Did a little work on the bike today

[me1islander]

Blacked out the windscreen, added power outlet and a couple decals, and put on the new tailbag. Here's a couple pics.

[CC Cowboy]

I'm new to all this farkle stuff like blacking things out. I don't understand why you would do such a thing. What happens when it rains and you want to look through your windscreen to see?

[mfresh]

Lookin' good! I don't think anyone actually uses the windscreen to look through it...

Btw, how do you add a power outlet? I'd like to add a micro usb charger to my bike...

[Snake]

Adding a power outlet is a mod I need to do as well.

[StephenA]

I look through my windscreen some times....
Posted via Mobile Device

[psych0hans]

Originally Posted by mfresh

Lookin' good! I don't think anyone actually uses the windscreen to look through it...

Btw, how do you add a power outlet? I'd like to add a micro usb charger to my bike...

How do you expect to look ahead at full tuck? I had blacked out my original screen, but went back to a clear double bubble for the same reason.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[JELY1990]

Originally Posted by mfresh

Lookin' good! I don't think anyone actually uses the windscreen to look through it...

Btw, how do you add a power outlet? I'd like to add a micro usb charger to my bike...

I have the standard oem windscreen and I look through it when I'm tucked a bit on the freeway. So with a double bubble I sure as hell would be looking through it.

[me1islander]

I did give it a lot of consideration before I painted and potentially "ruined" a brand new wind screen. But the fact is I just never get into a full tuck, even in the rain. This wind screen does a really good job of directing the wind over the top of my head without having to fully tuck (I'm only 5'7"). So....since I dont use it to look through I thought I'd make it look "cooler". I've also I added 1 inch bar risers because I prefer to be a bit more upright.

As for the power outlet it was really easy. You need a 1 1/8 inch hole saw and a drill and one of these. Had to remove the side panels and the seat, drilled the hole, ran the wire, and hooked up to the battery. A couple zip ties to secure the wire and it was done. I took the handlebar bracket off as it wasn't needed.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Took 10 minutes and its completely water tight when not in use.

[CC Cowboy]

What the tuck!

[thisisbenji]

Yeah... If you don't use your windscreen I guess it's fine. I look through mine pretty frequently though. I find it much more comfortable to be tucked on the highway than sitting upright.

[mfresh]

Good point, I forgot about the highway. I usually stay tucked in as well as it's way more comfortable to lay on the tank.

My wind screen is tinted and not painted so I can still see out of it a bit.

[ChaoSS]

One of these days I want to black out my screen, but it's the stock screen, and I can't look through it for more than a few seconds without being incredibly uncomfortable. So, basically, I don't look through it. But that touring screen? Seems like you might sometimes want to see through it.

Plus blacking out something that huge makes it that much more obvious that you have an ugly ass windshield.

[csmith12]

Nice mods Corey. As long as you like it, that is all that matters.

[Bob2010]

Looks good

My stock screens are blacked out too. I also feel stupid uncomfortable tryin to use them.
The touring ones might change that but I don't use the hiways. Just city cruising

My buddy on his gsxr blacked out just the bottom half to hide what you dont see through. Looks good too.

[me1islander]

Hey thanks Chris.

I've got a question for all you who do "tuck" when you ride.

Now I'm a bit of a newb to this world of 2 wheelers. The wife and I both took the rider safety course and got our licenses last fall. I have managed to get about 1300 miles under my belt since last October (no small feat in this climate). Most of those miles at speeds greater than 50 mph. I'm not bothered by riding upright at higher speeds, particularly since i've learned to relax my grip on the bars.

What are some of the reasons you prefer to be in the tuck position? I personally find it quite uncomfortable particularly for my neck. I appreciate all feedback as I am fairly new to all this.

[ChaoSS]

Originally Posted by me1islander

Hey thanks Chris.

I've got a question for all you who do "tuck" when you ride.

Now I'm a bit of a newb to this world of 2 wheelers. The wife and I both took the rider safety course and got our licenses last fall. I have managed to get about 1300 miles under my belt since last October (no small feat in this climate). Most of those miles at speeds greater than 50 mph. I'm not bothered by riding upright at higher speeds, particularly since i've learned to relax my grip on the bars.

What are some of the reasons you prefer to be in the tuck position? I personally find it quite uncomfortable particularly for my neck. I appreciate all feedback as I am fairly new to all this.

I typically end up in a partial tuck, basically my elbows go on my knees and I support myself that way. My head is exposed to some wind, this results in the wind helping to hold my head up, and my neck doesn't get sore.


It seems to help a bit when you get strong crosswinds, or gusts from large vehicles that you pass.

It also seems to help with fuel mileage, and since I'm commuting on the bike, that's a big issue to me.

I am comfortable righting upright, though, and tend to do so at slower speeds.


Now, my question for you, less than 1300 miles on a bike, why would you be making modifications like a touring windscreen if you haven't had the time to figure out what you like?

[me1islander]

Tim the fuel mileage thing is something I hadn't thought about. Does it make that much of a difference? To be honest I really haven't been paying much attention to my mileage.

I'm also considering commuting with my bike on nice days this summer and I've got a 100 mile round trip to work. Did it a couple times last fall and it wasn't too bad.

[me1islander]

I did ride most of those miles with the factory wind screen and found it to be worthless. I wanted something that would direct the wind more up and over me not directly into my chest and this screen seems to do that. Works quite well actually.

[ChaoSS]

Originally Posted by me1islander

Tim the fuel mileage thing is something I hadn't thought about. Does it make that much of a difference? To be honest I really haven't been paying much attention to my mileage.

I'm also considering commuting with my bike on nice days this summer and I've got a 100 mile round trip to work. Did it a couple times last fall and it wasn't too bad.

I can't compare a good tuck with the stock screen vs more upright with a touring screen like yours, but it should still make a difference. The more of your body you get out of the wind, the less of a profile there is, the better your mpg is going to be.


And yes, it seems to make a good difference to me. It's hard to gauge exactly how much, because there are so many other factors in play, but yes, there is a difference.


Try this, if you have somewhere where you can do it without getting busted, sit upright and take your bike to it's highest speed. Then slow down, and go back up to speed in a tuck. I'll be willing to bet that you get going faster in the tuck. That's because you can get going faster with the same amount of power, so you should be getting the same amount of power with less fuel. To me, on my bike, there is actually a big difference in speed between the tuck and not tucking.


BTW, I have a new location at work now, but for several months I did 150 miles round trip to work. Every day. In the rain, in the cold, in the insane wind gusts, whatever. (we don't really get ice on our roads) So yeah, I'd suggest trying it, and for me, at the time, I was trying go go easy on the gas, since I wasn't getting the hours I wanted and I was burning so much gas even with the bike. Now, I do it just because I can now be lazy and go to the gas station less often.