Folks, just a few notes about Touratech crash guards and racks. I recently bought an F 900 GS (first BMW bike) and decided to "cage it up". I went with Touratech since they are one of the OEM manufacturers for BMW. Stainless tubing whether you choose black or natural silver (I went with black - would choose silver if I did it again).
Build quality of the system is very good. Weld quality is solid and all flanges are substantial. Most all the fasteners are stainless. The pannier racks are an asymmetrical setup - the exhaust side sticks out further than the left side (common). Note that although Touratech makes OEM stuff for BMW, there are differences due to licensing between their branded racks and BMW's. So the Vario cases will not work with these. I bought Touratech hard cases and will use Mosko Moto soft panniers for some things.
A safety note to remember if you go this route. Do NOT remove both engine bolts from a side at the same time. There are 4 large T55 bolts holding the engine in the upper frame. If you take 2 out at a time, it's possible for the engine to slump and you'll really be throwing things. The instructions allude to this, but it's not explicit. Follow the number sequence on the instruction sheet. Take one out, reinstall through the provided bracket (but don't fully tighten), then the second.
I am a mechanical guy - engineer and retired Navy nuke. So not new to doing things like this. My recommendation is have a helper. I did it on my own and there was lots of cursing at 2 points of the installation. The first was for the lower engine guards. There is a cross bar that connects the 2 sides. They chose to put the connecting bolt hole in the middle of that cross bar - right behind the exhaust headers and RIGHT below what I think is a sensor of some type on the cylinder head. VERY difficult to get that small bolt in and tightened. Keep everything as loose as possible until you get that bolt in.
Second f*&king issue was the upper crash guards. There is a mounting support that connects both sides that bolts onto a support below the headlight and next to the steering damper. Not intuitive, not easy to get at, and it was a "2-wrencher" - meaning I threw 2 wrenches before it got it on properly.
Most everything else was uneventful. The pannier racks and top rack were easier. just keep everything loose until ready to tighten and use blue Loctite on everything but where they provide locking nuts. Top rack is very well made - see pic.
The instructions are OK, but far from great. Matt at Touratech readily took my feedback and seemed genuinely interested. Highly recommended for quality, but keep extra wrenches to replace the ones you throw across the garage...
