my future’s so bright…

…or maybe it’s my past since we’re talking brake and tail lights!!

my father-in-law and i took a trip over to custom dynamics to talk to them about led replacement options for the brake and turn signals. the folks at custom dynamics told us know what we needed then proceeded to work up an awesome deal. next thing i know, we’re walking out with a new set of lights – thanks gramps…

installation of the turn signals, both front and rear were as easy as removing the lens cover and bulb, replacing them with the led fixture and replacing the lens. the brake light wasn’t quite as simple as it required disassembling the lens housing and gluing the led array in place.

on advice from the folks at custom dynamics, we used the plumbing version of amazing goop to glue the led array to housing… the thing to know about this stuff is it’s runny and it’s sticky. use in small quantities and wait for it to set before adding more. i know from experience on this one… also, don’t use alcohol to clean the silver fixture inside the lens housing – it won’t stay silver very long…

waiting for the assembled lens housing, containing the led array and goop, to dry before reattaching to the bike.

a big key to installing the led fixture in the lens housing it to make sure you have it oriented correctly. one edge of the led array contains white leds to light up the license plate. you want to make sure the leds are facing up to actually light the plate.

the results…

not something i’m necessarily going to notice while riding. but it’s not about me noticing, it’s about getting others to notice me!!! and from a couple of trusted sources, they work extremely well.

new bars...

i decided to put new bars on the bike. the stock ones were okay, but i felt i was reaching a little too far forward. i wanted something that pulled back a bit more, something that put more bend in my elbow.

for the longest time, i couldn't decided what i wanted. wide beach bars, mini-apes, there are just too many to choose from. i knew i didn't want to purchase and try a bunch of bars just figuring out which one was right.

some harley dealerships are putting in rigs where you can try before you buy. the rigs basically hold a seat, handlebars and have three peg positions. the idea is you put on the seat, bars, pegs, grips, whatever on the rigs, sit on it and get a feel for whatever you're looking to buy. i tried it out one time, but i just don't get the feeling it would be the same on the bike...

along the way, i ran into a guy - figuratively, not literally - who had the reduced reach handlebars for a road king... they were comfortable and seemed to give me the reach i was looking for. i checked out the reduced reach handlebars more and it appeared they were fairly straight-forward to install - using the stock cables and only needing a wiring extension. i decided those were the ones...

i got the bars and the wiring extension. next up was to enlist the help of my father-in-law and plan a day (or two or three) to get the job done. we started on a friday - i figured that gave us a solid three days without me having to worry about work getting in the way.

a view of the bars before we got started. this way, if we screwed up, at least i would know what it used to look like...



we removed the seat, disconnected the battery and covered the bike. i knew if i didn't cover the bike, i would drop some sharp, heavy something on the bike and screw up the paint/metal. i didn't need a repeat of last year...



we removed the headlight assembly...


a close up of the wiring in the nacelle...


we removed the nacelle - starting with the decorative strip...



we removed the fork lock cover - which is done by simply prying up on the lock cover...


a view with the nacelle removed, the turn signal/running light assembly carefully placed on the front fender...


we marked each of the wiring connections before disconnecting them - nothing like hooking them up backwards or something...


we removed the switch housing and wiring from the handlebars...


before removing the switch housings, we blocked the front brake lever to keep pressure on the calipers - hoping to reduce the possibility of having to bleed the brakes...


a final view of the naked handlebars before being removed...


ready for the new bars...


we removed the wiring connectors from the wires and fed the wires through the new handlebars...


left switch housing in place. after messing with this for a while, we decided to run the gps wire through the extra hole instead of trying to stuff it in with all the other switch wires...


we mounted the new bars...


a view of the wires coming out of the bars with the new wiring extensions in place...


it was a close fit, but there was just enough length on the stock wirings to allow the new extensions to be put on...


we connected the turn signal/running light harnesses to the new wiring extensions...


new bars coming together nicely...


testing out the positioning of the new bars...


new bars in place and ready to ride...




first test ride with the new bars was great. not only was the reach in a much better position, i felt as if i have a lot more control over the bike. and i like that for the slow, tight turns...

it turned out this job was a lot easier than i anticipated. of course i'd rather prepare for a tough job and find it easy than the other way around. we took our time with the job. and even taking our time, we easily finished in about half a day. it's certainly a job i would do again without hesitation... of course i have to send many thanks to father-in-law for the confidence and the help...

last ride...

