The Honda PCX / Forza / ADV150 / SH Forums

Ok everyone, I'm back with another review. This time I will be reviewing the Termoscud (leg cover) by Tucano Urbano. As hard as it is is to believe, winter is approaching and we will soon have to decide whether we will pack it up for the winter or try to brave the elements. That's where the Termoscud comes into play. It promises to extend the riding season past the cool fall days. But does it deliver? Well let's see...

Before we get started: a few things... This cover has just been installed and everything said here reflects that. This is only initial testing. I will have updates as I test this cover further. This cover was installed on a 2014 Honda Forza not a PCX. It is still hot here so I cannot give any real world testing in the cold but I can try to surmise based upon wind blast, relative warmth and so on. I live in a fairly warm place (South Carolina, USA) so our winters don't get quite as brutal as some places out there. We do have winters here though: last year it snowed 3 times and it is not uncommon to have temps in the 10-20F range at night, mix that with our high humidity as it makes for some unpleasant riding conditions. Overall, I would say our winters are like those of London except that our summers are much hotter and quite a bit drier. If you live in a place like Alaska or Norway...man, just get a snowmobile, sled dog team or hop on a polar bears back and put the scooter up until you get the two weeks of summer you all get there...LOL! And NO, I didn't take any pics yet, I'm typing this away from my home. I'll try and get some as soon as I can.

Ok here we go...

The good: Well made product. Waterproof. Fits pretty well. Somewhat easy to install. Has a built in bib to partially protect your chest for the rain/cold. Protects your feet pretty well (keeps them dry and somewhat warm. Has built in flaps that can be lowered to allow the engine heat from the radiator to be trapped under the cover. Has reflective strips and stitching for visibility. Pretty easy to roll up and fasten down if the weather is too warm for the cover. Protects the top of your legs and thighs very well, it's quite warm on this part of your body. Pretty easy to have shipped to your home (bought mine through Scooter Wear in the UK, they are really good people to buy from and it was shipped to my home in about five business days).

The bad: it's a bit of a pain to mount the Forza with this cover fully extended without rubbing your feet on the center hump (area with the gas cap), I found it much easier to just swing you leg over the saddle like you would a motorcycle rather than try and mount it like a scooter. This cover does tend to flap somewhat at speeds over 55-60 mph despite what Tucano Urbano says (I have read that this cover isn't designed for speeds over 60 mph but my cover didn't have any instructions stating this when I received it and yes Virginia...I did have both of the bladders inflated when I tested it. The flapping is somewhat mitigated when you tuck the cold weather straps under your butt when you ride at higher speeds but when you do this you must be careful. If you tuck the butt straps in too tightly, if makes it more difficult to slide your feet from under the cover when you come to a stop. Very dangerous...be careful with this. A bit of a pain to install in some areas as the cover will be quite tight toward the front. The cover does not have a notch cut out around the parking brake area so it can activate the parking brake ( to be fair though, it's just enough to turn on the brake light not a full notch on the brake lever, probably just enough to be aggravating, I'll try and adjust the cover for this)

The verdict: it isn't cold yet so I can't really say for total warmth but I does appear to be pretty warm and certainly waterproof, you should be protected quite well from your lower chest to your feet. IMHO, I think that this cover is for people who use their scooters as their primary form of transportation and must be out in cold/rainy conditions. I think it will work pretty well for those people who don't need to operate their Forza at speeds over about 60 mph. I will try to adjust the cover, try different butt strap positions and see if I can get I little more air into the bladders to see if that helps with flapping (I don't really know if I would call it "flapping" maybe more like an "oscillating" side to side movement)

Hope this helps someone,
Ron

Used mine throughout last winter. Only difficulty I had was to find the ignition switch in the dark.

What is the best way to keep your hands warm in the winter?

Steph wrote:What is the best way to keep your hands warm in the winter?

Large handguards and heated grips.

Steph wrote:What is the best way to keep your hands warm in the winter?

Ride with your hands in your pockets.

you you wrote:

Steph wrote:What is the best way to keep your hands warm in the winter?

Ride with your hands in your pockets.

That was one of the multiple choice answers for this question when I did my theory test. Also, 'put your hands on the exhaust for a few seconds'.

Think I went for 'wear gloves' though if that helps?

DAB wrote:

Steph wrote:What is the best way to keep your hands warm in the winter?

Large handguards and heated grips.

^^^. Or heated gloves, handlebar muffs, or some combination of the above.

Guys, I also got a set of Tucano Urbano handle bar muffs with the leg cover so I will be reviewing those as well as soon as I get the chance to install them. They do look warm and toasty with fur at the top. Waterproof too!!!

I don't want to freeze ya know! The temp is supposed to drop to 78F tonight! Brrrrrrr!

DAB wrote:Used mine throughout last winter. Only difficulty I had was to find the ignition switch in the dark.

