The Honda PCX / Forza / ADV150 / SH Forums

I had someone ask what my 55 litre top box looked like on my 2014 Forza 300. So here are a few pictures.

55 litres sounded huge but works on this fat assed scooter.

The top box is empty most of the time but is used to store my huge helmet and my jacket & riding pants while at the mall.

Ignore my dumb iCon Variant helmet on the mirror.

Hi Dave,

Cool pictures !!! That looks like an awesome area to ride... Do you ride a lot at night ? The reflectors make a huge difference at night, but not so much in the daytime. If you want to be seen in the daytime, you need VERY BRIGHT lighting... More lighting takes a lot of work, but is a huge safety advantage to be seen in the daytime.

All you have to do is look at police and other emergency vehicles, they have a HUGE amount of lighting when they are stopped on the side of the highway and want to be seen. I do the same thing on my motorcycles and scooter, not flashing blue, but LED tailights, and extra headlights, etc.

Mike

Looks great, Dave.

I like what you've done with the hi-viz tape. It ties the bike together nicely.

Johnny

Personally I've never really be a fan of bike hi-viz but each to their own.

The hi-viz stuff is almost useless at night. I parked the scooter at the side of the road and walked 100 meters back . The passing cars did nothing for the tapes. During the day it all disappears at 100 meters also. I think it is only good in the parking lots.

I almost never ride at night. Something has gone wrong if I am out after dark. I am 57 and have bad nighttime vision.

I have replaced the stock halogen bulbs with brighter (hotter) halogen bulbs but it was not worth the money.

I had one burn out after a relatively short time which was expected. The Lordco parts store had LED's with woven wire heat sinks that would fit for $200 (halogen was $5). I put one in but it was upside down (?) for a while. I eventually got both of them in the right way up.

I do not think the LED's I put in have the LED shining on the reflector 100% right. I did the same thing on my 4x4. The first set did not work very well so I tried a second brand and they are a little better.

The second set have my hi-beam indicator on while my day time driving lights (Canada) are on. I am waiting for a resistor set to confuse my Dodge that things are right. Canada Post is slow.

The gray/silver of my 2014 Honda Forza is a really bad colour for safety. I would paint mine yellow if I had the energy.

The Canada flags are a safety item. It confuses STUPID people. They think I am RCMP and they get out of my way. Although some people quickly put on their seat belts and drive 5 kmph under the limit. I just pull over and let them go. I've had a few people also pull over and wait for me to write them a ticket? I leave in a hurry then.

The white Icon Variant peaked helmet also confuses people Maybe it is the lime green but very dirty Olympia jacket or the white stripe on my black riding pants. There are a lot of STUPID people on the road. Sometimes I just have to look in the mirror to find one.

Embattle wrote:Personally I've never really be a fan of bike hi-viz but each to their own.

The bike hi-viz is not very good. It is all too small to be of much use.

People on their cell phones don't even see huge fire trucks with flashing lights and sirens. So my funny looking scooter is invisible.

I striped mine because the silver/gray/grey was just too boring.

I kind of hold the same opinion on most of it, quite frankly if they don't see you with the basic visual clues such as lights, body reflectors, etc they were never going to see you. As an example the side reflectors aren't much use because the only person who can really see them is the person about to T-Bone you, I've got plans to get some better bulbs when required but I've read the more powerful halogens tend not to last that long.

A good set of LED's is better than hot halogens but finding a good set is hard if not impossible. My hot halogens lasted about 3 months.

davenowherejones wrote:
The gray/silver of my 2014 Honda Forza is a really bad colour for safety. I would paint mine yellow if I had the energy.

Forget the color of the Forza, it makes no real difference for a car about to pull out in front of you, or rear end you... LIGHTING is the answer there, people will see lighting LONG before they ever are able to see the color, and lighting will get peoples attention if hey are looking.