...of the year...

took the last ride of the year today up to danville, va. a nice ride to close out the year.

this year, "santa" got me a(nother) gps for christmas. larger screen, which i need for my aging eyes - you won't believe the number of turns i missed because i couldn't see the turns on the small(er) screen. touch screen, making it easier, and probably more dangerous, to modify my route while traveling. the only thing left is to come up with a name for her.

yesterday was spent replacing the old cradle and wires with the new ones. it was surprisingly easier than i thought it would be. mostly because all i had to do was follow the wires/installation for the old one. the toughest part was removing the tank - which i had already done several times installing the led lights. on trip to the hardware store and before you knew it, i was done...

today i took advantage of the gps, plotting a route up to danville, va. i was contemplating a trip to one of the lighthouses on the coast, but decided didn't want to be gone quite that long. that'll be a trip for another day. danville seemed like the right kind of ride for today. long enough to get out and enjoy the weather, but not long enough to need the whole day.

the gps crapped out on me for the ride home. don't know what happened. i was eating lunch, plotting an alternate route home - through yanceyville. when i put it on the bike to leave - nothing. could not get it to turn on for anything. into the saddlebag it went and i was left to navigate home the old fashion way - road signs!!!

the ride was nice. chilly. but let's face it, you can't complain too much when you're riding on december 31st... it was good to be out, but nice to get home... a great way to close out the year...

check out the route on the ride map, in some shade of blue

peace

here i am...

first, i have to say santa was extremely good to me this year. i'm still pretty sure i wasn't deserving of it, but santa left a gps under the tree for me... thanks santa!!!

took a ride down to the dealership this morning to have a gps mount installed on my bike... now before you go gettin' your panties in a bunch about me not doing the job myself - i have my reasons... first, i'm not sure it's a job i wanted to tackle on my own. believe it or not, the directions had me disassembling half my bike, removing the gas tank among other parts... second, time was of the essence - got an e-mail from a buddy about going to a ride this weekend since the weather is going to be so great. figured i wanted to take along the gps so i wouldn't get lost. or if i did get lost, i'd know where i was!!!

got up early and geared up for a cool january ride to the dealership. i say cool because, being january, it wasn't exactly cold. i was expecting the morning temps to be somewhere in the high thirties, low forties. turns out it was fifty degrees when i left. yup - fifty!! still, not wanting to take too much of a chance, i decided to bundle up anyway.

ride to the dealership, other than traffic was great. nice-n-cool. the way i like it. as soon as i walked through the doors, ned, the service-dood, was checking me in. i tell you, the service department here is very good - at least as far as i'm concerned. they've always treated me right and seem to go the extra step.

i was told the install would take about an hour, maybe an hour and a half... so i cruised around the dealership, checking out any deals they may have had - none to be found. then i sat around the service department, reading and waiting.

it's interesting to watch the people come and go... two cops walked in - i thought they may be there to pick up a bike. seems they just chatted with the service-doods for about thirty minutes and then left. before the cops showed up, someone brought a couple dozen donuts... wait a minute, now i know why the cops showed up!!! the funny part was watching all the other people show up to grab a couple donuts - word spread fast and they came crawling out of the woodwork. i guess if you ever wanted to talk to all the employees, you could gather them by announcing you have donuts!!

the install took a little longer than i expected. the guy was apologetic about how long it took him - said he would rather take his time and get it right than rush through it. i told him i agreed and would rather have it that way. reminds me of flying one time. we all boarded the plane, they closed the doors and pushed back from the gate. then they figured out something was wrong with the plane and they needed to fix it. sure - it took a while, but people were getting upset. complaining - wishing the crew would hurry up. i'm sitting there thinking - doods, take your time, get it fixed right. i'd much rather be on the ground when something goes wrong with the plane than up in the air.

anyway, the dood finishes with the bike and is telling me all about the installation. i think he was as excited as i was about it. a couple people gathered around to check it out before i bolted out of there.

using the gps to navigate was pretty cool - although i did know my way home. one really neat feature i can see coming in real handy is the gps displays the names of the cross streets as you approach - no more looking all over the place for street signs. i was also able to track my way back home - another cool feature. i added the track to my ride map...

so now i don't have an excuse for getting lost. well, i can still get lost, i just don't have an excuse for not finding my way home...

