I'm a member of the wraparound hand guard school. Even though we don't hit that many trees out West, we do smack brush and branches, and I like the security of knowing that the throttle parts, handlebar and levers are also protected. The biggest drama with aluminum hand guards is getting them on the bike without compromising the routing of the cables or hydraulic lines. Cycra's new Center-Reach-Mount (CRM) hand guards do everything I look for in an aluminum hand guard and more, and they offer great clearance for those pesky control cables/hoses.First of all, the protective bar itself has the distinctive Cycra Probend shape that dips at the outside end to let your hand come out easier in a fall. At the other end, the bar has a rise bent into it to clear cables and hoses. Rather than mount the inboard end of the protective bar to the angled portion of the handlebar or the triple clamp, Cycra mounts to the handlebar hard up against the bar clamps where even tapered bars are straight. The inboard clamp is beefy with four Allen bolts holding it, and with a thick arm rising up to mount the Probend bar. A large flanged bolt ensures a solid mount to the CRM. Out at the handlebar ends the Probend bar mounts with a large size Allen bolt, so you can get it good and tight.
The complete Racer Pack includes: Center Reach bars, CRM clamps, heavy plastic Classic Enduro shields, Powergrip alloy bar ends and all hardware. Also included is a replaceable plastic slider at the end of the bar. This is better for dual-sport but does save the bar in rocks or on hard surfaces. This is a very complete setup, and it mounted up easily on a KTM. The only possible negative might be the price of $124.95. That is a little more than other complete guard setups, but this one has an edge in design, cable and hose clearance and features. -Karel Kramer
| HARD PARTS |
94.0 |
| Installation |
19/20 |
| Function |
49/50 |
| Durability |
9/10 |
| Design |
10/10 |
| Price |
7/10 |
www.cycraracing.com
800.770.2259