A couple of general questions about my new RSV and your experiences

[SilveradoCA]

I'm heading out Thursday AM to pick up my bike, and would like to tap the brain trust here for some experience.

 

I may be riding back through rain; how wet should I expect to get? I will take rain gear, of course. I'm more curious as to how dry you stay behind the bodywork. How much wind/rain do you get on your hands? At this time, I don't have a pair of waterproof gloves, but if you tell me the hands are quite exposed, I'll stop and pick some up.

 

To cut or not to cut? My lineage traces back to the Shire on mother's side, and the mines of Moria on dad's. Some cousins lost a bunch of money to a big lizard, and another took a long walking tour to get rid of some jewelry - he didn't have a bike. That is to say, I'm sized between a hobbit and a dwarf - 5'6". The stock shield is WAY above my line of sight. Looking through the screen bothered me on my Road Star, so I will be dealing with the issue ASAP. Honestly, it's only because I won't bother to check a bag that I'm not taking a jigsaw with me.

 

For those who have cut the factory shield down, how was the result? I don't mean in terms of finish - I'm a carpenter, I cut and fit things for a living, and used to make templates out of plexi-glass. I mean how much did you cut, and were you happy with the wind/rain protection and smoothness of the airflow afterward?

 

Otherwise, tell me about your experience with a replacement windscreen.

 

Driving lights - do they have Hi/Lo like the headlight, or only one loudness?

 

Does anyone have one of those headlight modulator dealy-o's? What do you think of them?

 

Where/how do you like to mount your phone? Mine rings infrequently these days (thankfully), but is my map and music. The bar is pretty crowded, and I don't want it in front of the speedo.

 

ETA: a couple more questions! If you've done any performance upgrades to your GenII, what were you most happy with? What do you feel you could've not bothered with? Mine is stock except for some slip-on mufflers.

 

I'm sure I'll think of some more, but TIA for these ones!

Edited June 6, 2018 by SilveradoCA

[CaseyJ955]

I cant offer much model specific, I'm gen1, but I do have a great deal of gross, soupy, gray, dreary, depressing, cold, nasty, wet miles ridden. I lived in Seattle for 15 years and a Triumph Sprint (very poor weather protection from an R1 sized windscreen) was my daily rider year around. I use a Chevron rain suit, its compact and works fine, waterproof gloves at any Cabellas type store. I got some ice fishing gloves that work great. My boots are leather and got regular beeswax/oven treatment and worked okay. Bring extra socks, if it rains hard enough your socks will get wet regardless of boots. If it gets cold too then have tbermal underwear to slap on under your rain suit. I got my rain suit a little large for layering underneath. Visors can fog up, there are products to slow that down but with rain and cold I keep vents open and even open the visor one click if I'm fighting it. Also look at Pinlock visors or similar. Its really not bad at all if your prepared. I used to ride from Seattle to Soutth Dakota and back every year and a few times I got rain the whole way, every state. Not kidding on this. Keep a couple towels handy. I find rain downright depressing, but not riding away from Seattle even more so. You will be fine if your ready for it. Oh yea, make that rainsuit a hivis, heavy rain can cut doen visibility and its vital to be seen, also vital to know when its time to pitch the tent or grab a room. Rain riding can be pretty fatiguing so count on covering less miles per day. Above all have a gopd time and stay safe!

[BratmanXj]

For those who have cut the factory shield down, how was the result? I don't mean in terms of finish - I'm a carpenter, I cut and fit things for a living, and used to make templates out of plexi-glass. I mean how much did you cut, and were you happy with the wind/rain protection and smoothness of the airflow afterward? Otherwise, tell me about your experience with a replacement windscreen.

Slipstream shields are pretty inexpensive on eBay. I have a 10" that I was looking OVER but i'm 6'2". They also have an 8" & believe 6" as well all for $60 or less last time I checked. I had an issue with buffeting on the top of my head when I wore a helmet, otherwise windflow was just over my head.

 

Driving lights - do they have Hi/Lo like the headlight, or only one loudness?

Spot or Driving lights should only be on with your low beam headlight and turn off with High beams if factory wired. They only have one brightness.

 

Does anyone have one of those headlight modulator dealy-o's? What do you think of them?

Had them on previous bike (sport tourer) and was indifferent, people in Chicago just don't pay attention regardless.

 

ETA: a couple more questions! If you've done any performance upgrades to your GenII, what were you most happy with? What do you feel you could've not bothered with? Mine is stock except for some slip-on mufflers.

Not much to be gained without major work. Slip-on mufflers mostly for sound, minor performance gain. Intakes are tough to modify for very little gain. There is an ECM upgrade but that raises the RPM level and if you don't rev the motor much (this is a cruiser/tourer) its of little gain. Some guys have swapped cams & springs from a V-Max, but in my opinion that's a high-rpm gain.

