The Deep Woods Pro handguards have large aluminum bars and seem to be very protective. I also ordered the wind guard that bolts on. The plastic shields are very large and will block a lot of wind and rain. Should help a lot in the winter.

The guards are pretty easy to install. It took me less than an hour. You do have to cut the end out of each hand grip and the end off the throttle tube. I could not locate my hack saw, so I used a serated bread knife on the throttle tube. There was also some hardened glue or resin inside the end of the bar, it could have been grip glue. I scraped that out with a small pocket knife.

I mounted my guards so that the aluminum gar bar does not come all the way in flush with the bar end. Leaving them sticking out a half inch or so allowed the levers to fit better under the bar and shield. It should also make it less likely that the levers will break in a fall. I also had to angle the right guard down (forward) more than I wanted to avoid contact with the front brake master cylinder and connecting hose brake line. There is quite of bit of pressure on the two throttle cables by the plastic shield on the right side, I may need to trim it.

My only niggle with the guards is that for the price I paid for them, the plastic shields should have the holes predrilled, or at least have dimples where the holes should be. You have to locate the three holes yourself. I held the shield up to the guard and stuck a skewere through the screw hole in the bar to etch a mark on the guard. The holes were just close enough.

I am very happy with the look and feel, and the perceived protection of the guards and I recommend them. I have read that the bar vibration is worse with the guards installed. I think that is true. My hands don't feel much difference (no long trips with the guards yet) but the mirrors are way more fuzzy. I may have to try Dual Star's reduced vibration mirror on one side and see if it helps.

Update 7/2003: The guards definitely did the job on the CO 2003 trip. While a buddy broke off a lever on a rocky road tipover, I fell several times with the bars taking the brunt of the impact and the aluminum guards protected the controls each time. Well worth the money and time.