Windshield Brackets and Side Cases

i dont think the touratech windsheild bracket i bought recently helped at all. they are being kind enough to let me return it even though i scratched it up slightly. 15% restocking fee. it is what it is. ill have to revisit the wind issue another time… or maybe get some real world advice from other riders in the future with similar setups

im putting that money towards these:

new side cases that i ordered today! im really excited for these. i really did not think i could get side cases for less then $700 but the cases were $180 for the pair, and the bracket to mount them was $160. i cant believe the bracket costs just as much as the cases… 

they should be here thursday. excited to install them, its going to make a huge difference in my daily riding experience. 

they arent too wide which is key for city riding, but ill be able to put extra gear in there wihch is great.

the cases are by givi, the E21 in matte black. the mounting kit by givi is the PL188.

a few images i found on google. the bike in the photos is the same model as my bike but in red. ill put photos up of my installation when i get it. 

Photo my mother took of me today at one of the job sites we happened to both be working on.

Reading a good book on cross country riding. Great quote:

“When I planned the trip, I had a vague notion of ‘being on the open road’, but I didn’t realise the degree to which, in our normal lives, we are prisoners of the routine of work and the captivity of the clock. I don’t think we realise, generally speaking, how the structure of modern life is a form of very gentle, benign slavery that tricks us into believing we are free. The two-day weekend and the odd two weeks in some concrete jungle near a beach, with hours spent in an airport either end, isn’t enough to escape the pressures of work-time, but nearly a month into the trip, I think I’m starting to slip the shackles.”

Excerpt From: Earnshaw, Andrew. “Far Horizons.” Matador. iBooks.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/far-horizons/id675600623?mt=11

[vimeo 75487820 w=500 h=281]

klassikkustoms:

Cafe Racer Evo1

Love it. Wonder if cafe racer is a passing trend or if it will stick around. Beautiful bikes.

(Source: http://klassikkustoms.tumblr.com/)

This came in handy at 7am this morning on the highway to jersey. I need winter gloves. Current gloves let too much air in.

This is what I want. Adventure.

I'M HIT!

it felt like getting hit with a bullet, not really though. more like when you’re watching a movie, and you see bullets flying all over, and then someone yells, I’M HIT! it was kind of like that … just a moment of , o shit… one of them got me.

it was my fault, and it really wasnt serious. i was late to a meeting in the city, going from one client on 69th to another client on 54th. i was on 54th between 6th and 7th (coming from 7th). traffic was backed up, and i was riding the side of the cars trying to get to the red light. 

the cars were all moving less then 5mph, and i was doing over 10mph passing them on the left. that right there was my mistake, being in a rush while passing cars illegally. well a car decided to pull out to the left to drop his wife off by the curb, he nipped me as i was passing by.

i was hit. my first car / bike contact ever. i couldnt believe it. i was shocked (but not in shock). it didnt knock me over, i kept moving forward, that was even more shocking to me. 

i pulled over and got off my bike to inspect. zero real damage. a white mark on my real tank (the black part under my rear white plastic area), and a paint gloss scuff on the white plastic portion. zero denting, the white scuff came off quickly, and the gloss is missing from a tiny portion of that white plastic area… cant even notice it.

i walked over to the guy who hit me, ummm.. you hit me? he was really cool and a bit nervous that he hit a bike. he asked if i was ok, discussed what happened, looked at the damage to his car. now this was the surprising part, he had some decent damage to the spot where he hit me on his nissan rogue. a little crumple fist size in diameter. like crumpled paper. how odd. 

he said not to worry about it and he would take care of it on his own. he asked if my bike and i were ok one more time, and i was on my way. i was late to the meeting, client was slightly pissed and they barely acknowledged my awesome excuse.

a few notes.

1. its dangerous to pass cars like i did, but the reality is manhattan is a jungle and there are no real rules. i try to only pass cars that are stopped, i should be way more adherent to that guideline of mine. more importantly, when passing (illegally), i should be way slower about it. 99% of the time i am very slow about it, but that time i was not. manhattan is full of pedestrians that cross wherever they want, and they pop out from behind cars so quickly that you need to be crazy aware of them. i usually go slow enough so that i can look in between cars as before pass them to make sure of no pedestrians or other random manhattan style obstacles.

2. i got hit. nothing happened. i was being reckless and i got lucky. i need to really learn from this. risks are just not worth it. i really hope i learn from this.

3. this actually happened a few weeks ago, im still trying to have my posts catch up with the present.

My Initial Gear

my first few weeks in i bought some gear. this is just a quick list with general impressions. most everything in this list was purchased from union garage, they were very helpful.

Gloves

Revit Striker gloves were recommended to me. it was the middle of the summer and they are supposed to be very breathable, and most importantly, they have iphone compatible fingers :)  ok ok most important is they are protective. they have knuckle guards and feel great. my only gripe after a few months of owning them is they seemed to have stretched a little in the palm area which gets annoying on long trips.

http://uniongaragenyc.com/shop/index.php/gloves/rev-it-striker.html

http://www.revitusa.com/en-us/#/products/FGS078

Boots

i needed something i could wear to clients and not look like a motorcycle racer. i opted for these great casual boots that are well protected. they are navy blue, with steal toe, ankle protection, a reinforced heel, and they are water proof. they also have a nice rubbery grippy sole. after a few months, i have no gripes, i love them. they are great.

