New SuperBrace installed

[chicagorandy]

For once in my life one of MY projects took no longer than the ads for it say - LOL. SuperBrace says it's a 10 minute install, took me no more than 15 minutes because I kept stopping to take pics of the progress. It IS super EASY to install. The official first ride since the new stainless brake & clutch lines and this brace install will happen tomorrow afternoon.

Since I follow the "Pics or it didn't happen" belief system -

[chicagorandy]

2 hour test ride is completed. As a devout ATGATT rider it felt a wee bit too warm for the likes of me at 85F this afternoon. But I'm pleased to report that all new mods worked as expected. Good solid brakes front & rear, dependable clutch friction zone and the new TPMS system works wonderfully. Much better way for arthritic geezers like me mto know their tire pressure, beats scrabbling around on the ground trying to get to the Shrader valves with a tire pressure gauge.

[Hillbilly]

Is this to stiffen the front suspension up? Does it handle differently?

[chicagorandy]

Handling seemed unchanged actually - but I don't regret adding the mod. I just returned from a 3-day ride through the skinny two-lane Kentucky mountain backroads near Slade, NADA Tunnel etc. and the bike handled the MANY tight twisties very well. MUCH better than I handled the sheer dropoff cliffs - lol

[SgtSlag]

Have you gotten yourself a mesh riding jacket yet? We wear leather chaps, and armored 3/4 jackets, good for three seasons (NOT Winter in Minnesota...), gloves, modular helmets -- ATGATT. Our 3/4, 3-season jackets were just suffocating in the heat. I'm a pale skin, burning in 10 minutes, blistering in 20 minutes, of sun exposure. I have to have my arms and hands covered when riding.

Around nine years ago, i took a low side on my Honda -- blew the rear inner tube -- at 40 MPH. I had on a $100 armored jacket. My son, wearing my older, $80 armored jacket, was my passenger on that ride. We both slid around 100 feet down the county highway's blacktop. I suffered a scratch, on one knuckle; my son, not wearing leather chaps, had bleeding road rash on the backs of his thighs. That $80 jacket had burned halfway through the elbow armor pad, as he landed on that elbow!

Long story cut short... Wife and I wear inexpensive (<$150 each) armored mesh jackets, when it is 80+ F. The inexpensive jackets (make sure the meshies are made of the same nylon materials as the regular armored riding jackets) really do protect you from low sides, on blacktop! They breathe, extremely well. I still have to wear arm covers of some sort, to avoid small sunburn spots on my arms, shining through the tiny holes in the mesh, but it is very close to not wearing any jacket, for air flow, even behind the fairing!

We wear hi-viz jackets, including the meshies. Get yourself one, with armor on the elbows and shoulders. You will never regret it. They stow away, easily, as they squish down to a small package -- especially if you use those vacuum storage bags: ziplock them, then roll and squeeze the air out the one-way vents on the opposite end of the bag. Makes for a small package to put in the trunk, or bags. Cheers!

[chicagorandy]

yes, my mesh armored 3/4 is a Sonora. Comfortable enough while still offering good protection.

[GrandpaDenny]

All of my riding jackets are from Viking Cycle. The most expensive one I think I paid $80 for. I have a touring jacket, a regular three-season jacket, and a mesh. If I'd'a thunk about it, I'd've gotten the meshie first - it comes with a liner, and I have a rain suit, so between all that don't really need a winter jacket, or so I've heard where I suspect people don't ride in single-digit temps