motorcyclegearandaccessories.com Blog

100,000 Motorcycle Brings Celebration

2006-11-30T23:41-05:00

Date: November 30, 2006

With the production of it's 100,000 motorcycle, Buell Motorcycle Company celebrated the 2007 Ulysses XB 12X model.

Founded in 1983, it is the only American manufacturer of sports bikes and has evolved into a leading manufacturer of performance street motorcycles with a majority of it's sells in international markets.

The company celebrated the 100,000 motorcycle mileston with the employees and other guests at it's facilities in East Troy, WI. There was a special ceremony to mark the production of the 100,000 Buell Motorcycle as it rolled off the assembly line.

For more news on Motorcyle Accessories visit http://www.motorcyclegearandaccessories.com

How To Choose A High Quality Motorcycle Boot

2006-07-29T19:34-04:00

by Gregg Hall

Today's biker is looking for classic styling, high performance and unmatched quality--from their boots and their bikes. So what should you look for when buying motorcycle boots? First you want Premium Oiled Leathers, the best leather available.

This Black Odessa Leather is waxed and oiled to make the boot more water resistant. I prefer the Vibram Chippewa Sole. This is the best motorcycle boot sole in the industry. This particular motorcycle boot sole is oil resistant and provides good traction due to its high surface contact area. Since a lot of us are around oil spills and such working on our bikes, this is a must have. Buy cheap boots without oil resistant soles and the oil will eat them away.

Another thing I prefer is Goodyear Welted Construction, which greatly adds to your motorcycle boot durability. Make sure the motorcycle boots are stitched, not glued, meaning that the soles are completely replaceable when you do finally wear them down, and let's face it motorcycle riders are tough on their motorcycle boots. The uppers are going to last virtually forever so don't make the mistake of buying motorcycle boots without replaceable soles.

Another thing overlooked by many is a Toe Shifter Pad. This is of major Importance to bikers because it protects the toe and arch from fatigue and damage due to gear shifting. That's not something that everyone thinks about but it's important.

Make sure the motorcycle boots you buy have Quality Non-Tarnishable Hardware. You want your motorcycle boot hardware to look as polished and shiny as your bike.

I also like the Texon Insole which takes moisture away from the foot to keep it as dry as possible. The insole is also anti-microbial, preventing bacteria growth in your motorcycle boots. Make sure the lining of your motorcycle boot is fully leather lined with additional upper padding to provide maximum comfort.

Look for the Bison Stampede Collection from Chippewa which is made from the American Bison. This leather is supple, comfortable, and durable. It normally outlasts regular bovine leather by as much as 50-80%.

Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses. Look at http://www.motorcyclegearandaccessories.com for your motorcycle gear.

How To Gear Up Your Kids For A Safe Motorcycle Ride

2006-07-07T00:35-04:00

by Gregg Hall

For those of us who have kids and motorcycles we have to realize that the same inner pull that drives us to the biker lifestyle very often is in our kids as well. If you have kids you know what I am talking about, you can barely get away for a ride by yourself because they always want to go, right? I enjoy taking them out anyway but we do have to remember that there are special precautions we have to take for them before we take them for a ride.

The first thing we need to do is be sure that we equip them with protective riding gear just like we wear beginning with protective clothing such as long heavy denim or leather pants and jackets, full gloves, good quality heavy shoes or boots, and of course last but certainly not least a helmet that fits them properly. You can't just have an extra helmet that anyone wears, your kids need to have their own that fits them properly. You should also be sure that they have a pair of good quality high impact resistant sunglasses to protect their eyes from the damaging UV rays of the sun.

Make sure that your kids know the rules of the road before you take them out, such as no quick movements and staying seated on the bike at all times. You also want to be sure that they are comfortable and have a sturdy safe place to rest their feet. You may have to get something customized if your kids are really small.

You have to be aware that having a kid on the back of your bike is totally different than having another adult riding with you. Kids move around a lot more, just like they do any other time! They don't think about the dangers as much as an adult and may tend to stick their hands out to play in the wind and things like that. Just watch them and keep them safe.

Another issue I have noticed with my kids, especially when they were smaller is that the sound and vibration of my bike would sometimes make them sleepy, you don't want them falling asleep and falling off the motorcycle! Just be aware that this can happen so that if and when it does you are prepared for it.

Riding your motorcycle with your kids can be a very pleasurable experience, just be cognizant of the fact that with that experience comes some additional responsibilities that you have to take into consideration.

