Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge New owner questions

Hi gang. I am going to pick up a used '07 TBA on Monday. It has a scant 650 miles, and is fresh from its first service. It has an air eliminator kit and shorty off-road exhaust installed by the dealer. This will be my first "smaller" cruiser. I am used to the likes of Honda VTX1800 & Honda Valkyrie, and before that numerous Harleys. The first thing I want to put on it is a windshield - if I want to get buffeted, I go skydiving (I have 657 jumps). I want something that I can see over, but that keeps the wind off of my face. As I searched around the forum, I saw a URL to Windvest, and they seem to have nice units. BTW, if anyone has one, does the 14" model accomplish my mission? Anyway, any recommendations for a good, quality sport windshield would be appreciated.

Also, what vendor(s) offer the best price on aftermarket goodies like grips, pegs, chrome, etc?

I haven't seen the user manual yet, and perhaps these things are covered, but I have never owned a bike with a chain (other than bicycle - which I ride 300 miles a week), and I wonder where I can find a good tutorial on chain maintenance (how often, how to do it, etc,).

Are there any other tach kits available other than the OEM one that mounts horizontally rather than up front with the speedo?

Is there any goodie(s) that I should know about that are must haves? I am one of those nut cases that puts everything but the kitchen sink on my bikes.

I appreciate your help and input. I am in the St. Petersburg, FL area. Thanks.

Oh, and yes, who makes a good looking set of risers for the TBA that can be installed without modifying cables?

How tall are you? Its important to figure out which shield you need.
There are some people using a bar mounted tach search the accessories fourm.
Newspeedmaster.com will be you best bet for a lot of stuff. Yes we all push him, but he helps out with this site and with the rallies.
Most of the big guns of the site are at the GA rally not much will be posted for the next couple days.

Thanks for the quick reply. I am 5' 11". I remember the disappointment of being at bike week one year with my new Valk. I had a custom seat with backrest installed which sat much lower than stock, and I suddenly found myself looking through rather than looking over my windshield, and I hate to look through a windshield. I will check out the vendor that you mention.

Thanks Dog!

You do Brent at New Speedmaster a dis-service with that statement. No vendor is more straingh forward and timely and has bent over backward to help members of this site. You would perhaps do better to encourage others to buy from him.

Hi and Welcome. I have the 14" WindVest. I am 5'-9" and really like mine. I like the fact that the shield is thick enough so that it don't require a lot of bracing. The 14" can be adjusted down if needed. The important thing is to adjust the angle to find that sweet spot for your riding position. It is very easy to do.
Dave

Eddy is a member here who decided to get into the motorcycle accessory business. Great guy, great service, usually good prices and some really nice things you can't get elsewhere.

http://www.fasteddysports.com/

Eddy and I are working together to get a windshield setup that will work on the 2007 Americas, which now have a tapered fork shroud. I'm wanting to get a quick-release Alley Cat once we figure out a mounting system. Drop him a line if you're interested!

As for chrome and grips, I would NOT recommend Küryakyn. The ISO Grips are nice if your hands are big enough, but a lot of their other stuff seems to be prone to rust and pitting. I've got the ISO Pegs and the mounts for them, and granted, my bike up until this last month, has always been stored outdoors (but usually under a cover), but my Triumph chrome has not pitted at all like the Kuryakyn stuff(or stuff from Harley like my toolboxes) However, I will give it a good running over with Simichrome and see how it fares now that it's garaged as it should be! The Bubs I have are also nice and loud, and look good, EXCEPT for the welds on the mounting brackets, which are chromed, but rust easily! I would suggest going with similar pipes that have bolted on brackets.

Thanks for the input. The new bike already comes with the off-road shorty, and air eliminator. I must admit that I had Iso grips and pegs on my VTX, and they stayed flawless, and I thought the grips felt good.

Eddy also sells the drag specialties tach kit which I mounted by the speedo, but I hear tell it fits in the "dash" like a triumph unit also. About 1/3 the price too.

Here's mine

About your question on risers, I got a set from a local HD custom dealer, I believe they are drag specialties, you can see them in my photo gallery. I did have to re-route the throttle and clutch, and because of personal preference I replaced the brake line as well, although the stocker still fit fine. The best part was the price, about half what the Rivco is selling for. Go with what you like, that makes it yours.