I picked up a disc lock with alarm on it from union garage earlier this week. I was hoping it would be sensitive enough to go off when someone tried to..say.. pull off my BMW logo, but not too sensitive to randomly go off in the middle of the night and wake my landlord. Turns out it will only go off if someone tries to actually roll the bike. Still good to have. I use it when parking overnight.
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Got some reflective tape. Couldn’t figure out the little plastic applicator that came with it. Don’t think the applicator was meant for rims with rounded inner edges. Either way I finally figured it out on the rear wheel and didn’t have enough left for the front wheel. I put the extra bits around the bike. I like the way it looks. Im going to order some for the front wheel in a few weeks after I make sure the tape lasts.
My method of applying was using two thumbs - and pressing single 1.5” straight lines, after each 1.5” line I would angle the next one slightly to follow the curve. So a bunch of straight lines basically.
Love parking anywhere. Right near Fulton at a short walk from wall st.
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Bus lane. 20 seconds apart.
Or is that racer mentality? I’m not sure, I’m too new to the bike scene. Seems that I’m more of the adventure mindset. Never mind that I’ve yet to be on any actual adventures outside of the manhattan sort.
I was in the market for a new helmet. I tried out my usual spot - the union garage - to try out new helmets. I was pretty sure I found the winner but I wanted to try on some shoie and arai helmets first. I went to the ducati triumph dealership off spring st in manhattan.
They had an awesome lineup of bikes in front of their shop. Maybe 40 bikes. They had a beautiful showroom full of bikes on the main floor, and downstairs they had a great selection of gear. They were very helpful and one sales lady even helped me properly test the fit of the helmet I was trying on. Interesting experience as no ones ever done that to / for me…..
As I was trying on helmets I heard someone mention that they were going to buy a heated jacket liner at their lunch break. I of course chimed in since I just recently got mine, and love it. I just mentioned to them how I just got mine … and love it.
I don’t remember the exact dialogue but another customer then chimed in to ask about how long the battery lasts. I mentioned that I plug it right in to my battery. He asked what battery. I said the one on my bike. They all looked at me like I was crazy.
What do you ride? They asked.
A BMW.
ooooo an adventure guy. Yah you guys are crazy. Our jacket liners have built in batteries. We don’t mess with any wiring.
I was a little shocked. First because I thought battery powered liners would be a rarity as it makes so much more sense to me to hard wire it. And secondly because just then I realized that a different mentality divided us. Not in a bad way. It just made me more aware of the differences between rider types, and which one I fall in to.
I looked at myself I’m the mirror with my riding gear on. Pants, liner, jacket, and realized that I am indeed the adventure type. Now I just need some real adventure.
Later that day I ended up buying the Schuberth C3 from union garage. More on that in my next post, hopefully after my Sunday ride.
when i first got my gerbing liner last week, i quickly hooked it up to the battery so i could start using it. as i used it, i noticed having the controller in my jacket pocket got really annoying. too many wires going back and forth to the bike and not clean at all. i wanted to find a good way to wire it all together. here’s how i did it …
im not sure if what i did is really the right way to do it, but i think it works well. let me know in the comments if you think otherwise.
i took the battery lead that came with it and routed it down under the main black plastic covering (fake gas tank), and down under to the seat area.. ending up right in front of the tool kit.
i then connected the controllers input to the battery leads output, coiled it up, through a few zip ties on it and even added a little electrical tape around the connection point to make it a little safer. im sure heat shrink would have been better but i dont have any.
i placed the controller on the side of the bike below where the seat ends in a spot that my legs wont hit. not 100% sure about a passengers legs but i think it should be ok for them too. its in a place where i can easily reach it when riding just by feel and memory.
i then routed the output of the controller back in under the seat area, and forward towards the front of the bike so it would pop out where the front of the seat met the bike… right where the lead from my liner comes out.
i used scotch dual lock velcro to attach the controller to the bike. it did not like that surface at all. i believe thats the gas tank. ill need to find something better. maybe just really tough double side 3M tape. the controller came loose after an hour of use. i’ll have to revisit that later.
i threw the seat back on, tested out the positioning and it was great. i had enough slack so that i could ride normally and it would not pull out.
the original battery lead thats now tucked under the seat had a nice end cap to it. i could not slip it off, and i wanted to use it on my controller output by the seat since its going to be exposed to the elements when not in use. i ended up cutting it off and zip tying it in place on the controller output. it holds well, but the cap does not fit perfectly on top. it fits, but does not stay tight. i think that it should still be ok for when its parked, as i tuck it in the seat crevice with the cap on just enough.
let me know what you think, if you have any ideas, criticism, i would love to hear it.
EDIT: the velcro backing did not stick to the gas tank. i ended up getting this and it seems to be holding much stronger.
i finally got some heated gear!
i was looking for an excuse to get out to Phili so i could visit the Revzilla store. i’ve watched so many of their product videos but never bought anything from them. i knew being there in person id really get to try out a variety of products to see how they fit in person.
We happened to have a business service call 15 minutes from them today, and so i went and spent! they were great. bob helped me, and old jewish dude who only races these days. no casual riding. he’s 62 with a bit of a limp, and showed me some crazy photos of him on a race track. would never expect it from him just by looks. he helped me try on jackets, helmets etc and made great recommendations.
i’ve been researching heated gear, looking at gerbing mostly. i tried on the jacket liner under my current REV’IT Levante jacket. it fit ok, but seemed a bit much. with my Levante, i would need to have 2 liners on. the Gerbing, and the REV’IT waterproof liner. after all that i couldnt even zip my jacket up all the way up to my neck. to be clear, the outer jacket of the levante is not waterproof. its actually a very breathable summer layer. the liner it comes with is water proof and at the same time provides the warmth. but without that inner revit liner i would not be waterproof.
i decided to get a more dedicated winter jacket that would work well with the gerbing. i went with the REV’IT Horizon. the horizon has a waterproof exterior, meaning i dont need to use the liner that came with it. i can use the horizon on the outside and use the gerbing as the liner. fits perfectly and its more geared for the winter. the Levante will fall back as my summer only jacket.
Gerbing 12v Heated Jacket Liner
Gerbing 12v Portable Single Temp Controller
I still can’t get over how easy it is to park in manhattan with a motorcycle. I just parked near Fulton st in an all day legal parking spot. Less then a 4 minute walk from my client.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_81MWUO45wc?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]
Amazing commercial for the new Jeep Cherokee.
I’d like to say this is why I ride. I need to get out of the city more for that to be true.
It’s the feeling the commercial represents that means everything. Get out of the box. Don’t let the rules and repetition become your jail. Get out. Breath. Live. Open your eyes.
Easier said then done.
Nice looking new bikes from Harley. This is an all new platform from them, made specifically for urban riding. I have a ton of respect for Harley but I’ve never wanted one. Mainly because I couldn’t see myself using one in the city every day. This line might have me thinking different. I dig it. Enough to leave bmw? Not sure. I do know I’d like to take one out for a test drive though.
Click the source link below to see better photos.
