Let the Farkles Begin!

Farkle:  N: An Accessory intended to improve or embellish the original system; opulent luxury item; V: to add pleasure or comfort; to add additional items to stock unit thus improving value or performance.

Stock doesn't last long.  From our first ride on the Honda ADV 150 scooters we learned a few things needed immediate attention.  You had a great view of your elbow in the mirrors with a touch of rear street view.  That needed to be addressed.  Thankfully, I already had a source for a fix.  Lucky Bike sells mirror risers/extenders that address this issue and give you a view of more street and less elbow.  For $17.95 a pair, this problem was solve-able.  The Honda ADV150 uses (2) right hand thread 10mm bolts for the mirrors adjusters that thread into the lever boss.  Note that the mirrors themselves are 8mm and (1) RH and (1) LH, but it works much better to move the mirror and adjuster over than just trying to move the mirrors alone.

I ordered two sets as soon as we got home from that first ride.  They arrived in a few days, and installation was very straight forward.

Extra Mojo installed as well.  This little koala was given to me by a Tasmanian friend when she visited us in Tupelo.  My little mate has kept me safe ever since.  👍

And done!  We can SEE!

We are entered in the 2021 Scooter Cannonball Run in July of '21.  To this end, much of our prep is aimed at that event and the epic travel to and from it that will occur.

Next step to address was Hand guards, both for some weather protection for the hand in wet/cold, but also just as a preventative measure to prevent broken levers in the event of a drop or fall.  These are adventure scooters, and dirt/gravel is part of the Scooter Cannonball Run event too.  I found some generic hand guards of the type and size I thought would work well, so ordered two pair from Amazon along with some brake light strobe controllers and installed them at the same time as the mirror risers.  You can see them in the picture above.  Install was pretty straight forward, using a longer bolt at the bar end to use the stock threaded insert in the handle bars.  I did install a rubber gasket between the steel hand guard bar and the OEM bar end weight to both dampen vibrations and to avoid marring the bar ends.  The aluminum mounting bracket that came with the hand guards worked very well to fit over the scooter controls and allow the other end of the steel bar to mount.  I didn't use the included bolt or jam nut since the Honda already had internal threaded inserts in the handlebars.

Next up was increasing the rear visibility/conspicuity.  Another motorcycle forum I was on had previously raved about this brake light strobe controller as being inexpensive and effective.  

I also looked at other options and discovered www.vizi-tec.com which can make a plug and play version for a higher price, but offers more features too.  I sent them the following pictures of the stock wiring so they would have the ability to make up a plug and play brake modulator if someone else wanted one. These are of the bike harness side connector, (which is what vizi-tec asked for),, that gave them the info to make a plug and play version.

Doing the inexpensive brake light strobe controller involved some wire cutting.  I opted to make it reversible by using wire connectors so I could easily bypass the strobe controller if need be.  It took some plastic and part removal to get access to the wiring under the left rear panel.  The scooter is assembled from the rear to the front, so all plastic removal starts at the front, which can get a little involved!

I chose to cut wires on the brake light side of the harness, NOT the bike side.  The solid green wire is ground and the black is for brake light, the green with yellow trace wire is taillight and I did not cut that wire.  The ground and brake wires were cut to install the strobe controller inline.  I used weatherproof spade connectors in such a way that the strobe controller could be bypassed or removed w/o any further wiring, if need be.

The end result was the stock LED brake lights now flash four times rapidly, followed by four times slowly every time you hit the brakes, front or rear, then goes solid to avoid annoying the daylights out of people behind you.  This really gets people's attention and we noticed that we got much greater distance at stop lights.  Traffic behind us did not tailgate at stops any more.  Any improvement in this area is welcome.  If you are stopped and traffic comes up on you, you can release the brake and re-apply to get another does of flashing.  Here is a short video I made to show the effect.

I also took this time to install a few RAM mounts for GPS and Spot use.  My wife's scooter got a Garmin Zumo 550 with XM/Sirius satellite radio from her previous bike.  I installed a Garmin nuvi 40S on my scooter.  Also shown are the Sena SM10 to connect the 550 to the Sena 20S Evo sets we use for comm.  The Zumo cradle and the Sena SM10 have their own power supply cords tapped into the OE power port in the glove box.  The Zumo is discontinued, but still allows XM control thru the GPS, so it's there for tunes and still does duty as a navigation tool, even though the maps are no longer current.  The Nuvi 40 is discontinued, but CHEAP on Ebay and has lifetime maps still, so current mapset.  A RAM mount holds it securely.

The Spot 3 lives in another RAM mount.  Both scooters have RAM balls that allow the Spot to move back and forth as needed.  Note the tether.  This is a Good Idea™.

Next on the list was some form of luggage rack.  We knew we would be wanting some kind of top box, but really hadn't sorted out what yet.  I scoured the internet looking at luggage rack options and was not satisfied with the US offerings, which were very slim for the brand new 2021 model scooter.  Thailand and China had so much more to choose from.

Having seen tubular steel racks crack in the past, I really wanted to find something more durable.  I finally found an all aluminum rack that replaced the factory grab rails with a rack that incorporated the grab rails and was heavily reinforced underneath.  This looked like what Honda should have offered to begin with!  I questioned the seller about the claimed 100 Kg load limit, (220 lbs!) and they checked with the manufacturer and were told, yes, it's rated to 100 Kg.  I still have my doubts, but I ordered two for our scooters.  The Ebay vendor was very good with communication and shipping info.  They had a couple of minor issues with shipping due to the boxes being large, but sorted it out and got them to us in only a couple of weeks once straightened out.

I neglected to take pictures before I installed the racks, being as it was only 4 bolts to swap out the stock grab rails for the new racks.  These look great, don't have much rise and place the luggage platform close to the back of the bike, which appeals to me, giving the eventual luggage a smaller moment arm and hopefully less chance of fatigue and failure.

That's it for now, the search for some kind of extra luggage will continue.  We are uncertain if a top box alone with the 27L under seat storage will do the job, or if perhaps we need to consider soft bags/panniers as well.

Thanks for following along, please subscribe to see how our adventure progresses and read about the trips we take on our scooters as we prep for the Scooter Cannonball Run and just learn to travel and adventure on and off pavement with the Honda ADV 150 scooters!

EricV