I have gone through a few hand guards over the years and have had my favorites, but recently we got to try the Acerbis K-Future Handguards for our KTM 250 SX-F test bike. The Acerbis K-Future Handguards have dual-injection covering, a lightweight, compact yet flexible flap design that can protect your brake/clutch pumps. I like that you can directly fix the K-Future Handguards to Brembo/Magura clutch/brake systems with just a bolt that is provided by Acerbis. You simply take out your OEM clutch/brake perch bolt, install the Acerbis hardware, one zip tie and boom! DONE! These guards are not a pain in the ass to install and it’s even more awesome that I can replace the stock crappy KTM XC guards with these quickly if need be.
Acerbis offers a wide range of guards on their site, but we were looking for some handguards that could withstand some light smacking of some bushes (west coast bushes like greasewoods, manzanita, cholla) in the desert as well as deflect some roost/rocks on the motocross tracks. I like that the K-Future guards can pivot along with your clutch/brake adjustments and follows the angle in which you put them. The angle in which the guard is placed in conjunction with the lever seem to be just the right level with a couple test riders that rode with these guards. If you like to have your hand guards offset from your levers then these guards may not be the right choice for you. I would make look into the X-Force hand guards for offsetting your levers in order to get the right amount of courage for your hands. In our case the K-Future guards protected our paws flawlessly with her issues.
The amount of coverage the K-Future hand guards provide is something I should have looked into a while ago. Although I am not a huge handguard guy, I recently broke my pinky finger and could have used them in a race at Glen Helen. Visually hand guards bother me when riding, but with these K-Future guards, I didn’t really get bothered by the wide look of them. The way the guards are shaped gives my eyes a less wide/fat feel on the bike. Ventilation has been excellent on hot summer days. There hasn’t been one complaint of hot hands during our long summer motos here in Southern California. The vents are not so big that dirt or roost can hurt the hands and I also like that I can hit a right hand inside corner hard enough and not snag my front brake on a stake or hay bale. Yes, we still have hay bales here on occasion! When we did venture out into the desert for some trail rides, we did like that the K-Future guards were sturdy enough to smack some bushes (not trees) at speed without wincing in pain because your hand just took a 60mph impact.
For $52.95 the K-Future handguards are a good investment to help prevent rocks and roost from hurting your fingers/hands. As I am typing this now, my pinky is still pissed off at me because I didn’t have these on. Three months later and it still hurts! I must be getting old because I am wearing a chest protector and handguards! Holy crap, send help!