[saikishor]

Hello BHPians, hope everyone is doing great.


So I purchased a pre loved Duke 390 2 weeks ago. The bike came with a couple if accesories, one of which are these Zana crash guards. I never liked these crash guards, and I still dont.

I've seen a couple of reviews in which they mentioned these do more harm than good, as the crash guards are really close to the engine casing and might damage the engine casing in case of a fall. Add to this, the Zana crash guards make the bike an extra 4 kilos heavier. They also come in the way and hit your legs when you're reversing out of the parking lot and when your pillion sits close to you or your pillion is of heavy build.

I'm in a huge dilemma, whether to remove these and switch to stock or keep them as is. Last week when I decided to remove them, I had a small incident because of a moronic uncle on the road. He kind of rammed into my bike and luckily he hit the Zana crashguards. After this incident, I decided to keep them but now after having a hassle of removing the bike out of my cramped parking, I'm thinking of switching to stock.


I would really like to know your view on these Zana crash guards, do they do more harm than good or vice versa? Are they worth the extra 4kg of hassle or are the stock ones good enough?

Inputs and valuable gyaan regarding this will be highly appreciated.


Saikishor

[RiderZone]

I would personally get rid of it. Adding 4 kgs extra to something like the Duke is counter to its purpose. The stock guards are more than capable of handling falls and small crashes. Permanently ruining the looks and handling of a motorcycle for the off chance that you're involved in a big-ish crash that hits exactly where the Zana sits and it doesn't do more harm than good, is not worth the hassle to me.

[Sahil00090]

Can't say about Duke but I have a Zana crash guard installed on my D400. Last year I had pretty nasty fall when I was doing saddling while going downhill in Spiti, thanks to that crash guard, engine was completely safe, without that there would have been damages surely, one screw of the crash guard was broken in that incident and that's it.

I really like the crash guard to be honest. They protect your legs too.

[windrider]

Since they are already installed, I dont see why you need to get rid of them. Yes they add 3-4 kgs but that won't make a noticeable difference in performance for a powerful bike such as D390. In case of an accident or if you tip over, your legs wont get pinned under the motorcycle, since they offer an extra 5-6 inches of clearance. They offer good protection in case you tip over while walking the bike or crash at slow speeds. In case of a crash at high speeds, it wont matter if you have a crash gaurd or not

[pandabear]

It all depends on how you value your knees, personally I would never remove a crash guard. To be honest I would not care for the bike, fairings or engine, but value the small space the crash guard gives to protect the legs/knee.

Your argument of inconvenience is similar to the stories I hear from my friends in Tamil Nadu refusing to wear a helmet because it is sweaty inside.

[saikishor]

Originally Posted by pandabear

It all depends on how you value your knees, personally I would never remove a crash guard. To be honest I would not care for the bike, fairings or engine, but value the small space the crash guard gives to protect the legs/knee.

Your argument of inconvenience is similar to the stories I hear from my friends in Tamil Nadu refusing to wear a helmet because it is sweaty inside.

Mate,
Question is if the zana crashguards serve the purpose, or the stock ones are more than enough. I would never ride a bike without crash guards. I wanted to know if switching to stock will be a good idea or the zana ones are good as is.

Regarding inconvenience, stock ones will not interfere when you push the bike in a parking space. Zana ones hit your legs when you push the bike.

[IshaanIan]

I would say considering all parts are manufactured in India and are thus really cheap, remove any and all crash guards and ride and enjoy your bike to its fullest

[kosjam]

Originally Posted by saikishor

I would really like to know your view on these Zana crash guards, do they do more harm than good or vice versa? Are they worth the extra 4kg of hassle or are the stock ones good enough?
Inputs and valuable gyaan regarding this will be highly appreciated.
Saikishor

If you remove your crash guard, where will you hang your limbu-mirch (lemon-chilli)?

