Heated Grips And Knuckle Guards

[blunderground]

I,m having some fitted to my SH350 and was wondering if I should get a pair of those knuckle guard/wind deflectors too?
Do they keep the wind off of your hands quite well? It seems a bit pointless fitting heated grips and having cold wind blowing on your pinkies.

[Ian T]

Hi

I have had knuckle guards on most of my bikes, in my opinion they are fantastic, they keep most of the rain and wind off and sometimes that’s all you need. Many times I found that was all I needed.

A very worthwhile investment

Cheers

Ian

[MrGrumpy]

Well, wind deflectors are worth having as they do keep wind and rain off your hands.....but to me, they aren't the complete answer, especially when it gets really cold. Heated grips are nice to have, heated gloves even nicer, but I find handlebar muffs are the most effective in keeping you warm & dry.

[Data]

Handguards are very good. Had them on almost all my bikes & scooters even years ago. I don't have them on my current GTS, just heated grips which seem fine even in near freezing conditions. As has been said, handguards might be all you need but it really depends on the sort of journeys you do & how you use your bike. Without heated grips you can still get freezing hands very quickly with just handguards. So if it's choosing one or the other it's heated grips every time for me. Overall, longer winter rides are best with both heated grips & the guards in my opinion. Never got on well with heated gloves though or the muffs.

[roadster]

Third party screens with wider flaring over the hands are also very effective. I've used Fabbri and others on scooters with factory heated grips and made very little use of the heated grips. Admittedly I very seldom ride when the temperature drops below 5 deg. C these days.

[StephenC]

The Kymco I'm about to get has handguards as standard but I've no experience otherwise so I'm having heated grips fitted anyway.

One thing I did find good for winter was wind deflectors for your legs. Has them on my Satelis's and they really kept the draught off you lower half. Not sure if they are available for many other bikes but I did appreciate them. Looks like you can get them for the Nmax so maybe others too, though?

[blunderground]

Thanks. I did think about muffs but they look a bit cumbersome. I guess they can be removed in the summer, but to save mucking about taking them on and off, the heated grips seem the best option for my needs. I also ordered a smaller Pugi screen as the Honda screen is too big for what I want.

[MrGrumpy]

Depending on type, muffs can be taken on & off in a couple of minutes. They do take a very little getting used to, but they are effective. I guess the down side fitting them to the latest scoots is that scoots are coming with an increasing number of buttons for gears, menus, etc which you won't be able to see with muffs.
btw Over Gloves are pretty effective as well, and of course can be taken off and pretty easily.

[Waldorf]

Depending on type, muffs can be taken on & off in a couple of minutes. They do take a very little getting used to, but they are effective. I guess the down side fitting them to the latest scoots is that scoots are coming with an increasing number of buttons for gears, menus, etc which you won't be able to see with muffs.
btw Over Gloves are pretty effective as well, and of course can be taken off and pretty easily.

My sentiments entirely.
However, I've temprarily ditched the muffs and am going to rely on some rather expensive Richa lobster-claw gloves.
I've had heated grips in the past but find protection from wind-chill more important than hot palms, especially with the rather rapid onset of arthritis.
I have bought a pair of knuckle guards for my Forza; I haven't assembled or fitted them yet and a have a sneaking feeling they won't fit with the wider Givi screen. Time will tell.
Incidentally, I had knuckle guards on my first Silverwing and they proved very satisfactory.

[Argyll]

I think that the Honda knuckle guards are about the most effective ones I've had.