Had a fairly productive Saturday, despite taking wife to work, picking her up four hours later, making dinner, taking wife and some of her friends to a birthday party, and picking them up again by midnight. Yes, I sometimes wonder who's the man in the household myself 🤣
First up, I removed the side fairings on the CBF, the left because it will be painted and to gain access, the right to gain access. Access to enlarge the front mounting holes on the bracket holding the fairing, since they didn't line up perfectly. And to fit a temp gauge as well as replacing the control unit for the heated grips.
The temp gauge caused some pain to hook up because you cannot see inside the fairing, but after some faffing it was in place. I connected 12v positive to the positive of on of the ignition coils.
I strapped the sensor to the frame after putting a rubber patch in between.
Next on the list was replacing the wonky v.7 control with a v.8 for the heated grips. It is simpler (the extra control box is omitted), more reliable and meant to be connected directly to the battery because it shuts itself off when the charging stops. First, the fuel tank had to be lifted to gain access to remove the old, and fit the new, power cables. It is a rat's nest under there!
Oxford heater controls comes with a zinc finish for the mounting bracket and spacers, as well as the longer bolts needed for the clutch master pump clamp. I used black shrink wrap on the spacers, painted the bracket black and found some black bolts with paint flaking a little. Still less obtrusive than before.
Not mine, but the stock setup and old control unit
With this done, I could remove the stock windscreen.
Followed by fitting the new Calsci windscreen, promising much better protection from the elements as well as noise. A beauty it is not, but fit and finish is perfect. I fitted it in its tallest position, just like the stock fairing had been fitted.
I could now refit the RHS side fairing - after fitting some new anti-vibration patches and making up some special mounting bolts - but the LHS must wait until I have prepped it and the saddlebags and painted the lot. Then I removed the front fender, cleaned and sanded the inside where it was to make contact, and glued a Fenda Extenda to the back end. Even with this, the fender is no longer than the standard fender on the NT650V - to which I also fitted an extender. I like long fenders. While not always sexy, they are practical! The instructions said to clamp the extender for at least 12 hours, so here it is resting.
