Replacement plastic (ABS) crashpads are about 35/40 euros each. Not really cheap in my book, but doable.

I protected my bike's engine sides and softened hits on the pads by adding width to the steering bar, by putting washers to mount counterweights further away. They will take more of the falling force, for low-speed crashes this proved effective, but I'm sure higher speed crashes will bring serious bending to the counterweight's mounting threaded bar, possibly breaking it and making a mess to extract the inside part. Also, steering bar will be more prone to bending (that's why I mounted a more rigid, solid and straighter 0.28'' aftermarket bar).
You gain some, you loose some. I too don't see the point of side bars, while I'm looking for a used AdventureSpec bashplate too (new is WAY TOO expensive).