[jontow]

Finally did it.. wandered on down to the wally world and bought the infamous seat pad: for reference, it's now sold under the Coleman brand.. appears to be the same excellent product that everyone rants and raves about.



Also picked up a really cheap little combo thermometer/compass/clock.. <$5 -- the compass is pretty worthless, which is unfortunate, but the footprint isn't bad, and it mounted quickly with a pair of zip ties..

For the simple reason that the compass is awful, I don't know that I'll recommend it, but maybe mine is just defective. It doesn't explicitly say its waterproof, either, but the faces are fairly sealed, and its behind the headlight fairing.



I also added a pair of the deer whistles, but didn't take a picture. Something I've been wanting to do for a few months.. don't know if they work or not, but they're cheap insurance and mounted quickly and out of the way. We have a lot of deer, and I'd rather not make good friends with any of them.

 

[Rainman]

I like it! I've had one of those compasses too and it never seemed to be accurate.

 

[wayne]

jontow,



I'd like to know if those deer whistles really make a difference. I see a lot of them around but I've never been sure about them. Hitting a deer is something I think about a lot,especially early morning and evening.



Wayne.



PS What year is your TW? Is that the stock speedo?

 

[qwerty]

Compasses won't work well when near magnetic materials, like the handlebar. To complicate matters, the bracket holding your compass looks designed to be mounted vertically, and you've mounted it horizontally.

 

[jontow]

I kind of had the feeling that the mounting position would affect it, and suspected magnetic interference. I did not suspect that merely mounting it near metallic objects would cause such oddity.. will have to rethink this a bit.

 

[srs713]

jontow,



I'd like to know if those deer whistles really make a difference. I see a lot of them around but I've never been sure about them. Hitting a deer is something I think about a lot,especially early morning and evening.



Wayne.



PS What year is your TW? Is that the stock speedo?

Good quality deer whistles can be heard by deer,

if there are no bug guts blocking the airway.

Lots of those whistles get clogged & don't do what they are supposed to.



As for keeping deer out of your way... that depends on the deer.

When the whistles first came out they worked great.

But as with many things, they became too common.

If there are a lot of them around, the deer might not pay attention to them any more.

Kind of like me and car alarms.

 

[jontow]

jontow,



I'd like to know if those deer whistles really make a difference. I see a lot of them around but I've never been sure about them. Hitting a deer is something I think about a lot,especially early morning and evening.



Wayne.



PS What year is your TW? Is that the stock speedo?

The TW is a 97, made in late 96: I very much believe it to NOT be the stock speedo, and I don't know what the heck it came off. I'm assuming a much older yamaha bike, or maybe a 4wheeler or something. It doesn't appear to be backlit, and there is only a trip meter: no odometer. I literally have no idea how many miles are on the bike, and as long as it keeps chugging along, well, I'm not sure I care, either!

I do like the fact that it has a resettable trip meter, though, and use that feature a lot. My brother's '91 only has the odometer, no reset knob.. thats a lot of math instead of riding, as I see it.



For what it's worth, I plan to replace that speedo with one of the Trail Tech setups anyway, when cash permits.

 

[tundrafreak]

I did your clock, temp, compass mod today.

thanks for the tip.

I know the compass is not gonna work but I like the clock & temp

 

[jontow]

Did you use the same mounting idea? I thought it a bit cheesy, but it went on quick and seems to be sticking

I'm still going to keep my mind on the compass: its a function I'd *really* like to have, and had one on my old suzuki GS500 that I used a lot.. per qwerty's advice, and some marine applications that my friend told me about, perhaps aluminum bars would take care of it. I'm not ready to incur that expense to test, but something to keep in mind.

 

[Gerry]

I installed a simple, but workable compass on my gas cap (plastic on XT600 tank) by useing velcro 'buttons'. When in the hills, generally before I laid the bike to rest on the kickstand, I would pop the top on the compass and take a look while the needle was still level. Seemed to work fine when I checked against another unit I held in my hand. Gerry

 

[tundrafreak]

Did you use the same mounting idea? I thought it a bit cheesy, but it went on quick and seems to be sticking

I'm still going to keep my mind on the compass: its a function I'd *really* like to have, and had one on my old suzuki GS500 that I used a lot.. per qwerty's advice, and some marine applications that my friend told me about, perhaps aluminum bars would take care of it. I'm not ready to incur that expense to test, but something to keep in mind.

