Cheap Guy Strikes Again
Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2016 12:10 pm
As the weather cools down, I've been thinking about hand guards again. Had settled on the Barkbuster Storms for ~$107. Then, I was scanning Amazon and found these for $20 and thought I should give them a try.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H2 ... UTF8&psc=1
They did not fit exactly but, with a little adjustment, I was able to get them solidly mounted. Once I got them adjusted properly, they seem like they will do the job nicely.
They shipped with a plastic bar end mount which would not work with the BMW handlebars even if I wanted to use them. Also, the bolts they ship with them are 6mm which won't work. So, I purchased some M8 x 40mm bolts from HD plus some neoprene washers. Removed the bolts from the existing bar-end weights (Throttlemeister - which I don't really use) and bolted the handguards onto the ends using the longer bolts and a neoprene washer in between the guards and the bar end. Had to dremel open the hole in the handguard and the black end cap to allow the bolts to pass through. It has a bracket that bolts to the guards that is supposed to attach to the mirror stem but the hole was too small for the mirror stem, plus it just didn't look like it would fit right. So I bent the bracket back on itself at the hole to create a U shape. I used a zip tie to pull the bracket up against the mirror. Everything seems to hold very tightly.
Did some test runs at 60mph with summer gloves to test it. Angled it up a bit more from what the photos show to deflect more wind from the tops of my hands. Temperature was about 60 degrees so not that cool but with the summer gloves on, I could tell that it would do a decent job of deflecting wind. The reflective material is a little different color than the turn signals and could be removed if it wanted but I would rather have additional reflection as the days get shorter. Happy with my cheap guy purchase overall. Saved about 80 bucks and should have a better cold weather riding experience. Maybe someone will find this helpful. Or, you can laugh at it. Whatever.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H2 ... UTF8&psc=1
They did not fit exactly but, with a little adjustment, I was able to get them solidly mounted. Once I got them adjusted properly, they seem like they will do the job nicely.
They shipped with a plastic bar end mount which would not work with the BMW handlebars even if I wanted to use them. Also, the bolts they ship with them are 6mm which won't work. So, I purchased some M8 x 40mm bolts from HD plus some neoprene washers. Removed the bolts from the existing bar-end weights (Throttlemeister - which I don't really use) and bolted the handguards onto the ends using the longer bolts and a neoprene washer in between the guards and the bar end. Had to dremel open the hole in the handguard and the black end cap to allow the bolts to pass through. It has a bracket that bolts to the guards that is supposed to attach to the mirror stem but the hole was too small for the mirror stem, plus it just didn't look like it would fit right. So I bent the bracket back on itself at the hole to create a U shape. I used a zip tie to pull the bracket up against the mirror. Everything seems to hold very tightly.
Did some test runs at 60mph with summer gloves to test it. Angled it up a bit more from what the photos show to deflect more wind from the tops of my hands. Temperature was about 60 degrees so not that cool but with the summer gloves on, I could tell that it would do a decent job of deflecting wind. The reflective material is a little different color than the turn signals and could be removed if it wanted but I would rather have additional reflection as the days get shorter. Happy with my cheap guy purchase overall. Saved about 80 bucks and should have a better cold weather riding experience. Maybe someone will find this helpful. Or, you can laugh at it. Whatever.
