Griso 8V crashbar, anyone? The Stucchi one sucks!!!

[Greyo]

Any suggestion for a RELIABLE crashbar for the Griso 8V?

I bought the set made by Stucchi, see a stock photo here:

Well, I sure wish I didn't: welds on both front supports have failed miserably after just 5,000 miles (and no falls).
Clearly, these things have been so blatantly underengineered that they cannot even take the engine's vibrations...

 

[GTM®]

Looks like more of a quality control issue with the welds (problematic even from Guzzi SpA), then an engineering stand point, but I feel your pain. There isn't much (else) offered I'm afraid.

 

[Ad B]

Hi,

I have them too on my G12, for 7000 km now.
They are the best looking bars I've seen for a long time.
Absolutely no problems with them.
They fitted properly at your bike? Without to much tension or stress?

Ad

 

[Greyo]

...
They are the best looking bars I've seen for a long time.
Absolutely no problems with them.
They fitted properly at your bike? Without to much tension or stress?

Yep, they fitted just fine.

I agree they look good, but that's not much of a consolation - Gee, for what they charge for them, one would expect the folks at Stucchi to put the Chianti bottle aside for a moment and try, at least try and weld them properly...

 

[Goodvibes]

I have the Stucchi's (2 years next February; 10,200 miles now) and have not had any issue with them. Curious--do yours have a rubbery/plasticky coating on them over the black paint? Mine do and they also came with an Italian flag sticker on one of them.

 

[gulveal]

I'm on my third set!

The first ones cracked apart by themselves at a weld, the second set did their job when I fell off and the third set have got the "design italia" (or similar) sticker - I think they may be a modified design. I did have to get someone to add a spacer to mine at the left front as it was a bit too close for comfort to the cylinder head.

David

 

[Ad B]

Hi Greyo,

I hope that the crashbar from you and the first from Gulveal are exceptions.
I really like the shape and the way they fit on the bike.
And you're right, they are expensive enough to be good (very good).
Although I can weld them myself if this should happen to me,
I also would be angry and disappointed :evil: .
The crasbars should be reliable in case of...
And again, the price suggest they are perfect... :dry:

Ad B

Ps please write in normal lettertype, this looks like you're shouting at us...
we are not to blame...

 

[Greyo]

...
do yours have a rubbery/plasticky coating on them over the black paint? Mine do and they also came with an Italian flag sticker on one of them.

Yep, mine have the black rubbery coating too, but no Italian flag sticker, just came with the Stucchi logo sticker.

Well, it looks like there are two batches of these crashbars; the good ones, properly welded, and the crappy ones, welded by the village idiot, called to fill in when the experienced welder goes on strike...

Anyhow, I am trying to see if I can get Stucchi to replace for free the "village idiot" set I ended up with, we'll see...

Ad; I certainly did not mean to give the impression that I was shouting at you; I used the larger font simply because, sadly, I am getting to that age when one's eyesight for smaller font isn't what it used to be... darn!!!

 

[john zibell]

Ad; I certainly did not mean to give you the impression that I was shouting at you; I used the larger font simply because, sadly, I am getting to that age when one's eyesight for smaller font isn't what it used to be... darn!!!

We try to fix things on this board. Have you heard of these old technology things called glasses?

 

[Greyo]

... Have you heard of these old technology things called glasses?

You mean, like these?

 

[Ad B]

Hi Greyo,

You mean, like these?

Wauw men, these are looking good :lol:

With those on my head, I can drive in 6th gear to Mandello in one day,
throw the dog and stick out of the tankbag and proudly walk in through the gate...
Asking: when does the party start??
Now I have to drive 3 days to ask this... only daring to do that in company of 100 Guzzifriends... :mrgreen:

Anyway, I hope it's coming to a good end with Stucchi.

Ad B

 

[Jlyon99]

Sorry about the welding, but just a question: isn't a replacement head cover, if needed, less expensive than these bars?

 

[Ad B]

Hi,

Sorry about the welding, but just a question: isn't a replacement head cover, if needed, less expensive than these bars?

Not in the Netherlands.
Pricelist from a very good Guzzi dealer:
Stucchi crash bar €133,64 ($ 184,50).
Valve head cover (alu) € 133,25 + plastic cover €8,- (total $ 195,-)
Don't cry if your cilinder head is getting damaged too...
or the parts in which the bold are from that head cover

I'll do the crash bar :mrgreen: .
Ad

 

[Goodvibes]

I'll do the crash bar :mrgreen: .
Ad

Me too. While the crash bar will likely flex on impact and hit the valve cover (I know from experience that the left side bar will hit the cover), I think the damage would be less than no bar at all.

 

[guzziownr]

Ugh, I have to stop reading this board. Mine are cracked as well with less than 3K since installation.

Here is a picture from MG Cycle. Is this Mark I or Mark II?

 

[Greyo]

...
Here is a picture from MG Cycle. Is this Mark I or Mark II?

Your crashbars set seems to be a prior version; on the one I've got they added a pair of braces to the sides of the front supports, I guess in an attempt to fix the problem... well, clearly it hasn't worked!

Still waiting to hear from Stucchi as to whether they will do the right thing and send me a new, properly welded set for free... or a refund...

 

[guzziownr]

Reinforced? I was hoping it was a new and improved welding technique. Note the neat one-blob weld. Here are my cracked ones:

 

[Mark111]

My thoughts:
Looking at these Stucchi engine bars I have always wondered how effective they would be due to the distance between the mounting points.
When you analyse them it is not surprising that they are cracking at the mountings.
If I am correct there is no bracing point at or near the middle of the tube so what you have is a pipe mounted at each end with a long section in the middle which is going to be prone to flex.
Remember there is a degree of vibration from our bikes and this is obviously going to be transmitted to these crash bars.
If you have a piece of metal pipe and secure it at one end in a vice and then continually flex it at the other end even by small amounts, it will eventually crack and fail near its solid mounting at the vice. It might take a while depending on the material but it will eventually happen.
Clearly unless you can somehow brace the middle section of these crash bars then they are always going to be prone to flex and no matter how you secure them at either end.

Unless there is a dramatic redesign of these items or significantly heavier grade of material is used which would probably prevent them bending on impact to absorb the forces, then they are always likely to fail as they have in the pictures in this thread.
Problem is that if they use heavier material to make them robust enough so they don’t flex and crack, then the impact loadings are likely to be transferred to the mountings on the engine. This could prove to have far worse consequences such as cracking the engine block or distorting the frame as the impact loads will be transferred to these points.
I am happy to be corrected but I can’t see how these bars are ever going to be a good long term solution to the crash bar question on the Griso, unless they are significantly redesigned.
If I had a pair I would be going back to the manufacturer for a refund because even if they are replaced the same problem will only occur again.

Having said all that, they will probably work ok when they are new and haven’t had a chance to crack at the mounts, so if you plan to crash regularly and continually have new items fitted they will probably be fine.

Mark

 

[gulveal]

Or what about some sort of flexible bushes to mount them at the ends?

David

 

[Greyo]

...
Having said all that, they will probably work ok when they are new and haven’t had a chance to crack at the mounts, so if you plan to crash regularly and continually have new items fitted they will probably be fine.

Actually, I have no plan to crash regularly; I have done it three times over the last 6 years (the last one because of a freakin' deer that jumped out right in front of me, and I consider myself lucky to be still in one piece), and that's enough for me...