bacon said:
I guess I did not make myself clear its NOT the panniers I am worried about. Its the stress on engine guards that are designed around what looks like a bike with out panniers to get a full contact patch and spread out the load on mounting points. What I am concerned about is the panniers changing that and having just one conner of the guard take all the load. I don't have the bike yet just thinking about what to get when I do get the bike.
Bacon - Check out this thread and scroll down to see pics of my bike on it's side with panniers and w/o. It will give you an idea of how things change for impact on the side with and w/o panniers for most crash bars. The Rumbux shown are some of the more complete and beefier ones out there, but I think most crash bars will have similar type of impact as the bike goes over. Typically the front end hits first, then the bags touch down in a crash. Not that much dynamic difference, but the pics show the static difference to some degree.
http://www.yamahasupertenere.com/index.php?topic=4395.0
Full Disclosure, I am the Rumbux importer, so that is my vendor thread. If you have specific questions about the Rumbux, PM me or ask in that thread please.
I think you need to remember that crashes are all about movement. As the bike goes down, it may hit one part of the crash bar first, but it's not going to stick there, but continue rolling over to the full support of the crash bars, which will absorb the impact more evenly. I also ride with the panniers on all the time. I have Touratech Zega Pros and like that they have replaceable corner protectors, but it hasn't been necessary to stress about them.
For us on the S10, crash bars are an important part of protection due to the side mounted radiator. You do NOT want to crunch the fan into the radiator and have it become jammed. The fan will quickly burn out the motor and it's an expensive part, even w/o radiator repairs.
Hope that helps!