Hand Guards/Deflectors

I have done a SEARCH but can't find a thread I can add to so..........

When I bought my Silverwing I also bought a set of Givi Handlebar muffs, having had muffs on my X9 and found them ideal for me.
The trouble is that the Givi ones are universal unlike the ones for the X9 which are bike-specific.

As a result, at anything over 50MPH, the muffs press on the brake levers enough to activate the brake-lights.
No amount of rearranging made any difference.

Therefore, I looked around for something else and with the aid of ideas from all over, ordered a pair of National Cycle Hand Deflectors from Custom Cruising.

I've been waiting for ages ( I won't bore you with the difficulties I've had with CC) but they arrived this morning.
As there are none specifically for the Silverwing and I'd read that Part Number N5501 were the ones to get, I did.
In fact they are for the Yamaha with cable clutch and 10mm mirror stem.

This means the two metal arms on the brackets are different lengths.

The RH one is right for the Silverwing, the LH one too long.
Fortunately, apart from that they are identical (mirror image) so all I had to do after careful marking* was to drill a new 10mm hole, cut off a couple of inches and file the cut end into a curve to match the other bracket.

* I did this by clamping the two brackets back-to-back with a G-clamp and marking with a pencil. To find the centre of the hole I used a 10mm drill-bit through the correct hole, just to make a small 'dent' then drilled a small pilot hole using that centre.

Fitting was easy although I've inserted the lock-washers in the wrong place - I'll see if I need to move them.

Turning the handle-bars completely to the Left is fine; doing the same to the Right causes the deflector to just push the edge of the screen before getting to full lock. I can't see that being a problem.

I shall need to touch up the cut surfaces - I have Hammerite in the shed - but will leave that for now.

I'm probably going out on the bike tomorrow so I shall see what's what and report back.

I would like to see a picture of the finished product .

Hand guards are better than muffs for the very reason Mike quoted. I had muffs on my Burgman and had the same brake/speed problem. Every time I exceeded 30 mph the brake lights would operate.

After that I fitted hand guards which Suzuki have on their list of accessories. Never looked back. The lack of hand guards from Honda is perhaps Honda's only negative in a huge list of positives.

I too look forward to seeing how MIke gets on with this new mod. Good on ya Mike for bringing the subject up. :not worthy:

Thanks, Doug.
I'm sure there are others which would do the job but this type appeared to need the least amount of modification. I missed the Suzuki ones although I expect you've mentioned them before.

The Piaggio muffs were Bagster ones and had stiffeners inside which held them away from the brake-levers.

I'll take some pictures when I get the bike out of the garage.

Some pictures. Sorry one are two are a bit out of focus.

Front view:
http://cid-729b226783f658eb.photos.live.com/self.aspx/Mike%5E4s%20Album/DSC00915.JPG

The modified bracket (needs painting). Washer should be under bracket:
http://cid-729b226783f658eb.photos.live.com/self.aspx/Mike%5E4s%20Album/DSC00919.JPG

Another view - it's the Left-Hand one:
http://cid-729b226783f658eb.photos.live.com/self.aspx/Mike%5E4s%20Album/DSC00921.JPG

Rider's-eye view:
http://cid-729b226783f658eb.photos.live.com/self.aspx/Mike%5E4s%20Album/DSC00922.JPG

Right-Hand guard:
http://cid-729b226783f658eb.photos.live.com/self.aspx/Mike%5E4s%20Album/DSC00923.JPG

RH guard from the front:
http://cid-729b226783f658eb.photos.live.com/self.aspx/Mike%5E4s%20Album/DSC00924.JPG

Edited last link to show what it says!

MikeO,

Looks nice.

Mike,

Thanks for sharing the great looking pictures. I sure can see the artist value put into what ever you do. Looks GREAT!

Keep in mind that these only work for a bike with a stock width windshield.

GIVI and Clearview screens for instance, which are wider than stock, will
interfere with the ability to turn all the way. The hand guards will hit them.

Dan

Thank you, gents!

Yes, I have a stock screen.

Incidentally, if you go through my Album via the links you will see my wiring for the light-bar and some shots of Calais Ferry Terminal I took on my last trip over.
The ferry arriving is the one I sailed on.

I'll put links for the wiring in the correct thread when I've completed the job.

Note the lanes for vehicles - there are more than 400. It's a big port.

Had the first real opportunity to ride with the guards in place - leading three HDs and a big BM on a sort-of rideout yesterday.

The guards didn't fall off or even move so that's good.

I can't say how effective they'll be at keeping my hands out of the wind-chill - the temperature was around 30/86 degrees all day.
We shall see.

MikeO wrote:

Had the first real opportunity to ride with the guards in place - leading three HDs and a big BM on a sort-of rideout yesterday.

Why did you lead a big Bowel Movement on a rideout?

