Are breakaway bolts for handguards a bad idea?

[Bimbim18]

Hey guys,

I totalled my 2019 Tracer GT back on Valentines day.

Thankfully I knew the area was dangerous and already slowed down to about 25 (backed up traffic in left lane, wide open right lane) so I wasn't going that fast at moment of impact but a car pulled through the stopped cars without looking and I T-boned her. 

 

Broke my wrist and dislocated my left hand, and I can't stop thinking back on it. I had a unexplained impact injury on top of my forearm about 3 inches above my wrist, almost like someone hit it with a bat. I know it's probably rare, but from the injuries I got I believe I broke my wrist when my torso flew over the handlebars and my wrist got 'wrenched' between the grip and handguard.

 

I should be able to ride in about 6 more months. I'm eyeballing the '23 tracer especially if the get a new dash on there lol. Would it be a bad idea to put breakaway bolts or something on the handguards so it doesn't happen again?

[bwringer]

This sort of injury is fairly common on dirtbikes, which need very stout handguards. If your arm gets caught in there, it can snap the radius and ulna.

In the case of a Tracer/FJ, it's a streetbike. The handguards serve little purpose. Plus, I think they look silly and way too elaborate. I simply removed them from my bike. However, I kept the bomb-proof handguards on my KLR650, because they do serve a good purpose there.

Another tactic the krusty demonz of dirt use is to loosen the mounting bolts for the controls and accessories so they can move rather than bend and break in a crash. They also use tape between the control and the bar to reduce friction. I don't think this would be very productive for the Tracer's handguard mounting scheme.

In your case, you'll also feel a little better about your odds in a crash, so that's another good reason to remove the silly things. My rule of thumb is that if something is on my mind, it's a distraction to be eliminated. For example, if I'm going to be thinking about my thinning tires, I replace them before the trip. And I don't ride in the countryside during deer opening season any more.

On my bike, I then added a set of bar end weights. Mine are Manic Salamander, which are no longer made (I've had them for years, and moved them between bikes a few times), but in addition to squelching vibration somewhat, the bar end weights also help protect the levers in a drop. I had to do some improvising with a longer bolt and some washers and suchlike to get them mounted solidly to the threaded insert in the bar. 

I don't know if anyone else is making similar bar ends nowadays (these are each one pound of stainless steel), but perhaps the same idea could work with other bar ends.

Edited July 15, 2022 by bwringer