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Post by kickstart on Nov 13, 2013 2:33:55 GMT
I’ll be using the XJ a lot this winter. When I go the bike it already had a set of Daytona heated grips fitted, but they have stopped working so I’ll be changing them out for a set of Oxford Sport.
I would also like to fit a set of hand guards, but not sure what type would fit. Has anyone done this and what type did you use? My bike is a XJ600s - 2010 reg.
Cheers
Roy
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Post by rowlf on Nov 13, 2013 10:32:31 GMT
I’ll be using the XJ a lot this winter. When I go the bike it already had a set of Daytona heated grips fitted, but they have stopped working so I’ll be changing them out for a set of Oxford Sport. I would also like to fit a set of hand guards, but not sure what type would fit. Has anyone done this and what type did you use? My bike is a XJ600s - 2010 reg. Guards don't really make much difference to keeping you warm and you will have a struggle to get any to fit without a lot of modifying. For comfort and warmth, nothing beats muffs if you can get on with them. You don't need heated gloves or grips with muffs. The only problem is that in some cases the muffs can push against the brake lever at speed due to wind. I had a bad case of brake fade once after a long run. Nothing quite like reaching a roundabout at the end of a motorway to discover the brakes don't brake. That woke me up ! What I did was make up a bracket out of aluminium bar fitted between the bars and the bar end weights. It was only a straight bar with a bend at the end (a "j" shape) that stopped the outer edge of the muffs blowing back, nothing fancy but it worked. Many guards have brackets that fit in the same place, although they use a new fitting to replace the weight. I used to do a lot of winter riding (despatch riding) and I have used heated gloves which are good (until they get wet), heated grips (waste of time) but muffs beat everything else hands down. |
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Post by sledgegreen on Nov 13, 2013 21:48:25 GMT
I used to use Oxford muffs on my old D600. The muffs had a slot and a flap at the inboard end which was supposed to fit round the mirror stalk, but I found that it was in the wrong place. I made a hole in what I thought was the right place, and found some clip together plastic grommets in a camping shop. Unscrew the mirror, poke it through the hole and screw it back again.
It made a big difference to comfort, and reduced the problem of muffs collapsing onto the levers - at about 90mph the left hand one would push the clutch in (cruise control), but I never had a problem with the brake.
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Post by CD on Nov 14, 2013 14:03:46 GMT
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Post by rowlf on Nov 14, 2013 14:20:39 GMT
I used handlebar muffs back in the 1970s. They looked carp tangled with the controls and had minimal effect other than keeping hands dry. I found that I could wear summer gloves inside muffs and still be nice and warm. Mind you, I was younger and tougher then. Heated gloves were very expensive but good unless it was really wet however, they only lasted one year. Muffs were better for despatching because I was on and off the bike all the time and muffs are cheap and don't fail after one year. I actually have heated liners this year and intend to try them with muffs. I expect that to be ideal but wont know for a month or two.  I would rather have warm, dry hands on a bike than walk.  |
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Post by CD on Nov 14, 2013 20:48:45 GMT
I would use muffs with heated grips. I would struggle to use a gaucho as appears in some of those pix.
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Post by rowlf on Nov 14, 2013 21:01:54 GMT
I would use muffs with heated grips. Actually, that's not a bad idea. It would allow easy getting on/off the bike without having to keep fiddling around with connectors in the cold. I found heated grips next to useless as the wind cooled 80% of my hands but stopping the wind with muffs should allow everything inside to warm up nicely. I bought heated liners last year and they were good until it rained. Then I was cold, wet and miserable. |
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Post by bobh on Nov 14, 2013 22:20:25 GMT
I've tried to fit handguards to "conventional" bikes a few times, and failed because of the amount of modification needed. The most recent attempt was on my MT-03, with guards that just have one clamp - on the face of it, what could possibly go wrong? The right one (which has been the trickiest with other types) I just about managed to squeeze in, but the left one pushed the clutch lever inwards and caused it to foul on the switch housing before it was fully pulled in:  Don't be tempted to try offroader-style ones - trail bikes have a front brake pipe that comes vertically upwards from the master cylinder, and the guards are shaped to accommodate this. So to make the r.h. one fit a normal road bike you'd have to chop nuch of the plastic away in that area. Also, any guard that has an inboard mounting point, like the offroad ones, will only fit comfortably on offroad-shaped wide bars. So if you do buy some, I'd advise going for ones that mount only at the bar ends. Even then, you may need to modify the bar end weights, or use a different type. |
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Post by CD on Nov 18, 2013 12:55:46 GMT
I've put some 2nd hand Touratech hand guards on the Beemer. They are silly money new) but much neater than the clunky originals.
The bar end weights have an M12 bolt drilled and tapped M8 to take the guards. The originals use fancy conical washers (M12). The inner end has a bar clamp and internally threaded tube. The tube faces forwards from the clamp with a 3mm thick alloy strip to attach to the guard.
The bike has a "normal" throttle cable, lots of electrical cables and hydraulics both sides.
I used Acerbis All Roads on the Divvie 900. They attach to the bar ends and float at the inner end. Better than nothing but not hugely protective.
