at the corner of No and Where

I decided that I would add fog lights to my Goldwing after seeing the huge difference in visibility they gave – not to improve my visibility AS a rider, but to improve my visibility TO other drivers. I decided against the Honda lights as they seemed overpriced, and a couple of other kits were not earning good reviews for quality. I chose the Ion series of lights by Electrical Connection. I have some other products from this company and they are high quality, work as intended, and the company stands behind them. The kit was just as I expected – well-constructed, with decent to good quality installation instructions, and they fit properly without any mucking about.

I went to remove the lower front cowling and the first problem was apparent. The lowest screw on the right side had buggered threads, and as a result the screw was ruined but I was able to run a 6mmx1 tap through the nut and clean it up. I used a Dremel tool to remove the “caps” where the lights are to be placed, and a small end mill to clean up the tabs afterwards. Mounting the lights on the cowling was fairly simple, but I added some extra stainless steel cotter pins to make it easier to install the mounting springs. OK, lights mounted and centered in the holes.

The electrical part was fairly simple. I chose an OEM switch, so that necessitated removing the left-side switch panel. To remove that I had to remove the Baker Air-Wings and the trim strip. I removed the blank, inserted the switch, and connected it to the harness with the keyed 4-conductor plug. Simple enough. I then routed the wires from the battery forward under the frame and then over the left-side cylinder head to the front of the engine. I used a fish wire to pull the relay trigger wire up to the switch I just installed and plugged it in. I have the EC power plate, a neat method of connecting several accessory circuits that keeps the wiring neat. Rather than put another set of ring terminals under the battery posts, I used a position on the power plate and a 15a fuse. I have a ground terminal strip so the ground wire went there. Making sure there would be no short, I turned the bike on and checked voltage at the wires and +12v was the result. OK, that’s done. I put the seat back on, the left-side battery cover, the trim strip, and the Baker Air-Wings. Then I retested the power and I still had +12v. Good. All that remains is to plug the lights in and reinstall the lower cowl.

The plugs are keyed but it really doesn’t matter. The connectors are insulated and the connection is covered after the lights are plugged in. Following the directions I installed the top screws first (the longer ones). The cowling went on easily and all screws and pushbuttons went into place properly the first time. Some folks have had fits trying to reinstall the cowling, maybe I just had a run of beginner’s luck. When I take this apart to have the cowling painted black I will find out if my beginner’s luck has run out or not.

The lights look good and can be seen from quite a distance. The combination of the yellow light down low and to either side, the headlights, and the running lights on the side mirrors makes for a VERY visible vehicle. That was the intent and if the lights help me to see better, great. I will be very happy if no one pulls out in front of me, or turns across my path.

No, not a racing car air dam, not a sentence that gives away the who-dun-it, a spoiler that mounts on the trunk of the Goldwing and has an led brake light in it. They are a fairly common add-on to Goldwings, mainly because of the brake light. Any time you can add more visibility to the rear of a motorcycle it’s a plus for safety. The downside is that the Honda factory spoiler is almost $300. I got a good deal on a yellow one, because the owner never mounted it and subsequently sold the bike. I took the brake light out and then went to Mr. Wizard, the paint guy at Black Magic Customs. He knows how to make yellow paint black and he worked his magic, flawlessly as usual. The rest was up to me.

Following the directions, which curiously say “not to be attempted by do-it-yourselfers”, I marked the trunk lid for the required 5 holes. I double checked to be sure the 5th hole was on the side for the wire leads and then drilled through. It’s nerve-wracking when you’re irrevocably drilling holes in a trunk lid that will cost several hundred to replace if the holes aren’t correct, so double and triple checking seemed reasonable, not paranoid. Drilling the holes to the proper size was easy with a step bit, and the spoiler fit just fine. Whew! I cleaned everything up, reinstalled the inner lid, and put the tools away.

It works great and really adds to visibility. Some folks have used add-on modules to make a running light/brake light or run/turn/brake light out of it, but I think it garners more attention when it’s on only as a brake light. Hopefully the cager following me will see it and avoid rear-ending me. That’s what I want to prevent – along with pretty much all encounters with other motor vehicles. Things are just more enjoyable that way.

