Engine guards for Royal Enfields snag some comments

Are crash bars one way to hook trouble?

My explanation of why I decided not to fit crash bars to my Royal Enfield Bullet drew hearty congratulations from one reader: Maj. Bunty Golightly.

"Greetings Blasco, I awfully glad that you have decided not to fit the ruddy things, a chap with your ability could do a lot of ruddy damage to small animals and passers-by, don't yer know. Not to mention snapping himself orf at the knees in a high speed frontal crash."

I was delighted to have the good Major's approval, but not everyone else agreed.

One anonymous reader wrote:

"I have used Enfields with crash bars for years and they are never a problem. Not even in very heavy traffic in India. Most of these are not much wider than the handlebars, if at all. They are of no use in an accident as you fall off the bike anyway, but may save the paint job in a parking lot tip over."

Unadulterated version of photo is available from Royal Enfield
as wallpaper for your computer screen.

Agreed. However, most important, I think, was the real-life experience offered by reader Anant Singh:

"Hello David, I live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and follow your blog pretty religiously. I'm from India originally, hence the fascination to all things Royal Enfield. My father was in the Indian Army and I grew up ogling the RE Bullets of the 'Dispatch Riders' and dreaming of riding them. I currently own a '54 G2 Bullet (project), '58 Constellation and a '69 Series II Interceptor.

"I found your article on 'crash bars' interesting. In India they were called 'leg guards' because they would protect your leg in a spill.

"Didn't make much sense to me as one such leg guard was the reason I had a pretty serious leg injury as it got entangled with a light truck front bumper in New Delhi's crazy traffic and set me airborne from the inertia. I agree with you completely and would not recommend it; besides it also takes away from the looks of the motorcycle."

On Facebook, Tom Shanti reported two incidents:

1. "My front wheel skidded... had to put the bull down to the side — the 'crash bar' bent beyond repair (simple tilt, hardly any velocity).

2. "During late hours I had an accident with a pedestrian in low speeds. I hit the back of his leg with my 'crash guard.' The crash guard bent inwards and the top end pierced my leg, blood gushing out. The pedestrian had no visible injury (luckily)."