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jag
Settled In Member
United Kingdom
58 Posts |
 Posted - 18/12/2007 : 19:09:40
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Hi,
I've been commuting to work on the BROS now for about two and a half years, day in day out and my only issue with winter riding on it is my freezing hands. I use a pair of goretex gloves (and sometimes inner gloves too). I'm not too keen on installing third party heated grips.
I reckon a lot of it is down to the wind chill as the hands only really feel really cold when on the A-road. So to deflect the cold wind instead of instead of strapping on those large muff things (which I don't like) I was thinking about fitting on some kind of rigid handguards, trailie stylee? Any thoughts?
Cheers,
Jag
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piston
Settled In Member
United Kingdom
105 Posts |
Posted - 18/12/2007 : 19:33:30
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| That I have seen done before and it does work, an old duffer who used to come in to our Honda dealership had it on on of his machines and swore by it. |
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Craig S
Forum Veteran
United Kingdom
7144 Posts |
Posted - 18/12/2007 : 19:58:38
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| Give it a whirl, what's the worst that could happen. I personally opt for faired bikes and silk inner gloves. |
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jag
Settled In Member
United Kingdom
58 Posts |
Posted - 18/12/2007 : 21:17:35
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Cheers guys,
Im going to have a look (ebay?) for what kind of handguards might work...
I do have a RVF as well that I've just bought but don't fancy commuting on that through London just yet. It would help though as I've already experienced on the M25.
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Syborg
Familiar Member
United Kingdom
439 Posts |
Posted - 18/12/2007 : 22:24:01
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Let me know if you think of/find something, I'd be interested to put it to the test too. I've bought a pair of muffs for the bros but they go so far outside that you lose the whole point of having such a small bike  |
Pleasure is the happiness of insanes... happiness is the pleasure of the wises |
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jag
Settled In Member
United Kingdom
58 Posts |
Posted - 18/12/2007 : 23:13:23
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Will do. They all seem to be designed for straight through bars not clip-on's but we'll see.
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Doomah
Regular Member
United Kingdom
508 Posts |
Posted - 19/12/2007 : 01:13:12
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Modify some. They're only like 5-10 quid each so if you mess it up you can start again. Well they were that much when I was a wee lad  |
The power of dreams... |
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simmo30
Familiar Member
United Kingdom
259 Posts |
Posted - 19/12/2007 : 19:15:34
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| Just come back from a bike mechanic mates(he been in the trade 30+ years)and he's just got round to fitting tralie style brushguards on the handlebars with heated grips.Says his hands have never been so toasty!(Bandit 600 btw) |
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jag
Settled In Member
United Kingdom
58 Posts |
Posted - 19/12/2007 : 19:34:49
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I'm trying to make some time to go down to a retailer of Acerbis handguards as they do a good range and see which model has the best possibilities.
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craig-e-h
Forum Veteran
United Kingdom
3167 Posts |
Posted - 19/12/2007 : 21:07:11
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| try also wearing rubber gloves under your usual gloves |
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rover220
Settled In Member
United Kingdom
116 Posts |
Posted - 19/12/2007 : 21:29:22
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quote:
Originally posted by craig-e-h
try also wearing rubber gloves under your usual gloves
er no, rubber gloves will make your hands sweat and freezing sweat isnt nice |
zxr400 L4 import, micron race system, #105 main jets, k&n filter, rsd crash mushrooms etc etc |
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Evilchicken0
Nice thong !
United Kingdom
13161 Posts |
Posted - 20/12/2007 : 00:05:51
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| A thong !!!! |
Heated grips are the Devil's dildo's |
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Tanuki
Bike washed twice a year
United Kingdom
8194 Posts |
Posted - 20/12/2007 : 06:59:03
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| they really work I have commuted through winter on 2 DTs before and the one with the handguards kept my hands alot warmer for sure. |
Ha ha ha, oh my God! I almost didn't do it, I almost didn't do it! I thought, is this in bad taste? But you know what, I went for it. I went for it and I'm so glad I did! Ooooh, worth it, totally worth it.
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el_dudino
Regular Member
United Kingdom
515 Posts |
Posted - 20/12/2007 : 08:33:38
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| The other thing about rigid hand guards is that if you are commuting through Londres and clout your hand on the side of a bus or something they may give you that extra bit of protection or save your levers. I think Foggy used to use them during the rain on the old 916 race bikes too. |
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jag
Settled In Member
United Kingdom
58 Posts |
Posted - 25/01/2008 : 01:43:29
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Hi guys,
For what it's worth I thought I'd update this post...
In the end, via a bit of web research and knowing that the BMW posse would have something useful, I found a set of handguards for a BMW F650 Funduro that didn't look too naff (relatively speaking) and that are fitted to the levers and not the bars. So I had a fair chance they'd fit the Bros's clip-ons.
With a bit of minor cutting and filing of one of the handguards and some longer bolts courtesy of the kind Syborg (especially as I broke the one securing the clutch lever when trying to take it off), voila they're on and set-up.
As it happens they've only been on this week and today was my coldest and fastest journey with them on. So 9.30 this evening, going down the A40 Westway out of London, doing around 70, ambient around 5°C (according to a web forecast), with a fair bit of wind and yes there's an improvement. Before my fingertips would get cold and sometimes a bit numb. Whilst I wear Goretex gloves my fingertips would still need a minute of thawing out at home. This time whilst the main part of my hand is still feeling a bit cold the positive thing is the fingertips are fine. I know 5°C isn't that cold but there feels like some improvement. Probably better off with even bigger sized handguards but then they'd look worse.
Anyway, will post some pics.
Agree with you señor dudino, they also give my levers/hands a bit of protection, useful for the odd close shave against the sides of trucks, buses, car mirrors etc...
Happy weekend.
Jag |
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jag
Settled In Member
United Kingdom
58 Posts |
Posted - 25/01/2008 : 01:44:53
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P.S. they're black plastic and cost me around £25 delivered.
Jag |
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jag
Settled In Member
United Kingdom
58 Posts |
Posted - 28/01/2008 : 22:30:33
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Here's pics of the aforementioned handguards:
Jag |
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Topic |
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potentially naff idea (winter riding only)
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