Gregg Hall is a consultant for online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida. Get reviews on motorcycle gear and accessories at http://www.motorcyclegearandaccessories.com

Don't Get Upside Down On Your Motorcycle Loan

2006-07-07T00:30-04:00

by Gregg Hall

When I was in the automotive industry I saw the extension of car loans going into 54, then 60, then 72 months and with the extension of the loan installments came the inevitable negative equity. In general the longer the term you finance for the more likely you are to find yourself "upside down". The motorcycle industry is no stranger to this as well and recently with the motorcycle finance companies offering loans that extend payments out as far as 72 months the problem is just getting worse. This is even more common with motorcycles that depreciate rapidly.

Just as with automotive loans when you extend the payments out over more than three years you begin to put yourself in a situation where your debt exceeds the value of your motorcycle. This is even more true if you do not put money down or even worse if you trade in a bike that you still owe on.

But how does this happen and what can be done to prevent it?

To begin with you need to look at the way the lender determines the interest. Some lenders use the rule of 78 in which you will be paying almost all interest at the beginning of the loan and then you have the other more preferable method of simple interest.

With an installment plan set up on a rule of 78 interest calculation you will be paying almost pure interest for the first couple of years and therefore will have virtually nothing in the way of equity. When you consider that statistically the average motorcycle owner trades bikes more often than every two years you can begin to see how this can be a problem.

The interest computation of choice is simple interest; as a matter of fact I personally would accept no other option. The way simple interest works is that it is calculated on the balance of the loan and if you keep the length of the loan at a reasonable time frame you will not run into the negative equity problem. If you extend the payments out over more than four years you will still get yourself in trouble just as you will if you skip payments.

If you have found yourself in a negative equity or upside down situation with your motorcycle don't feel like there is no way out. A lot of people just give up and allow their bike to be repossessed and sold off at auction which just exacerbates their problem, now you owe money on a bike that you don't have and can't ride!

To avoid being caught in the "upside down" predicament on your motorcycle always look for a lender that will give you a simple interest loan on your bike. Secondly, always put some money down upfront to reduce the payments and the terms. Finally, never finance your motorcycle purchase over more than three years.

Gregg Hall is a consultant for online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida. Get reviews on motorcycle gear and accessories at http://www.motorcyclegearandaccessories.com

Take A Vacation Like This On Your Motorcycle

2006-07-04T15:25-04:00

by Gregg Hall

Are you an adventurer? Do you have the spirit of a wanderer? If so, then the hottest new trend in vacation travel, a motorcycle vacation, may be just the ticket for you. Whatever countryside you enjoy, and whatever bike you ride, a motorcycle vacation promises great fun and entertainment.

Imagine a history buff that uses a motorcycle to explore old Civil War battlefields. Wilson’s Creek in southwest Missouri, Pea Ridge in Northwest Arkansas, and the site of the battle of West Port near the Plaza in modern day Kansas City are all easily accessible by bike. Or, if exploring the west is more your thing, take a trek out west, starting in Sedalia, the scene of the first recorded cattle drive in history. Then on your bike trace the other cattle towns of the old west like Wichita, Parsons and Dodge City in Kansas. Then keep heading west to Colorado the mile high state and visit Estes Park. Go a little south and visit Colorado Springs, park your bike for a day and take a tour of the Air Force Academy and look at the grounds of Cheyenne Mountain, home of Norad.

Still yearning for more western adventure, then you can ride your motorcycle to New Mexico and visit Lincoln County where Billy the Kid and his Regulators raised a ruckus in the 1880’s. New Mexico has great camping in the mountains near Cloudcroft, so be sure to take the opportunity to visit and if you feel up to it, sleep under the stars, with your trusty motorcycle near you, like a cowboy’s horse.

While in New Mexico the Apache reservation at Riodosa offers a chance to try your luck at slot machines and the wheel of fortune. Then a visit to a great Mexican restaurant and on to the town of Roswell, site of the 1947 UFO crash that some people say made history. When you get to Roswell you can either take your bike to a campground, or park it at a nice reasonably priced motor hotel so that you can spend some time in the UFO Museum and Research Center on Main Street. While there you can visit with some witnesses to the crash and hear some fascinating stories, and take a side trip out to the ranch outside of town where debris was found, and some say small alien bodies were recovered. When you’ve seen all the UFO sites you feel like seeing, you can visit the Robert Goddard Museum next door to the Town’s convention center. Goddard is the father of modern rocket science. He performed many of his experiments in the desert near Roswell and the museum is great fun. When you get done in Roswell, then hop on the bike and go to Albuquerque near Holloman Air Force Base, and then on down to White Sands rocket test ground. New Mexico is full of interesting sites. If you head up north, be sure to his Santa Fe and appreciate the Native American arts and crafts on display.

