Gaucho and Muff review
 

I thought I should probably do a short review of the Tucano Urbano Gaucho and Muffs I bought last November, seeing as the first proper snow has begun to fall.
First off the service was good and fast, even though the Gaucho was a special order. The quality of the Tucano kit is very good. I have had Oxford muffs on a previous bike (girlfriend's Bandit) and they felt very cheap in comparison to the TU kit.
Fitting of the gaucho was really quite easy, even though I was working by torchlight, and I got the muffs on shortly after.

Gaucho and muffs fitted-

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...IMG_4254-1.jpg

The materials used are a heavy grade nylon with a pile lining. I like pile linings.

Inside Gaucho, all snuggly buggly-

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...s/IMG_4255.jpg

It was when I went to put the bike away that I hit the first problem. I only have a narrow shed door and getting the Tenere in and out with the wider Renthal bars means you have to thread one end in first and then the other. This is ok with my normal handguards, but with the muffs making the bars wider still it was a real task. Trying to get the bike back out was even harder, with the muffs wanting to snag on the door frame.
So, off came the muffs, and back on went the handguards.

Next day dawned bright and crisp and so the girlfriend and I went off for a little ride about. She found that the gaucho meant she could stuff her hand around me and under it and enjoy some of the snuggly buggly also.

Out and about, notice the red handguards are back-

http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...s/DSC00615.jpg

And so things went on through December. The thing was, I was finding the gaucho actually a bit too warm. Might sound daft but the extra warmth meant I didn't need liners etc in my oversuit, which is fine on the bike, but once off I was getting chilly. Also a bit of green laning soon had me quite sweaty.
I found that on the motorway at 75/80mph the gaucho would catch the wind a bit, though not actually as much as I was expecting. Somewhere similar to having soft luggage fitted I guess, but not as bad as hard luggage feels.
Filling up was reasonably easy to do, with the front edge sliding forward to reveal the fuel cap. The getting on and off the bike was ok as well; there's a strap that loops around the back of your neck that just keeps the gaucho in place on your front. It has a velcro safety loop that means if ever you and the bike part company you aren't attached in any way. It works very well as you forget it's there and then get off the bike and wonder what the velcro sound was, only to look down and see the lanyard there and go "oops".

In the end though it was just a bit overkill really, even with the much longer distances I was commuting, so the gaucho got removed too.
I won't be fitting the muffs back on due to the aforementioned shed issues so if anyone wants to make me an offer, please do. I'm in two minds about the gaucho, so likewise if you fancy trying one let me know.

Can the muffs not be used in conjunction with the hand guards?

I might have been interested, but I've just finally got hand guards after months of searching.

I just started wondering how much temperature had to drop before this accesoire would start to prove useful...

... I guess we'll never now ;)

HJ

Kind of redundant to have both to be honest. There is enough integrity to the TU muffs that they won't blow against the levers like other muffs I think. Either way it wouldn't have solved my problem with width.

I would say that down below 0'C for long periods and with precipitation then the gaucho would help a lot. In the rain I found that the toes of my boots showed rain on the outside, but from the toes up to my helmet was nothing.

thanks tom for the review,
i had wondered would a gaucho work on a bike of our style, i have seen them numerous times on scooters around paris and i guess they may suit the office type commuter who perhaps does not want to have to don the jeans and jacket.

as for the muffs, i've only this year tried a set, oxford's, they are a vast improvement tho they dont seem to be the quality of the tu set so....

you have a pm

Can you show some close-up pic of muff? ;) I have barkbusters and heated grips but when its -4 or so the grips are only luke warm on the motorway so I'm thinking of overtaking the guards with a muff.
-8 this morning !

Sorry John, the muffs are packed up and about to be posted to mr stoic bloke.

Not to worry, I'll Google them.

na keith, if you've seen a 'office' type in the city commuting with minimal riding gear you would get it.
when the rider in nice suit, over jacket and shoes climbs aboard the dry seat, cos the gaucho when idle looks after that! on the bike pull it up covering legs, lap etc protecting the rider from the elements preety cool, no?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsJA9...eature=related

i think they're good. i'm not convinced for the open road, full rider gear on that I need one tho!

Who cares if it gets dirty? Its keeping all the crap off you.