There are at least 3 brands of after market engine guards out there. Which is best? I like the looks of the Mo-tech from Twisted throttle, but they don't look all that strong from the pictures.
What do you guys use?

Hepco/Becker

Others say they did the job when their bike went down.

H&B, +1 enough said. Zero damage to any other part of the bike. Plus a rub down with sandpaper and some black spray paint-good as new

Machog

After fulfilling the primary job of protecting vital parts, which model also serves as the best platform for cruiser peg support?

Hey Machog,
how hard was that to install? Was it just a simple bolt on? And where did you get it? Looks like a great investment!

About 30 minutes, just make sure you don't try and do two sides at once, you are removing a main engine bolt on each side. Don't tighten any of the nuts and bolts up, until you have all three located. Its a total no-brainer, I used medium (blue) Loctite on all.

I have now mounted highway pegs mounted from some old parts lying around from previous bikes.

Not sure they are really in the right position for my 32" inseam, but haven't given them a long ride yet. Next weekend I'm hoping to put nearly 1000miles on if the weather cooperates.

Machog

My Son and I went with the H/B Bars, after researching the options they seamed like the best way to go. The best way to install the H/B are with two people, or three hands if your so inclined. The extra hands are needed to placed the bars where they need to go without scratching the Bike up. I replaced the hardware that came with the Bar's with Stainless Steel and Titanium. The Bar's look like they are stock and the O.D. is 1" and would make a good platform for mounting Lights. Hope this helps people.

Be extremely careful using Loctite around Plastic, The Locktite WILL interact with the plastic causing it to crack. Read the warning on the bottle

I know of the HB and SW Moto, whats the 3rd brand of engine guards?

I bought the HB bars and really like them. They are doing there job by preventing me from falling!!! Haven't gone down since I installed them.

Can you provide a link for the HB bars?

There you go.

I have the SW Motech and like them - I don't even notice them on the bike. They were relatively easy to install by myself and I am no mechanic. Took maybe an hour tops. Have not tested them yet. Twisted Throttle has them.

I believe Happy Trails have some kind of guard.

Les is right, Happy Trails does make a contender. If you're interested in it, though, I'd check with AAParatrooper about his experience. I saw his at a group ride and liked them, but he was a bit disappointed in them as I recall. Might be worth checking with him for specifics.

He doesn't know I'm volunteering him as a resource for this, though, so I hope he doesn't get covered up with requests for info.

I don't mind at all, Chris. Sometimes I need a nudge .

I'm still not convinced that the Happy Trails bars would do me any good if I ever put the bike down. They have, however, grown on me some. I chose them because of the three types, I liked the look of them the best. To be fair, I've never personally seen the HBs or SW Motechs, so I can't do a head to head comparison.

In the beginning I was really just frustrated with the Happy Trails people themselves. First, I was missing parts (I found out this is common with HT). Then the missing parts weren't sent on the date promised. Once received I had to do some cutting of the spacers provided to get a good install. Combine all that with the worst instructions possible and voila, I'm not very happy. Of course, I'm super picky about most everything.

Could be that I haven't provided any real useful info here, but I'm hesitant to sell anyone one way or another. I've lived with myself long enough to know that I'm hard to please.