I use a Dowco cover on my treasured bike. I decided to try their easy to integrate motorcycle cover alarm.
The Dowco Weatherall guardian cover survives in marine environments. I live in a densely populated beach community wherein an alarm is probably not a bad idea. This one is simple, loud and will probably surprise the shit out of anyone who decides to move my cover around.
A simple pin plugged into the top of the alarm completes a circuit. The pin is connected to a swivel clip that you attach to your bike. The alarm fits in a Dowco integrated pocket, or simply clips to your cover. The lanyard between the two is fairly short and when the pin pops a lot of noise happens.
A calm and controlled robber will smash the alarm fairly quickly. The wind may blow a loose cover enough to set the alarm off. Under normal circumstances, however, I think adding this alarm to my cover is better than not having it there.
I can not wait until I have forgotten it is there and set off the alarm in my face.
Dowco Guardian 26038-00 Integrated Motorcycle Cover Security Alarm System/Theft Deterrent via Amazon Read the rest
I like my BMW more than I like most people. This Dowco Guardian motorcycle cover keeps my classic bike looking nearly restored.
Loving both the ocean and shiny things can be hard. A lot of work goes into keeping corrosion at bay on my old airhead. Fog and wind bring minute amounts of salt that go after the metal. Harsh temperature changes and direct sun bake the plastic bits. Keeping the bike covered when not in use is the only way to keep it alive.
Cheap eBay covers were not doing it for me. I can find a number of $25-45 covers that fit and will last one or maybe two years. The salt and sun also destroy covers. They give at the seams, or holes wear thru around my mirrors. I decided to spend twice as much on a Dowco cover.
I got 6 years of service out of the Dowco. It is not dead, but holes have started to appear. I will replace it with the same cover.
When I was directly next to the ocean I also used a flip-over cover for a few years. The double layer of insulation helped until high winds would start whipping the shelter about and made me fear for the motorcycle's safety. I may try one again if I can find one small enough to co-exist in a parking space in front of a car.
Dowco Guardian 50003-02 WeatherAll Plus Indoor/Outdoor Waterproof Motorcycle Cover via Amazon Read the rest
This Nelson-Rigg backpack crushes into a tiny stuff sack.
Nelson-Rigg makes covers for bikes that last a long time. I thought I'd take a shot on their super-light backpack, designed to be stuck in tiny motorcycle storage compartments for all those times you realize you'd like to bring something home but can't possibly carry it on your bike.
I used to keep a bungie net with hooks under my seat. The paint on my BMW is too precious for that. I wear a backpack when I need to bring my laptop places but mostly I motorcycle with a notebook jammed into my waistband and a pen in my pocket. This frequently leaves me saying "I'd stop by the market on the way home but..."
No more. This backpack will certainly do for day trips and will come into play on trips where I'm traveling super light but may want a backpack somedays, or extra space on the way home.
Nelson-Rigg CB-PK30 Black Compact Backpack via Amazon Read the rest
Via Youtube and The Ontario Provincial Police:
A public safety film narrated by Peter Fonda with special guest Evel Knievel who provide safety tips and guidance for motorcycle riders. Features performance riding by the Los Angeles Police Department. (OPP Museum accession number 2012.51.5)
Credits and Copyright: Filmfair Communications Incorporated (1973)
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I wear a Helite inflatable vest, which is similar but not integrated into a beautiful jacket. Read the rest
I have never seen anything like this before: A motorcycle-riding cowboy in Idaho has figured out a way to bring his horse along with him... in a sidecar!
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The new "Rodeo Rig" go check out the video the link is in my account in my bio.🤠
A post shared by Casey Perkins (@casey_perkins_rope247) on Jun 8, 2018 at 1:25pm PDT
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Let's enter up! ✌🏻
A post shared by Casey Perkins (@casey_perkins_rope247) on Jun 10, 2018 at 11:07am PDT
The man who shot the video and captured the photos above, Casey Perkins aka the_van_man__, has his own unusual "Rodeo Rig," an "airy" Plymouth minivan:
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Enter up!
A post shared by Casey Perkins (@casey_perkins_rope247) on Apr 12, 2018 at 7:50pm PDT
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Margarita the one and only!
A post shared by Casey Perkins (@casey_perkins_rope247) on Apr 19, 2018 at 8:21pm PDT
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I was looking for a pair of Duluth Trading Company fire hose pants. They are awesome. They are made of the same heavy canvas a fire hose outer insulation is. They are soft, but massively over stitched and have a popular with the nuggets 'crotch gusset.'
None of these things should have led to Zmart Men's Sexy Collared Bow Tie Bodysuit/Thong/Butler Teddy Costume Underwear showing up in my recommendations.
The Duluth Trading Company has a number of styles of pant. I wear the regular firehose pant over my Bohn spandex armor when motorcycling around my home county or into the awful dodge'em game that is San Francisco. I ordered a pair of the Ultimate, because more is better when covering motorcycle armor.
The Zmart option looks like it offers minimal abrasion resistance, and will not cover the leg armor to my satisfaction.
Zmart Men's Sexy Collared Bow Tie Bodysuit Thong Butler Teddy Costume Underwear via Amazon Read the rest
Motorcyclist Malik Elizee is spared as his motorcycle is sent flying in an automotive chain reaction.
Elizee's motorcycle goes sliding away at a near 90degree angle to the direction it, and Elizee were travelling. Elizee lands on his feet and runs with the momentum.
Fear. Read the rest
A friend was just telling me that jet skis are like motorcycles for water. Now here's a jet-ski... motorcycle. Some guy in the Netherlands put the shell of a Sea-Doo jet ski over a motorcycle and tooled around.
He reports:
I was driving my newly built jetski after a friend finished it this Easter. We build it because I woke up one day thinking about such a thing and I decided it had to happen. Now it's done and I haven't decided what to do with it.