 

If you do a lot of 2-up riding, plan to pull a trailer, or live in the mountains the big upgrade is swapping the rear gearing for a V-Max. More acceleration, better use of 4th & 5th gear at 55mph. Downside is higher rpm if you're riding the super-slabs at 70-80+ mph.

 

 

Phone mount....Ram makes clutch cover adapters and a X-Grip:

[bongobobny]

OK, my spin on things!

 

Let me start with driving in the rain. As far as gloves go, buy yourself a pair of rubber gloves just like the ones your Mother used to do the dishes in the largest size you can find. An alternative is rubber gloves for handling hazardous waste. You want them in the largest size possible so they slip over your riding gloves. Word of warning put them on BEFORE it rains, if your gloves are even slightly wet you will have a struggle getting them on! You can also get a smaller size and only wear them and not your gloves under them. As far as the windshield goes, use furniture polish in an aerosol can such as Pledge, Favour, etc. and clean your windshield with it! This will cause the rain to bead up and roll off of the shield. The faster you go, the clearer your shield becomes! The last thing to do is invest in a pair of yellow lense hunting glasses!! You will be amazed at just how much the yellow lenses brighten up your vision in the rain!!!

 

As far as the driving lights go, it depends on how they were wired. Some have them wired so that they are only on with the high beam, and some are wired to come on regardless if the headlight is on high or low. The difference is whether they were wired as passing lights or driving lights. They are single filament so they are only one level, not two. I personally have mine wired as driving lights so I can turn them on or off at will regardless of what the headlight is.

 

Myself I am NOT a fan of the headlight modulators as there is a possibility that some idiot could mistake them for turn signals and pull out in front of you from a side street. I would rather have several pairs of lights in the front such as LED strip lights, running lights, and driving lights to get other people's attention. To each their own...,

 

For mounting your phone, I highly recommend the RAM mount. I prefer linking my phone through Bluetooth to my GPS and having it linked to the audio system and keep my phone securely in my pocket so that way I don't accidentally leave it on the bike but once again to each their own. I understand your need to have it visible but the only real place is on the handlebars but off to the side so you don't block the speedometer. The RAM mount will elevate it up so it won't block the dash as much...

 

As far as performance mods go, there isn't a heck of a lot available that really do much. The free-flowing exhaust doesn't make them faster, it just makes them louder. You need to open up the intake side of the motor to make any real changes with opening up the exhaust side, and it will cost you fuel economy. One of the best performance mods you can do is swap out your stock RSV differential with a VMax differential which changes the whole RPM vs speed aspect. The RSV is pretty quick as is if driven right...

 

I'm sure others will have differing opinions here...

[vzuden]

For my second gen I use the Baggershield windshield. They are an advertiser on this site and offer a discount to members. It is two parts. In rain I use it in the lowered position but I wear a rainsuit with full face helmet. That way I don’t have to look through the water on the windshield and the airflow keeps the water on my helmet visor very minimal. I use it in the upper position for long trips - less wind buffeting and in colder weather.

 

As mentioned above, a Ram Mount is a great product to hold your phone on the handlebar. I wired in a cheap charger inside the fairing that is powered with key on. Ran a wire up through and along the handlebar to mount location. Phone is plugged in whenever in use. I use Bluetooth communicators in our helmets to use phone for navigation, music, text, email, and phone calls. I like the U Clear brand since there is no boom mike. Passenger and rider listen to each’s own phone.

[cecdoo]

I am about your ht, so I will throw in my 2 cents. If you have the stock windshield your hands are gonna get wet, if you have a wider aftermarket like I do your hands stay pretty dry. Bobs idea on gloves is very good. If you are moving along at say 50mph and above you really dont get too wet on a RSV, usually just from my knees down. If you are in alot of stop and go you are gonna get wet. I tried cutting my shield down, its easy to do but I got so much buffeting it didnt stay on for more then 2 miles. I have the tallest widest Clearview and I keep it polished with Honda Polish at 60mph it stays pretty clear with rain beading up. Everyone I talk to says the Vmax rear is the best bang for the buck in performance upgrades, but there are lots of others.

As always good tires properly inflated on wet or dry roads.

Good Luck, Craig

[cecdoo]

One more thing I forgot, on the Baggershield. I tried one and the line where the 2 sections overlap was rite in my line of site. Drove me nuts, sold it after one ride. If you go that route take some meas. to be sure that line isnt going to bother you.

 

Craig

[Phishhead61]

I have had headlight modulators on all my bikes. I think they are the # 1 safety feature you can add to a bike.

 

I had one on my first cruiser, but I put it on at the same time I put on louder pipes, so I didn't know how effective the modulator itself was. People definitely stopped pulling out in front of me, but I wasn't sure if it was the pipes, the modulator, or a combination of the two. Then one day I was in my car and saw a bike with the headlight modulating and you couldn't help but see that bike. I've put one on every bike I've bought since then.

 

PhishHead

Edited June 10, 2018 by Phishhead61