dakota

I just mounted my Garmin 595LM tonight. I appreciate all the advice here. I chose to route the wires under the fake carbon fiber trim piece as others had mentioned. It looks great! I left the tangle of wires wrapped under the seat. Clean and easy install. This is my first motorcycle GPS and with my propensity for getting lost it is a most welcome addition.

I would find that unacceptable as well. Fortunately my experience was the seat shipping earlier than estimated, arriving well padded/protected in the box, and fitting perfectly. I considered the Sargent options, just couldn't get over those "wings" on the side.

Have you considered letting your tender cable dangle outside the seat slightly, then you could access it easily. A dealer in Temple City added that to all the bikes he sold when I got my Concours 14, and it was really handy and not a problem at all. I routed it like that at first but found it either would dangle out and annoy me from an aesthetic perspective, or I could tuck it in and have a hard time getting it back out again. There may be a spot this would work and I just haven't found it yet. In the meantime unlatching the seat isn't that big a deal. Also, the more miles I put on the seat the more impressed I have become.

After spending time with the Corbin seat I can definitely give it two thumbs up. Wish I had ordered it sooner. Echoing the comments from previous posters... The leather has a very nice feel to it. Certainly an improvement from the stock vinyl. Works beautifully with Kevlar jeans. I do slide a bit with textile (at least the Aerostich Roadcrafter 3). That is slightly annoying but a minor penalty to pay. The comfort is great. No sore spots, though I haven't ridden more than 4 hours straight on it yet. The heat is also much appreciated. I have never had a motorcycle with heated grips and seat and it makes rides in the 40s and 50s much more comfortable. The seat is also much more secure than stock. The original seat would wiggle a bit as I shifted around. Not to the point of being dangerous but annoyed me by how cheap it felt. The Corbin is secured in place rock solid. The downside is as a one piece I have to unlatch the whole seat to get to the battery tender. TLDR Love: Heat, leather quality, long distance comfort, secure latching Downsides: Textile slides a bit, heavier, have to unlatch the entire seat rather than just the rear to get to my battery tender cable Overall: Highly recommended!

The Corbin is officially on order! Black with Carbon Fiber trim, no welt, dark silver logo, and heat. Now the waiting 3-4 weeks starts...

I had a Corbin on an SV650S that was a spectacular improvement from stock. I have been OK with the stock seat so far. Longest ride was 7 hours with a stop for pictures stretching etc every 2 hours or so. My rear was definitely getting sore by the end. My bigger complaint than comfort is the feel of the seat/materials. The vinyl cover looks/feels cheap and the latching mechanism doesn't feel all that secure. I have been debating between the Corbin and the Sargent. Initially I was turned off by the Corbin's looks. Over time the width of the Sargent aesthetically has started to bother me more and more and I have grown to appreciate the look of the Corbin. Especially after your review, I think a heated Corbin is in my future. Thanks for the enabling!

I finally removed the annoying idiot sticker from the tank with the help of a hair dryer and some automotive glue remover. Looks much better! Now do I remove the ABS sticker from the front...?

I considered the Daytona Roadstar before getting the TRQ Tour. Without local examples to examine my impression was the Daytona was going to be the bigger boot. After having shifter fit issues with a very large boot (A* Toucan, and yes, I know you can adjust the shifter) I decided to go with what appeared to be the smaller boot. Therefore I have no direct experience with the Daytona. I have been very happy with the TRQ Tour Goretex, but I have found when the temperature gets into the mid 90s the plastic patch on the front that serves as a protector from the shifter gets quite hot in direct sunlight. I thought I was somehow touching some of the exhaust! I will definitely need to find another pair of boots for seriously hot weather. Also, I find the boots not so great to walk in. Not an issue for me, but might be for others.

Heated grips and OEM panniers installed today. Not much use for the heated grips yet, but the panniers have been great. Makes the bike much more practical and improves the look (makes the rear plate bracket sticking out so far actually make sense). Wish I'd done all this sooner. Also the bike got a detailed wash and wax as well as cleaning and lubricating the chain. 1200 miles now! With the way I have been putting miles on I feel like the chain cleaning and lubrication is going to become annoying...

After putting more miles on the Dainese TRQ Tour Gore Tex boots my review above stands. I have ridden in conditions ranging from low 50s pouring rain to the upper 80s (only 60% humidity though) and have been comfortable and dry. The boots have softened up nicely. The zipper always stays up. My only niggling complaint is the jingling zipper when walking off the bike. The airflow is obviously not what you would get with a perforated non-GoreTex boot but they have not been too hot (yet). We'll see how I feel later this summer when we hit the 90s with higher humidity. So far couldn't be happier.

I have not weighed mine but when researching the helmet it looks like it is about 1800 grams (about 250 heavier than the C3 Pro). I do not feel like the helmet is too heavy but don't have any rides longer than 2 hours yet.