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Post by sledgegreen on Nov 18, 2013 17:24:04 GMT
Muffs don't provide much warmth themselves, but are good at keeping the wind off and so multiply the benefits of whatever you have inside them. Like wearing waterproof trousers - no insulation, but much extra comfort.
I once rode from Tooting in South London to Finsbury Park in North London with a pillion and and a mate on his own bike. Ian only had woollen gloves and when we got to our destination his hands were completely frozen. On the way back, we swopped gloves and I was quite comfortable with his woollen gloves inside the Oxford muffs.
Muffs do look crap, but they look much less crap when you are half way through a journey and still have many miles to go. The difficult bit is deciding whether your journey(ies) is long enough to make them look good.
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Post by rowlf on Nov 18, 2013 17:53:33 GMT
On the way back, we swopped gloves and I was quite comfortable with his woollen gloves inside the Oxford muffs. At 70 mph wind chill is 20 degrees centigrade. So inside muffs the outside of the gloves are 20 degrees warmer. That makes a huge difference inside the gloves ! Frostbite looks more ugly than muffs and is permanent. Ask Sir Ranulf Fiennes. |
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Post by CD on Dec 1, 2013 13:30:25 GMT
Get some trendy hand guards and some vinyl cloth. Then you can knock up some muffs to go over the guards.
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Post by HRHpenfold on Dec 1, 2013 13:54:54 GMT
I've tried to fit handguards to "conventional" bikes a few times, and failed because of the amount of modification needed. The most recent attempt was on my MT-03, with guards that just have one clamp - on the face of it, what could possibly go wrong? The right one (which has been the trickiest with other types) I just about managed to squeeze in, but the left one pushed the clutch lever inwards and caused it to foul on the switch housing before it was fully pulled in: Don't be tempted to try offroader-style ones - trail bikes have a front brake pipe that comes vertically upwards from the master cylinder, and the guards are shaped to accommodate this. So to make the r.h. one fit a normal road bike you'd have to chop nuch of the plastic away in that area. Also, any guard that has an inboard mounting point, like the offroad ones, will only fit comfortably on offroad-shaped wide bars. So if you do buy some, I'd advise going for ones that mount only at the bar ends. Even then, you may need to modify the bar end weights, or use a different type. My brother bought some of these and they were real carp, so I used the set that came off an Aprilla caponard, utelisising the plastic bar mount of the carp set, and fitting the caponard ones via the bar ends, it has worked fine and was an easy fit to his Breva 750, the caponard ones were off my breva, they were a little scuffed, and I replaced them with stelvio handguards These were the hand guards  I am going to attempt fitting hand guards to the fazer 1000, I already have a set of 1150gs hand guards, just need to make a bar mount or find a cheap one from somewhere, When I had bar muffs on my divvi 600, I tapped the bar ends and used a large washer with a hole through the muffs, that ensured no problems with the controls! |
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Post by crickleymal on Dec 1, 2013 14:23:09 GMT
I've tried muffs and whilst I have never had a problem yet I'm always worried that if I have to take my hand out to clear the visor I might not be able to locate the opening to the muff on a dark night. All this sounds very Freudian doesn't it!
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Post by teejayexc on Dec 2, 2013 9:11:59 GMT
I've tried muffs and whilst I have never had a problem yet I'm always worried that if I have to take my hand out to clear the visor I might not be able to locate the opening to the muff on a dark night. All this sounds very Freudian doesn't it! Can't you just wet your finger and use that has a guide? Always works for me :-) |
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Post by crickleymal on Dec 2, 2013 9:34:57 GMT
I've tried muffs and whilst I have never had a problem yet I'm always worried that if I have to take my hand out to clear the visor I might not be able to locate the opening to the muff on a dark night. All this sounds very Freudian doesn't it! Can't you just wet your finger and use that has a guide? Always works for me :-)  |
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Post by CD on Dec 2, 2013 21:02:50 GMT
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Post by moo on Dec 24, 2013 9:50:37 GMT
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Post by teejayexc on Dec 24, 2013 10:25:31 GMT
Nice job, not sure about the stickers though.
Did you have to do much modifying to make 'em fit?
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Post by neilmud Lord Protector on Dec 24, 2013 10:46:38 GMT
Nice job, not sure about the stickers though. Did you have to do much modifying to make 'em fit? No you just peel of the backing & stick em on  Neil |
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Post by alan292 on Dec 24, 2013 11:14:51 GMT
Nice job, not sure about the stickers though. Did you have to do much modifying to make 'em fit? No you just peel of the backing & stick em on Neil Sharp as a tack as allways Neil...lol  |
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Post by HRHpenfold on Dec 24, 2013 11:16:27 GMT
I fitted some BMW Gs1150 hand guards to my fazer, because I had them sitting on the shelf!   I did fit a set to my bandit, a few years ago, it was fairly easy to fit,  |
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Post by moo on Dec 27, 2013 18:26:39 GMT
Did you have to do much modifying to make 'em fit? Barely any at all, just moved the switch controls over a bit and they went straight on Dont get any clearance issues with the levers |
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