Hand guards or bark busters?

[cheese]

So what are best? Bark busters or just the hand guards?

[courts]

you do a bit on the track though, so does that mean the busters have to come off, i need to invest .

[barty5]

barkbusters i dont do motox so dont have to remove.

[scott411]

i have never liked barkbusters, i use mx style handguards, and try not to hit trees,

[SpikedPunch]

I have some hand guards that came with my bike, they're a bit useless on the trail, hands still get thwapped with branches etc. Ended up taking them off. I'll get some bark busters soon.

[xen]

Bark busters fo sho, guards only give you roost protection so no point on trails

[oldskool]

I just want something to prevent my levers from breaking if I drop the bike.

[takitimu]

I just want something to prevent my levers from breaking if I drop the bike.

In my experience bark busters won't do that, though the Zeta lever's sure seem to take the treatment.

Oh my vote was Bark Busters :), though I'd prefer not to have them for MX, the stories of broken wrists when you get wrist & bark busters tangled going over the bars is kinda scary.

[cave weta]

Mmmmmm Pavalova.....
But Bark Busters get my vote.
I have 11 bikes that all have em, they get dropped several times each day.
if each bike gets out just twce a week and gets dropped 5 times (conservative estimate):doh: ... thats 5720 drops each year and not one broken lever or wrist.:done:

[takitimu]

Mmmmmm Pavalova.....
But Bark Busters get my vote.
I have 11 bikes that all have em, they get dropped several times each day.
if each bike gets out just twce a week and gets dropped 5 times (conservative estimate):doh: ... thats 5720 drops each year and not one broken lever or wrist.:done:

Dang, I've bust 1 Brake Lever & bent 2 * Clutch Lever all done with Bark Busters on :), guess I must be unlucky.

[B0000M]

having a bike with bark busters, and a bike without bark busters, and having had hand guards on previous bikes, i rate the hand guards.

bark busters cause injuries when you crash.

in 15 years of riding, ive crashed a shitload of a shitload of times, ive never broken a lever, but ive broken 2 clutch perches and bent a brake lever.

barkbusters add weight
barkbusters add steering weight
barkbuster are wristbusters
barkbusters can clash with levers
bark busters mean you need to cut the ends off your grips, which mean your grips are more likely to come unstuck
barkbusters with a broken bolt 1/2 way thru a trail are a nightmare
handguars provide adequate protection from branches etc and roost, they will not stop tree trunks. however, if you hit tree trunks with the ends of your bars, you're fucked bark busters or not.

[cave weta]

barkbusters add weight
barkbusters add steering weight
barkbuster are wristbusters
barkbusters can clash with levers
bark busters mean you need to cut the ends off your grips, which mean your grips are more likely to come unstuck
barkbusters with a broken bolt 1/2 way thru a trail are a nightmare
handguars provide adequate protection from branches etc and roost, they will not stop tree trunks. however, if you hit tree trunks with the ends of your bars, you're fucked bark busters or not.

Hmmmm all true! - Ihave thread tape under my perches- that helps too

[Crisis management]

Barkbusters for me but my riding is trail and single track and I am regularly clipping trees, branches, the ground.....as long as the perches and barkbusters can rotate on the bars its an easy pick it up, whack everything back into place and carry on.

Works for me!

[oldskool]

Hmmmm all true! - Ihave thread tape under my perches- that helps too
Cool, so I throw some plumbers tape under the perches and I won't need bark busters!

[takitimu]

in 15 years of riding, ive crashed a shitload of a shitload of times, ive never broken a lever, but ive broken 2 clutch perches and bent a brake lever.


To be fair breaking the lever did require a combination of my stupidity & the bike doing a slow motion endo onto rocks.

[noobi]

I can say that barkbusters DO protect your hands from tree trunks, I hit a tree at thunder at a fair pace and the zeta alloy wraparound thing protected my hand and meant I didnt smash every bone in my hand
:beer:

[chop]

Tis a tough one! i like both! Currently use Zeta bark buster things and love them however in the past i have used and still keep spare Cycra Stealths theyre awsome good ali mount and reasonably ridged plastic. I used some again the over weekend on KXF at enduro and still felt safe. However my bark buster style gaurds have many grases on the ends from tree's and other objects in the forrest so my vote is for bark busters

[tnarg]

I don't use anything and haven't broken any levers on this bike and still have all my fingers.
I just put some thread tape under the pearchs so when I come off the levers just swivel around.

[cheese]

I was out at riverhead and my hands got wasted by branches and spikey tree things.

[alistair1]

I use the open ended handguards(zeta) and find they fend off most of the goarse/ branches etc I find my self going through.....

[CRF119]

I used to take the piss out of people with both but now i have hand gaurds all my mates take the piss but i dont care. I could be getting old and soft but they have saved me plenty of times. I dont like bark busters due to the whole arm/wrist brake thing.