Of course there is good lighting, and bad, cheap useless lighting. People here in South Florida are some of the worst drivers in the world, and traffic is everywhere. I have MULTIPLE, insanely bright LED's on both front and back of my bikes, and it works. I never use the stock tail lights... I have bright LED's and flashers on all brake lights. I consistently see cars wait for me that would normally put out and I would have to slow down for. Low beams are set at a very normal level, good but not overly bright and friendly to oncomming traffic... BUT, When I need and use high beams, I look like a TRAIN coming at them, by the time they process it is a scooter or bike, I am already passing by

Mike

Mike, That headlight would probably get you a ticket around here.

Like I said before, colour totally disappears at 100 meters. Even a lot of lights is hard to tell what it is.

I prefer to ride where there are less people but it only takes one.

JetPilot wrote:

davenowherejones wrote:
The gray/silver of my 2014 Honda Forza is a really bad colour for safety. I would paint mine yellow if I had the energy.

Forget the color of the Forza, it makes no real difference for a car about to pull out in front of you, or rear end you... LIGHTING is the answer there, people will see lighting LONG before they ever are able to see the color, and lighting will get peoples attention if hey are looking.

Of course there is good lighting, and bad, cheap useless lighting. People here in South Florida are some of the worst drivers in the world, and traffic is everywhere. I have MULTIPLE, insanely bright LED's on both front and back of my bikes, and it works. I never use the stock tail lights... I have bright LED's and flashers on all brake lights. I consistently see cars wait for me that would normally put out and I would have to slow down for. Low beams are set at a very normal level, good but not overly bright and friendly to oncomming traffic... BUT, When I need and use high beams, I look like a TRAIN coming at them, by the time they process it is a scooter or bike, I am already passing by

Mike

Your eyesite can't be that great, you've parked in someone's front room.

What tyres are those? They look huge.

Looks like a 120/70-14 City Grip on the front.

chicaboo wrote:Looks like a 120/70-14 City Grip on the front.

Looks are good but then again it seems high profile, wide and heavy. Might be wrong.

you you wrote:

chicaboo wrote:Looks like a 120/70-14 City Grip on the front.

Looks are good but then again it seems high profile, wide and heavy. Might be wrong.

I think because it's close to the edge of the photo you get some wide angle effect distorting the image.

My 2014 Forza 300 has about 41,000 km on it now.

The front tire was the stock Scootsmart until about 21,000 km and a Michelin 120/70-14 City Grip for the last 20,000 km.

The rear Scootsmart lasted until about 10,000 km. It was replaced with a 150/70-13 Michelin City Grip which lasted 16,000 km. I bought another City Grip which has about 15,000 km on it. My next tire will be a Michelin 150/70-13 Power Pure SC rear tire as soon as I can get the Forza into the shop. The roads are too icy right now.

Has anyone used the Power Pure on the Forza? I could not get a City Grip so I ordered the Power Pure.

I have had no problems with the City Grips and I like the tires. I ride in the rain and on the gravel roads. I don't think I push the tires hard. I travel lots of mountain highways. The City Grips even handle the cow shit I run into frequently in the open range areas.

Next week I am putting insurance on the Forza and going if the temp is above 5C.

I take it a 150/70 13 city grip on a Forza 300 is ok then, factory fit is a 140/70 13 but city-grips don't come in that size - which is why I've been using Scootsmarts.
BTW I got 7000 miles (11150 km) out of my last 2 back scootsmart tyres and the front is still the original scootsmart on 18,250 miles (29,200 kms)

16000 kms (10,000miles) is great going on the city-grips so I plan to fit a pair of city grips next time I reckon

I never had a problem with the bigger size of the City Grips.

The front ScootSmart was not worn out when I replaced it but it was developing a wobble so I put the City Grip on to match the rear.

The 16,000 km on the rear was due to my supplier getting into a fight and spending time in the hospital. By the time I arranged an alternative City Grip I was at 16,000 km and the wires were poking through the rubber.

I still have rubber on my last City Grip and I might let it go a little farther. My Scottish ancestry says get your money's worth. My Canadian reality says it is a damn long way to walk so change it before it's a problem.

I ride long distances in remote areas so I am trying Ride-On tire sealant/balancer as an experiment. I don't know if it really helps but it probably does not hurt.