http://uniongaragenyc.com/shop/index.php/boots/tcx-x-street-wp.html

http://www.tcxboots.com/eng/prodotti-dettaglio.php?prodotto=57

Jacket

again, middle of the summer, i needed something very breathable but i didnt want to have to buy another jacket for spring or fall, and maybe even winter. i loved the revit jackets at union garage but i had to find the right one at the right price. so i looked in to 3 season jackets, one that breathed the most, but still had a nice removable thick liner for the other seasons. it also had to match my bike and my style. i went with the Revit Levante in silver / black. it happens to match my bike (and helmet) great. its extremely breathable in the hot nyc summer, with huge mesh areas on the jacket. its got a great warm liner thats water proof, and it has protective padding around the elbows, shoulders, and some minor back padding. i can add a real back pad insert later when im ready to spend on it. its late september now and starting to get a little chilly so im not really sure how it will perform in the cold, but so far i love this jacket. great buy. Union Garage didnt carry this specific jacket, so they ordered it for me. they did have a lot of other very similar revit jackets that i got to try on in the shop i knew what size to order.

http://www.revitusa.com/en-us/#/products/FJT152

Helmet

i really wanted a matte white helmet, but they dont seem to exist. i looked around and could not find something i liked. i didnt like the normal round style helmets. i found a really interesting one by AFX at… Union Garage. they had it in black, i tried it on and it felt great. it had a lot of room in front of the mouth area so i wouldnt feel claustrophobic, which happens to me easily. it also has great venting for the summer…. im not sure how great it will be in the winter though. time will tell. so far i still love this helmet after months of us. its not on unions website, but i did buy it there. they only had black in stock, but ordered me the white one. it was around $120. i got a small, because i have a small head. i took off the visor on top after a week of using it, im not off road so.. not much mud flinging going on.

http://www.afxhelmets.com/helmets/dualsport/fx-39ds.php?show=pearl

Bluetooth

possibly my most appreciated piece of gear, as i use it constantly. i bought it with the helmet, as advised by union garage, and they isntalled it in to my helmet for me. i got the Sena SMH10. its so easy to use, modern, and good looking. a great rotary dial on the side that lets me easily control volume and change the song. it works great for phone calls at low speeds, music, and also really helpful, GPS. i use it with my iphone, and siri is finally really useful. she reads me text messages, lets me reply, gives me directions etc. love this thing. zero complaints. and its got a great battery. looking forward to riding with someone else that has it so we can use the “intercom” mode. union garage doesnt show it on their website, but they did have it, recommend it, sell it to me, and install it free with purchase. it was around $175 i think? helmet with bluetooth at the end was under $300 so that was right in my budget.

http://senabluetooth.com/product/intercoms/smh10/

Plate Puller

sounds lame but it is helpful. when parking in metered spots for 20 minutes or so, i just pull my license plate out. risky as it can get towed, but its good for quick run ins. otherwise when parking ill go find legal parking which usually isnt far, and park between two cars.

http://uniongaragenyc.com/shop/index.php/accessories/union-garage-platepuller.html

Top Case

BMW gave me $500 towards accesories when i financed the bike. i opted for the top case as the side cases would have made my bike too wide for city driving. i do really want more storage these days, but thats not to say the top case isnt awesome. it holds my laptop bag, helmet, gloves, ezpass, random tech tools and a sweat shirt. not all at the same time, basically the laptop and helmet trade spots through out the day. its an original BMW top case, and BMW even keyed the lock to match my bike key. easy peasy. its also easily removable so i can take it off anytime in under 20 seconds.

a shot of me and my gear very soon after i got it all.

[gallery]

family starting to warm up to the bike. 

The Wind & I

we dont get along. some days are windier then others for sure, but overall highway runs are a bit painful. not getting to manhattan and back, thats easy, but going to the jersey shore gets difficult.

it seems the wind shield on this bike is kind of small and low….so i decided to try out a new product by Touratech. The adjustable windshield bracket. here’s how i installed it…

the instructions arent great, and i made a few fun mistakes on the way. here’s a few photos and tips to install yours. the photos should be helpful when researching it as well. i had a few questions about the product but couldnt find any close up photos before i purchased. my main question was, would this be adjustable on the fly or would it require tools and time. the answer, is YES. you can quickly adjust the angle, so if you are in the city you can leave it low, and on highway you can adjust it out and up.

i havent tried out riding with it yet, as i just installed it this morning. ill make other follow up posts about that when i have more experience with it.

did i mention the instructions are terrible?

removing the windshield was easy, i just needed an allen wrench. i actually needed a few different sizes through out this, so just have a set with you when you get started. i also had paper towels and all purpose cleaner to clean any areas that would be easy while taking things apart.

so.. removing the windshield, 4 screens via allen wrench.

i then attached the main bracket to the bike where the windshield used to be with touratechs supplied screws.

after that i installed the two smaller adjustable brackets the side of the main bracket. that was a bit confusing as i wasnt sure which side of them should be up. see photo for correct orientation. it does matter. pointy side facing up.

see how i attached the female screws (not sure what to call them) in to the side bracket. this matters as well.

then after that i attached the windshield to the brackets using the ORIGINAL screws that came with the bike, i did not use the touratech supplied screws for this part..

the wind shield is now adjustable, i left it at its highest and most outward position for now, ill adjust it later as needed.

bloopers:

so while realizing i put the side mounts on backwards at one point, i went to turn them around and dropped a black adjuster screw in to the body of the bike, right behind the steering column area. ive dropped something in there before and was able to spot it and pull it out, but this time i just couldnt find it. i jiggled the bike, used flash lights .. nothing.

so… i decided to take my bike apart.

first the seat,

then the top black plastic on the fake tank, note my ipad mini being used as a motorcycle manual laying where the seat used to be.

then the left side of the fake tank,

and i finally found it in a little crevice that was only visible when the wheel was turned all the way to the right. sure was fun looking for it! took me about an hour but it was a great experience. i took the opportunity to learn more about the bike and to clean everything i could while open.

learn from my mistakes!