Bedifferent
Old man on a bike
Hi Everyone,
I've been off the forum for quite some time (no reason in particular...just busy doing other things I guess) and I thought I would make this post. I saw I started a version of this post way back in 2017 about "Pondering Making Some Lowers". Well, I decided enough cold toes and feet so I decided to finish the project I started. What I made was not intended to protect the whole front of my lower leg but it does give me the protection I was looking for over the tops of my shoes. They hopefully will help keep my feet warmer.... which is what I seem to have the biggest problem with. After working through numerous patterns and trying different fitments this is what I came up with.
I bought some 1 1/4" P-Clamps to go around my crash bars for fastening the aluminum panels I cut and shaped. I used some 0.062 3003 aluminum which is pretty tough, but something that can still be shaped a little if needed. They are solid as a rock and not flimsy in the least. I considered using some coupling nuts on the bottom holes to hold the bottom of the deflector out a bit, but decided it looked more clumsy than I wanted. The outer edge of the aluminum shield runs at about the mid-line of the crash bar. I did this to keep things a little smaller and also if I fall over and drop the bike on the crash bar it wouldn't jam up the deflector. (It just has happened a couple times if I'm not paying attention to the beast and its need to be kept vertical and not reach that point of no return). I did a little flip up at the top of the shields for looks, plus I had some HD deflectors on my Fatboy and they did the same on the top edge. I got them pretty even in spite of the crash bars not being quite the same on both sides of the bike. Right now they just look a boring gray (actually aluminum) but I plan to put some carbon fiber looking vinyl on the front surface for the time being. Maybe I'll spice it up more later.
I took my bike in for some fuel tonight to give them a try. It was about 64 degrees, so I just put on a pair of tennis shoes for the test ride. I rode for about 20 minutes and I could actually feel the warmth over the tops of my shoes and around my feet. When I got home my shoes were not cold in the least. I'm not sure how they would be in warmer weather , but they can be easily removed for the summer. They may serve a useful purpose in the rain as well....lots of options. Hopefully this will keep my toes happy for the remainder of the riding season.
Cheers!
I've been off the forum for quite some time (no reason in particular...just busy doing other things I guess) and I thought I would make this post. I saw I started a version of this post way back in 2017 about "Pondering Making Some Lowers". Well, I decided enough cold toes and feet so I decided to finish the project I started. What I made was not intended to protect the whole front of my lower leg but it does give me the protection I was looking for over the tops of my shoes. They hopefully will help keep my feet warmer.... which is what I seem to have the biggest problem with. After working through numerous patterns and trying different fitments this is what I came up with.
I bought some 1 1/4" P-Clamps to go around my crash bars for fastening the aluminum panels I cut and shaped. I used some 0.062 3003 aluminum which is pretty tough, but something that can still be shaped a little if needed. They are solid as a rock and not flimsy in the least. I considered using some coupling nuts on the bottom holes to hold the bottom of the deflector out a bit, but decided it looked more clumsy than I wanted. The outer edge of the aluminum shield runs at about the mid-line of the crash bar. I did this to keep things a little smaller and also if I fall over and drop the bike on the crash bar it wouldn't jam up the deflector. (It just has happened a couple times if I'm not paying attention to the beast and its need to be kept vertical and not reach that point of no return). I did a little flip up at the top of the shields for looks, plus I had some HD deflectors on my Fatboy and they did the same on the top edge. I got them pretty even in spite of the crash bars not being quite the same on both sides of the bike. Right now they just look a boring gray (actually aluminum) but I plan to put some carbon fiber looking vinyl on the front surface for the time being. Maybe I'll spice it up more later.
I took my bike in for some fuel tonight to give them a try. It was about 64 degrees, so I just put on a pair of tennis shoes for the test ride. I rode for about 20 minutes and I could actually feel the warmth over the tops of my shoes and around my feet. When I got home my shoes were not cold in the least. I'm not sure how they would be in warmer weather , but they can be easily removed for the summer. They may serve a useful purpose in the rain as well....lots of options. Hopefully this will keep my toes happy for the remainder of the riding season.
Cheers!
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