New to bikes since my husband's dream purchase this past spring. I am looking at taking the course and going from there. I've read posts regarding women on bikes and things that will help. What are the engine bars/protectors that you refer to and could anyone display a photo for me w/a brief explanation of the advantages & disadvantages please?

Thanks in advance

 

Hi there, welcome to the forum. You should be able to find out most anything about Harley's on this site. The people are real friendly and the Moderators are real nice too. I installed the engine guard on my Lowrider because I am afraid my kids will knock it off the stand in the garage. If you hit my photo album (the little camera under my avatar) you can see several pics besides the one in my signature photo. I bought the guard on line from Zanotti's HD for $151. Good luck & ride safe...KB

Oh yeah the engine guard is the chrome rectangular bar on the front of the frame that will protect the engine (and rider) in a low speed fall over or drop. I recommend highly for a new rider since everybody who owns a motorcycle drops it sooner or later. My $.02.

 

They are a great idea. I think I have some photos of mine in my gallery. Mine are smaller than some but they work.
Mine are Kurykan (mispelled) Ergo guards.

Lynn

 

I'd encourage it. I wrecked recently, at 40-45 m.p.h. Not much damage. Try this site: Granpas.com

 

No disadvantages that I can think of except maybe looks and I don't think they look that bad. My RK Standard has both engine guards and bag guards as standard equipment and I have used both of them twice in the first 2 weeks I owned the bike. Didn't do any damage to the bike as the guards are the first things to hit when you drop your bike. The only damage was to my ego. LOL

 

I had mine installed before I left the dealer....they are also great for adding highway pegs and kicking your feet up on longer rides!!!
Here's a pic of mine:

 

I personally like the mustache bar, protects the bike and the position is more natural puting your feet up on the highway.

 

If you go to your local HD dealer, you'll see plenty of them either on showroom bikes or in the parking lot.
They are standard on several models, and if you have to place them as aftermarket, they're worth the bucks,IMHO.
As most of us have done at some time, I dropped my E-Glide,and the bars protected the bike from damage.In fact didn't even hurt the bars. Lov'em.

 

Actually they do little to protect the engine. The name is just more politically correct, that's all. In the old days they were called crash bars which is a more appropriate name.

As I have had my share of "drops" in the past, I have them on my bike. Besides, I think they sorta look good.