I just put a set of Dunlop D606s on my 09 KLR650 last week so I burned a vacation day and went and found some mud and easy trails. These tires do a decent impression of a full knobby, within reason. Not too bad on the pavement. Loud, but I kinda like that. Anyway I managed to not drop my bike through 100 miles of mostly rutted dirt roads and some singletrack. Today, however, I dropped it just rolling it out of the garage! I installed Givi crashbars, Barkbuster Storms, SW Motech skidplate and centerstand the first month after I bought the bike, but hadn't had opportunity to test the guards. The bike fell away from me, so it went down HARD on the right. The guards did their job and not so much as a scratch on the bike. I like the way the Givis cross over and tie together forming a "rib cage". I am sold, as the guards were cheaper than one radiator and shroud would be.
I have the same one. Crashed her at 70 kph after coming back up onto the road and catching some air. It went down on the right side and slid a ways. This is a recent picture and you can see the few scratches on the guard. That was it for damage! I to am a believer.
Thanks for the info Lycan1, I was Starting on the bikes winter upgrades and I was trying to decide witch crash bars to buy. Chaos