PhilM wrote on 10/19/09 at 11:55:41:Just looked online and the Dowco Weatherall cover has - "Aluminized heat shields that allow immediate use after riding"
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Anyone got a cover with these shields on and do they work? In the pic it looks to me like the cover is neatly against a heat shield, with the pipe fully exposed. Maybe that's how you have to use it.
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I have a Dowco Weatherall Plus, or however they call their most expensive model of cover. I try my best to commute 8 months of the year where I live, and that means a cover that can do the job during the nasty months of the year. It ran about $85 at motorcyclesuperstore.com and includes the aluminized portion at the bottom.
Dowco's literature and wording is inconsistent on the usage of the aluminized portion of the cover. Just now I pulled the product box off the shelf in the closet, and it says the words "Aluminized heat-resistant panels safely cover hot exhaust pipes" on the front and back sides of the product box. Although I threw away the product manual a couple weeks ago, I remember reading several times that it said the aluminized heat shield can be used on warm exhaust pipes, and also something like "Wait 5-10 minutes after riding before putting the aluminized portion on the exhaust. It will extend product life...." (or something similar)
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I gave up trying to remember and just found a link to their .PDF product manual.
http://www.dowcopowersports.com/data/resources_pdfs/GuardianWeatherAllPlusMot...The cover is working great after 1 year. I've stored the bike for the winter in a self-storage facility using the cover, no problems. I'm getting my money's worth.
-Pabst
P.S. if it's real rainy when I get done with a ride/commute, and I don't have an opportunity to return to the bike to cover it after 10ish minutes, it's been OK covering it immediately. I pop out the passenger pegs to keep the cover from hugging the hot pipes too tightly. Seems to work fine after several times of doing this.