run / brake / turn lights

a couple weeks ago i told you about adding the run / brake/ turn signal module to my bike. i'm glad i have the module. because i can't see the lights, i really don't think about them much... well, this weekend i got to see them in action on my bike. during the ride this weekend, i switched bikes with another rider. now that i've seen them working, i really appreciate them. the added visibility from just having the turn signal lights act as running lights is well worth the cost of the module. the additional brake light capability is awesome. i don't know if it will help cages see me, especially at night, but it can't hurt...

r/b/t module installation

installed the run/brake/turn signal module today... installation went quickly and smoothly - took less than ten minutes, including removing and replacing the seat. the toughest part of the installation was deciding where to locate the module. there really wasn't much choice, it was more a matter of placing it so the wires didn't get pinched by the seat pan and the module itself was secured.

the next decision is whether to replace the amber turn signal lenses with red ones. to meet DOT requirements/standards, the lenses are supposed to be red. i don't know how much hassle i'll get for leaving them amber... i may just find out...

additional lighting...

i've been a little concerned with the lighting on the rear of my bike - as in not enough of it...

right now, only the center brake light is on constantly. when i apply the brakes, the center (brake) light becomes brighter. the left/right turn signals only come on when i turn then on - the rest of the time they're off. right now, my main concern is riding at night. i'd like to have more lighting and thus (hopefully) more visibility. don't know how effective it would be, but at least i would feel a bit better.

initially i was looking to just add running light capability to the rear turn signals. when i first started searching, it seemed all i could find were modules that would add brake-only or run/brake/turn capability. the brake-only option lights up the turn signals lights only when the brake is applied. that didn't really solve the problem of adding more lighting to the rear of my bike. the run/brake/turn capability was more than i was looking for, but i couldn't seem to find a way to add just running lights. after thinking about it for a while, i decided that having the added brake lights couldn't hurt - in fact, they could only help... and wouldn't you know it, after resigning myself to the fact that i would have run/brake/turn lights, i stumbled across a couple modules that added only running light capability to the rear turn signals. but i decided to stick with the run/brake/turn signals. and i decided on the biketronics tailbones module.

so today i went by custom dynamics to pick up the run/brake/turn module. very good experience. the staff was friendly and knowledgeable. i really enjoyed talking to them, learning more about them and their business. i will definitely be using them for all my lighting needs. if you're in the market for lights for your bike, be sure to check them out. they have the cheapest prices i've found and are serious about customer satisfaction. now i've just got to get the module installed on the bike!!!

maybe i really don't care...

so two weekends ago i added a clock to my bike... i was worried that i might start paying more attention to the clock and worrying about getting to my destination...

ended up taking about a 200 mile ride sunday... i'm happy to say that the clock didn't become a distraction - in fact, i probably looked at it less than i thought i would. i can remember looking at it as we were heading out of the parking lot after brunch. what's funny is that i don't remember what time is was - i want to say noon. during the ride, i remember looking at it one or two more times. again, i don't remember the time, although i think it was 3:00pm when i looked one time...

soooo, it's a relief to know that having the clock on my bike isn't a distraction. i wasn't too keen on the thought of removing, especially after buying it!! so the clock can stay...

does anybody know what time it is??

...does anybody really care?? apparently i do...

one of the things i noticed and i like about being on the bike is that mileage and time don't really seem to matter... when i'm taking a longer trip in a cage, it seems i'm always looking at the mile markers on the side of the road, the odometer and the clock in the cage and calculating how much longer i have until i get to my destination... when i'm on the bike, i don't do this. about the only time i really pay attention to the odometer on my bike is for maintenance and sometimes to calculate gas mileage, although three quarters of the time i forget to do that!! i think it's rooted in the "journey" concept and i'll get there when i get there...

but yesterday, having a harley certificate waiting to be spent, i bought a clock for my bike... i've toyed with the idea of buying a clock for a while and since it was about the only thing within the price range of the certificate that i could get, i decided to get it...

after mulling over three locations for the clock, i finally decided to mount it to the underside of the left grip.

i haven't had a chance to take a longer ride with it yet, but i'm not sure i really like it... i guess it's okay - it looks nice on the bike. as my wife reminded me after seeing it mounted - it's more stuff for me to keep clean on the bike... great, i already spend enough time cleaning the bike... so now i'm wondering if i'm going to become more concerned with time while i'm riding... will it pressure me to push a little harder to get there if i'm running late?? even when i don't have to be there on time, will i start watching it more, missing out on some of the scenery while i'm riding?? maybe if i'm running early, it will encourage me to take a little more time, take a different, longer road home...

guess i'll just have to get out on the road and find out...