Archive for the ‘Motorcycle Gear’ Category

Bring Own Gear When Renting

Monday, March 24th, 2008

I don’t travel for business a lot, but when I do I try to mix business with pleasure. If I can, I try to arrange it so I can be there over the weekend. Then I’ll arrange to rent a motorcycle. What better way to see a different part of the country than where you usually ride.

Here’s a tip I learned the hard way. I got sent to Nashville a few years ago, and it was only for a day, but I set it up for a Friday. I flew in Thursday night, went to work on Friday, and then, of course, I picked up the tab for my lodging on Friday and Saturday nights, rather than return to Denver.

Saturday morning I went to a nearby Harley dealership where I had reserved a bike and picked up my Road King. I had brought my leather jacket but they had told me when I made the reservation that they could provide me with a helmet and a rain suit. So I didn’t bring my own. Well, it turned out that the only helmets they had were open face. OK, no big deal, in fact, maybe nice. More open and airy, you know.

Well, not so nice. Unfortunately it was a rainy day. The open face helmet meant my face got very wet and my glasses were constantly covered with water droplets, making it hard to see. On top of that, when I pulled out the rain suit they had given me it turned out to be a one-size-big-enough-for-anyone unit. I could get into it, and it kept me dry, but you could have gotten two more of me in there as well.

Lesson learned: Take your own gear. It may be a bother on the airplane but you’ll be glad you did.

Biker Quote for Today

If you don’t ride in the rain, you don’t ride.

Valve Stem Extension Is A Blessing

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

Do you have wheels on your motorcycle like those on my Honda CB750 Custom, that make it almost impossible to connect an air hose to them? Here’s what I’m talking about.

CB750 valve

Now, back when this bike was made I think most air hoses just had those simple, round heads that would fit in just about anywhere. Nowadays, however, the norm is any of several varieties, none of which you can squeeze into a space like this and get a good connection. You can understand that this makes it difficult when you see that you’re a little low on air. And of course we all know that riding with low air pressure just chews up your tires in a big hurry.

What to do? Well, I finally came up with an answer as to what to do. I was at one of the local bike shops and saw this thing that caught my eye. It’s a little valve-stem extender that slips easily into your pocket.

valve extender

This thing is great. You just screw the big end onto your valve stem and then connect the air hose to small end. There’s a cap that screws on when you’re not using it to keep it clean. Nothing to it. This little baby cost me $10 but checking on the web I found them selling two for $10.

When I saw this I asked what may have been a silly question, but if I asked it you may be asking, too. The question was, will these things throw your wheel off balance? The salesman said no, you don’t leave it on all the time. You just put it on when you need to use it and then remove it. That way you only need one. If you left it on all the time you’d need two. Besides, if you left it on all the time and it wasn’t secure enough it could work its way off and you’d lose it.

So there you have it. Maybe this little baby will be as useful to you as it is to me.

Biker quote for today:

Keep your bike in good repair: Motorcycle boots are NOT comfortable for walking.

An Intriguing Little Item

Thursday, February 14th, 2008

I need to give credit to Big Cab Daddy for this, I ran across it on his blog, Returning Motorcyclist.

What would you think of a little device that sticks to the top of your helmet and, powered by the wind, gives off a flashing light to make you more visible to other drivers?

That’s exactly what the HJC Wind Light is. What the sales blurb says is:

Simply affix the wind light to your helmet using the adhesive tape provided and let the wind do the rest? As you ride, the wind goes through the front of the intake grill causing the internal turbine to power 8 bright LED lights. Active at speeds as low as 25mph. Wind powered, no batteries required!

The thing costs about $30. Here’s a picture:
HJC Wind Light

I’d be really interested to hear from anyone who has had a chance to try this thing out. Maybe I’ll have to be the one to do that. It looks like it could be a pretty good gadget.

To Catch A Helmet Thief – Via Ebay

Friday, February 8th, 2008

Here’s a good one. I just saw a news dispatch that a motorcyclist in Pennsylvania had an expensive custom helmet stolen off his bike. He went looking on Ebay for a replacement and what do you suppose he found? His stolen helmet for sale.

The seller was charged with theft and convicted. Now the owner is waiting to get his helmet back from the police. He may have a bit of a wait yet. The convicted thief has appealed and the helmet is still being held as evidence.

Flat Tires and Other Hindrances to Riding

Saturday, January 26th, 2008

Few things will put a damper on your riding plans as quickly as a flat front tire. I had ridden two weeks ago and had to put air in but today when I tried to roll the Concours out it would hardly move. Flat tires really don’t roll very well.

On inspection I found a sliver of metal poking out of the tread, something that looked like a wire from a wire brush–very small. OK, I put air in and took the bike to the dealer and they said it should be no problem to fix quickly. Meanwhile I availed myself of the proximity (next door) of the Piper Inn, southeast Denver’s favorite biker bar and hot wing concessionaire. The place was packed with black leather-dressed patrons enjoying one of the nicest days we’ve had in quite awhile. One beer and 10 Buffalo wings later I was back at Vickery expecting to get my bike and roll.

No such luck. First off, it wasn’t a puncture. That little sliver was nothing. Apparently the valve stem core was loose and letting air slip by. A bit of adjustment and everything was fine with that. However, when the mechanic was putting the tire back on, the speedometer housing split. Taking a closer look he found that it had split once before and been welded. Now it had split again. So that’s going to cost me another $70 plus labor when the part comes in. What in the heck makes a speedo housing split like that? Anyway, rather than weld it again just to get by until the new part comes in, he just put the wheel back on without hooking up the speedo, thereby saving me about $20. And by this time the coolness of the afternoon was coming on and all I did was ride back home.

I’ve got to tell you, I really love riding motorcycles but sometimes these get to be very expensive toys. At least this one won’t break the bank.

Let’s See What Sen. Ken Gordon Says He Plans Re. Helmet Laws

Saturday, July 28th, 2007

I sent an email to Ken Gordon, my state senator, today. I want to know if he really is planning to introduce a helmet law bill to require adults to wear them. He succeeded this past session in passing a law requiring minors to do so. Here’s the text of my message to him:

Ken–
Hello. I am one of your constituents and I ride motorcycles. I have a question for you.

In an article on July 5 in the Rocky Mountain News about the new helmet law for minors, they quoted Terry Howard of ABATE saying “It’s been rumored that they are going to try and introduce a helmet bill for adults next session. . . . (We fully expect our opponents) to introduce an adult helmet law.”

My question: Is this true? Are you planning to introduce a more comprehensive law? I would very much appreciate a direct answer. I don’t want to assume that Terry Howard is right, I would rather hear directly from you about it.

I’ll tell you right now that I would oppose any such law. I wear my helmet at times when I feel it is wise and at other times I do not. I prefer to be the judge of this.

To your argument that bikers hurt while not wearing helmets add to health costs for all I would simply respond, people who eat poorly and eat junk and become overweight incur health costs that drive up the costs for the rest of us. Do you plan to outlaw eating junk food? I mean, seriously: what is the difference? There are a lot more people eating that second donut and getting fat than there are bikers getting hurt not wearing helmets. The health costs are much higher.

I will really, truly appreciate hearing from you on this issue. Thanks.

So now let’s see how he responds. I’ll be sure to post it here. Stay tuned.