The personal and professional website of Douglas Van Bossuyt
I traded Art my +3 Clearview for his +5 Clearview with Goldwing-style vent back in May. We met in Ashland to do the swap, had some lunch together, and then headed back our respective ways on the freeway. Thanks a bunch for the great windshield, Art!
This was the first time my PC ever had seen another.
Art came fully prepared with a movers blanket and everything. I really love the new Clearview +5. I hope the +3 that Art has now is working out well for him!
A few months ago I upgraded the puny horn on the PC800 to something a little louder. The files section of the IPCRC has a document called “Stebel Compact Install.pdf” that does a very good job of outlining how to install the horn. These are a few supplementary photos I took to give people an idea of what they’re in for.
The air horn as it comes in the box.
I pried off the air horn from the compressor using a screw driver.
Next I zip-tied the air horn to the frame of the motorcycle below the lower cowl. Note that I have a bunch of other plastic removed from the bike for other work and that it doesn’t all need to be removed to do this job.
I tucked the air compressor behind the frame and ran a hose between the compressor and the air horn. This makes it have about a half second delay from pushing the horn button to the air horn sounding. Because of this, I decided to keep the original horn intact and working in conjunction with the new horn.
I used some fuel hose to tie the air horn and the compressor together.
I tied the hot wire of the relay that drives the air horn (it needs to be on its own circuit from the battery with a 15 amp fuse) to the hot wire of the stock horn on the bike.
My first “test subject” to use the air horn on responded as expected. He jumped about five feet in the air! I was quite pleased. Later that same day I actually got to use the horn in traffic when someone turned in front of me. They recognized quite quickly that I was on the road. This horn is LOUD and works WELL.
Several months ago I installed a set of Mick-O-Pegs on my PC800. After much debating, I decided to spend the money and get a pair. Ever since, my knees have been greatly appreciative.
Before you buy a set of Mick-O-Pegs there are a couple of things that you should think about and decide for yourself. They are:
If you still want a pair of Mick-O-Pegs, then go ahead and order a set up! The people at Riding is Wonderful are genuinely nice and easy to work with. The wrong bolts were included in my order and over a couple of emails and phone calls with the folks there, I was able to figure out what size to pick up at the local hardware store and Riding is Wonderful updated their system to make sure that all future PC800 customers (that’s you people who are reading this!) will get the correct bolts. I highly recommend doing business with Riding is Wonderful.
The package from Riding is Wonderful contained two carefully wrapped bundles and some paper instructions.
One of the bundles turned out to be a book that Jim Mick wrote. I have it on my to-read stack. Looks like it will be nothing but trouble for me as it deals with going to many different places on a motorcycle. Surely after reading that book I will have to be restrained from setting off on a cross-country trip. Also in this shot are the instructions (they’re very good), the sales slip, and some business cards in case I run into anyone who wants their own set of Mick-O-Pegs.
The two sets of pegs. Each is well-machined and a quality item. I ordered the black anodized set as I thought it would be less conspicuous than a non-anodized set.
Turn your head to the left to see this photo correctly. I forgot to rotate it. You can see here the left crash bar with its cover removed. This is where the Mick-O-Peg attaches.
The one bad thing I found with the Mick-O-Pegs is that it requires a fractional Allen wrench set. The two bolts on each side make it the only bolts on the entire bike that are non-metric. I wish that I could find some metric socket head cap screws for this job. Maybe someday in the future I will.
Here it is installed but with the plastic still off. Also note that I haven’t put the actual peg on. And ignore the broken tupperwear tabs. It’s on my to-do list for next winter to repair a bunch of tabs.
This is on the right side of the bike. All nice and installed.
One note of caution for the first-time Mick-O-Peg user: Make sure to pick your feet up and put them on the normal pegs for ANY corner, no matter how slight. On my first ride I scraped a lot of aluminum off of the pegs going around some mild corners. With the pegs in their retracted position, there isn’t any worry of scraping in all but the tightest of corners. And then, I’ve found that my normal pegs still scrape first and my feet start to get pinned to the bike before the Mick-O-Pegs are touched.
A special note for big-footed people (I wear US size 15, Euro size 50): You will need some time to adjust to riding with the Mick-O-Pegs. They will be slightly in the toe area where you will probably run into them with your boots. It takes a little time but you’ll get used to them being there and how to distinguish between the normal pegs and the Mick-O-Pegs. It makes for a little bit more thinking to make sure you’re hitting the shifter and not the pegs (or the rear brake) but learning a few new habits and it won’t be a problem. If you happen to be in Oregon or within a state or two and want to try a set of pegs out on a PC before you get your own, drop me a note and I’ll see about looping by your way so you can give them a try.
