Motorcycle accessories

An accessory may be added at the factory by the original equipment manufacturer or purchased and installed by the owner post-sale as aftermarket goods.

The term Farkle (a portmanteau of the words functional and sparkle) is used within the motorcycle community, originally to denote useful add-ons, such as GPS or other upgraded components.

Now also used at times in a humorous or mildly derogatory way to describe bling, such as anodized or chromed parts that add no functionality.

These systems act to protect the rider from some or all of the weather, may improve aerodynamics (reducing drag), and are an important styling element.

Since motorcycles lack climate control or full protection from the wind, some manufacturers offer heated seats or hand grips to relieve the discomfort of low temperatures experienced during night riding or the colder months.

Some touring motorcycles, such as the Honda Gold Wing, have louvred vents in the fairing which redirect warm air from around the engine or exhaust toward the rider.

Their peak popularity (160,000 in the UK in 1955,[3] pre-World War II in the United States) came about when powerful motorcycles were available, but there were relatively few cars about.

Alignment of the sidecar is critical and the mountings come under considerable stress, making a quickly-detachable version largely impractical.

Sidecars place a heavy strain on wheel bearings, wheel-spokes and suspension components; even frames and engines may suffer.

[5] Car or truck carriers, usually for lighter motorcycles, can mount in the vehicle's draw bar receiver, in place of some types of detachable tow hitches.

Panniers mount on either side of the rear of the motorcycle roughly underneath (but not interfering with) the seating position of the pillion passenger.

A common arrangement of crash bar is a loop of chrome-plated steel tubing mounted each side of a motorcycle's lower frame.

As well as their supposed protective function, they are valuable as a mount point for accessories like highway pegs, lights and, on police motorcycles, sirens, cameras and radar guns.