Good to know they protect one side at least.
I didn't want to lay my bike down just to recreate what it looked like. I initially tried to use a piece of plywood held up to the bike to simulate the ground, then ran into the issue of the kickstand/rearstand being in the way. Then I tried to approximate a plane using masking tape. The idea was to create 2 lines (the tape) defined by 3 points (the edge of the bottom of the front tire, the edge of the bottom of the rear tire, and another floating point defined by where I held the intersection of the tape). It takes 3 points to define a plane, and lining up the 2 piece of tape should mean all 3 points are on a line, meaning you're looking down the edge of a plane, which would normally be the ground. It's not perfect, especially since it was hard to take a picture while doing all this.
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I'm not a crashbar engineer, that's SW-MOTECH's job. I don't know how suspension compression or handlebar angle affects crash protection, I don't know why it's designed the way it is. But I estimate the left side crash bar is ~1-2 inches too short to provide engine protection. My attempt at measurement seems supported by the scratches, as they occurred where the ignition cover touches the plane defined by the tape. Note the shifter toe peg has been removed, the shifter arm would definitely get smashed in in a crash, it's just not shown here. Also note that in the initial photo, the white area is not bare metal. There were only a few scratches that went all the way through the paint. The white is caused by either primer or the paint turning a chalky gray when scratched. The scratches cover a large area because the bike seems to have rolled onto the flat side of the crash bar either when it fell or when I tried to pick it up.
Using this information and assessing the damage, my best guess is that if you come down hard on the left side, the ignition cover will hit the ground hard possibly causing it to crack. If the bike rolls over onto the crash bars and slides on the bars, then it may take up much of the slide damage. If the bike slides on the ignition cover, my guess is that it will wear through before the crash bars touch down. The crash bars appeared to save the tank some cosmetic road rash, judging from damage seem on dropped Dukes without crash protection. The frame itself appears to not need "frame-only" crash protection, as the "wings" of the tank fairing that wrap around the outside of the trellis frame seem to keep the frame (but not the engine) away from the ground, unlike tanks on many sport bikes that next the tank flush within the perimeter frame.
I also noted that strangely enough the left side crash bar seems to be slightly shorter, but this was difficult to measure with any reasonable degree of precision due to lack of good reference points. I do not believe that the bars bent because the flanges are not bent, the tubing is not dented, and the incident was minor. What looks like white cracks is just unwashed residue.
You can't have everything I guess. ;D
