Chain Guard.. Necessary?

[The ModFather]

On my 2005 620 whenever I take off my rear hugger (with chain guard attached to it) for various reasons and ride around without it I love the way the bike looks with no rear hugger. I know I"m going to get more gravel, mud etc kicked up but my concern is the lack of chain guard. A friend of mine saw it and said "if your shoe lace or pants let gets caught in there it's all over"  .

I'm sure thats true but I'm not sure I see that as a real possibility based on the length of my shoe laces (Doc Martens so there's very little lace left hanging) and especially pants legs plus I typically ride in my Dainese Boots with no laces. When I see where my feet and calves sit the proximity to the chain doesnt seem like an issue. I've already shortend the rear hugger with a Dremel but maybe I'll take it even shorter if I decide I really do need a hugger/chain guard. Just wanted to get some feedback here to help me decide.

What say ye?

[MikeZ]

Been riding w/o one for years w/o any ill effect other then the extra dirt.
I'm sure there's good reasons to run one like the chain breaking and whipping around but no terribly worried.

[thought]

I think the main worry I would have with no rear hugger would be all the dirt and crud being tossed directly into my rear shock.  Def cant be good for it.

[memper]

get a shock sock or make your own if youre that concerned.
http://www.traxxion.com/ventedshocksock.aspx

[Jimmy6tring]

I like the look without the hugger better than with too. I got a CF shorty hugger on sale from carbon werks and I love it: protects the shock and spring and IMO looks even cooler than no hugger. Doesn't have chain guard btw.

[RBX QB]

I kept the one above the rearsets (Nightmare about sucking my pants into the front sprocket cover while at speed), but pulled the one over the rear sprocket. Yes, my shock is dirty. No, I don't really care. Dirt is one of the features on my bike.

I also run without a front fender, so...

[xsephirot]

One of the reasons your friend listed is correct. However you should never be riding with shoes with laces or loose clothing if you are always geared up properly.

The other reason is if the chain suddenly snaps. I've seen a couple of videos where someone is recording and suddenly the guy in front's chain snaps off and flings. Which direction it flings is a bit of luck. But one of them completely destroyed a car's windshield. I suspect if it got flung up and forward it could break some serious bones. However the probability of this is also really low.