Hand gaurds dont save leavers thats the only down side

[Taz]

I used to take the piss out of people with both but

I bet they'd take the piss out of you when your riding back to the car pack with no brake lever :)

[glice]

Bark busters. When I got my bike it had nothing and was going to be the first thing I got for it. But I had my first ride on it before then and broke my brake lever at the start of a loop at maramarua in the wet and new to dirt riding, which was a bit of a mission.

[Rupe]

I ride up woodhill a lot, especially through the winter. Lots of trees and shit so use bark busters. Feel naked without them

[4stroke]

i like chop have many cuts and grassers in the end of the bark busters, so handy to be able to bounce off trees and rocks etc. i wouldnt have anything else!

[t3mp0r4ry nzr]

I used to take the hard line and say fuck off to handguards, just dont hit no trees. Now, 5 weeks after, still with little movement in my little finger and a doctor advised, a further 6 weeks layoff from dirt biking, I am a beliver. BARK BUSTERS save fingers from being smashed up from 3rd gear "clipping" of trees. :no:

[oldskool]

So how much are Pavlova's and where's the best place to get them from? oops I mean BarkBusters!:dodge: :baby::dodge:

[kezzafish]

yeah i've done the tree glance/knuckle smash trick. really hurt. Does everyone run the big plastic guards on their barkbusters? cos the alloy bar part of the buster wouldn't have saved my fist (of zen) anyway. I had the ZETA busters (without the plastic shroud) on my drz dirtbike cos that seemed to break a lever every time you dropped it and they worked a treat. Never broke another lever once i installed them and i must have broken 6 or 7 before hand

[vazza]

Barkbusters feels like theres to much on the handel bars, need abit of space..

[krad_nz]

Barkbusters. Would feel naked without them.

[tommorth]

have had all pavlova is great had open ended gaurds on my kdx and mostly worked well but somtimes branches would flick around inside and push the lever not so bad when its the clutch but not great when its the front break , made some solid ones for my xr they worked great hit a bambo marker next day didnt feel a thing. alloy ones with plastic on my 200 rekon it gives a bit more confidence in the close trees you know if you get a little close your fingers will still be there

t3mp0r4ry nzr how bad was your finger? I got mine tanged in my handgaurds last oct dislocated it was pointing 90deg got told min 8 weeks for the ligaments to recover I 've got probably 90% movment ,but its still weak and a bit swollen close to four months later. Found it amazing how much the little finger is used

[oldskool]

Barkbusters. Would feel naked without them. ooh yuck shrivel that thought!

[B0000M]

another shit part about bark busters is geting tie downs thru your bars, more congestion.

i also find with bark busters you feel less confident with the bike in small spaces as it makes it feel more like you're trying to manouvere a bus thru the trees than a bike.


want to borrow some to try cheese?

[Ktmboy]

having a bike with bark busters, and a bike without bark busters, and having had hand guards on previous bikes, i rate the hand guards.

bark busters cause injuries when you crash.

in 15 years of riding, ive crashed a shitload of a shitload of times, ive never broken a lever, but ive broken 2 clutch perches and bent a brake lever.

barkbusters add weight
barkbusters add steering weight
barkbuster are wristbusters
barkbusters can clash with levers
bark busters mean you need to cut the ends off your grips, which mean your grips are more likely to come unstuck
barkbusters with a broken bolt 1/2 way thru a trail are a nightmare
handguars provide adequate protection from branches etc and roost, they will not stop tree trunks. however, if you hit tree trunks with the ends of your bars, you're fucked bark busters or not.

Sorry beg to differ big time!

ACERBIS bark busters. They are ergonomically formed with recesses at the end to facilitate hand ejaculation(cool word):Punk:

A common problem is folks always set them up too high and this could cause problems. I have mine set low so that they form a line with my arms, through to lever and busters, whilst in the standing position.
Never broken a lever.
Yes it adds weight.
But in X/country etc this is not a major. Finishing the event however is most important.
I have never broken a wrist. Tell a lie I did about 6 years ago riding a Honda XR400 on a farm recce.It had no guards what so ever.
Don't clash with levers if they are set up right.
Good glue and lock wire. no problems. grips will never come off.
Any broken bolt will be a bitch. Most commonly tho the bolt comes out of the end thread. Simple. Lock tight the bugger in.
Argh...Yes they do protect from trees, and at speed. Most of my Hospital visits have been fully hugging trees. Bikes been phucked, rider is phucked, but the ACERBIS are all good.

Yes, and I do the odd MX to prove I can beat the lad. Although if I was fully into MX they would come off.

[4stroke]

Sorry beg to differ big time!

