If you ask me...all guards are only functional if the bike falls off the side stand. No piece of pipe is gonna stop the force of bike and rider at any normal speed. It might absorb some of the impact giving time to bail off the machine, but the weakest point has to be somewhere...either the frame or the guard. I've seen a bunch of smashed guards on bikes and the bikes were totaled anyway. Functionally, as the young folks say, it is just bling, bling.
The OEM guard is slim and small, but so is the Savage engine. I tried a set of pegs on it for highway pegs and I hated it. Felt like I was riding a bar stool with my knees up high.
The best other guard that I've seen is [Rob's]. Fits the Savage nicely and it is wider. Might even be better for highway pegs, but I don't know.
At any rate, one thing that I dislike is the mounting of any guard (OEM especially). U-bolts suck big time. They scratch the frame paint and just make more places for rust. Other more expensive bikes have guards and mounts "engineered" into the bikes. Our poor little Savage didn't get that...it got aftermarket after thoughts only.
IMO- a good winter project would be this one. If you want to mount a guard on the Savage, find a good little welding shop. Cut some 1/4" x 1" pieces of steel (bought the bar stock from the same shop) and drill holes to match the guard mounts. Then position the guard on the frame and mark the mounting locations. Remove the guard and then sand off the paint in those areas....80-100 grit.
Now, re-mount the guard on the bike with your new steel mounts sandwiched between the guard and the frame...using the u-bolts that came with it Remove your tank and the header pipe, too, and take the bike back to the shop....
The little welding shop that I found was actually tickled to get a welding job that wasn't normal. A bike? Cool.
This cost me $25 and only took one day. First he tack welded the new mounts on the frame, removed the u-bolts and welded it 100%. I picked it up, primed and painted the mounts, and the guard bolted right up with stainless bolts. No more rust or scratched paint.
For those of you with a welder at home....I'm jealous.