|
Giving (Knowledge) Back
Hi everybody. I used this forum extensively when I was researching what bike to get, and again once I decided on the CB to help figure out the cargo / pillion situation. The amazing users here were incredibly helpful (without even knowing it) and I'm really happy with my new bike. So I thought I'd give back a little bit by describing my install of the national cycle deflector and the hepco & becker c-bow + street bags + rear alurack + custom seat back.
I forgot to take pictures of the screen up close, but it's very straightforward. It mounts to the fork at two places and braces on the instrument cluster. It's a pretty easy install. It's also pretty adjustable; I have mine up most of the way and raked to match the forks. In that spot it does a great job of creating still air on my chest at 55-60 mph. There's still some push on the shoulders, and my head is in clean air (I'm 6'1 with a 32" inseam). I don't like to go on the interstate so I don't know how well it performs at 70+ mph. Even with the simple installation it's very solid and doesn't seem to affect the ride any.
Once I got the C-bow mounts and the alurack on, I've been really happy with them, but the installation was a real pain. The first issue I ran into is that the included hardware was wrong; the supplied bolts were too long. I was able to use a stock bolt in the front but there wasn't room for the bungee point on the back bolt so that required a trip to the hardware store.
One of the reasons I went with the c-bow / alurack combo was because they're made by the same company, so presumably they should be designed to work together really well. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. Using mostly the supplied hardware, I was able to get it about 90% of the way, and it is completely functional now, but if you look up close the mounting brackets for the two parts are not quite flush to each other. The c-bow bags lock to the mount, and the alurack grab bars make it very difficult to manipulate the key in the locks. Each piece by itself is great however. Here's what I think about each of them separately:
The c-bow mounts are really handy. The bags fit great and slide on and off easily. The mounting hardware is just OK - the 'C' parts are chromed and nice looking, but there is also a matte grey steel bracket that is merely functional. You can tell they cut costs on the mounting bracket; the OEM grab rails and curvy are very nice looking, while the c-bow mount brackets are square and ugly.
Note also that to install the c-bow mounts you have to relocate the rear turn signals. There is just barely enough wire to do this, and the part of the bracket that they mount to looks very unfinished and ugly. It's mostly hidden, especially when the bags are on, but I still know it's there and it bugs me a little.
The rear alurack on the other hand is fantastic. It looks great (better than the photos I've seen) and it's very functional. The grab bars on either side are well placed and can double as bungee points. Another great feature is the vertical arch that sits just behind the seat. As you know, there aren't a lot of sissybar options for this bike, and I think the alurack is the best one out there. I commissioned a local upholsterer to make a small pad and I mounted it with rubber coated pipe hangers to the alurack. It looks pretty darn good, and my wife feels way more secure on the back.
Overall, I'm very pleased with how things went; thanks to those of you who wrote about your experiences with racks / pannier mounts / screens / sissy bars / etc. Hopefully this post will be useful to someone else out there. If you have any questions, please ask.
|
Search
Member List
Calendar
Help
Giving (Knowledge) Back
