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- - Winter protection, Muffs And Gauchos ( https://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=12670)

Im just in the process of buying these and will post an up to date review once i get them fitted and a couple of miles under my belt or nicely heated hands:luuurve:

Stumpy, you've got the same veg rack as me!

Hi Guys

Just bought a set of the muffs from Val, and had them fitted for the last 2 weeks.

Ive commuted for the last 5 years all year round and found that heated grips/hand guards are ok for most days but just dont cut the mustard when its either very windy, very cold or starts to rain.

Ive attacehd a few piccies at the bottom to show a before and after. Delivery was very quick (3-4days) and they were a real piece of cake to fit, bend the retaining bar, open up the velcro line, slide over the hand guard/handle bar, velcro up and i used a combonation of the elastic like cable tie, and extra cable ties just to make sure they were kept in position.

What are they like?
First off, they just keep so much wind and rain off, which is what i bought them for. Best example is it was around 3-4degree outside, i have a 20 mile commute (10miles town, 10miles open road/motorway) and with a set of mid way winter gloves and heated grips on low my hand never got cold, gloves were not even damp.

There is a slight bit of back draft from the opening being larger than your hand/arm but doesnt do much and you can just turn up the heated grips a bit more.

Problems?

Only minor things but thought i would just mention them as to be truthful.

They do that a while to get use to as you need to keep a process of getting your hands in and out properly. Took me the 2 weeks but now i think im sorted.

There is an extra flap of wool were you push your hand in that im assuming is to try and stop back draught etc but it did get in the way until i found there are 2 small poppers at either end to stop this. They are a bit weak and it still comes up popped every now and then and makes it a bit hard to get your hand in and out. Going to glue it down later, no thing major.

I would advice you to place something in the arm openings over night first time you put them on to try and open/increase the hieght of the opening for your arms. They come in the packet super flat and mean big fat arms like mine took a while to fit.

Overall?

For the price and quality you get its A1 stuff, and they do what they are designed to, keep your hands out of the wind, warmer, and stop the rain getting at your hands which creates even colder hands etc etc.

Would i buy them again?

Hopefully these will last a couple of years but i would advice anyone who commutes in winter and doesnt like cold/wet hands to get some.

Photos

If you start here and go previous, ive taken a couple before and then afters with the muffs fitted.

http://s259.photobucket.com/albums/h...t=DSCF0612.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxwell123455 (Post 142006)

Hi Guys

Just bought a set of the muffs from Val, and had them fitted for the last 2 weeks.

Ive commuted for the last 5 years all year round and found that heated grips/hand guards are ok for most days but just dont cut the mustard when its either very windy, very cold or starts to rain.

Ive attacehd a few piccies at the bottom to show a before and after. Delivery was very quick (3-4days) and they were a real piece of cake to fit, bend the retaining bar, open up the velcro line, slide over the hand guard/handle bar, velcro up and i used a combonation of the elastic like cable tie, and extra cable ties just to make sure they were kept in position.

What are they like?
First off, they just keep so much wind and rain off, which is what i bought them for. Best example is it was around 3-4degree outside, i have a 20 mile commute (10miles town, 10miles open road/motorway) and with a set of mid way winter gloves and heated grips on low my hand never got cold, gloves were not even damp.

There is a slight bit of back draft from the opening being larger than your hand/arm but doesnt do much and you can just turn up the heated grips a bit more.

Problems?

Only minor things but thought i would just mention them as to be truthful.

They do that a while to get use to as you need to keep a process of getting your hands in and out properly. Took me the 2 weeks but now i think im sorted.

There is an extra flap of wool were you push your hand in that im assuming is to try and stop back draught etc but it did get in the way until i found there are 2 small poppers at either end to stop this. They are a bit weak and it still comes unpopped every now and then and makes it a bit hard to get your hand in and out. Going to glue it down later, no thing major.

This extra flap can sometimes be a little bit of a newsence, but not much as you become used to riding with the Muffs. I think if you fold this extra flat pulled out it might well reduce the back draught considerably. (though for some reasong un-beknown to me I have never acctually tried it). The poppers are very small and no the strongest, but as you use the Muffs the flap will be inclined to settle down and stay in place.

I would advice you to place something in the arm openings over night first time you put them on to try and open/increase the hieght of the opening for your arms. They come in the packet super flat and mean big fat arms like mine took a while to fit.

Overall?

For the price and quality you get its A1 stuff, and they do what they are designed to, keep your hands out of the wind, warmer, and stop the rain getting at your hands which creates even colder hands etc etc.

Would i buy them again?

Hopefully these will last a couple of years but i would advice anyone who commutes in winter and doesnt like cold/wet hands to get some.

My personal pair are just going into their fith winter. Over the years they have done aproximately 45000 miles on the bike. I beleive they will happily last another three to four years, quite possibly longer.

Photos

If you start here and go previous, ive taken a couple before and then afters with the muffs fitted.

http://s259.photobucket.com/albums/h...t=DSCF0612.jpg

Maxwell, Thanks for posting your comments. It's always interesting to hear what people think of the Muffs and Gauchos.

:023: Val.

I've also just bought a pair of Vals muffs and have been using them for nearly a week.

I fitted heated grips last winter and they were a great improvement, but I have a 60 mile round trip and in the middle of winter when it's freezing and raining on the motorway they struggled to keep up.

These muffs are a good price and a really good build quality. It took about 5 minutes to fit them.As i don't have a garage The metal straps that bolt together help keep the on the bike if light fingered ******s may be around.

It hasn't been that cold this week (ground temperatures of about 7-10oC). It has been really wet over the past couple of days though. I'm still wearing summer gloves and they have been bone dry. I've found the muffs keep the wind off completely, even at motorway speeds, and I haven't even thought of turning the heated grips on yet. I may be able to wear summer gloves right through the winter :)

There is a knack of getting your hands in and out of them but you get used to that quickly enough. I would recommend them to any one who intends to ride all year round.

I've been using mine now for the last few years . For the winter they are the dogs and I do not use heavy weather gloves any more. As for the loose furry extra bit I cut it out as I found it a bit intrusive when putting my hands into the muff itself and the diameter of my jacket fills up the gap in any case.:eusa_dance:

The only difference is that on the Ten I now have some cut down KTM handguards for the winter underneath the muffs to support them and unmolested ones for the summer.:icon_mrgreen: