Hand Gaurds

[Doo800ho]

What does every one think of them? Are they a wast of money and how much abuse can they take? Going to put an 8" rise on my sled.

 

[woody_tobius_jr]

I had a set of BRP guards on my sled, on the way up to the cabin, they were great. Second stuck rolled her out ( bottomless powder mind you) got the dirty side down and noticed that my handguard was broken. So $80.00 for about an hours ride. THey'd be all right if you plan on sticking to trails. This was 2 seasons ago, maybe they are building them stronger now. I've heard that the 'Skinz' handguards aren't too bad though. My .02 worth

 

[Orrin]

I had a set of BRP guards on my sled, on the way up to the cabin, they were great. Second stuck rolled her out ( bottomless powder mind you) got the dirty side down and noticed that my handguard was broken. So $80.00 for about an hours ride. THey'd be all right if you plan on sticking to trails. This was 2 seasons ago, maybe they are building them stronger now. I've heard that the 'Skinz' handguards aren't too bad though. My .02 worth

Sounds about right $80 for warmish hands till the first decent hill, about two hr's for me.

 

[teeroy]

I bought a pair of the skinz pro series carbon fibre soft handguards, they had great coverage and were easily removable for when you got into the alpine and didn't need them anymore. I would forget to take them off and ended up tearing the velcro off the ends, then I used push darts to hold them on the ends of the bars. they have been sitting in my shed for the last 3 seasons. just one more thing to pack around on the mountain....

 

[crooklyn]

I have been thinking of getting some to and came across these in my search

Rox Flex-Tec Handguards
- they are like the Skinz but have billet mounts and plastic insert

 

[whickey]

Not to sound goofy but I don't belive in them. Seen to many of them on the mountain. Use your handle bar warmers and wear a heavier set of gloves for the way up then take them off and put on your alpine gloves. Never had a problem from there. If you ride trail all the time then I think they would work but to much work for me to take on and off and all that sort of stuff. The trail is only 10-20km at the most it will take you 30 min to get up.

 

[brew_doo]

I bought a pair of the skinz pro series carbon fibre soft handguards, they had great coverage and were easily removable for when you got into the alpine and didn't need them anymore. I would forget to take them off and ended up tearing the velcro off the ends, then I used push darts to hold them on the ends of the bars. they have been sitting in my shed for the last 3 seasons. just one more thing to pack around on the mountain....

I picked up a set from Neil (TABSTER) and they look like they will work well. They even have his logo on them.

 

[catmando]

Put them on two or three times and never had any luck,the soft ones may be allright,got a set o red ones brand new still in the wrapper!
I gave up!
catmando!

 

[0neoldfart]

Decent quality handguards will have an aluminum mount and flexible plastic - I've a set of sporttech units on my sled for 2 seasons with no issues - (one stock and two lexan hoods later...), and the wife's sled has powermadd guards - if you hit something hard they'll break, but a gentle roll in the fluff hasn't resulted in handguard casualties thus far...
That said, they can get in the way at times in the alpine if you are doing something stupid - I've questioned that aspect a couple times. The powermadd brackets move the handguard further away from the grip, wheras the cat guards restrict movement too much on a mountain sled, and are made of cheap plastic that will break if you sneeze on them ( same as the acerbis guards as used by ski-doo on the rev chassis...
I suppose it depends on the application - I don't have a windshield on my cat (mesh hood), and on the rev i never ran a windshield cause i didn't want the snow hitting me in the goggles when busting drifts - vision is more important then chilly hands on the hill...

 

[Doo800ho]

Thanks Guys. We ride the hills a couple times a year (revy,val area) was thinking of them just cause i'm going to put on an 8" rise from a 4".

 

[goodngrubby]

I run them on everything. If you buy Powermadd, make sure they are the ones that mount on an angle. The older ones were straight inline with the bars, and didn't leave alot of room for big gloves. The new ones come out at an angle so there is lots of room for the brake lever and such. Running an 8" riser, your hands are going to be out there a long ways, handguards make a big difference at the end of the day for keeping your hands warm.

 

[Scrambled]

Contrairy to what others have said mine have been great,there the skidoo ones I got with my 09,they have been treed and rolled on way more then once and they have held up great,even saved my hands or gloves acouple times so I like them.

 

[Slamnek]

I have the sportech ones, there not the nicest looking but they were a gift. I have'nt had a good roll down a mountain but i've rolled it out of a few good stucks and they are fine. My hands stay way warmer than without.

 

[CUSO]

I have the sunline ones.
Not sure if they help much... I guess they do.
They have a rotating guard if you roll your sled. They were pretty reasonable price wise/.

 

[SHREK1]

last year saw a guy riding a rt 1000 , had a lefty on it , he cut through some tight tree's , caught his hand gaurd and bent it , pulled the cable to WOT , he jumped and let sled go , felt so bad for him couldn't even bring myself to take some pic's , but did help him tie his ski back on , fyi

 

[Free Rider]

Don't waste your money. Buy good gloves instead.

 

[CUSO]

last year saw a guy riding a rt 1000 , had a lefty on it , he cut through some tight tree's , caught his hand gaurd and bent it , pulled the cable to WOT , he jumped and let sled go , felt so bad for him couldn't even bring myself to take some pic's , but did help him tie his ski back on , fyi

Lefty?? WTH are those??LOL Guess he learned a valuable but expensive lesson..

 

[ZRrrr]

I like the ROX product and would try those next time. Now I run Powermadd and they are OK. Cat ones I ran for a few days and they went into the parts bin.

Don't tighten the mounts and the guards too tight. They should be snug but need to be able to move if the sled rolls.