iamgodzi1la wrote on 05/21/14 at 23:37:27:To start off, I'm really liking this bike. It's slender, lightweight, and waaaaay more nimble than my sport bike friends thought it would be. It's insured, registered, inspected, and it's been looked over by a professional mechanic to ensure it doesn't just fly apart at 70mph like my old Chinese scooter did. It's running strong. I've been riding it to work and back, and it hasn't given me any trouble that I didn't give it first. But now that I'm putting it to use, I've realized that I'm missing a few things I need.
I need safety gear. I've got gloves, boots, and a helmet that's probably purely decorative, but I need pants and a jacket of some sort.
I need a shorter, flatter handlebar and... whatever all those switches are called, particularly the left hand controls. The handlebar on there now feels like I'm wrestling a longhorn down the road. The blinker switch doesn't return to center so I end up always indicating in one direction or other.
I need a speedo on the handlebar. I don't like taking my eyes so far off the road to see how fast I'm going, or to see if my blinker is still blinking.
I need a windscreen. At speed the gusting wind we get here in Austin feels like it's going to yank me off the bike. By big 2XL non-motorcycling jacket doesn't help.
I need to make the bike fit me. The front end needs to come up a couple of inches, I need extended forward controls, and something must be done about this seat.
I have threads for how to do these things bookmarked. My question is what should I do first? For instance, an aerodynamic jacket could alleviate my wind problem as much as a windscreen, but summer is coming up and there's a pretty good chance I'd risk the road rash on a 100+ degree summer day even if I had a jacket. Or should I focus on fitting the bike to my shape first? If I need to downshift in a hurry and can't because I have to physically lift my foot up on the lever I could develop a need for an armored jacket real quick, whether I have one or not. Or that handlebar could pin my knee to the tank and ruin my day.
I don't even have a budget, here. I went overbudget the day I bought this thing. Whatever happens next will happen one piece at a time and a couple of paychecks apart, unless I can scavenge what I need, so I need to prioritize. As experienced motorcyclists, if you had to piecemeal like I do, what would you do first?
Hi Godzilla, MPesc here from Rome, Italy.
I honestly can't mail you anything from here, waaay too expensive!
(I could fax it...
)
Advice from experience, however, is free
so here goes.
0.
HELMET !!! I put this in at #0 because it's far too important not to have it at the top of the list. I ride with a FF helmet, flip-up chinpiece.
Pictured: my flip-up helmet and "not-me-supermodel" on my "other" bike" (no, really, that's really my other bike!
)
They're great for the winter, keep the cold and the rain and the wind off your face BUT you can actually talk to people!
Make sure it comes with a built-in "flip-down" sun visor - beats sunglasses by far!
1.
Gloves: for the winter, thick tough LEATHER gloves. Silk/synthetic liners if it's really cold; for the summer, thin lightweight LEATHER gloves.
Forget all that "Mad max armored padded" synthetic stuff, it won't protect you when you fall and drag your hands on rough hot asphalt the way leather does.
I've seen bits of fingers literally torn off people's hands when the synthetic gloves ruptured at the seams
Leather won't do that. That's why the good Lord gave us skin instead of linoleum...
2.
Jacket: for the winter, a THICK armored jacket with elbow, shoulder and backplate inserts.
Waterproof. The really good ones have a zip-off internal vest for when it's really cold or getting warmer.
Pants: Jeans look nice and tough etc., but they are the #1 cause for road rash when the fabric doesn't rupture, they are tough allright, but very coarse; a set of riding pants (or chaps) may be an option. If all else fails, #30+ denim (Levi's 501 are around #16 I think)
3. You need
dragbars; the stock dragbars are almost straight, 1" diameter, and about 22" long (wide) - I changed them to 32" dragbars, excellent.
Old bars
New bars
Can't see much, pic wasn't intended to show handlebars, hope it helps
4.
Speedo: ideally speedo and tacho go hand in hand. Here's my setup
Unfortunately, while the tacho works OK, the speedo underreads by a good 10%
so it's a no-go, I reverted back to the tank-mounted OEM unit. Still... you can experiment.
You'll need a Suzuki GS/GT tachometer cable for the bar-mounted speedo.
5.
Windshield: you need something that'll get the wind off your chest, not the view away from your eyes; get something NOT too wide, and not any taller than your own shoulders.
That way you'll still have best visibility AND minimal buffeting. Anyway, I personally almost never cruise any faster than 90Km/h(55mph) for fuel economy...
6.
Fit the bike ? OK, I understand your pain, but you didn't buy a tall enduro to begin with...
Have the front fork checked over and see if you couldn't use stiffer springs, thicker fork oil and new seals.
THEN...
carry out all the seat mods you like.
As for the foot controls, I understand you may not like the seating position, but forward controls are required only if your knees stick out like you were doing squats !
7.
Priorities ? My grandpappy and yours have most probably both been riding with zero wind protection (windshield) but they all had a jacket, gloves and helmet of some sort.
My suggestion is to prioritize as follows:
A. HELMET - A GOOD helmet can and will save your life.
B. JACKET&GLOVES - It's better to roll and get up, than to smear the road
B2. PANTS - often the best advoce on fitting is c/o the same good quality store where you buy jacket, gloves and helmet.
Visit a few and do business with the one who give you the best advice, regardless on price.
C. Windshield and speedo/tacho: a good SMALL windshield+the two gauges is less than $200
D. Fit.
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