handguards/barkbusters are dangerous!

motometal · Apr 18, 2004

I have ridden in the woods for over 20 years now (wow I feel old), and I have never had a bike with metal handguards. Never had a serious problem with smacking a finger, just a few close calls. I had hear rumblings that for mx handguards are dangerous because your hand could get caught if you go over the bars.

Last season I seriously mangled my finger on a paved road race track. Hand guards (or better gloves) would have helped. So, I bought some $220 kangeroo skin road race gloves and handguards. I also use this bike (KX100) in the woods, so I figured the hand guards may come in handy there as well.

MY FIRST RIDE with handguards (in the woods in very soft loam), I caught the front wheel in a hole going about 5 mph, went over the bars, and almost broke my hand! I could feel my hand catch on the hand guard, and just before something snapped my hand came loose. It's sprained and bruised.

90% of the serious woods riders I see have hand guards. I fail to see the logic. Wouldn't it be better to risk breaking a finger or two as opposed to breaking your wrist or arm? The hand guards are coming off, I will put them on only for the paved courses. :|

As a side note, the hand guards also made the steering feel heavy and less precise.

dirt bike dave · Apr 18, 2004

I see your point, and know people who have broken their hand or wrist going over the bars.

However, I've had my front brake put on by a tree on a borrowed bike w/out handguards, so 'no guards' also has problems. And guards save tons of levers.

Check out the Cycra Pro-Bend. They bend down, so you are less likely to catch your hand on the bar or plastic guards.

Another alternative is the Fredette Handsavers. The plastic guards are much more flexible than most brands, so less likely to break bones, IMO.

Vic · Apr 19, 2004

Make sure you're not running them too high. I see a lot of people that do. With the tight woods here in South Jersey, they really are a "must have".

FWIW, these are my favorites. Good coverage, tough and cheap.

MrLuckey · Apr 19, 2004

I won't ride in the woods without mine. I have yet to break a wrist or an arm and have probably avoided 2 'handfuls' of broken/smashed fingers.

jboomer · Apr 19, 2004

That's what I was thinking. You are MUCH more likely to break some fingers (not to mention pieces of your bike) running without them than you are to break a wrist by running them.

James · Apr 19, 2004

They need to be angled down and not horizontal so they are less likely to catch your hands. It also helps to run your levers so they "fill" the handguard area.

I am not saying anymore than that so as not to jinx myself.

truespode · Apr 19, 2004

My handguards saved me from some serious crashes this past weekend. I was able to "bounce" off the trees instead of being smacked in the fingers and busting up. Also, on smaller trees I can run over them with the handle bars and the bend... it widens the trails in a way.

I really like having them on and won't ride in the woods without them.

Ivan

Danman · Apr 19, 2004

Granted I ride in a less tight envoirnment than you are proably do, but I have seen someone have their front brake unexpected activated for them buy a tree. Funny to watch, but I'm sure it was painful be pile drove like that. Also, they save me every week I go out. The brush guards particularly. There is plenty of "prickly stuff" to run into. Mesqutie brush thorns are long and will inpale you. They line the trails in a lot of our areas. I bought some clear brush guards last time. I kept wondering what all those little black dots were in them. They were all thorns. Many of them poking throught the plastic. I don't think there is anyone that rides on our land without brush guards more than once. I know that I wouldn't want to. I have benn caught up in mine yet. Some day I might, but I know they have sure save me some arthretic hands so far.

YamaB · Apr 19, 2004

I just put mine on last week... Went riding saturday and SMASHED a tree with my handle bar... Would have certainly broken my fingers if I hadn't installed the bark busters...

- BA

motometal · Apr 19, 2004

sounds like I had them too high. It's probably one of those things, once you get used to it you don't notice them. Just seemed like a bit of a coincidence that the first time I used them, I almost had a serious problem.

I guess I have had the front brake activated a time or two by a tree, seems like I just stayed on the gas, and the front tire just skidded for a bit then all was well. Now those inocent looking vines that have the tensile strength of aircraft cable, that's another story...

Y2Z · Apr 19, 2004

i wont ride woods again without them, after i broke my fingers because the brake lever crushed it, i got a pair and they have come in handy on more than one occasion.

2smoke · Apr 20, 2004

Now the problem here is you dont know how to go over the bars properly. Ive been over 4 or 5 times in the last few years....Ive got Acerbis handguards....no problem. The big Katoom hovering just above my head ready to knock me out when I finish the commando roll.....now thats a problem.

bud · Apr 20, 2004

I used them on all my bikes except my most recent one which I put flag guards on. I stopped using them because I have had several near misses going over the bars with my hand slipping downward inside the guard. Combine that with the bike being easier to ride without barkbusters... I doubt I'll go back to barkbusters. I ride tight single track almost exclusively so a bit more care is required but overall I'm riding faster without them because I feel I have extra control.

