I've actually seen it in person. 1988 Delaware Enduro, my buddy tried to use a root to jump a creek like he'd seen a better rider do. Buddy came up short and augered into the far bank. On impact, he basically punched the barkbuster as his throttle hand came off of the grip and broke a couple of bones in his hand. That said, I still run barkbusters on my dirt bikes and have thought about adding them to my trials bike. I run them as low (rotated forward) as possible and feel good about the trade-off between lever/hand protection and the risk of injury from the barkbuster. YMMV!
The solution to hand guards causing broken wrists is the "flag" style guard that is open at the end. There are several varieties of these and they are the only style that is legal for use in MX. Set up correctly they will protect the levers and your hands but will deflect away if you hand slides between them and the handle bars. Rick
I use the hand guards on my WR250. I usually use my WR250 to do the bushwacking and trail breaking. One day I decided to try and break some new trail on the trials bike. I rode for almost 30 minutes before I figured out what was going on. Every little branch or little sapling I was trying to run over would grab one of my levers and pull it. Having something grab your front brake or clutch while you are riding will throw you off.
Did we have this one already? Some outakes of the SSDT in slomo, very nice! http://vimeo.com/11680863 The music fit's IMHO very good too .
Riding a trail on a Trials bike would be fine to use the hand guards, my thoughts were mainly pointed towards Trials riding itself.. Dropping off ledges or attempting to clear larger logs could see a journey over the handle bars (damhik ) ending in broken bones.. I use hand guards on my Super Enduro so i`m not totally against the use of them, just know how easy it is to come unstuck when you`re pushing your skills to the limit..
Bailey Tucker.. shows how its done! <iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/24435880?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/24435880">Untitled</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user722846">jjustj</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
My 10 year old. First time with a clutch, and first time on a trials bike. We bought him a GasGas 200, and lowered it down a smidge, as well as cut the bars back a tad. After about an hour he was jumping logs.. <iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-gdrhm3Ecug" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Here's one hot off the press: <iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/24567803?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="800" height="450" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/24567803">PNTA Trial 2011</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/jollyrogerranch">Jolly Roger Ranch</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
was this the trials up in bc last weekend? I think this is the one Gary Lawver went to? Looks like a great place to ride, and tons of fun..
Here are a few vids of my son on his bikes..... <iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PmEkj9WOpos" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rj09CFcF7fA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YWYTxpANDbM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dmF9gXFz_Ww" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lPFCHYbC440" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZzGbclxhP3I" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TYmmAphYCIg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NEo-tLda2LM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
2 more..... In the second video, taken from the video "Revolution" featuring the 1998 Norba National series, the part featuring J starts at about 5:10, first with footage from the Park City, Utah round, and then the last part is devoted to him... He was just 16 at the time, and in the process of winning his 3 and 4th Pro Men's titles. <iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/22785645?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/22785645">jj uci</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user667412">cesar barba</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p> <iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ksl6IMkpZt8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> OK, I guess I'm done bragging up my kid now.....