anyone have an opinion about engine guards? looking in to buying one for my bike noticed it is expensive priced a few around $250 is that what they usually are priced at.  thanks  

Yeah...they are worth it...  hey aren't going to protect you from a high speed crash but they do the job for most accidents that cause dings.  

In my opinion, the main benefit is that you can mount foot pegs on them for a good place to put your feet on long trips.  Be careful, though. Some interfere with the foot controls and most attach in some way to the foot peg hardware.  If you are like me and have relocated your foot controls, you might not be able to install engine guards.  

If you skid out on a corner, they will protect your legs. I've been down twice and each time it was the "engine guards" that saved my leg. Something to think about.  

When I was recently looking into the 09 Vulcan the dealer told me it was only around $100 bucks to have the guards installed, he called them "crash bars", there is an intimidating phrase!  

It would be interesting to see what kind of hiway bars you're getting for $100.  Kawasaki bars are kinda expensive, retailing at just under $300, while Cobra bars can be had for about half that off of Ebay.  At any rate, intall them yourself and save the ***  It ain't rocket science ya know  

I purchased the factory bars for my Yamaha.  They were only 100 or so as I remember, but they went on perfectly and I had no interference issues at all.  A freind purchased some aftermarket bars for his bike.  Now they do look nice.  Maybe even better than mine. He has all sorts of interferance issues with his shifter and rear brakes.  So looks are not everything unless you are making a show bike.