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eBay Universal Hand Guards - don't fit well with Madstad

MalcolmReynolds

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So I had been looking at some Barkbusters for the bike when I ran across a post in one of the threads here about the eBay Universal Hand Guards and that they fit fine and worked with the Madstad. The price was $15 shipped from China. They looked decent in the pics and you can choose between like 4 colors. They have a reflective insert in the front and side.

So it sounded pretty reasonable and the price was right so I ordered a set of the smoked color ones that look almost like a medium tint windshiled. So it is semi transparent. Well they finally arrived today. There are zero instructions with these so you are left to your own devices to figure out how to put them on. Very dangerous around me to leave me unsupervised with my own ideas about how to do something. It is OK however I managed to get them on the bike, didn't burn down the house, destroy anything on the bike that I know of, and still have all of my limbs. So we are off to a good start.

The hand guards are made of a fairly thick and durable looking material, but they aren't designed to protect you or the bike, mostly for weather protection. I found that due to the angle I prefer my controls that I had to bend the little bar that attaches to the mirror mount downward to give proper clearance inside the guard to clear the controls. I think someone else also mentioned they had to do the same thing. No problem, and easy to do.

The final check however is clearing the Madstad. The hand guards will only clear the Madstad in the lowest setting and straight up(ie no angle back). So while it is true you they will clear a Madstad there is no room for any kind of adjustment. I tweaked the front of the guards in a little bit with the slotted metal band off of the mirrors, but even adjusted all the way in to give a little more room it now only allows about 1/4-1/2" adjustment upwards and really no angle back.

So these look nice and are pretty nice for $15, but if you have the Madstad you are going to have a devil of a time getting clearance for the right handle bar guard. I am not sure if the Barkbusters have this same issue or not as I need my windshield up and angled back to cut down on the wind noise and turbulence. So I think I will be back in the market for some hand guards that will clear the Madstad at various heights. Maybe such an animal does not exist?

If the weather clears up I will pull the bike out and take pictures of these hand guards in case others might be interested in them.

Here is an eBay listing for the same product, just not the same price or the same vendor.
7/8" Motorcycle bars Handguards Pattern Hand Bar Guards Protectors Universal
 
I should have added that I have the 2" eBay risers on my bike so even with that additional clearance it still only clears the windshield on it's lowest setting. The Madstad is wider at the bottom and when you raise it up the wider portion is what enters into the contact area of the hand gaurds at lock. :(
 
Ok, I have been out messing with the bike trying to figure out why I am not getting the clearance I expected with these handguards and the Madstad with the 2" risers. So I went back out and started messing with my handlebars. I had pushed the bars forward just a bit due to some cable strain but in doing so I lost just a little bit of clearance.

So I pulled the bars back a little toward me and then adjusted the brake and clutch controls downward to account for the more pulled back bars. The cables seemed OK and I manage to get about 1/4" on the right side with allowed me to move the windshield up and back now. Looks like I am getting about an inch in height adjustment now and the angle looks better.

I will have to ride it and see how that works and then figure out if there is room for more adjustment. On the throttle side I wanted to adjust the control down more, but I am hitting the throttle cables. So I will have to look to see how I can either adjust the throttle controls position or maybe mess with that bracket for the hand guard.

But at least I have a little more room for the windshield now and a little more adjustment. I am hoping to get to do some riding Sunday so I will report back and have some pictures for you guys to see what I am talking about.

Overall I like these handguards. I am just hoping that I can get a little more room for adjustment with the windscreen.
 
I haven't seen your handguards, but like I said before, on the Barkbusters I reversed the inner bar clamps (right to left and vice versa, which makes them upside down as far as the instructions are concerned) and that gave me a better cable and wire route. Wide windshields near the bottom make things crazier as far as lock to lock, taking some bar positioning options away : \
 
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