New to me WR250R and radiator protection

Picked up one of these over the weekend for a decent price.  2009 in like new condition, 2,900 miles and some farkles (skid plate, 37 tooth rear sprocket, speedo healer, bark busters, two brand new sets of tires, etc)  I've had three 2 wheeled vehicles in the past if you count my Dumb and Dumber style Tecumseh powered mini bike I had when I was 13.  The other two were street motorcycles that I owned as an adult.  A 2006 Yamaha FZ6 and a 2001 Kawasaki w650 (semi rare triumph bonneville style motorcycle)

I've got 5 young kids so from a practical/safety perspective I don't need to be spending a bunch of time on a high powered machine in traffic anymore so I opted to find a 250 dual sport this time.  It seemed like the WR was the best of the Japanese options and the lowest maintenance among the options available from other countries of origin.

So far I've been having a good time riding with my kids on the back (one at a time) through the 10,000+ acres of sugarcane and soybean behind our house.

Anyway, I'd like to protect the radiator.  It looks like the best bang for my buck is either the Flatland (same brand as my skid plate) or Moose racing options.  The Flatland one offers enhanced protection for the fins where the Moose retains the factory plastic louvers and only protects the tanks.  I'd assume the Moose is lighter and the plastic louvers seem like they'd be sufficient for all but the most violent stabs by a ridged object.  But they're about the same price so why not get the enhanced protection for the fins/core?   The only potential negative I could think of is that the factory louvers probably flow better than the perforated aluminum of the flatlands protector.  I do ride in very hot weather in southern Louisiana so a slight impact to cooling capacity could be a problem.

Has anyone handled both the Moose and the Flatlands?  If so what was your impression?  Has anyone had any problems with cooling after installing a perforated aluminum protector that covers the fins/core? I'm more concerned with crushing the side of the radiator vs. it being stabbed in the core so I may just go with the Moose since it looks like they may offer more robust side protection.

Thanks,

Jeff

All I can tell you is flatlander makes pretty good stuff, I have there skid plate, done right.

I have the flatlands rad guard.

Out of the box it does nothing for side protection as the plastic rad shroud still mounts to the rad not to the guard so when the shroud hits the ground the rad still bends.
You can add a small strip of alum/steel between the shroud and rad mount so the force of side impacts pushes on the guard, I have done this to the top mount and zip tied the bottom one so it cant push on the rad, I think theres a thread on this site about it.

I ride my bike a lot in slow hot conditions and it never over heats, the fan does run a lot tho.

The moose rad guard has better protection for tipping over but no front protection like you mentioned, I like the modded flatland better as you get protection from tip over damage and from sticks stabbing the rad.