I fitted these not too long ago after having them in the box unopened for almost a year! I went for a short blast yesterday into Amsterdam and thought I'd provide some initial feedback for anyone curious. The item it's self as it arrived was immaculate, simple to understand instructions and it went together VERY easily. My only gripe with installation is if you have the OEM fog lights, you'll need to remove and buy a new bracket to make them fit. I've not yet done this and just plugged off the fog light connectors for now. Oh and the access for the radiator mounts is much easier if you partially take off the side fairings to get access to the bolts. Otherwise it's cramped city. As for the bike, I gave it half a turn more preload to counteract the additional KG's from the bars which certainly was needed. And you can for sure feel the extra weight in very slow manoeuvres but nothing that caused concern. The bonus... Vibrations are gone! I didn't expect this to be a side effect, but the bike feels so much smoother on the handlebars now, almost GS like. You can feel the vibrations on the crash bars whilst on the go, so they are absorbing the majority rather than the vibrations travelling up into the handlebars. On why I installed them... I only use the bike for spur of the moment rides, but predominantly for touring. Often a couple of weeks or more at a time and I hit some pretty rough roads around Europe. No drops yet, but it will happen eventually and I'd rather buy new crash bars than Ducati bodywork... Overall, very pleased with them, super solid and not too intrusive or ugly. Highly recommend: https://heedshop.eu/en_US/p/Crash-bars-for-Ducati-Multistrada-1260-1260s-black-/499
Nice bike, interesting to hear you've not refitted the fog lights. I too have just fitted the Heed crash bars and am also impressed with the ease of installation. I did remove both side fairings. I'm now looking for the correct brackets to refit the fog lights. Haven't been out on the bike since fitting the crash bars but will take your advise on the preload
Check out the little pouches Heed sell that mount to the bars. I bought some to use on a recent trip to the UK and they are incredibly valuable. I had things like first aid kit, tool pouch, thermal flask (mmm, Yorkshire tea on the go), dB killer and all sorts of odds and ends in them. Great space saver for items that are hard to justify giving up space in the panniers. I also never solved the fog light mounting, the forks come out for a service in a couple of weeks so I'm hoping to get into the radiator mounting points easier to hopefully work out a proper solution as I do miss having fogs.
Yes the radiator mounting points were a pain especially the near side with the oil cooler pipes, managed to access from the top. I've looked at the pouches and brackets on the heed site, but the additional cost of import duty , vat and courier cost make them expensive, so I will keep on looking for a solution.
Lovely bike. Pretty good value for money too ! The benefit of being vibration absorbent is certainly an added bonus that doesn't immediately spring to mind ! Fab post. Thank you.