ACERBIS bark busters. They are ergonomically formed with recesses at the end to facilitate hand ejaculation(cool word):Punk:

A common problem is folks always set them up too high and this could cause problems. I have mine set low so that they form a line with my arms, through to lever and busters, whilst in the standing position.
Never broken a lever.
Yes it adds weight.
But in X/country etc this is not a major. Finishing the event however is most important.
I have never broken a wrist. Tell a lie I did about 6 years ago riding a Honda XR400 on a farm recce.It had no guards what so ever.
Don't clash with levers if they are set up right.
Good glue and lock wire. no problems. grips will never come off.
Any broken bolt will be a bitch. Most commonly tho the bolt comes out of the end thread. Simple. Lock tight the bugger in.
Argh...Yes they do protect from trees, and at speed. Most of my Hospital visits have been fully hugging trees. Bikes been phucked, rider is phucked, but the ACERBIS are all good.

Yes, and I do the odd MX to prove I can beat the lad. Although if I was fully into MX they would come off.

i have ACERBIS on the husky, no broken levers when i broke my bars, and broke myself.

[FROSTY]

I hear all the arguments for barkbusters and even so just dont like the darn things myself. I just dont feel comfortable riding with them.
The MX type roost protectors seem to do pretty well for my riding.

Off on a tangent --road race guys have armoured knuckles on the gloves --wonder if the same principle could work for MX gloves??

[stig]

I had hand gaurds on my kdx when I was learning, it got droped heaps and never broke a lever, not that it couldn't happen, but still seemed to reduce the odds.

came off an xr250 which had the barkbuster steel wrap only. it was positioned at a highish angle. 6 fractures, 2 ops, steel plate, 7 pins, 6mths physio, still phq'd. not recommended.

current KTM came with bark busters with the plastic gaurds. Same as KTMboy, I've lowered them to inline with my arms (standing). that, combined with the plastic gaurds and i'm comfortable with them and don't think i could squeze my wrist through there easily.

ultimate preferance would be handgaurds with zeta levers

[Buddy L]

If you worried about breaking levers, Then just get the unbreakable type, worth their weight in gold, Im on my third set of handle bars, after bending two sets of renthals and i still havent broken a lever. and i have no guards at all.
My KDX had barkbusters on it and it was a dream powering through the off beaten bush tracks, but they did get bent after a big off and jambed up my clutch lever half way through a trail ride.

[CRF119]

I have ASV leavers but still manage to brake them.

[t3mp0r4ry nzr]

t3mp0r4ry nzr how bad was your finger? I got mine tanged in my handgaurds last oct dislocated it was pointing 90deg got told min 8 weeks for the ligaments to recover I 've got probably 90% movment ,but its still weak and a bit swollen close to four months later. Found it amazing how much the little finger is used

Yes, it really is amazing how much the little finger is used. I am now using that hand but my grip is very much weaker from not having a "pinkie" to wrap around the object and grip For example Im back to doing weights and the lack of grip is keeping the weight's low.

I joked about with the e.d staff to just cut the fuka off and I will be on my way! but seriously, the use of the pinkie is much missed.

It broke where the finger bone inserts into the hand, and dislocated it at the 1st knuckle. I had just done a top end rebuild and had alot more power. Was using a gear higher going into a section that transitioned from open to narrow and was sliding into the turn (the lap before I brushed the bank), but never noticed the tree trunk until to late and just clipped it. Didnt crash or slow me down, literally brushed it with the side of the bars and unfortunately, my pinkie.

At 5.5 weeks, I had my first ride yesterday around the neighbourhood yesterday, allgood. Also practising my balance point wheelies on the MTB last night, no probs. Will head out for a quiet ride on the CR later this week:shifty: the riding withdrawls have been hard:eek:

[slimjim]

me i love the bark busters have fitted them on the "xjr" and boy do they stop the rain driving into gloves good to for bumping car mirror's without to much lever damage lol

[Danger]

One reason I'm doing suspension (other than the interest I have in the subject) and not my much better paying previous vocation is because of an injury to my ring finger on the right hand which was broken in six places (the doctor said imagine broken cornflakes) which was due to a pruned branch in the Dead Forest being cut at 6" from the trunk. I have very little grip on the throttle side with the two outside fingers barely able to move which is why this previous stand 90% time rider is now a sit 90% time rider. I was using Bark Busters and would use nothing else, it was bad luck the pruned branch went under the guard and smashed my hand. I've hit trees hard enough to pull the bolt out of the end of the bar, the open guards just will not cut it in the trees for me.

[crazyxr250rider]

IN THE END GUYS ITS JUST PERSONAL PREFERANCE,:girlfight:
I use the barkbuster type on my crf450x and the zeta stingray fag (flag!)type on my KX250.

BTW someone should buy my bike....$5500.....

[Reckless]

Ego Barkbusters for me! Scott411 sells them at Mr Motocycles although all my Ktm's have had them on when I got them! Pic in the Thunder thread here (http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=118411&d=1233911129)
Like Danger I've hit a tree once hard enough to pop them out of the end of the bars (on the GNCC I attempted) and a concrete post on a Mr moto ride. Both would have definitely caused broken bones! They have saved 100 times there value in broken leavers between my sons bike and mine as well!

I don't find them a hassle trying the bike on when I was tying on via the bars either( I do it over the bottom triple clamp now)

Barkbusters for me anytime!