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) ... thats 5720 drops each year and not one broken lever or wrist.

[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) ... thats 5720 drops each year and not one broken lever or wrist.

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.