Next stop on your bike tour should be Las Vegas, Nevada. The most exciting town on earth is just a hop, skip and bike ride away. Here’s a chance to really gamble, or if you don’t like to bet, then just stop in at one of the casinos to try a very low priced, delicious buffet. It seems like all the casinos have great buffets and try to outdo each other. You’ll enjoy them all. Remember too that this is a town made for entertainment. Try one of the shows on the strip, or a comedy club or magic act.

Now, after visiting Las Vegas, it may be time to go on to the one place that no motorcycle vacation can be complete without visiting, Sturgis. The town of Sturgis, North Dakota is legendary among those who ride motorcycles, and the town people know how to make a biker welcome. Stop in for a root beer and buy a T-shirt as a souvenir of your trip. You’ll be glad you did, and you’ll remember your motorcycle vacation for years to come. Hop on your biike, be it hog or Honda, and enjoy the ride.

Gregg Hall is a consultant for online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida. Get
motorcycle gear and accessories at http://www.motorcyclegearandaccessories.com

Some Ways To Make Your Harley Match Your Personality

2006-07-04T15:19-04:00

by Gregg Hall

I like to observe other bikers and usually get a chuckle out of trying to match the biker to the bike. It’s a fun pastime when we are sitting out on the deck on Sundays at Cocodries on Navarre Beach where they have a big biker party every Sunday. Oh, by the way Navarre Beach is in the Florida Panhandle!

Anyway, back to my story. I remember one biker in particular that was easy to match up to his bike. He was an older buy who looked like a mountain man with a huge long beard and everything he had on had fringe on it. Guess what? So did his bike!

There are many accessories that you can get to customize your motorcycle and make it more unique and original so that it doesn’t have that straight off the showroom clinical look to it. I don’t know about you, but the whole reason to own a Harley is to stand out from everyone else on the little rice rockets! You may have other reasons. You may want to add an accessory to your bike because it fits with you and your taste or for practical or functional needs like a luggage rack or a windshield.

Thank God that everyone has different tastes in choosing ways to customize their Harley. If not they would still all look the same and not only would it be self defeating but a waste of money as well.
Some people opt for minimal customization on their bike and others go all out. There really is no right or wrong, you just do what is right for you. After all it is your bike and your personality. Heck, I just saw one the other night that had blue neon lights all in the motor, it looked cool but I don’t know that I would do it.

When it comes to deciding on how to choose accessories for your Harley, I would suggest that you decide on what you want out of your bike. Sit back and have a look at yourself. What kind of biker are you anyway?

If you are the speed demon show off type that wants everyone to see how fast his bike is you may want to look at getting your engine rebuilt for increased horsepower. You can never go wrong with a lot of Harley chrome either, that just says Harley and right when you think you have enough of chrome, you find some more in that motorcycle accessory catalog.

Almost every Harley Davidson motorcycle owner at some time or another has thought about adding an accessory to their bike. It isn’t very often you see a stock Harley Davidson! Don’t let yours be one.

Gregg Hall is a consultant for online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida. Get reviews on motorcycle gear and accessories at http://www.motorcyclegearandaccessories.com

Why Should You Wear A Helmet When You Ride Your Motorcycle

2006-07-01T16:20-04:00

by Gregg Hall

As I am writing this article I am thinking of the recent accident involving the Pittsburg Steelers star quarterback, “Big Ben” Roethlisberger. If he had been wearing a helmet his injuries would not have been nearly as severe.

For most of us bikers a helmet just doesn’t fit our perception of what biking is all about, which is freedom! I mean, hey it just doesn’t look cool to be on a hog with that little sissy helmet. But, I think it looks way less cool to have your face all scarred up from sliding on it down the road!

According to statistics almost every crash where the rider wasn’t wearing a helmet resulted in a major head injury. In one study out of 900 crashes there were 980 head and neck injuries which seems to indicate that the passengers on many of these motorcycles were not wearing helmets either.

Our neighbors to the north in Canada have now made it illegal to ride a motorcycle without a helmet due to the large percentage of fatalities in accidents in which the rider was not wearing one. Of course in the United States, like many other laws it is left up to the individual states to decide the ruling. I know where I live in Florida they repealed the helmet law a few years ago and according to an EMT buddy of mine it has caused a dramatic increase in head injuries.

If you value your brain and your life you should be responsible enough to wear a helmet. Some of the factors that you should consider when buying a motorcycle helmet are below.

All motorcycle helmets consist of two main parts, an inner shell or liner which is made of impact reducing foam and an outer shell which is made to absorb the initial impact and protect your head as well as take all of the damage that the road or other hard object would have done to your head.

