Winter protection, Muffs And Gauchos
 

Hi,

By kind permission of CaptMoto and recommendation of a couple of the site members, I've popped across from my normal abode of ukGSer.com where for the last couple of years I have been providing Tucano Urbano Muffs and Gauchos 'plus anything else Tucano Urbano offer' to the Riders of the GS BMW's.

For those thinking of a little thermal assistance on their bikes in the chill of the winter, you can't get better (beleive me I've looked) than the Tucano handlebar Muffs.
In most cases the 319 Muffs are the best option (even though the recommended fitment suggests otherwise) as they allow you to leave the handguards fitted to the bike, giving more space inside for your fingers.



Muffs and Gauchos are available for the intrepid winter rider priced as follows:

Postage and packaging is included along with insurance and tracking for Parcel Force deliveries. Muffs are usually sent via Royal Mail.

Payment by Paypal or Cheque.

319 Muffs: �46.00 Royal Mail / �49.54 Parcel Force 48

117 Gaucho: �103.00 via Parcel Force 24

319 Muffs & 117 Gaucho together: �145.00 via Parcel Force 24

These prices are for UK post code areas only. With the exception of the following post codes:

Postcodes excluded are: BT, GY,HS, IM, IV, JE, KA27-28, KW, PA20-49, PA60-78, PH17-26, PH30-44, TR21-25 & ZE.
For postage quotes to these areas please PM me. This only applies to packages sent vis Parcel force.

Please contact me via PM or email valatlmc@hotmail.co.uk before making payment to confirm availability.



These are some pictures courtesy of Tim Cullis of the ukGSer site, of the Muffs and Gauchos fitted 'in this case' to the 1200gs and ADVs.
I do have some pics of a Tenere fitted with the Muffs and Gauchos, but I'll seek the owners permission before posting them.

The Muffs & Gauchos will also fit straight onto the F650gs, F650/800gs, Varadaro, Vstrom, XT660s plus many others including most sports bikes,cruisers and naked retros.

Some types of handguard will need to be removed to allow the muffs to fit over them.

They are also available to fit many other types of bikes. Drop me a PM with your requirements and I'll see what we can do.


Attached Images http://www.ukgser.com/forums/attachm...1&d=1254686972 http://www.ukgser.com/forums/attachm...1&d=1254687011 http://www.ukgser.com/forums/attachm...1&d=1254687093



Thanks for looking.


Val.

PS: Many times I have been contacted by people from other sites and across the world with enquiries about Muffs etc for their bikes. I'm happy to post these products to anywhere in the world as long as the purchaser is happy to pay the postage.

The muffs shown above are currently fitted to my Tenere.

I haven't fitted the gauchos yet but they should be OK. One advantage of the gauchos that I've never seen mentioned anywhere is that when they are folded back over the seat as in the last picture above everything is kept dry, so no wet bum syndrome when you set off.

Highly recommended.

Tim

Yes ladies and gents, I have exchanged a couple of email with val. h. and he got green light from me because his products are good and he is an honest enough chap.

buy with confidence. :drillsergeant:

Well I'm blowed! I had no idea you where into these lovely little bikes Tim. You're so right too. Even though I'm well aware of the seat coverage part of the Gaucho I've never actually put it in a thread. Thanks for pointing it out :045:

Thanks for your recommendation CaptMoto, I'll do my best to live up to it.


Val.

How does the Gauchos attach to the bike?

I can recommend the products and Val. Good kit and great service

http://stumpy.smugmug.com/Motorcycle...59_CgFxD-M.jpg

Question....

How do you milk it?


:rofl[1]:

At a guess on the udder side Capt. :pjrlaugh_61OD3G:

Capt, Size 17mm spanner left side.

Jokes aside, they do look like they will do the job well.

The Gaucho has various straps to allow you to attach it to the frame both around the tank/steering head area and the lower part of the frame to prevent it from flapping. There is also a security wire that allows the Gaucho to be locked to the frame to prevent theft.
In the first picture above (Tims red 1200) you can see how the gaucho works with the inflatable chambers holding it up in front of the rider. There is also a pocket on the inside of the gaucho for storing essential items needed when traveling.

The Muffs attach simply by sliding them over your handguards and doing-up the Velcro. This sometimes takes a little fiddling to get right / how you want it.
Finaly you use either the provided elastic bungee or the zip-ties to fix them to your bars. Once you have put them on and off a couple of times they'll loosen up and become much easier to use.


Val.

I can thoroughly endorse the Tucano muffs. This is my second winter on the Ten with the muffs and they are fantastic. I have Oxford heated grips and when cruising at motorway speeds usually have them on minimum. The wind protection is excellent. I have put some KTM handguards on which I had to trim to fit underneath the muffs but they support the front part of the muffs from pressing on the levers. I also put an old pair of SRX bar end weights on which in conjunction with cutting off the grommet in the muffs makes puttng on/ taking off very esy indeed. The muffs are so good that I also cut out some of the furry lining as I don't need it. I cannot recommend this product more, especially as I paid �60 originally!:thumbsup[1]:

Arr! Now I understand what Crusty was talking about. It sounds like you have the R323 Muffs on your bike??
These are actually the recommended Muffs for quite a lot of bikes including the big trailies, but they nesessatate the removal of the handguards and are quite flat so can be difficult to get your big gloves in and out of easily.