Very few expert/pro enduro guys use bark busters around here and there is plenty of tight single track.

NWMyers#5 · Apr 20, 2004

I would not think of riding in the woods without my guards! Why would you knock a product that a million people use because you had one bad experience with it. If that was the case I would not have a bike because I would of had to remove every piece of it becuase at one point I had almost been hurt by something on it. One last question. You've been riding in the woods for 20 years and are riding a KX100? :think:

Vic · Apr 20, 2004

NWMyers#5 said:
You've been riding in the woods for 20 years and are riding a KX100? :think:

I've been riding for 35 years (man I'm old :ohmy: ) and I ride an RM 85 L . Wanna make somethin' of it? :cool:

The little bikes are awesome in the tight woods.

tnrider · Apr 20, 2004

James said:
They need to be angled down and not horizontal so they are less likely to catch your hands. It also helps to run your levers so they "fill" the handguard area.

I am not saying anymore than that so as not to jinx myself.

how about a photo from someone that knows the proper setup.

James · Apr 20, 2004

I always run barkbusters....woods or mx.

This is a pretty good picture showing the downward angle of the barkbusters and the levers running as high as possible without rubbing the guards. I moved my levers in a bit and higher since this picture I believe.

http://dirtrider.net/teamdrn/showphoto.php?photo=5541&size=big&password=&sort=1&cat=500

If you tilt your head to get the wheels level, you can see the downward angle of the barkbusters pretty good in this picture.

http://dirtrider.net/teamdrn/showphoto.php?photo=5543&size=big&password=&sort=1&cat=500

dirt bike dave · Apr 20, 2004

Here's a shot of my bike with the Cycra's. As you can see, they are low, pretty minimal risk for catching with the hand or wrist if you go over the bars. I bought the bike from an AA racer/former district champ who is very thorough about bike setup. Like others, I would not ride in the bush or woods without hand protection - they have saved me plenty of pain and levers over the years.

http://www.dirtrider.net/forums3/vb...er.net/forums3/vbgarage.php?do=getimage&id=50

Vic · Apr 20, 2004

As icing, they also strenthen your bars. :)

motorhead434 · Apr 21, 2004

dangerous barkbusters?

motometal Its just something you become accustomed to.I have 25 yrs riding/racing and after alot of injuries decided to switch from mx to off-road because thats how i started out riding.After my first enduro I broke down and got handguards,even though you should always be looking forward they were in my line of vision,i also was leery of catching my hand in guards,BUT if you think about it,how many times do you hang on to the bars when you crash?usually a low speed crash like yours-any way 5 yrs. later i dont even notice guards and cant dream of riding woods without them.Its very cool to mow down saplings with the guards!I soon found out the add-on plastic shields are a must have for those short/broken trees that thack the tips of your fingers.just my 2c from a midwest guy who practiced in the trees for years w/o guards. oh,by the way does shane whats his name run barkbusters now?

Reesknight · Apr 21, 2004

I have seen two incidents of guys getting there fingers smashed off :eek: by there clutch levers when they hit the ground. I run the fredette covers with the enduro engineering guards. As mentioned, the covers are flexible and they don't wrap up over your hands so they won't get caught. Maybe you should just stop going over the bars! :clue: J/K, sometimes that just can't be avoided, like me two weeks ago :whiner:

motometal · Apr 21, 2004

I WILL run them for motard, but still not sure for the woods. I do value my fingers, and it sounds like my setup was bad (too high). Old habits are tough to change, and it just feels really strange having the extra weight on the ends of the bars. I thought about narrowing the bars, but not sure on that, since there would be less leverage. Currently the bars are really wide, wider than the ones on my 250.

NWMeyers, just because 5 kazillion people buy a product doesn't make it work well for me, or anyone else for that matter. My flame is a generalization (sorry) based on a bad experience, if nothing else I would like to warn others about potential problems with handguards, and as you can see with the pictures etc. this has turned into a good educational tool as well. It isn't cool for you to make fun of me and my motorcycle choice, because some day you may run into a 33 year old "kid" like me on a little bike in the woods and there is a remote possibility that you will need to let him by. Just listen for the "ding ding" bell. :aj:

Vic · Apr 22, 2004

motometal said:
some day you may run into a 33 year old "kid" like me on a little bike in the woods and there is a remote possibility that you will need to let him by. Just listen for the "ding ding" bell.

Or a 43 year old one , like me. Be careful not to get caught in my streamers.

:cool:

tnrider · Apr 22, 2004

i have thought of picking up an cr85expert as a backyard play bike too - vic, how tall and how much do you weigh - what can one of these bikes handle - i don't want to kill the bike with my big...

Rich Rohrich · Apr 22, 2004

Anyone who has had the pleasure (or in my case misfortune) of being on the same track as AJ while he hammers the guts out of a bone stock 9hp TTR125 can attest to the fact that little bikes with great riders are tough to deal with. :)

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