When buying a motorcycle helmet you should be sure that it has been approved by the Department of Transportation. If the helmet has been approved it will have a sticker from the government agency stating so. Another sticker that is recognized all over the world is from the Snell Memorial Foundation.

Another thing that is hugely important is making sure that the motorcycle helmet you buy fits properly. You need to make sure that it doesn’t fit too loose or too tight. When you take it off there should be no marks on your face from the pressure of the helmet, if so the helmet is too tight.

You also want to be sure that it doesn’t wobble around or come off easily. If you are in an accident and the helmet comes off at first impact you may be bouncing down the road on your head!

Gregg Hall is a consultant for online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida. Get reviews on motorcycle gear and accessories at http://www.motorcyclegearandaccessories.com

How To Buy Protective Motorcycle Clothing That Does More Than Just Look Good

2006-07-01T16:17-04:00

by Gregg Hall

A lot of the motorcycle gear on the market today; clothing in particular is being made more for looks than protection. When you are sliding down the asphalt at fifty miles and hour it’s not about the looks!

In the United States it is pretty much “caveat emptor”, or let the buyer beware. There is no governing body watching over the manufacturers of protective clothing like they have in Europe where they have to go through extensive testing before they can me marketed as protective clothing.

In contrast to popular belief the vast majority of motorcycle accident injuries are to the lower portions of the body, especially the legs and feet. So in consideration of this you should definitely make sure that you have a good quality pair of riding boots along with a good pair of quality leather protective pants. When shopping for motorcycle pants make sure they have extra reinforcement in the knee and hip area and that they have an option to be connected to your jacket which also adds to protection.

When choosing riding boots, they should be made of thick but flexible leather and the sole should be made of a material that is resistant to oil and other petroleum based products as you ten to put your feet down on the road quite a bit.

Although leather is the material of choice by most serious bikers there are now other synthetic fabrics on the market that do a good job of protecting you in an accident. One choice is the new Kevlar reinforced jeans which have been tested to last more than five seconds in ana abrasion test as opposed to jeans with last about a half second!

Take the same care and precautions when choosing a motorcycle jacket as well. Many of the motorcycle jackets on the market today are for looks only and use thin leather which is not suitable for a protective motorcycle jacket. All contact points such as your shoulders and elbows should be reinforced and contain extra impact padding.

When it comes to your hands, they must be protected. A good pair of leather gloves is a necessity to keep you from tearing the palms of your hands off in even a minor accident. It is just natural to put your hand down to protect yourself when you feel your bike going down or if you get thrown. I have seen people with horrible injuries to their hands from a minor accident, injuries they would have never received had they worn gloves.

So, next time you are looking for protective motorcycle clothing, make sure you are buying it for the protection and not just for looks. Nobody looks good lying in a hospital bed or a coffin!

Gregg Hall is a consultant for online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida. Get reviews on motorcycle gear and accessories at http://www.motorcyclegearandaccessories.com

How To Choose A High Quality Motorcycle Boot

2006-02-13T14:01-05:00

by Gregg Hall

This Black Odessa Leather is waxed and oiled to make the boot more water resistant. I prefer the Vibram Chippewa Sole. This is the best motorcycle boot sole in the industry. This particular motorcycle boot sole is oil resistant and provides good traction due to its high surface contact area. Since a lot of us are around oil spills and such working on our bikes, this is a must have. Buy cheap boots without oil resistant soles and the oil will eat them away.

Another thing I prefer is Goodyear Welted Construction, which greatly adds to your motorcycle boot durability. Make sure the motorcycle boots are stitched, not glued, meaning that the soles are completely replaceable when you do finally wear them down, and let's face it motorcycle riders are tough on their motorcycle boots. The uppers are going to last virtually forever so don't make the mistake of buying motorcycle boots without replaceable soles.

Another thing overlooked by many is a Toe Shifter Pad. This is of major Importance to bikers because it protects the toe and arch from fatigue and damage due to gear shifting. That's not something that everyone thinks about but it's important.

Make sure the motorcycle boots you buy have Quality Non-Tarnishable Hardware. You want your motorcycle boot hardware to look as polished and shiny as your bike.

I also like the Texon Insole which takes moisture away from the foot to keep it as dry as possible. The insole is also anti-microbial, preventing bacteria growth in your motorcycle boots. Make sure the lining of your motorcycle boot is fully leather lined with additional upper padding to provide maximum comfort.

Look for the Bison Stampede Collection from Chippewa which is made from the American Bison. This leather is supple, comfortable, and durable. It normally outlasts regular bovine leather by as much as 50-80%.

About the Author

Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses. Look at http://www.motorcyclegearandaccessories.com for your motorcycle gear.

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