However it was discovered by the BMW GS guru 'goes be the name of Steptoe' over on the ukGSer site that infact the R319's where a much better option in that they fit straight over the handguards, with only a very few exceptions. Also, because they don't attach to the bar ends it is much easier to maneuver the bike around the garage and drive etc.
I have also discovered that on the hole the 319 is easier and nicer to use on almost all bikes including some of the sports bikes.

Over the last three years or so I have looked at the other offerings from around the world, and can confidently say that the Tucano Muffs are for the price and function the best your going to find.
My own set are now in their fifth winter (three of which where full time riding as an instructor) now and are showing little or no signs of deterioration and I'm confident that they will last me several more winters yet.


Val.

I've bought and fitted a set of muffs. Following observations to make

1/ Fantastic service, Delivery couldn't be faster

2/ Really easy to fit

3/ Warm, and Dry (it was chucking it down the day I collected the bike, and 2 degrees C) the ride back was a good hour or more. My hands were sizzling hot (no heated grips!) just winter Dianese gloves...and muffs.

4/ I did have a swimming pool in the bottom of them- (but it was torrential rain!) so I will pay a bit of attention to mimimising gaps in the future.


Excellent!

any suggestions?
 

I have been trying to reduce the cold finger syndromes on my XTR.
Tried hand guards but didn't think they did much other than increasing handle bar vibrations!
So I have been looking at the muff options.
Now would these product fit the normal handle bars (without hand guards)? And would they accommodate wearing winter gloves inside?
my ride is an XTR 2009 and the handle bar has a cross bar across it
thanks a lot

Bonjo, I use the Tucano muffs and my SUMMER gloves as with the heated grips I find that I don't need winter gloves and prefer the increased feel with thin gloves. You will need some sort of protection around the front of your levers to stop the muffs pressing on your levers at speed. I have used some cut down KTM handguards for this. I too have the cross brace, but the set up that I have described works very well and my hands are always warm.

Hope this helps.

The Muffs will fit quite happily without guards, though if you have them why not use them. You will get more Room inside the Muffs by leaving them in place. They are originally meant to fit Vesper scooters etc, that don't have them.
The Muffs are internally reinforced to help them keep their shape and have aluminium stays that you fix to your bars. Both of these go some way to preventing the Muffs from pressing on the leavers. However once you are above 50mph there is a strong possibility that they could get pushed back by the wind force.

There are various guards that will fit inside the Muffs including the BMW 1150gs handguards. These can be bought easily from any BMW dealer (most will do mail order) for around �40.ish and will fit most trail bikes.

It's not just the big trailies that these Muffs fit. I have supplied them to fit on several other bikes with and without guards including Bandits, a Blackbird and a BMW K1200gt Oh and a Harley or two.

I better just add that: The Tucano Muffs are a very different puppy to the Oxford muffs from your local bike shop. They are much bigger and a whole lot better made, with full closures around the bars and mirrors. They will also last you more than one winter (Mine are on their fifth) and you'll be putting them away in March where you can find them easily for next winter, rather than (with the other muffs) just binning them in January because they didn't do what you'd expected of them.


Val.

I'm currently offline for the next few weeks, until my IP is updated to my new address. In theory this should be around the 20th of March. Though I am managing to get Online once or twice a week.

For those wishing to contact me, my mobile is 07785793069.

Cheers Val.

Sorry chaps for late reply
 

for some reason, I don't get regular notification of any updates to my post, so I went ahead & found a supplier for Tucano's. They are the bulky, fleece lined ones.
I removed the Yamaha hand guards I have bought as I didn't get on with them. They are up for sale on e-bay as we speak.
The muffs do help a lot against cold wind.
I found wearing motorcycle winter gloves, make me clumsy as they feel to bulky for reasonable movement inside the muffs. So I wear light gloves without bulky armour. Although I still find getting onto the brake lever slower.
Come warmer weather, I will look out for open ended hand guards to reduce squashed flies on my riding gloves

Back on line, all up and running now :D


Val.

The season is upon us again Folks
 

Well Summers almost done, the central heating button is fast becoming a familiar location in our lives and the sky isn't looking quite as warm as it once did. Time you may be thinking, that something was done about keeping ones pinkies and knees warm.

Well! Muffs and Gauchos are here again to help alleviate your chillie bits. For now (January will see in the new 20% VAT hike) prices are the same as last years. I've also got some rather good Thermals that some might find useful. Here's a link to my thread on the GSer site, so you can see some pictures. http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=239585

The Muffs and Gauchos will also fit the new 1200 Tenere. I had a little sit on one at Fowlers in Bristol. It's amazing how similar it is to the 1200GS in style and fit.


Val.

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

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: