Good & Bad farkles

Of the farkles that you have on your bike, which ones are:

1) indispensable (would add again on a new bike)

2) so so (could take it or leave it.)

3) not worth it (wouldn,t buy for a new bike)

I find my fuse panel, my Stebel horn, my Honda heated grips, my Zumo, my powerlet sockets, my auxilliary lights, my voltage monitor, my tank bag, and my top box with lights indispensable.

I can take or leave my Throttlemeister and my fairing extenders

I do not like my helmet guardian.

On my 1100...

I love my Grab-on grips, headlight modulator, breaklight modulator and powerlet adapter.

I have nothing in the so-so range.

I don't like the after-market locking left glove box. (It's keyed differently and I dislike carrying the spare key.)

On my 1100, hate my headlight modulator.
Like everything else.

The headlight modulator either works excellently, or terribly, in that everyone does see it. They respond differently though. Most stop and give you plenty of room. Many flip you off or sware at you. Some think you are flashing your lights as an indicator that you are simply being a nice biker, and are allowing them to pull out in front of you, and they politely wave back as they cut you off. I now leave it off an use Stebel horn, which works for what you intend.

Oops. Forgot the Stebel. I loooooooooove my Stebel.

epconde said:

Of the farkles that you have on your bike, which ones are:

1) indispensable (would add again on a new bike)

2) so so (could take it or leave it.)

3) not worth it (wouldn,t buy for a new bike)

I find my fuse panel, my Honda heated grips, my Zumo, my powerlet sockets, my auxilliary lights, my voltage monitor, my tank bag, and my top box with lights indispensable.

I can take or leave my Throttlemeister and my fairing extenders

I do not like my helmet guardian.

Click to expand...

So where do you have your Helmet Guardian mounted? I have mine mounted under the topcase so my helmets don't rest on the exhaust.

epconde said:

That is a good idea....any pics?

Click to expand...

Here is a picture of it...

https://www.st-owners.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=13633&d=1158796604

I find my Bestem 2012 indespensible (any trunk would do I guess..Givi..Hondaline) I also like the Bungee nuts I have mounted on the top of the Bestem box the and adjustable bungies cords for affixing things to the top of the trunk securely.

I find my helmet guardian indespensable as well. I have my guardian mounted on the lic plate but use 2 pot holders folded in half and sewed to keep the helmets off the mufflers.

In the summer I really like my replacement stock shield that I cut 5" off the top of.

I find the Cramp Buster just OK, but hey it helps

I have Progrip Gel grips and although better than stock, I'd like to find something better there as well.

I'm not as pleased with the Tank Slapper as I thought I'd be, although must admit it has done it's job of protecting my tank from my knees, tank bag and jacket zipper. Just doesn't look all that good and keeps lifting in places. I'd like to find something better in that regards.

Those are the extent of my farkles.

+
Heated gear, both jacket and grips;
Cruise control (I have both MC Cruz and Audiovox, prefer the Audiovox);
Spencer seat mod, don't leave home without it, all the other farkles are worthless if you aren't comfortable;
Radio (I have both auto unit and a "best radio ever", prefer the auto unit. Harder to pack but _way_ cheaper;
Running/auxiliary lights, I have bot Piaas and Wally world cheapies, spend the money for Piaas.

+/-
Aerostich Roadcrafter, works great but there's lots of options these days, research the market and choose yur own.

-
Aftermarket wind screen, I've had'em all, just finished 8100 mile trip with an original 91 screen, save yur money;

Good:
Corbin Dual Canyon with Backrest
Caterpillar O-Ring for Cruise Control
MCL Highway Blades
Medium Pannier Liners
Tiny Bungees for holding Pannier Liners in lid section
Cargo Basics Tank Bag

Nice to have:
Throttle Boss
Full Bike Cover
Expanded Tool Kit

Not Needed:
Nothing .... I use everything and enjoy it all.

Will not purchase:
Cruise Control - O-Ring is $ 1.00
GPS - have one in my phone
Aftermarket Screen - Have the stock screen set on the high position and it is best for me
Radar Detector - In SoCal the CHP MUST be in plain sight
Radio - Prefer MP3s and use my phone for that also

Gear I am happy with:
HJC FF Helmet CR-S1
Leather HD Jacket
Frank Thomas Bumble Bee Jacket
Shift Gloves
Icon Boots

Gear I am unhappy with:
Frank Thomas mesh jacket - fell apart on me (Cycle Gear took it back - no problem)
HJC 1/2 helmet - incorrect color for Honda '05 red
Joe Rocket Gel Palm gloves

Hey just thought of 2 more farkles I have both in the indespensible group

Spencer seat wsa good for 14 days in a row with no sore butt on my recent trip

and wide bag liners from TLC products...awesome for going in and out of motels at night., and held everything we needed..neatly.