Jokes apart, let me give you my experience. I don't own a D390, but a V-Strom, and had installed custom crash guard looking more or less like yours. My father wanted to ride it once, and as he was coming to a stop, he didn't realise there was the plastic speed breaker precisely at the point he chose to stop. Needless to say, he lost his balance and the bike fell. But what prevented the bike from crushing his leg was the brand new crash guard. It cracked at one of the joints, but it did its job. Protected the bike as well as my dad's leg.

My two paisa advice. Don't remove it, if you feel it is too large, change out the spool piece at the very edge of the guard with a smaller one (length wise)

[pandabear]

Originally Posted by saikishor

Mate,
Question is if the zana crashguards serve the purpose, or the stock ones are more than enough.

Imho, stock guards are woefully inadequate, more style over substance. But that's just my opinion, i would just feel safer with a proper guard as I already have a bad experience with my knee sandwiched between the road and bike + pillion. If you ask me to rewind the clock back, parking troubles would be the last thing n my mind. To each his own but if something can add 0.001% the safety i would say go for it. Cheers.

[playingpossum]

IMO crash-guards are more about protecting my motorcycle from drops rather than protecting me from other vehicles.

When I drop my motorcycle, it keeps the motorcycle from trapping my legs. I dropped my motorcycle a couple of times (when stationary/stopping) and I could easily slip my leg out from under the motorcycle.

I really don't feel that crash-guards really protect my legs from other vehicles.

On my motorcycle, the stock ones seem to be perfectly fine.

[Urban_Nomad]

First - it’s a crash guard that’s meant to protect your bike… not legs. With all due respect, those speaking of crash guard protecting your legs don’t know what they’re talking about

As someone who rides all bikes sans crash guards (with the exception of my interceptor) and has crashed on multiple occasions (off road mostly) can tell you from experience that a cheap crash guard can do more harm than good

To the OP - why not simply remove the guard and see how it feels? If you like it, keep it. Else it stays off. I don’t understand the dilemma

[noo.b]

So let me share my 2 cents too. I , untill very recently, owned the previous generation Duke 390. The stock guards on it are rather useless. A kid once tipped my bike over in the parking and the one on the left side broke off, with the screw thread braking clean and remaining in the housing!!

Have seen the Zana engine guards and the quality is way above the stock. With that being said , its more of a stunt cage than a slider. These sort of engine cages are used by stunters all over the world and will ensure no harm is caused to the engine, hell even the tank. However during a high speed crash on tarmac, the "slider" at the end may dig in to the tarmac surface and cause the bike to flip over badly, it wont break because its super rigid and hence end up causing more damage.

But the odds for something like that are low, so decide for yourself... complete protection during low / mid speed crashes or the light chance of severe damage during a high speed crash.

Hope I have successfully instilled more doubt in your head

[Parishrut]

I've had them on my Dominar since day 1 of purchase. My bike has had a few small speed/standing falls, and each time the extra width of the crash guard has made sure that the handlebar is not the first point of impact. For a bike of Dominar's quality, it is very important for the handlebar to not be the first point of contact if you know what I mean :P The stock ones were useless as witnessed in a few other people's falls.

I have Zana crash guard and Zana saddle mounts. I consider that, along with soft saddle bags, these 3 provide good protection to the bike. I call my saddle bags as the bike's personal airbags and mount them on my trips even if they are barely full. The weight is not a problem for me but the priority is for the bike to be rideable after a fall, imagining it happens when I am 1000 km away from home in a remote area. And to of course protect the other parts such as the engine and frame.

[wheeledwanderer]

The whole point of having an crash guard is to protect the engine and not damaging it. I have used SW Motech and Hepco Becker and never had issues when the bike fell 1 time. The crash guards are designed and manufactured to withstand impact so as to protect the casing.

I saw that Zana is having a good reputation with riders, on YouTube and social media. Guess you should keep.

[nitro.1000bhp]

I've had a few falls when I had the stock crash guards on my duke. They break off during impact. I initially thought it was made of poor quality but when it broke off the second time I came to realise they were designed that way so it doesn't damage the frame. My old rx and bullet had bent their frame after a fall and it's probably because of the crash guard welds being too stiff. I would strongly recommend you take those off and fit the stock ones.