First wet ride

[Richard]

First of many I am sure of....
My seventy mile commute was torrential rain/sleet this evening...my 20 mile spell on dual carriageway (A12) was more liken to a shallow river....filtering the entire distance.
Wiped the bike down once in the garage when the ice had thawed of the front end I was surprised to see how much muck was in the rad from the front wheel.....fenda extenda is a must.
Also feel a set of handlebar muffs would be a good investment, whilst the grips remained warm...my gloves were so wet I lost all feeling in my fingers to the extent that on the closing part of the journey I could not operate the indicator switch.
Lessons learnt....

[Luckydave]

My heated grips are crap,taking back to dealer to look at.As to handlebar muffs will you still be able to see the mirrors? Givi reckon theirs are ok on a Burgman but maybe someone on here will know.

[Richard]

Dave,
The grips don't heat all the way round like Oxford ones, Suzuki grips just have an element that runs across them. When I have my hand on them the heat is roughly at the base of my fingers where they join my palm.
Good point about handlebar muffs.....not considered that.

[roadster]

Rather than muffs which are rather obstructive I prefer the plastic stone guard type of shields which are used on off road bikes. It can also be effective to use a windscreen such as the Fabbri ones which have flared side deflectors near the bar ends. Its surprising how much warmer it can be if your hand are protected from the airflow and for me it meant almost never needing winter gloves.

[SH125Paul]

Tucano Urbano - more of a hand grip cover than a full blown muff... - the mutts nuts... used em for 8 years now...
Neoprene waterproof-ish and windproof - Two main types - one for bars with bar end weights, one for without...
Worth teh £40 - dont by the cheaper options like bike it Boxer - Oxford do something similar, might be OK...

[Luckydave]

I looked at the Givi ones at bike show and looked well made but asked will they obscure vision of mirrors on Burgman 650 they said no,was told I can visit their "show room" to view,I used a Tucano Urbano leg cover on a Piaggio last year great bit of kit

[poldark]

If you commute in the winter then despite their ugliness muffs are a must, ideally with heated grips.

As said Tuscano U make neat ones, cheaper ones are available but ideal to have another user confirm no control/mirror issues.

[Scootypuff snr]

Richard

Congratulations on completing your first wet tide commute and the A12 is not pleasent at any time (I so don't miss that)

I would fully endorse the tucano muffs but am currently trailing the "bike it" ones.

They work well on the mini scooter though the hand insert is quite tight (oh er missus) and I put pegs on them when stood as the remain open allowing rain in if at wrong angle.

However for price to be they're good. Pop along to Alpha Motorcycles or Harpers ( both but especially Alpha) will allow you to try the muffs on your scoot

[Richard]

Cheers for that, next time I am Southend way I will pop in...however, I am more than happy to trail gear !