handguards....

[gamorg02]

so i'm thinking of putting some handguards on the bike.

first, i think they'd look kind of cool. second my hands are getting cold even with my good gloves at sub 35 degrees at 85 mph.

i've never really ridden dirt bikes, so if anyone sees a problem with this go ahead and let me know. I"m thinking a problem might be that dirt bike levers are typically shorter, and wouldnt' stick out as far. so i may need to get the type that is fully adjustable.

these don't look bad:
http://www.racer450.com/issue_07_06/images/pro_covers.jpg
http://www.racer450.com/issue_07_06/images/pro_handguards.jpg


so i would think something like this as i would expect them to have to be pretty rigid to deal with 100mph + speeds:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Moto...2818192QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

but since i have bar-ends, i may have to go back to regular mirrors or re-mount my bar ends differently (which probably would be easy)

i like this look:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-...3539414QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories
but man they're expensive!

something like this might work as well:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Poli...QQitemZ220454918870QQptZApparelQ5fMerchandise

i'd probably have to mount them on the attached pic on the red line.

anyways, any thoughts?

 

[Buster Hymen]

I have handguards on my dirt bike but I don't think it will keep your hands any warmer. They are really meant to stop rocks from hitting your hands or from your hand getting crushed against a tree in a crash. For warmer hands, go with heated hand grips. I have them on the dirt bike and they are great.

 

[gamorg02]

do they not break the wind? My hands are fine at normal speeds but doing 80 mph + for 20 mins or so cools them down.

do u see any potential problems for some sort of universal mount?

 

[gamorg02]

Did some more research. neat idea on a z1000:

http://www.riderforums.com/showthread.php?t=52293

some other ideas:

http://www.sportbikes.net/forums/fz6/379130-fz6-hand-guards.html , but obnoxious. i attached a couple pix (made an acct to see them)

i'm thinking of some options...

1:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Moto...ies?hash=item19b5b67d90&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245

2:
http://www.powermadd.com/products/starserieshandguard.html
with this mount:
http://powermaddstore.com/pm/product.php?productid=161&cat=0&page=1
(the tri mount one at the very bottom) as i don't want to move my m/c around

or

3:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ACER...8910489QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories
with this mounting kit:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Acer...ies?hash=item3356243b78&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245


hmm this got expensive quick.

 

[Geek_Law]

You may also wish to consider "hippo hands." I hear very good things and am planning on getting some myself this winter.

http://www.hippohands.com/Hippo Hands.htm

 

[gamorg02]

well yea, but no offense, but i def couldn't look at myself in the mirror @ the end of the day with those on.

 

[Geek_Law]

well yea, but no offense, but i def couldn't look at myself in the mirror @ the end of the day with those on.

They stay on the bike of course, but I hear ya. The are lacking a bit of the "cool" factor. However, riding a MC in freezing temps while the other fair weather riders look on in absolute jealousy makes up for the lack of coolness of the hippo hands.

 

[gamorg02]

yup. the second part is wha ti'm looking for, but via handguards, not hippo hands. i appreciate the effort tho man! iv'e seen those before. they're cheaper too. i'd be worried tho i couldnt' get my hands out if i needed to (not sure why'd ihave to tho)

 

[SteelerBike]

Gerbings heated jacket and gloves man. Or, you could just get the heated gloves. All you have to do is run a lead from the battery.

Last year my coldest day was 17 degrees. Of course, I have the full heated suit--gloves and socks included!

I have handguards on my Buell. It stops the initial cold force, but my hands would still get cold if it weren't for my heated gloves.

p.s. they do look cool though

 

[gamorg02]

i think i'd be fine with the guards as i'm fine at low speeds or when the wind isn't blowing on them. plus i'm looking at 2x the money for those at least.

i'm leaning towards the powermadd stuff. with the extender it'd be like 75. any thoughts?

 

[pegscraper]

I have a set of National Cycle clear handguards I put on my bike in cooler weather. Cutting the wind makes a big difference in how warm your hands are. Heated gloves would still be nice. I don't have those yet, but with the handguards cutting the hard wind, I get away without them.

 

[Jack Butler]

I run a set on my sled as the windshield doesn't protect my hands.
No question they help.
The big difference is the hand warmers under the grips.
Take your pick........
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&c...o&q=motorcycle+hand+warmers&btnG=Search&meta=

 

[Redbone]

Grip warmers are nice, no added bulk. I can't see me riding in the cold around here for too long, as it tends to start snowing/ freezing rain. If it was just cold I would think about the heated clothes route and hand deflectors.

 

[dannymax]

Grip warmers are nice, no added bulk. I can't see me riding in the cold around here for too long, as it tends to start snowing/ freezing rain. If it was just cold I would think about the heated clothes route and hand deflectors.

Hippo Hands!! :clapping:

If I ride when it's 35 out (I'm not gonna...just saying) my hands, feet and body are going to be warm!! I don't care how stupid they look! In fact I already have a pair...not HH's, but very similar....and they work!

Another geeky alternative is a good pair of mittens, they keep your hands a lot warmer than gloves.

 

[naughtyG]

I used heated grips in England for many years - they are the best thing ever as the heat is inside your hand. You can get aftermarket ones quite easily on fleaBay, for about $30-50.

I used the Oxford brand very successfully.

 

[dannymax]

Like these G?

They look like they would make a hell of a difference!!

1.3 amps wouldn't be a significant additional draw, would it?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/OXFO...3911113QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

 

[Geek_Law]

Hippo Hands!! :clapping:

If I ride when it's 35 out (I'm not gonna...just saying) my hands, feet and body are going to be warm!! I don't care how stupid they look! In fact I already have a pair...not HH's, but very similar....and they work!

Another geeky alternative is a good pair of mittens, they keep your hands a lot warmer than gloves.

This is a good point. I normally wear huge ski gloves, but they make it hard to grip the throttle and even with their bulk, my hands will still get very cold in 20-degree weather after about 15 minutes of riding.

I'll be interested to hear how you solve it gamorg02. Do let us know what you end up going with.

 

[naughtyG]

Like these G?

awww my gawd NO! those things are dreaful.

I used REAL heated grips, like these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OXFORD-HOTGRI...arts?hash=item35a3eb8f5c&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

And the 3amp draw is only when turn on full, which you hardly ever do as it feels like it would melt your gloves. I used them 1/4 to 1/3 of the way up most of the time, and my hands were toasty in sub-zero (C) temps..

Usually I wired them straight to the battery, via a fuse and I liked adding a relay so they were only on when ignition was on.:clapping:

 

[Redbone]

I have tried hippo hands out on a snowmobile and they work well. G's right though, they'd look dreadful on a bike but warm for sure. Try the grip warmers, like G said, they really do work well. If you added wind protection such as hand deflectors, your hands would stay toasty warm for sure.
If you would like to retain your current grips try the Symtec brand that go under your grips and have a nice rocker switch with a hi-off-low settings.

 

[gamorg02]

i appreciate all the help guys but def think i wanna go hand guards, for looks and functionality. plus i just glued my grips back on the new bars hah.

this gave me some inspiration:

http://forum.svrider.com/showthread.php?t=81619

same ones i was looking at, will probably have to go with a different mount b/c i don't wanna move my m/c and the bars angle down right after that.