Replacing white crash bungs

[Tuono Tone]

Has anyone replaced the white crash bungs with something else and if so what would you recommend ?

[ARAIHEAD]

Replace them with R&G crash bungs far superior to the original white things.:burnout:

[spencer]

I replaced mine with the black ones AF1 sells. Looks much nicer on my 04 red (orange) tuono.

Do it, subtle but makes a differance.

[a14victory]

god forbid, im ready to slide

[jetfever]

A while back a few guys had a thread where they used black dye from the grocery store and were happy with the result...

[FTM]

Take the side covers off and look behind. The brackets for the crash bungs are made from hardened licorice and cause more damage than they prevent at anything over 5mph.

R&Gs

[Dilbert996]

:plus: Black R & G's

[payton]

Wrong you are FTM, I ground the right hand side bung down to less than half at a track day. It saved the bike from heaps more damage and was the differance between fixing the bike and not bothering. There was not one mark on the engine or radiators.
I now have nice black ones from AF1

[Batfastard]

R&G

see here (http://www.apriliaforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1064314&postcount=39) for why

[mikeo]

Remove the stock ones, paint them with black car spray, leave to dry, put back on. Job done.

[repoe3]

boil them in ritz bye per the instructions on the box of dye, use less water for a more concentrated color. they look identical to the slighty longer blacks ones i bought from AF1. now i use the orig ones as front fork sliders.

repoe3

[Rich_Tuono]

As per Payton - the stock ones do add limited protection to the engine & frame but also can cause minor cosmetic damage.

After a low speed off the crash bung bracket bent and pushed against the oil tank (bending the oil tank bracket, and cracking the plastic crash bung surround). It did then sacrifice itself by rubbing down against the road at the resulting angle.

The radiator protectors did their job and had a few deep sctratches (replaced with s/steel ones) - radiator ok but small bend in the lower radiator bracket (£5 part off ebay but a right pain to change :( ).

Very small scrape on side of belly pan (I have a new one but haven't bothered fitting it - its that minor).

Bar end scraped (changed) and small scrape on lever (very minor - got new part and havent changed). Gear lever bent, very minor scrape on swing arm welding by wheel hub - painted black and unnoticable.

Overall it cost me around £200 for parts (mainly the plastic bung surround), and the bike as back as per new (albeit with some of the new parts not yet fitted).

I am not sure if the bending of the stock bracket is a design flaw or if it is purposely weak to act as a type of crumple zone to absorb shock impact. Have thought about R&G but not sure if the strength of the frame would handle a the much higher impacts that would be transmitted to it by a rigid slider

For me although undesirable - £200 was not too much to pay for an off and better than a possible bent frame and insurance right off.

[Batfastard]

I had already replaced the stock bungs with R&G's, I aslo have the rear frame slider & the cotton bobbins on the swing arm.

I lost it at about 60 on a left hander, front & frame sliders took the brunt of the impact and the cotton bobbin protected the swing arm.

Damage to bike - clutch lever & LHS mirror snapped off when bike went into grass, scuffs and scrapes to some plastic parts - grass again. Handlebars were bent, and eventually replaced. LHS indicators snapped.
Cost, clutch lever £15, mirror £50, Indicators £12, handlebars, £50.
Replacement parts for the R&G's £60. Total ~£250

conclusion. Even if you don't replace the front ones, get the frame sliders and other bits from R&G - the outlay is far less than the repair costs without them.

It's worth saying that after a crash if you contact R&G direct they will sell you the replacement parts individually rather than full sets. If you tell them how wonderful they are and include pictures etc, they may even give you the stuff for free.

[FTM]

Wrong you are FTM, I ground the right hand side bung down to less than half at a track day. It saved the bike from heaps more damage and was the differance between fixing the bike and not bothering. There was not one mark on the engine or radiators.
I now have nice black ones from AF1

You ground the right hand side bung down to less than half and you didn't need to fix anything.........did the bike fairies put the new black bungs on then while you slept. :)

I know what you mean payton, the aprilia bungs work up to a point but from what I have seen they tend to bend and break the plastic covers. The bolts on the R&Gs are designed to bend but at a greater load so I know which ones I prefer.

:cheers:

[Tuono Tone]

Wow, such a diverse set of views, thanks to all for the advice and the honest tales about your crashes. There does seem to be an element of luck as to how you crash and to how much damage you are going to do vs how much the crash bungs save. One thing I have learn't is that bikes dont look good lying down :pissed:

Right I am off to get some R&G's or some dye ...... better have a think about this !!!!

[TuonoDK]

Home made ...

http://www.motorcykelgalleri.dk/uploads_large/16408.jpg

[twin4me]

I got a set of black ones from Ebay - in the garage on the shelf if you want to buy them from me.... (they don't fit the new model)

[NWTuono]

My AF1 care package was waiting on the porch for me when I got home. I just finished putting on the black Rhinomoto replacements. Do they work or don't they? I hope I don't find out either way...but they look WAY better. That HAD to be done.