Winter Riding in the Midwest & Mods

[bradatlarge]

Hey everyone - I thought I'd start a convo about making the bike a little less miserable for riding in sub-40-degree weather, as we experience in the Midwest most winters... My CT125 lives in Chicago (downtown) and ventures out to play in the dirt now and again but mostly bombs around the city.

I recently wired up a small fuse block from Eastern Beaver with three "taps" on it. Two of them are keyed to the ignition and one is always on, where my SAE lead for battery tender or heated vest lives. One of the keyed leads has a pair of aux lights from Diode Dynamics [Stage Series C1] for conspicuity in traffic & some additional light on the trail, when /if needed - if I'm not in the city.

They are mounted to the bottom bolts of the headlight 'triangle'



I have a small windscreen on the bike but, its not for wind management as much as fashion.

Its pretty cold and wet riding this scooter around the city and I'm looking to manage that as best possible so I can keep riding through the winter. Yesterday, I ordered a bigger windscreen and this funny leg shield thing - I've already got some hand guards waiting to be installed and once they arrive, I can rock my hippo hands that I've been using on my BMW's for a while now, on the CT125 (I think that this makes more sense for me than doing heated grips and will produce a better result).

The new items from Webbike JP will show up next week and I'll update this thread as I have time to get things installed.

That's the windscreen (link to the product page below) on the left - its the Zeta Adventure Large

And that's the funny leg shield thing...

Asahi windshield : AFLeg wind shield [CT-12-W]

ZETA : Adventure Windshield Large Windshield [F6172]

 

[dmonkey]

Seems like a good setup. That leg shield will likely require modification to attach to the aftermarket crash bars. You can always add heated grips under the Hippo Hands for even more warmth, I use mine often.

 

[bradatlarge]

Seems like a good setup. That leg shield will likely require modification to attach to the aftermarket crash bars. You can always add heated grips under the Hippo Hands for even more warmth, I use mine often.

I expect that I will need to get creative with those leg shields.

I actually thought about trying to DIY something since I'd have to hack into them but, the materials would have been over half what this thing costs in my quick exploration and would have looked properly janky (no idea if this will look janky or not but, fingers crossed).

 

[SneakyDingo]

My Trail

The funny leg shield was used on this bike as well.

I am a solid +1 on the hippo hands. I'm using a cheap Amazon version that I have some concerns about it touching the brake lever, and also that it is sometimes hard to get my hand in, but does a great job of keeping my hands warm with very minimal gloves underneath. There's still a small opening on the left side hand protection that could be plugged with a scrunchie that would prevent the need for ANY gloves at all if you run warm like I do. I'll... uh... "get around to making some 3D printed fake bark busters that will just hold everything off the levers and make it easier to put my hand in" like I was going to last year lol.

 

[bradatlarge]

The package from Japan is in TN as of last night.

Its -5 F in Chicago right now so even if I had the bits, I'm not about to be freezing my ass off in my underground garage ( 50 degrees down there ) installing this stuff. The good news is that its going to be above freezing next week so I'll be back out riding the Scoot (hopefully with these items installed).

 

[bradatlarge]

It’s arrived!

The puppy says that its allowed to enter the house.

 

[bradatlarge]

One leg thing.

One “big” windscreen (more on this in a moment)

And one “meter protection film” (I’ve had a bit of automotive PPF stuck on there that I used a coffee cup to cut out) that is properly sized for the CT125 gauge.



My wife loves it when I use the dining room table for motorcycle stuff.

 

[bradatlarge]

Not quite as big as I was hoping. I guess my years of experience riding BMW GS’s and RT’s with BARN DOOR windscreens has messed with my expectations.



Looks easy enough to assemble (nothing will be tight so I can adjust it later when I stick it on the bike).

 

[bradatlarge]

I put a bit of fabric tape under the clamp parts but, otherwise everything went together VERy easily. Time invested in assembly: less than ten minutes.

 

[FizzBuzz3000]

Can't wait to see it on the bike! Hope you post a pic with you on it, I can't get a sense of scale the windshield is... It looks like the regular one due to camera angle shenanigans

 

[G19Tony]

I have the same windscreen setup on mine. I put my GPS on the bar.

 

[bradatlarge]

Can't wait to see it on the bike! Hope you post a pic with you on it, I can't get a sense of scale the windshield is... It looks like the regular one due to camera angle shenanigans

Size comparo to a standard 12oz aluminum can. I don’t want to take off the entire protective film until I get it on the bike because I tend to mess things up.

I was somewhat surprised to see how “small” this “large” windscreen is. I’m going to try to put it on the bike later today and of course, will post a pic of it. If this thing fits as I think it will, I’m expecting it to be about even with the tops of the stock mirrors. We shall see.

 

[bradatlarge]

Well, I did some test fitting this weekend.

Windscreen: I cannot fit it because the brake plumbing is directly in the place the windscreen support wants to be. I looked in the service manual and it’s unclear as to how / or if I can move this



The leg shield is bolted to the top yoke on the bike and I’m thinking of trying to use a couple heavy duty zip ties to attached the bottom of the plastic to my aftermarket crash bars as the mounting brackets don’t quite line up. I’m inclined to try this approach rather than drilling new holes in it. The zip ties that I have on hand are slightly too big to fit through the holes that are in the leg shields already, so I’ll get some in the next couple days that will work.

We’re about to get a bunch of freezing rain / “wintery mix” so we shall see on all of this.

 

[Salty Sway]

If the problem is the bracket hitting the brake line. There's a tab on the master cylinder to keep the brake line from rotating when it's tightened, you can remove the brake line, cut the tab off, reinstall the brake line in a different position and bleed the brakes.

 

[bradatlarge]

If the problem is the bracket hitting the brake line. There's a tab on the master cylinder to keep the brake line from rotating when it's tightened, you can remove the brake line, cut the tab off, reinstall the brake line in a different position and bleed the brakes.

That’s above my pay grade, I think.

 

[bradatlarge]

If I could loosen the bolt pictured and rotate the fitting that attaches the brake hose, even one inch in either direction, I’d be fine.

 

[bradatlarge]

Well, it pays to take a small break.

I loosened the bars and moved them around until I could get the windscreen bracket lined up. I then rotated the bars in the clamps until they were close as possible to the right position.

I’m happy with the results [while the bike is stationary]. We’ll see how it works when I take it for a spin.



It’s a bad pic but, such is life.

 

[Salty Sway]

looks good

 

[bradatlarge]

looks good

Thanks. If it keeps some 30 degree wind off my body, I’ll be thrilled. Maybe tonight I can give it a test run - I need to go to a store in the West Loop and dare not drive anything other than the CT over there because its annoyingly busy over there and the CT is small / nimble enough to dart between the dummies in their SUV’s

 

[BaldRider]

I think it looks good. I'm not sure it is substantial enough to make a difference but looking forward to your report. An easier but more expensive mod would be to buy a SuperCub for winter with factory leg shields

The only mods I could do to improve/increase my winter riding is to buy a different house. My driveway is too steep and often icy which prevents me from getting bikes out of the garage. Then you have to deal with cinder-covered mountain roads.