your recommendation to change the final drive fluid whenever I change rear tires regardless of what Motorrad recommends, what does the manual say?
The bike had all services by the book at a dealership so far, so was it changed by the dealer?

Cheers.

The manual now calls for changing the rear drive fluid every 12000 miles or every two years, which ever comes first. This applies to all years of hexheads and cam heads. Also the fill capacity is 180ml.

Both the interval and fluid capacity is retroactive to your bike. In your owner manual for 2005 they state lifetime lube and capacity of 230ml. Both of these items are superseded with technical service bulletins. You will have to ask the dealer if it was done if your documentation doesn't spell it out. If in doubt, change it, it an easy job documented in the DIY section on this site.
http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?t=33229

wanderer · Jan 17, 2011

JochenWoern

It looks like I could easily install the left head guard with the Tupperware in place. It may be possible to sneak the right guard on by removing a few of the bottom screws on the lower Tupperware. It would be a tight fit to get to the rear and bottom screw on the guard.

Here is an excellent tutorial Semper Fi did on 12 RT Tupperware removal. It really does remove easily and it all lines up very easily to reinstall. I'm sure it took me less than 45 minutes (remove and replace) the very first time I tried it.

http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?t=35262

Tupperware on a 12 RT is nothing to be afraid of. Be afraid of changing a headlight bulb. Practice that little gem at home, in the daylight with plenty of adult beverages and bandaids on hand. It gets easier, but it's a bear to learn. :bikes

JochenWoern · Jan 17, 2011

wanderer said:
It looks like I could easily install the left head guard with the Tupperware in place. It may be possible to sneak the right guard on by removing a few of the bottom screws on the lower Tupperware. It would be a tight fit to get to the rear and bottom screw on the guard.

Here is an excellent tutorial Semper Fi did on 12 RT Tupperware removal. It really does remove easily and it all lines up very easily to reinstall. I'm sure it took me less than 45 minutes (remove and replace) the very first time I tried it.

http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?t=35262

Tupperware on a 12 RT is nothing to be afraid of. Be afraid of changing a headlight bulb. Practice that little gem at home, in the daylight with plenty of adult beverages and bandaids on hand. It gets easier, but it's a bear to learn.

Thanks gr8ridn2 and wanderer, very much appreciated.

I gave that girl a nice bath as well as detail job tonight and installed my Adaptiv Technologies TPX Radar detector. And here as well, plenty adult beverages were on hand, did not require any bandaids though.

Long ride planned for this weekend as it is suppose to be sunny in CA. Can not wait to take her out, as all I did so far was test ride her.

thundley · Jan 18, 2011

JochenWoern said:
I gave that girl a nice bath as well as detail job tonight and installed my Adaptiv Technologies TPX Radar detector.

Jochen, do mind sharing what mount you used for the Radar detector?

Thanks,

Tom
2007 R12RT

JochenWoern · Jan 18, 2011

thundley said:
Jochen, do mind sharing what mount you used for the Radar detector?

Thanks,

Tom
2007 R12RT

Hello Tom, how are you?

I use an ADAPTIV TECHNOLOGIES MOUNT.

At first, when I purchased the detector for my R1150RT in December, I mounted it as per Adaptiv's suggestion in the handlebar mirror hole with a mount provided by Adaptiv.

I was NOT impressed at all as this mirror hole mount completely obstructed the rear view mirros view. I contacted Adaptiv letting them know that I was very unhappy with the location of this mount and that I thought this was rather dangerous. Adaptiv informed me that they were going to come out with some new mounts at the beginning of 2011 which they did, and they would provide a new mount in exchange (they were very helpful).

Adaptiv provided me with a clutch/brake reservoir mount last week, which in my opinion works great. It mounts easily and does not get in the way at all.

Here is the info off of the Adaptiv box:

ADAPTIV MOUNT (Motorcycle Accessory)
Featuring AdaptiSorb Anti-Vibration Technology
Reservoir Mount
Part Number: D-01-13

If you would like to see pics, let me know and I will add some here.

Hope this helps.

rdasilva · May 30, 2012

JochenWoern said:
Adaptiv provided me with a clutch/brake reservoir mount last week, which in my opinion works great. It mounts easily and does not get in the way at all.

Here is the info off of the Adaptiv box:

ADAPTIV MOUNT (Motorcycle Accessory)
Featuring AdaptiSorb Anti-Vibration Technology
Reservoir Mount
Part Number: D-01-13

If you would like to see pics, let me know and I will add some here.

Hope this helps.

Please post pictures. I'm interested in seeing how this looks on the RT.

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