Speaking of seats, especially since it is the #1 farkle and best money spent for the best farkle ever. Leather Russell Day Long seat w/backrest.

Of the farkles that you have on your bike, which ones are:

1) indispensable (would add again on a new bike)
My tip-over bars, my Russell Day Long Seat, clearview shield, J&M, heated connection for my heated suit and gloves, highway wings, 45 degree valves, throttle lock, GPS by Garmin, cup holder, and trunk.

2) so so (could take it or leave it.)
My cramp buster thing and the grip puppies.

3) not worth it (wouldn,t buy for a new bike)
Probably the cramp buster thing and speed bleeders.

Best farkles:
1) Heli risers
2) Corbin saddle
3) Sylvania SilverStar Ultra + PIAA undermirror lights
4) FIAMM low range
5) Throttle lock
6) Fuse block/Powerlets

SoSo Farkles:
1) Cramp Buster
2) Kuryakyn Voltmeter
3) Headlight shield (great idea, but I have lost 3 because of lousy velcro)
4) Headlight modulators (great in theory, but annoying. Have since removed)

Useless Farkles:
1) Smoke +4" screen (no cut outs - too much buffeting)
2) MCL Pegs - have since removed/sold them
3) Nuvi Mount (RAM)... Garmin devices charge poorly on 3rd party mounts

Best by far was the clearview windscreen.

Good were the stebel and speedohealer.

Would liked to have gotten a better seat.

I use a road map so the GPS wasn't really something I needed although I can see playing with it would be fun.

Great:
Russell seat
Heli risers
Cee Bailey +6W stock height
Vista Cruise throttle lock (works better and cost less then all the others)
5 LED light strip on each side of instruments wired to turn signals (can easily see them under all lighting and not leave my turn signals on)
Garmin 2730, XM antenna
Starcom so I can hear XM radio
Stebel horn

Good:
heated grips (seldom used as my hands don't get cold easily)
BMW grips
Guardian helmet lock mounted on license plate. (Works fine there and won't touch the exhaust if properly positioned. I have explained with photos how to position the helmet in previous threads.)
Sigma BC800 bike computer (extremely accurate within a fraction of a mph and cost me $13)
Roberts Highway wings

Wouldn't buy again:
Garmin heated jacket (I don't get cold easily and prefer the feel of natural heat thru layering
Two way radio (rather not gab while riding)

I did a 6300 mile coast to coast trip at the end of August, so here's my list:

Indispensable -

The Vista Cruise throttle lock. I couldn't have made it without it. I had to do some heavy sanding to install it where I wanted it, but it saved my wrist on the trip.

Auxiliary fuse box with relay - Having the relay saved likely saved the battery's charge a time or two because I didn't have to remember to turn stuff off when I walked away from the bike.

Nice to have -

The Zumo 550. I was following US 50 east from Sacramento, California to Ocean City, Maryland so I mostly looked at the signs. She did help a lot though, for finding hotels and such. Her name is Sally. She has the British accent. She's not a bad pillion, never leans the wrong way. After two weeks of listening to her through the earplugs we had sort of a thing going on. Not that we're getting married. Not this trip, anyway.

Adaptive TPX radar detector - It was very good at detecting other radar detectors, but not much warning on the real thing sometimes. It did save me once or twice though.

Radar OverRide. This allowed the radar detector audio alert to override the GPS and MP3's through the earphones. Otherwise the tones from the built in speaker can't be heard over the MP3 player in the Zumo.

The Alaskan Leather butt pad - It helped, but it was not the panacea that the testimonials indicated. I think that the big trouble is that it sits atop the stock seat. I'm going to try the Spencer mod next.

The Ram camera mount - I was able to capture a lot of videos and photographs. I now have to sit down and edit them.


Maybe not again -
All of the camping stuff. I camped two nights out of 14. There were two nights at my sister's place in Philadelphia, and the rest were in motels. Maybe I should just admit that I don't want to camp anymore.

epconde said:

Help me picture this. Thanks.

Click to expand...

Small bungees criss-crossed to keep liners in lid section. This allows the rest of the pannier for important things like donuts .....