Which Handguards Should I Choose?

When I ordered the Enduro Engineering Open Ended Debris Deflectors over two years ago, I immediately asked myself “What is a Debris Deflector?”. I always thought they were called open ended handguards, or open ended bark busters. As it turns out, there are a lot of names for the pieces of plastic and metal that attach to our handlebars to protect our hands and controls.

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If you’re new to dirt biking, you may have bought a bike that came with plastic roost guards right off the showroom floor. You probably also quickly learned that those are crap. Besides those stock handguards, there is a vast array of dirt bike handguard options.

The simplest dirt bike handguard is strangely called a “flag”. It most likely attaches with a plastic arm, and has the straightforward job of keeping roost away from your hands. A few lay overs or incidents with a tree, and you’ll realize why these are typically reserved for motocross.

“Bark Busters”, or full wrap around handguards, are a product of the seventies and motorcyclists starting to venture off the track and into the woods. The Bark Buster shape has evolved with modern day dirt bike handlebars, and the fear of broken wrists. Some manufacturers stick to a traditional shape, while others choose to mitigate the “broken wrist” factor by incorporating unique shapes.

The open ended handguard market has evolved, which intrigued me enough to jump on the bandwagon. I chose the Enduro Engineering Open Ended Debris Deflectors because they had an option that didn’t take up bar space, the composite arm bent, but didn’t break easily, and the brush guard takes a hell of a beating. There are other open ended handguards options, and testing them is a priority, but we’ll get there when there’s time.

Which dirt bike handguards do your ride with and why? Have any handguards failed you in the past for certain reasons? If you’re running full wrap around handguards, why haven’t you tried open ended handguards? What’s your favorite color?

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[brycedavis]

I run flag style guards, I wasn't concerned about getting my arm trapped\broken. I bought a new bike and was too lazy to get new wrap arounds and noticed I was crashing a lot less. I figured out the correlation was that the flex of a flag style allows me to just clip trees and get less bar input than with full wrap gaurds.

[highlandcycles]

I have run almost every style of guard but I have settled on the new EE style open flags. They are super burly and keep the bike light and open feeling. I also run foldy levers and bar end protectors to keep everything moving and working right.

[michaelvandesluis]

Love my EE deflectors. They have held up awesome and look great!

[EarthSurferUSA]

I don't really like any of the designs today for tree bashing. I use full wraps for all the small tree hits in the woods, and I used Bark Busters decades ago, --before pro taper bars.
I don't like the clamp on the taper, or removing/cutting the stock bar pad to get clamps on that short straight diameter next to the handlebar clamps. I bought the Yamaha GYTR full wraps thinking they would be perfect for my stock Yamaha pro taper bars. I just modified the heck out of them (I have a small machine shop. Took me a lot of time for design and machine), to be compact, light (much lighter than the stock wraps), rigid, (or twist if you want), and very clean looking. Nothing clamps on the taper, and I am using my stock bar pad. It won't twist accept maybe in a crash. Just about anything can break in a crash though. It might be more vulnerable in a crash than the stock mounts, but it won't garf my taper on the bar, (causing a "stress riser"), when those twist.
I wish we could post a picture in the comments section. If you like full wraps, you would love these. Doug in Michigan.

[kraighawkins]

I'm going to check these out. Been running Acerbis full wrap arounds, and the deflection when a clip a tree can be pretty hard. Bought a pair of the Cycra Rebounds for my son's 85, and on the first tip over, one of them broke. Might get a pair of these for mine and his.

[ericrock]

I don’t know what to get first of all I need new levers arc is on the list, but this was my second lever and second bike that I had snapped the clutch lever again.

I have been seeing cycra their designs and functionality is pretty dope however you are spending a pretty penny on those. While the Acerbis doesn’t brake the bank I’m concerned about the protection of the levers.

[doobielawson]

I have not been able to find open end style deflectors that can mount properly on the throttle side. The brake reservoir is in the way. I have tried them on about 5 different bikes, dirtbikes and dual sports, the latest being an XT250 & a 300L, didn't work well on either bike. I'm looking for wind protection more than anything, so the deflector has to be in the proper place for them to be effective.

[Kickaha]

Full wrap around proper Barkbusters with Storm plastic guards attached, they are a bit bigger and offer better hand protection from stray shrubbery, I have them on 4 different bikes

[EarthSurferUSA]

6:05 Flag guard. You would have smashed your finger(s) of you hand was at the end of the grip. That could be a nasty pinky hit there. :)
You make a good vid sir.

[numbzinger]

2:58 What bender is that? I've never seen one of those. It sure looks handy.

[DCSkippy]

What would you recommend for someone just trying to keep your levers in good shape? I just started riding and ill be on the street mostly but, I know low speed tip over will eventually happen and I don't want to break a lever.

[nativeamerican]

The full wrap around Guards saves Leavers n ur bars plus ur rubber grips

[highlandcycles]

Do any of them protect against chainsaws??

[nate]

Cycra Pro Bend or even their Enduro. I have both. They take a beating and I’ve always been unharmed.

[claudioteixeira]

Try the OEM from ktm, for 35€ close the OEM KTM hand guards FULL PROTEC!

[AKAOmnivore]

It would would seem based of the broken wrist comment someone making the full guard would come up with a lower plastic wrap that would prevent your hand from being able pass through the bottom of the guard. Does that make sense? in other words by extending the front facing plastic shield guard to under the grip you could no longer put your arm/wrist through the metal frame. Problem solved.

[teammotu]

Interesting that Dakar bikes from the 90’s and earlier didn’t have handle guards