Dianese TRQ Gore Tex Tour Rode 90 miles (took about 2 hours) through fairly steady rain today and thought these boots were worth a review. Pardon the pun, but I am head over heels! I was looking for a boot that was a bit more protective with ankle protection and a shin guard. I also wanted something completely waterproof with a toe box that wasn't too bulky. These boots definitely fit the bill! I tried a pair of Alpinestars Toucans. While those were even more protective, I couldn't get over the loss of sensation over the bike controls. Fit I have quite narrow feet and felt these fit true to size. Usually wear a 10.5 or more frequently an 11, the 44 fit perfectly. Comfort on bike 5/5. My feet stayed bone dry despite two hours of steady rain. Reasonably warm in 55 degree weather with full length motorcycle socks. Might look for socks that are just a bit thicker for colder weather. I have not had a chance to try out these boots in warmer weather yet, but they didn't feel too hot walking about my house. No difficulty with feeling the rear brake or with upshifting. Fits under the FJ 09 shifter without any adjustment. Comfort off bike 4/5. Minimal heel slip, no significant squeeking. I do hear a bit of a jingle as the zipper pull strikes the zipper, makes me feel like I am walking with spurs. No pain or areas that rub. Fit and Finish 5/5. High quality construction. Nifty built in reflectors on the sides. No sure how noticeable they are, but they do look cool. If you are looking for water proof touring boots that are comfortable and have solid ankle protection, you should give these serious consideration.

After putting in about 500 miles with my new Shoei Neotec, thought it was time for a review. In short this helmet is fantastic! Fit I found the fit true to size to just a touch on the small side. I have a head circumference of 56.7cm, this would appear to fall between the small and medium sizes. The small fit but was uncomfortably snug causing headache after a few minutes. The medium fit well, passed all the fit tests, much more comfortable. When looking through product reviews on this helmet, I noted many complaints about the cheek pads. Perhaps I have an oddly shaped face but they fit me appropriately. Proper fitting cheek pads should be snug and give you a bit of a chipmunk sensation. Ventilation My favorite part of this helmet. I have ridden in temperatures ranging from 50 degrees and raining to 85 and sunny. With warm weather open up the three vents and you actually get ventilation! Nice and cool. This is in contrast to my last helmet where the vents could either be open or closed but you never got any ventilation no matter what you did with them. Riding through the cold/rain I have kept the vents closed and my head stays nice and warm. If ventilation is a priority, give this helmet serious consideration. Fogging Noted some minimal fogging initially when riding through a rapid temperature change. After installing the pinlock and breath guard this is no longer an issue (now if I could just keep my side view mirrors and wind screen from fogging!). Visor Great field of view. Much clearer than my previous helmet. The visor does have relatively firm detents and is a little fussy to change the visor out (say to install the pinlock). The flip down sun visor is fantastic. Drops down far enough to not have an annoying line across your visual field. No distortion. Mechanism is easy to operate with gloves on. Modular component In all honesty I wasn't certain how much use this would get but wanted to give it a try. I love being able to stop at a light and quickly raise the chin bar to cool off a bit, or be able to get a quick drink in or have a conversation while taking a quick stop touring. I always hated taking my helmet all the way off in the rain just to get a drink/snack. Your hair gets wet and if you put your helmet on the ground so does your neck roll. Highly recommend a modular helmet if you are in to touring. Safety This helmet score 4 stars by SHARP and carried a DOT certification. The chin bar stayed down 93% of the time in SHARP testing. If you are not familiar with SHARP they are a UK based agency that evaluates helmet safety by testing different impact zones and assigns a rating of 1-5 stars. 4 starts I pretty solid for a modular helmet. If anyone is on the fence about giving this helmet a try in my opinion it is well worth the investment. Oh, and I went with white for safety reasons. I don't mind that it makes me look a bit like a storm trooper. Really wanted to get the matte grey to match the bike though...

My prior helmet was a Fulmer full face which was 13 years old (yikes). Since I upgraded my ride to a new FJ 09, a new helmet was clearly in order. The Shoei Neotec has been fantastic so far. I wanted a modular that fit well and was offered in white and had good ratings by Sharp. Chose the Neotec over the Schuberth based largely on the Sharp ratings. This helmet vents far better than my prior helmet (pretty sure that one was chosen as the cheapest full face from the dealership). The visor is also much clearer. Have not had a chance to test out the pinlock or breath guard. Huge fan of the flip down sun visor. I ride the Blue Ridge Parkway frequently and it is often sun dappeled. Too bright with no sunglasses/dark visor in the sun, but just as quickly go through shaded portions where a dark visor makes it too dark. I don't have experience with a photochromic shield but would be surprised if it transitioned fast enough for me. Wasn't sure how much use I would get out of the modular component, but it has been great. I love lifting the front at a stop light or during brief rest stops on the Blue Ridge parkway. Haven't had a chance to crash test it and hope I never will, but I like what Sharp had to say about it, 4 stars overall (higher than the GT air) and modular portion stayed closed during >90% of tests.

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm going to give the Dianese TRQ-Tour Gore-Tex boots a try. Looks like they will offer more protection than my just barely over the ankle aging Sidis. Hard to picture just how big the A* Toucan was until I had them on my feet. Even with a shifter adjustment I didn't think I would ever be able to develop any feel for the shifter or brake. Hopefully the Dianese boots work out better for me.