I am sure the reader is plenty familiar with the dangers of a forgotten signal when you arriving at the following intersection. How many of us have promised themself "won't let it happen again", only to get angry looks from one misguided driver a few days later.... if you're lucky.

There are plenty of electronic gadgets on the market, but their shops' websites design are more than often better than that of the "signal minders". Some don't do it, some don't last, some need constant attention. If you doubt my words, look up your fave rave on Amazon, and go to the comments section. None of them gets away without unhappy comments.

The solution ? A sort of mnemonics, trick your mind. Here is what works like a charm for me. It will work for you if you follow the simple instructions without thinking too much about it:
a) go out and ride
b) when you arrive at any intersection, any time, all the time, turn your signal off
c) when you see opposing traffic with a left signal on, turn your signal off
d) when somebody pulls out from a driveway on your right, turn your signal off.

Did you notice, I didn't say turn it off IF it was on ? I said and I mean, turn if off regardless... After 3 days of riding like this it becomes a habit, sth you don't have to think about, just like looking in the mirror.
Please do not trash the idea before you gave it a tried. It may save your life tomorrow, and let me know if it worked for you.

So, my Concours 14 was crashed. oops.

Not by me thankfully! My secondary bike is always kept available on a Riders Share service for people who want to pay me a bit of cash to have a bike for a weekend or whatever. Anywho, the Concours, as it turns out, is just far too heavy and unwieldly for the average person to handle. She was a big big girl. The most recent renter put it down on the highway somehwere north of Savannah GA. Anyway, it's not as if the bike was totalled, but the damage was severe enough that Riders Share basically offered to just buy it off me. Great! now what to do with the cash.....

OH i know!



2015 Kawasaki Versys 650 LT!! Believe it or not, this bike is actually New-Old-Stock. It was in a crate until a couple of months ago. I am its first private owner. I know what you're going to say....you lost a Concours and got back...half a Concours? It was a calculated choice. I could have cashed in for another big sport tourer...heck the same dealer had a pretty sweet FJR1300...but I got to thinking about it and i was sort of inspired by Ferrets swap from the big FJR to the NC750. my CB1100 is my fun bike. i've even muscled that Concours up and down the dragon with a passenger, and I can say i started to miss the feeling of a light weight bike.

so, enter the Versys. Supremely smooth, peppy, light, and cooperative. the little Twin comes alive at about 6krpms, and transforms from lazy commuter to torquey athlete. I look forward to learning all about this thing. I'm already approaching break-in mileage.

I just received a new MC jacket:

First Gear Rush Air Jacket for $109 from MotorcycleGear.com. Free delivery took 1 week. I chose XL because I've purchased 2 First Gear jackets before and they have fit me fine.



First, I love First Gear apparel--they pay me thousands of dollars to say just that, but I'm not biased at all (joking). I've had their four season TPG jacket for about 10 years and it's so well thought out: zero complaints. About 5 years ago, the main zipper gave out. I contacted FG and they told me to send it in, even though I no longer had any record of the original purchase. Took about 6-7 weeks and I had my repaired jacket back in hand. I only paid for shipping to send it to them, less than $20. Rock solid jacket that keeps out 99% of what I want kept out.



I've also ordered a mesh FG jacket that I keep in Costa Rica, and I like that one too, but I don't use it much, but will more in the future. I have a pair of FG all weather pants with suspender straps as well. All these fit me well, are comfortable and the quality is great.



Recently I noticed my Joe Rocket (made of hemp!) was falling apart. If I were to go down, I have great confidence the material would simply rip to shreds. But the JR jacket looked ultra cool in olive green and cream. Plus, got lots of comments on that fact that it is made of HEMP! Says so in big letter on the sleeve. Oregon!



So I found the First Gear Rush Air Jacket after a few mintues on-line, and it was on sale for $109. It has removeable rain proof liner and has elbow, shoulder and spine protection. It is mesh.



Took my first ride today, 100 miles from Gresham to Silverton, OR and back. I removed the rain-proof liner as it's not due to rain in Oregon until about September...maybe even October. Outdoor temps were mid to high 80s as I started my ride. I immediately felt the coolness drifting through the mesh material at torso and arms. The fit just screams "we at FG know how to make jackets!" I haven't quite shrunk yet to 6'3" and I weigh 190lbs. The XL fit perfectly.



The pockets work. The sleeve zippers work. The velcro...velcros! Just a great overall fit and a big improvement over my Joe Rocket jacket because of better air-flow. The FG jacket is a little scratchy at the neck where skin makes contact with the collar, but nothing a little tug up on the t-shirt couldn't fix. The jacket w/out the rain liner felt fine on my bare arms as I was wearing my 18 year old HD t-shirt that I got for free when I purchased my new Sportster back in 2003.



Straps on the arms make the sleeve girth adjustable, and as my muscles are still developing, the middle snap of 3 choices worked best. No flappage.



Temps warmed to low 90s after lunch, but the mesh still kept me from feeling uncomfortably hot. As I rode back home, I stretched this way and that, trying to find any binding, but the roominess was there without feeling like the jacket was baggy in any way.

Easily, the best $109 that I have spent recently.

Hi All,

I've been sitting on a Honda OEM Top Case from samurai rider because I bought the 13' not the 14' rear carrier. Has anyone installed this setup on the 13' carrier?

What do y’all do with your used / old helmets ?
In particular if not badly worn out.

The African twin has cruise control. I wonder if it can be adapted to my Cb1100ex?
Anyone have any knowledge about that?

Today, in my garage, I welcomed Alain Lee and his beautiful '17 EX
We had friendly conversations about CBs, accessories, mechanical matters, tires, crossing the US border/2021 Ohio Rally and so on...
Also Alain's R/side RLET, due to its injury was successfully replaced.
Here are a few pics:

Love stuff like this-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LePA5mIYIdk

Need to know if any metric, most European speedo, looks like this pic - colour wise:

* speedo face and speedo needle without miles, kms only
* speedo face and speedo needle with kms outside (bigger) and miles inside (smaller)

To me the speedo face is not totally black... but kind of greenish/black mix ??

Thanks to all who respond.

When your fuel comes to an end, your display (on a 2017+ model) allows you to display the remaining miles before the tank is empty. When your CB needs service (or like in my case, when she doesn't but this thing hasn't been reset properly) this indication is replaced with two dashes. Not very ingenious I must say.
Anyway, my display shows the dashes for no reason, when I get to the end of fuel. And obviously there is a way to reset this indication, regardless of whether right or wrong.

Would anybody know how I tell the darn display that the service was done, and get me my "left mileage" back ?