An old friend and former collegue of Ed's (my partner who has the BMW R1150RT) 'found' him on Facebook last week and it transipred he and his misses and two other couples, also with Harleys, were coming over to Belgium for a few days.
It was suggested meeting and going for a ride so we made a plan, met them in the morning and rode down to Ypres for a late lunch, up to and along the coast from Nieuwport to Ostend then back on the motorway to Bruges, where they were staying.
They had to be back at the hotel by 7 because of the noise the Harleys make!
I plotted a route using fairly minor roads, many of which are typical of the area; tree-lined, mostly quite straight (or ram-rod straight) and quiet.
As one approaches Ypres one can see little cemetaries dotted about in the field, some with as few as six graves in, but all perfectly kept.

There you have it.

Incidentally, last Sunday I happened to be chatting to a chap from the War Graves Commission, the body who oversee the care and maintenance of all the Commonwealth Cemetaries in Europe, and mentioned the fact that my great uncle was buried in a particular one. He, who turned out to be a director of the Commission, told me that in that cemetary was a grave of a casualty from every single day of the First World War - there are over ten thousand graves in that one cemetary alone.

http://www.cwgc.org/

I must say in public that my difficulties with Cruiser Customising have been resolved.
The manager to whom I spoke yesterday was charming and helpful and I shall have no hesitation in buying from them in the future should the situation arise.

Happy to report that the hand-guards have become part of the bike now; my putting the lock-washers in the wrong place seems to have made no difference - they haven't moved.

I don't notice them at all and judging by the amount of blood and bits on them they've saved my knuckles from a quite a few direct hits!

It'll be a few months until I can assess the wind-chill protection; I'm hopeful.

So....now that it's October, how is the wind chill protection? My fingertips were a bit numb at 37 deg this morning even with my full gauntlet gloves and silk liners....

--Russ

I'm very pleased with them and must resist the temptation not to wear winter gloves now.

Undoubtedly, they protect from wind-chill rather than cold; my trip to Birmingham at the beginning of the month in torrential rain resulted in saturated gloves but not chilled hands.
It was rather strange but clearly the hand-guards are doing their job well.

They do just press against the Airflow screen on full-lock but it's not proved to be a problem.

I also used the same hand deflectors as a base, but had custom shafts made and made them moveable with a pin, so I could use them normally and easily change their position for parking and tight maneuvering. Pics are in my gallery and link is in my sig.

The hand guards sound good but I find my new Gerbings electrically heated gloves really do the job in cold weather. Waterproof too. If the temperature changes during the ride it's a simple matter to adjust the temp with the controller. Being plugged into the bike there's no worry about having a small battery discharging on a long ride.

I couldn't find them on the website the company the original poster gave but I did find them here:

http://www.phatperformanceparts.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=NC%2DHANDDEFLECTORS&CartID=1

Will a hack saw and file do the job fine?

--Russ

I picked up a set of used Hippo hands imitations for my 1500, but they should also fit the SW. New, they're only about $40.

Will a hack saw and file do the job fine?

Yes, plus a drill.

I'm desperately trying to find the part number of the ones I bought.
I'll keep looking.

Found it!

Part Number N5501 for the Yamaha with cable clutch and 10mm mirror stem.

You will need to shorten the LH bracket and drill a new hole to match the RH one.

I clamped the brackets back-to-back to mark the 'cut' and the hole.

Easy-peasy!

My post on the X9OC Forum:

http://www.x9ownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=19147.0

Paramani "ISOTTA" Italiy.

http://66.196.80.202/babelfish/translate_url_content?lp=it_en&trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.silverwing400.it%2F&.intl=it :not worthy:

I've seen the italian club site b4.
Couldn't find anything on what performance mods they did to their racing wing.

Keeping stuff close to their chests no doubt!

I've got a trade account with 'Bike It' and have always fancied some wind deflecters/bush bars, I'll have a nosey around and see what they can do for me.

Thanks again to all, for making my searching less of a pain in the assterior. I saw this post a few months ago and now that Christmas over and it is still cold out, I am going to buy a pair.

http://www.club-scootergt.com/vie-scooter/12326-topic-silver-wing-400-600-a-64.html
#1268
acerbis dual road handguards + leds on my sw

Can you post the pictures on here - non-members don't have access to enlarged pictures on that forum.

is it ok like this ?

Merci, mon ami!
Much better.

This bike on ebay has unusual hand guards (in addition to the Laminar "ears") that I've never seen before applicable to the Silverwing:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Honda-FSC600A-2007-Honda-Silverwing-Touring-Scooter-12-200-miles-/260864367824?pt=US_motorcycles&hash=item3cbcba5cd0#ht_2230wt_1004
I might message him to find out where they were bought as he is selling it for the owner and may not know where she got it from.

If they are the ones I think they are, they used to be on a Japanese website for Silverwing Accessories. Ended up being about $100 including shipping. Similar to the honda cub guards for dirtbiking.

Dan

I'm using those from Burgman 400 K7 (2007). I mounted those hand guards with no modifi
cation.

I'm sure that hand guards are fine with the stock screen but I noticed when I fitted mirror extenders, they had to be mounted so the mirror stalks didn't hit the lower section of the Airflow. So it's possible that fitting a pair of hand guards would also hit the Airflow and stop the handlebars going on full left or right lock.

Mine do but I think my mechanic's the only one to worry about it.