(Geekologie) Read the rest
I constantly worry some distracted motorist will run me down and say "I never even saw him." I wear a hi-viz vest with a bunch of reflective material on it, a white helmet and there are lots of reflective elements on my bike, but it is never enough. Now, I can make just about everything reflective.
Albedo 100 is a clear, temporary, spray paint. Just spray it on your pants, jacket, bike, backpack, bags, passenger, whatever. The spray goes on pretty invisibly to textiles, and leaves a bit of a film on leather. It reflects light shone directly on it back in the direction it came from and is very effective for showing someone sitting behind a pair of headlights where you are. The stuff wears off after about a week.
I have sprayed it all over my backpack and some cordura/kevlar riding pants. I have really not bothered to look at how toxic it is, perhaps I will start to glow and no longer need the spray.
I still prefer to not ride at night.
Albedo 100 Reflective Spray Invisible Bright 4.6oz via Amazon Read the rest
If you were wondering if you can take a Helite vest on a airplane in the USA, you can. Ignore internet forums.
I ride with a Helite Turtle inflatable vest. I do not have the miles on it to give a proper review, but I like it enough to have wanted to drag it to Los Angeles with me yesterday, from San Francisco. I am planning to ride my 1976 BMW R90S home from my my parents where I left it last month, thinking a fall ride would be a little cooler than the heatwave temps I endured on the way down. Before leaving, I decided to check online and see if there were any issues.
Internet motorcyclist forum searches all said I was doomed. I did not lose sleep, however. The US Sailing Association website said no problem. Sailors are far more trustworthy than motorcyclists, so I decided to think of my airbag as a Personal Flotation Device when I got to the airport. I also called Virgin America, my airline of choice, and asked if they had any issues. Bring it on board for the party, they said.
The bag checker with a badge at the airport looked at me, looked at the hi-viz yellow vest and asked "PFD?" I said "Yes." TSA person said "Put it thru!" I put the vest, spare cartridge and the materials safety sheets I'd printed out, plus a copy of this TSA guideline on CO2 inflating vests on the belt and watched as it was minimally irradiated for our safety. Read the rest
This ad from Taiwan is just fantastic. Read the rest
I am mighty pleased with Gasolina's beautifully made leather motorcycle boots. I've had mine for 3 years.
A lot of beautiful leatherwork comes from Leon, in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. I was looking for a new pair of motorcycle boots, most of my gear is quite old, and Gasolina caught my eye. Their beautiful styles are built to be rugged and withstand the terrors of a fall.
Picking a style was rough, but Gasolina's cafe racer inspired "Ton Up" model seemed perfect for me. Cafe style for a guy stuck on 70s bikes seemed a perfect choice. I also like the deep rubberized tread and Goodyear welt. I had the soles on my last set of boots replaced several times.
Measuring is a bit of work. Gasolina makes shoes the old way and they'd like lots of info in picking the right patterns, forms and "lasts" to get you a great fit.
After three years and around 12k miles of riding the left boot is showing some wear, where the shifter on my airhead rubs it. The toe protector pad is not placed in the right spot for my posture and riding geometry, but only I notice. There is no other wear evident. I certainly feel great about the $269 price tag.
When it comes to rating this for motorcycle wear I'd say they meet my risk model for street and highway riding. The sole does bend or twist when I try. The toe cup is strong but not steel. Read the rest
In Song of the Sausage Creature Hunter Thompson captured everything that is wonderful about cafe racers.
This review of Ducati's legendary 900 Supersport is perfect:
...When Cycle World called me to ask if I would road-test the new Harley Road King, I got uppity and said I'd rather have a Ducati superbike. It seemed like a chic decision at the time, and my friends on the superbike circuit got very excited. "Hot damn," they said. "We will take it to the track and blow the bastards away."
"Balls," I said. "Never mind the track. The track is for punks. We are Road People. We are Cafe Racers."
The Cafe Racer is a different breed, and we have our own situations. Pure speed in sixth gear on a 5000-foot straightaway is one thing, but pure speed in third gear on a gravel-strewn downhill ess-turn is quite another.
But we like it. A thoroughbred Cafe Racer will ride all night through a fog storm in freeway traffic to put himself into what somebody told him was the ugliest and tightest decreasing-radius turn since Genghis Khan invented the corkscrew.
Cafe Racing is mainly a matter of taste. It is an atavistic mentality, a peculiar mix of low style, high speed, pure dumbness, and overweening commitment to the Cafe Life and all its dangerous pleasures... I am a Cafe Racer myself, on some days - and it is one of my finest addictions.
I am not without scars on my brain and my body, but I can live with them.
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Youtuber Erica Hoff shares this video of a motorcyclist having a very bad day.
This guy merged onto the I-80E (Sacramento, CA) on his motorcycle as we were driving in the fast lane. As he merged, his bike would shake and wobble. He sometimes would only have one hand on the handle bars while it was shaking!! We couldn't figure out why it was shaking, but we noticed it would only do it once he hit high speeds. We paced him for 5-10 miles after watching him "almost" loose control (about 5 or 6 times), so I got my phone out, thinking "its only a matter of time before he crashes" and I wanted the video as evidence in case anyone else got hurt. Sure enough the very moment I get my phone out, happens to be the time he loses control. We pulled over immediately.....called 911, and help the man (and his bike) off to the side of the road as quickly as possible. He did walk over to the right shoulder by himself. His face was really mashed up (his nose looked broken) and arms covered in blood. Crazy road rash!!! I still wonder how he's doing :(
Oh, and the sirens you hear in the background aren't because he's being chased by the cops....my kids were watching peppa pig.....it was just a coincidence ;)
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Holy cow! How did the motorcycle stay up?! Read the rest