The ignition switch is easy to get to on mine. Maybe they changed the design somewhat. The parking brake lever is another matter entirely though. I need to try and post some pics.

A quality product - love mine and don't even bothering taking it off for the summer months.

You're right it is a great product! I adjusted mine a bit and put a little more air in the bladders and it seems to be working better. A bit less oscillating at speed now.

So, I live in Seattle, and I have the leg cover and the mitts on my PCX. I don't even bother to take them off in the summer now. They are great in cool wet weather. Love them.

DAB wrote:

Steph wrote:What is the best way to keep your hands warm in the winter?

Large handguards and heated grips.

Anyone got a link to handguards that fit the PCX - the handle bar area seems so cramped with not that much space to mount things. I was considering a new screen with the lower hand covers and not too tall either. My best screen would be one that had hand protection for the winter chill and better covered the dash area.

iceman wrote:

DAB wrote:

Steph wrote:What is the best way to keep your hands warm in the winter?

Large handguards and heated grips.

Anyone got a link to handguards that fit the PCX - the handle bar area seems so cramped with not that much space to mount things. I was considering a new screen with the lower hand covers and not too tall either. My best screen would be one that had hand protection for the winter chill and better covered the dash area.

You may want to try Tucano Urbano. They should have a set of muffs that fit. The set I put on my Forza fits/works well.

Thanks - thinking of plastic style sort of like you get on some of the replacement screens, but just the hand guards.

Steph wrote:What is the best way to keep your hands warm in the winter?

Get a Starbucks on the road!

Well, having ridden with the Tucano Urbano leg cover for a few weeks now, I appears to be holding up well. It's plenty warm for the cooler weather I've encountered around here so far, I'll know more when it gets colder. Only two downsides: it tends to flap (oscillate) a bit above 55-60 mph and is kinda a pain to put gas in it with the cover on otherwise it's been pretty doggone good. Keep in mind too that Tucano Urbano are coming out with a revised design for their leg covers that appears to gave an upper as well as a lower air bladder that should help out quite a bit with the flapping/oscillation. The new one is not out for the Forza yet though.

Ron

Hi my first visit to this forum. I bought a Forza back in May this year mainly for commuting, as my Motorcycle was too wide to filter easily in London. The Forza is great but maybe needs a couple more horsepower for motorway cruising, but I am really pleased with it.

I bought the Termoscud Leg cover a couple of months ago, and wondered if any owners can help with my issue. Everything is secured and inflated as per the instructions, and the 'Butt' straps are where they should be, but when I go over 50 mph, the cover rises a few inches off my thighs as the cold air sweeps in. It's great as a rain stopper, but lousy for insulation at these speeds. I have just email Tucano to ask if they can throw any light on why this happens as well. I also don't notice any difference when the Vents are opened to let the engine heat in.

As to other comments, I don't have issues with 'flapping' sides even at 70mph, it is pretty secure. You do need 3 hands to fill up with Petrol however.

As far a cold hands go, I have a pair of Gerbing Heated Gloves I use on my big bike as well, and I think they are the best accessory I have ever bought.

Dink99: you can try a couple of things here...first make sure all the lower straps are tight. This may pull the cover down a bit tighter. Also, put the bib strap on. This causes the center of the cover to lift slightly helping to reduce the wind coming underneath. I have found that by placing you feet on the angled part of the floorboard as far forward as possible a bit less cold air will circulate in that area.I do agree with you concerning the design of this cover, I does allow quite a bit of air circulate under it. I wouldn't say that this is a design flaw of the cover necessarily. The design of the Forza's floorboard is such that your feet are never totally out of the air flow unlike that of traditional scooters with a flat floorboard that allow you to place your feet toward the centerline of the scooter. I would think that all maxi scooters are kind of the same in this regard. That is one of the areas that my Sh150i is better than the Forza. Put a cover on that thing and it really protects you quite well. I guess that is one of reasons the Sh line of scooters are quite popular in Europe where people use them to commute in bad weather conditions. The Sh150i isn't really a highway (motorway) capable scooter though. I really like the traditional design of the Sh series but alas the Sh300i was never offered in the USA so that is one of the reasons I bought the Forza. You Europeans get all the good stuff LOL!

Filling up with petrol is a bit of a pain with the cover on, I have found it easier to roll it up and fasten it down before I do so. The cover seems to flap (oscillate) quite a bit less the colder that it gets, maybe it has to do with the cover's material becoming more stiff as it gets colder.

I've been to London quite a few times over the years including the winter. It can certainly be a bit of a challenge to commute at that time if year. More so due to the wet rather than the bitter cold, though it can get very cold at times. The weather there in the winter is quite similar to my part of the US even though I'm much further south on the globe. At least you have the tube.....if a station isn't too far away from you....