Are expensive hand guards really required?

[Kykdaar]

This comes from an oke that would (and normally did) fit top-notch stuff like Barkbusters and Cycra as a "must-have" and without much thought on most of my bikes. It seems to be expected of a DS bike to be fitted with them

Now I have started to think a bit more  ;D helped by concerns over the state of my wallet when I look at the prices of the good stuff currently.

Not something new - most things have already been discussed on this forum, but I must now make a choice hence opening up old wounds again ;D

There are, obviously, arguments for and against handguards - Protection of clutch and brake levers, protection of hands against bushes / cold / rocks, etc. But then on the other hand hands have been trapped behind the hand guards resulting in broken forearms and wrists.

If you want to fit handguards, why must it be top of the range aluminium backboned stuff? Maybe the OEM icecream scoops fitted to KLR's is not so bad after all?

Are there levers out there that will survive a fall without needing handguard protection? But then again I suspect that they will cost more than the handguards themselves.

Any comments welcome 

 

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