The zip ties? Heck yeah.

I carry a Cammenga lensatic compass in my tank bag.

Do the same on my sled. I do own a ram mount & Garmin Oregon but prefer the methods taught in my military land nav courses personally. Its just me.

 

[lizrdbrth]

The zip ties? Heck yeah.

I carry a Cammenga lensatic compass in my tank bag.

Do the same on my sled. I do own a ram mount & Garmin Oregon but prefer the methods taught in my military land nav courses personally. Its just me.

Amen. "Death by GPS" is becoming all too common lately.

 

[jontow]

My GPS (garmin etrex legend cx) was stolen out of my jeep along with some other items while I was working a midnight shift the day before my birthday.. happy birthday!



I haven't been willing to spend the money on another one since, but nobody's stolen any of the compasses I carry around

.. they probably can't figure out how to get it to talk to them while they're driving.

 

[jontow]

For those following the silly saga of the compass-that-just-don't-work, I think I've come up with another mounting attempt that I like more..



The problems:



* Steel in close proximity to the compass affect it by 'locking' it into one position, for magnetic reasons.

* The zip-tie to the bars method allows the assembly to rotate slightly, which is an annoyance more than a problem

* My original attempt at mounting put it in fairly close quarters with the key/ignition switch, not obstructing it, just making you be more careful (or you knock the assembly out of the way, see previous problem).

* Can't outboard the assembly with ordinary sheet metal, as it causes the above magnetism issues.. hard to find sufficient plastic sheet/plate, annoying to bend with heat, etc.



The solution:



I found laying around in my garage some miscellaneous/junk thin-ish aluminum sheet (an old license plate that had been long since abandoned) and busted out the tin snips and cut it to size, hammered it flat (which stretched certain areas of the metal, then folded the edges in the vice with a hammer to add some rigidity.

I ran some sandpaper over it real quick to knock some of the oxidation off and got out a hole punch and knocked a few well placed 3/16" holes in it, and put a slight bend to give the assembly the right viewing angle from the seat. I then put the tractor & implement semi-gloss black paint to it and let it dry a bit, then zip tied to the bars in a similar (but not quite the same) location, effectively moving it a few inches from the crossbar that was giving me problems before.



Now, to mount the assembly, the fine folks in china decided to throw some 3M double-sided sticky foam tape to the back of it, so i just peeled the backing and stuck it down. I fully expect that my shoddy materials, paint job, and generally awful conditions will make this not last all that long. Color me surprised if it actually does!

It appears to work rolling around in the driveway, but we'll see what goes on down the road. The compass is a bit irritated when you've got the bike tilted on the sidestand, but seems fine at the angle I'm using when the bike is upright. Easy to live with for the price.

 

[old mad max]

I installed a simple, but workable compass on my gas cap (plastic on XT600 tank) by useing velcro 'buttons'. When in the hills, generally before I laid the bike to rest on the kickstand, I would pop the top on the compass and take a look while the needle was still level. Seemed to work fine when I checked against another unit I held in my hand. Gerry

Are you an airline pilot???????? You got enough do-dads on the bars you should never get lost (o;. OMM.

 

[jontow]

Some of us just like to be really well informed at all times

 

[Kev250R]

I mounted one of these little clocks from Aerostitch on the bars of my TW. http://www.aerostich.com/set-of-handlebar-clips.html It's not waterproof but must be water resistant because it's been through two rainstorms and a couple of bikes washings and still works. I also had the thermometer they sell on another bike I had, it seemed to work pretty well, I've never tried the compass they list.



I do have one of those cheapy stick-on type compasses stuck to the dash in my work truck (F-450 Diesel) I find it works best if I stop the engine LOL At this point it's been mounted on the dash of my last three trucks over the past six or seven years so it's mainly there because if I got rid of it I would miss seeing it. I generally can figure-out what direction I'm going though.



Kevin

 

[qwerty]

Too much instrumentation takes the fun out of getting lost exploring. I was raised wandering woods, deserts, and swamps with people of Original Nations. I carry an orienteering compass for cloudy days. I've used it once at high noon about the equinox over the last 40 years or so. Other than that, I don't bother.

 

[dmathia]

jontow



Thanks for the heads up on the Walmart clock, compass, temp gauge.

Just what I was looking for.



Mounted it on my Tusk guard. Compass works fine on the aluminum bar.

 

[xdac]

Those foam grips are the cats meeeeeeow!!!!