[chuck807]

Hey everyone,

Does anyone have or use a "half cover" or "travel cover". I have a "Dowco Guardian EZ" cover for home (its great!) but its way too big to travel with. Dowco makes a "half cover" aka "Legend Travel Cycle Cover":

http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/item.aspx?style=2408&department=657&Division=6

This travel cover is perfect for when it rains, and for when its parked in the hot, basking sun!

The only problem I can foresee is that it hooks onto the foot pegs. There's no foot pegs on the Burgmans... so I was wondering if anyone had this, how you were hooking it on (ie: under the floorboards?).

 

[pauljo]

I bought a half cover at Scootercade this Summer. I was debating between the full cover and the half cover, but I didn't debate too long because we were just minutes away from a downpour! I went with the half cover because it packs down to about half the size of the full cover for carrying. The difference in price wasn't that much - I think the full cover was $9 more.

The left side hook was easy. I had the scoot on the centerstand, so I just hooked it into the sidestand tang. On the right side, I found a small indentation on the hump cover (engine hood). I took a little more fiddling, but I got the right hook placed in there. I just barely got the cover secured before the rain came.

The next day, I saw that Texas Scootergirl had the same half cover on her 650, but she had the right tiedown cord going forward to the brake disk. Mine would not stretch that far. My cover fits differently because we had different windscreens - and I have a Givi E52 top box. So it depends on what accessories you have on your scooter. That can affect how it fits, and what your tiedown options are.

 

[chuck807]

I bought a half cover at Scootercade this Summer. I was debating between the full cover and the half cover, but I didn't debate too long because we were just minutes away from a downpour! I went with the half cover because it packs down to about half the size of the full cover for carrying. The difference in price wasn't that much - I think the full cover was $9 more.

The left side hook was easy. I had the scoot on the centerstand, so I just hooked it into the sidestand tang. On the right side, I found a small indentation on the hump cover (engine hood). I took a little more fiddling, but I got the right hook placed in there. I just barely got the cover secured before the rain came.

The next day, I saw that Texas Scootergirl had the same half cover on her 650, but she had the right tiedown cord going forward to the brake disk. Mine would not stretch that far. My cover fits differently because we had different windscreens - and I have a Givi E52 top box. So it depends on what accessories you have on your scooter. That can affect how it fits, and what your tiedown options are.

Thanks - that's helpful. I have a Saeng wing-tip on my windscreen (making it higher), a Fehling passenger seat w/ sissybar, and the equivalent of a top box (Kuryakin removable luggage bag) as well as the Utopia driver backrest. My Dowco Guardian EZ cover fit great at first, but after adding all the above accessories it takes a bit more work and it only covers down to the license plate now (went way below that before).

 

[pauljo]

My Dowco Guardian EZ cover fit great at first, but after adding all the above accessories it takes a bit more work and it only covers down to the license plate now (went way below that before).

Yep - pretty much how mine fits. But it does keep the rain off of the seat, dash, handlebar switches - a lot better than nothing. And it does pack down into a very small pouch. When packing for a trip, that matters. I think I made the right decision in buying the half cover. If the scooter was kept outdoors - then the full cover would make sense. But it is kept in a garage, so the cover is going to see only occasional use.

See, I always have an umbrella in the car. But I hate carrying it around. So, if I am in a store or restaurant and it starts raining, guess where the umbrella is.... I might as well not own the darn thing. It would be kind of the same way with the bulkier full cover. When I needed it, it would be back home in the garage.

 

[chuck807]

Yep - pretty much how mine fits. But it does keep the rain off of the seat, dash, handlebar switches - a lot better than nothing. And it does pack down into a very small pouch. When packing for a trip, that matters. I think I made the right decision in buying the half cover. If the scooter was kept outdoors - then the full cover would make sense. But it is kept in a garage, so the cover is going to see only occasional use.

Well, its rainy season here now - so that's why I'm thinking the 1/2 cover (folds down nice & compact and can take it with me to use while parked at work). My Dowco Guardian EZ is a full cover and takes up an enormous amount of room, even when folded! The bike stays outside in the driveway (the garage is the dog house for our two dogs). Problem is, we have a stray cat that keeps coming around and likes to get under the cover and sleep on the bike seat... getting hairs all over the place. Cat spray worked at first, now she's used to it. Now I have to use one of those electronic devices ("cat scram") which seems to work!

 

[Stormsteed]

Never mind.

 

[pauljo]

I wonder... could you loop a short bungee through the hook that the cover comes with and loop it around the kick stand? Or might that provide too much slack?

No need to in my case. With the kick stand folded up, the foot tang is like an open wire loop - a perfect place to put the hook. (I usually park on the center stand.) It is the other side of the scooter where you have to look a bit harder for an anchor point.

If you park on the side stand, I think the additional bungee would probably result in too much slack. You might be able to loop the cover's elastic cord around the kick stand and hook it to itself.

But as I stated before, a lot depends on what accessories you have - which affects how far the cover will come down on the scooter. A XXL Clearview shield and a Givi E52 top box are going to have the cover sitting quite high. A totally stock scooter would allow the cover to come down much further. Anchor points would be very different for the cover on those two machines. In some cases, you might be able to pass a suitable length bungee cord under the scooter and hook the cover eyelets directly with the bungee cord. But I think in most cases, you could find a way to tie down the cover without resorting to additional bungee cords.

 

[Wasquid]

I use a Dowco at home, but on the road I take the medium size Aerostich Ultralight Bike Cover from:

http://www.aerostich.com/riderwearhouse.store

It's made of siliconized ripstop nylon. Packed in the provided pouch, it's 6" x 4" x 3".

 

[mick6502003]

Dowco Traveler

I have a GIVI 52 tail trunk and the Dowco Traveler for full dressers. With the tail trunk and the point on the front of the faring, I've not had any problems with it blowing off. I don't use the elastic "stirrups" that would normally attach to the foot pegs at all. I just pull the back down and loop under the rear side reflectors.

 

[csachs1]

guys, any link to the half cover you're talking about?

thanks

 

[chuck807]

guys, any link to the half cover you're talking about?

thanks

Check the very first post in this thread.

 

[csachs1]

thanks

Paul:

Is this the same cover you bought at scootercade?

Has anyone seen any cover that sort of stretches to cover the bike from windsheild to topcase?

 

[pauljo]

thanks

Paul:

Is this the same cover you bought at scootercade?

Has anyone seen any cover that sort of stretches to cover the bike from windsheild to topcase?

I don't believe mine is a Dowco, but it is similar in size. There is no brand name on the outside of the pouch that I can see.

 

[Al Davison]

Nelson-Riggs

I use this Nelson-Riggs and l like it except that it scratched my paint just a little bit before I added some soft jersey material to the front and back. I like it because it does not touch the exhaust when I come into work in the morning and park. I bought the largest size to accomodate my backrest and my trunk (when I finally get one).

http://store.azmusa.com/neluvmotcov.html

 

[chuck807]

Re: Nelson-Riggs

I use this Nelson-Riggs and l like it except that it scratched my paint just a little bit before I added some soft jersey material to the front and back. I like it because it does not touch the exhaust when I come into work in the morning and park. I bought the largest size to accomodate my backrest and my trunk (when I finally get one).

http://store.azmusa.com/neluvmotcov.html

I originally used a Nelson-Riggs full cover but it scratched the finish, especially on and around the grab bars. Since then I've been turned off to Nelson-Riggs covers and switched to the Delco Guardian EZ cover because it 1) doesn't scratch the paint, 2) has a cloth liner for the windscreen portion and 3) has fireproof material for the exhaust part of the cover allowing you to cover the bike even with hot pipes.