Breath Guard Installation 101

No, nothing to do with chronic halitosis.

I bought a breath guard for my HJC CL-14 today, along with a chin skirt. Installed the chin skirt just fine. Cannot coax the breath guard into place.

This is the rubber strip that slides in between the helmet and the lining right at the bottom of the opening of the shield.

There is a 4" wide plastic vent strip that occurpies the same space. Not sure if I'm supposed to rip out the fixed vents in favor of the rubber guard, or if I'm supposed to cram the both of them back into the same tight spot.

Unfortunately HJCHELMETS.COM has no technical support... some of the links on tech support are cobwebs and don't even function.

Anyone done this simple task who knows the trick?

Googling so far has shown me helmet reviews and breath guard reviews but no installation instructions.

Thanks in advance.

What kind of motorcyclist are you?

What kind of motorcyclist are you?

Biker
Outlaw
Commuter
Tourer
Racer
Loyalist
Purist
Gearhead
ATGATT
Squid
Lifer
Poser
Showboat
Enthusiast
Born-and-Bred
Convert
Fair-weather
Rat

Best Indiana Roads

Cycle Outfitters Limited of Indianapolis has the following recommendations for Best Indiana Roads.

Street/Sport:

Highway 44 from Franklin to Martinsville has become a popular place for sport bike riders to visit in Indiana. This section of highway is full of different styles of corners from long sweeping corners, decressing radius corners, to switch backs. If you're looking for a nice little strip of road to hit a few corners highway 44 should be marked on your map.


The best ride I have found in Indiana is as follows:
Starting at Nashville. Go south on IN-135 to Salem. East on IN-160 to Henryville. (this is the best part) Next, follow US-31 north to Scottsburg. East on IN-56 to Madison. North on IN-7 to Columbus. Lastly, west on IN-46 back to Nashville.
This ride is about 170 miles and takes four to six hours depending on riding skill and sight seeing.

Ninja ZX-14 versus Hayabusa

Rider magazine compared the two king sportbikes side by side.

Their writing style is always enjoyable. I think this is my favorite quote ever:

Aftermarket Exhaust

As you know my formerly lean-running Next-Gen Magna blackened its stock exhaust.

I'm thinking about replacing them with aftermarket pipes.

Friend of mine with the same model bike bought Jardines. Significantly lighter weight than stock, he said. Handled much better -- noticeably different in curves, he said.

But ultimately gave up because the pipes were too darn loud.



I don't want loud. But I wouldn't mind less weight. (Talking about the bike...)

First Impressions: Honda Magna VF750C

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This post is a flash back from one year ago, when I first rode the V45. At that time I combined the trip report with a discussion of tuning issues

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I bought my VF750C during a snowstorm in February, and it has sat forelorn in the garage since then. Until today.

Sure is a lot easier to move around and back up than the Wing.



Compared to the Gold Wing GL1100's square-cut "tractor transmission", it slides into gear like butter. I did find myself tapping the left footpeg as though it was the shifter. The Wing's pegs are further back than the Magna, to clear that big wide F4 engine . The Magna's controls are farther forward than my legs are trained to expect, but that retraining will come soon enough.

Yet, compared to other cruisers like the Victory Kingpin, the Magna controls are mid-mount or standard position.

This bike is more fun using the first 2 gears than the GL1100 is using all 5. Silky smooth motor from lugging all the way to redline. The GL1100 is not particularly rough, but does chatter and complain when being lugged, and does seem to complain when you whack the throttle. The V4, by comparison, begs you to whack it.

I can roll it on in 2nd gear and have to hold on tight to keep from sliding off the back. I am grinning ear to ear and I haven't left my subdivision.

This bike handles like a dream. It's 250 lbs lighter than the Wing, it feels like a feather by comparison. It flops right over in a turn, it doesn't mind leaning at all. I'd have been scraping hard parts if I'd flopped the Wing over like that. I did not scrape any of the shiny parts on the Magna tonight. I'm gonna get a feel for it first.

Sand and salt still covered the roadway, swept into piles in some spots. I shot the rear wheel out when I unexpectedly hit a patch of sand in a turn. Yee-haw! It'll be better after the weekend rains wash the winter sand and salt away.

But the bike did what I asked it to, what I needed it to do. It took all the accumulated stress since Dec 28 (my last ride before the snow fell) and blew it out that chrome 4-into-4 exhaust. This is what I've been missing. This is the only cure for PMS. (Parked Motorcycle Syndrome)