Wow! These work GREAT! I wish I had these installed on my last trip to southern Indiana and Northern Kentucky, because it was HOT! These would not have reduced the temps but they certainly move air around. Sitting behind the fairing with a full-face helmet on was hot, and though I was sorely tempted to ride sans helmet, I did not.

Installing these was fairly simple, but I made some changes to the mounting hardware. I replaced the supplied zinc-coated screws with stainless metric cap screws (M5 x 30mm) and stainless washers. I also tapped the 10/32 holes in the mounting plates to M5 and then used M5 x 12mm cap screws that I ground down to the correct length so they wouldn’t hit the trim strip, also with stainless washers. Now, the bolts can all be removed with a single 4mm allen wrench and they are all using the same thread pattern. 10/32 threads are so close to M5 threads that I just ran the M5 tap into the 10/32 holes and it was fine.

The supplied patterns for drilling the trim strips placed the holes a little too far to the top, so I used a dremel to elongate the holes so that the nylon inserts were sitting properly. It all went together quite easily.

The lower section can direct the radiator-warmed air to the rider, or deflect it out and away. Independently, the upper section can direct the ambient air over the rider or deflect it away. Although I haven’t yet had occasion to try it, I would think that using both upper and lower sections to deflect air away from the rider would help in the rain. When I get my Garmin 478 installed, I hope to never test the rain deflection properties – the 478 with Nexrad radar should help me to avoid getting rained on in the first place. Time will tell.

So far, a big THUMBS UP!

Washing and waxing may require removing the air-wings, I will know in a day or two.   Hopefully it won’t be more than a minor inconvenience if it’s necessary, and the way the air-wings work makes it a worthwhile trade-off.

Well, my neoprene front fender extension on the Goldwing didn’t work so well – somehow it rubbed the front tire and that pulled it up between the fender and the tire. I heard the squealing and felt the odd vibration in the handlebars and stopped quickly. It was obvious that it was going to have to be removed, so I got out the tools and did just that. Crap.

When I got home from the ride, I emailed cyclemed from the GL1800 forums and ordered a fender extension from him. He shipped it out on Monday and I got it on Thursday. I removed the rear section of the front fender and matched up the extension so that I could rough up the mating areas for the ABS cement. Since I had already drilled holes for the neoprene extension, I covered them with blue tape so that the ABS cement didn’t get on the outside of the fender. Grabbed a couple of clamps and put the ABS cement on boths parts and pressed them together. Checked the alignment (quickly, as you don’t have much time) and then clamped the sides to hold it all in place. Let it sit for a few hours and then took the clamps off and drilled out the holes. I re-used the bolts, washers, and nuts but I cut the bolts down to the minimum necessary length before tightening them up. I reinstalled it and it looks nice, fits closely to the tire but not too closely.

I certainly hope this extension works better than my attempt.

UPDATE 17 July: It does work better. I just got back from a 1000+ mile ride and it worked great. Unfortunately I can attest that it works well in a deluge although I had no intention of testing it in those conditions. I guess that’s just part of biking.

I received a fork brace from Traxxion Dynamics. The Goldwing front suspension is in need of some help, especially if you are a rider that pushes the envelope and demands sure-footed handling. The brace is very well made and finished, and fits perfectly around the top of the sliders. It is straight across between the forks, and does not interfere with the front section of the front fender. The factory fork cover does not fit over the brace, and I used a dremel tool on mine to cut the factory one into two pieces to make it fit. When I’m satisfied with the fit, I will have them painted black and that will be that.

That’s an odd collection of characters, but the meaning is perhaps equally odd in the motorcycle world. When it seems like every motorcycle owner wants to add more chrome goodies to their bikes, LIMNCS members are moving in the opposite direction.

Less Is More No Chrome Society members are dedicated to erasing the chrome fetish that some bikers have and that accessory manufacturers are only too happy to satisfy. I’ve painted the caliper covers on the Goldwing black, and will do the same to the engine maintenance covers and the lower front cowling as well. Take a look in the Goldwing photo gallery, especially the first picture and the last one. There you will see a LIMNCS member at work.