On the tenth anniversary of the attack upon the World Trade center and Pentagon, I was honored to have ridden with, by my estimation, a couple thousand other riders, to collectively remember that horrific day. It was an excellent and well executed ride through the Protrero canyon starting from Point Magu Naval Base and finishing at Pepperdine University where, they had 2,977 flags set up to honor each of those innocent victims of that terrible day. It was an excellent ride… but this post isn’t about the ride. It’s about the collective heart that went into it.

Too often we are consumed by our narrow and isolated lives and our efforts are put into satisfying our own personal needs. Charity, nurturing the collective human spirit, and efforts in the name of someone else, are rarely executed. Yet when this country experiences such a devastating event as the attacks, we are brought together as one to stand and shake our collective fist at those who would dare to bring us harm. Such was the case on 9-11-11.

The ceremony, the reading of letters sent by fallen soldiers to their families, the beautiful singing of our national anthem, the 21-gun salute, all brought me, and a couple thousand tough “bikers” to tears. I’m not ashamed to say that I did in fact cry as I heard Taps played on the bugle by a uniformed soldier. I love my country and whenever I am witness to an outpouring of love it just gets me.

As for the ride…

Dubbed The Ride to the Flags the event is a volunteer based ride intended to benefit charity (see the website to learn more) and is host to a couple thousand bikes. Staging was at the Naval base where security was well-managed (because it was a military base after all), the bikes were stacked 4-deep for as far as you could see and was lead by the Patriot Guard Riders through Protrero canyon and onto the Pepperdine campus. I was initially concerned about ability to lead such a large number of bikes through the narrow mountain roads but I’ll be honest, it was so damn well-executed I am left incredibly impressed.

Along the rout were road leaders managing the line of bikes, managing intersections, and at times taking some risks to make sure the rest of us were safely guided through the canyon. Everyday people were on the roadside waving flags, cheering, saluting, and watching as we rode by. Parents were out there with their kids and traffic stopped to let us by. Again… I’m impressed. I will most certainly make sure to take the same ride again next year.

Here are a handful of photos we took on that awesome day.

And finally, I want to thank my dear friend Nickie for riding with me and standing next to me as I cried like a child during all the ceremony.

More later…

General, News, Raves, Rides

After my little mishap on Angels Crest highway… and owing to my inaccurate damage assessment, the beastie spent four weeks in the shop at Newport Beach Triumph. Who, along with the good folks at Triple-A, took care of everything swimmingly, and if they said they’d do something, they did.

But I digress… After four painfully lonely weeks of pining over the Rock, she came home. I took the coastal rout back to the house in Long Beach and pulled her into the garage to get started on re-mounting all the doo-dads… and promptly ran over a piece of glass large enough to have cut an unrepairable slice all the way through the tread of my new rear tire. Damn it! So instead of installing the stereo, GPS and stuff, I lifted her and dropped the tire. Which was dead easy to do once I figured out how to lift it properly.

Well last night I mounted the newly replaced tire, brushed her off, mounted the stereo, GPS, cup holder, and the frilly tassel-thingies… And went for a ride… Bliss…

This morning, I’m sitting at Starbucks, enjoying a morning coffee and fending off the homeless guy asking – yet again – for a handout. Ready to take the long way to the office. As I sit here, lifting cup to lips and staring at the beast like a kid in a candy store, I’m contemplating these past few weeks. I find it funny that I, a guy with interests and friends and stuff to do, would have actually been depressed with the absence of my bike. Really? Well to that end I say only this… For those who don’t ride, no explanation is possible… For those who do, no explanation is necessary.

More later…

General, Raves

I just took delivery on a shiny new Cardo Systems Scala Rider Q2 Multiset Pro.  It’s a 2-pack motorcycle communication system designed to allow for conversation between rider and pillion rider, from bike-to-bike, and by Bluetooth cell phone. It also pairs with your Bluetooth enabled GPS or MP3 player. I’ve been interested in reviewing a product like this for quite some time. I picked the Scala Rider in particular because  it’s the one that seems to be the most popular. Though there are others.

With my intention of reviewing this product, I reached out to the good folks at Cardo Systems… told them I’d like write about it. Asked if they would want to donate, or at very least loan me a kit for this purpose, and invited them to have some material participation in what ultimately made it to this post. Alas however, they never responded. I paid full retail for this puppy so I could tell you all what I think of it.  Of course this also means I wasn’t able to work out a deal like I did for the Lifesaver Traction Control Breaking System.

Specs and features (taken directly from the Cardo Systems website):

General

• Talk time: up to 8 hours
• Standby time: one week
• Weight: 33.5 gr / 1.18 oz
• Battery type: rechargeable Li-Po
• Charging time: 3 hours
• Rugged Design: Rain and snow resistant
• Certificates: FCC, IC,CE, Bluetooth
• Bluetooth^® version: 2.0, class 1
• Chip manufacturer: Cambridge Silicone Radio (CSR)

Intercom Features

• Bike-to-Bike intercom communication up to 700 m / 2,300 ft range (full duplex) in wide open terrain
• Rider-to-Passenger communications up to33 ft. / 10m range with all SCALA RIDER® models (full compatibility but not all features supported)

Audio Features

• Noise cancellation Microphone
• AGC technology: Automatic Volume Control according to speed and ambient noise
• VOX technology: Accept or Reject calls by voice commands
• Speaker Booster

Functional Features

• Fits all full-faced and 3/4 Helmets
• Quick-release mechanism for headset
• Two ultra-slim speakers – 5.7 mm (less than ¼”) thickness
• 4 large control buttons

Headset and Hands Free Profiles support

• Voice dial
• Last-number redial
• Call reject
• A2DP/AVRCP profile for wireless streaming stereo from MP3 player or other A2DP device

FM Radio Features

• 87.5 MHz to 108 MHz receiver
• 6 Station memory with Search and Store functions
• Automatic radio muting during incoming calls
• Radio On time: typical on avg. 8-10 hours

MP3

• Connect your MP3 player with the provided cable

GPS

• Transmit navigation instructions from your Bluetooth enabled GPS device

Charger

• 110/240V 50/60Hz Universal Travel Charger

Installation:

Default installation includes a two-piece clamp, fastened by two hex screws on the backside of the mountable unit. It’s meant to clamp onto the outer shell of the helmet, and is secured by those two screws (hex-key provided). Sadly however, the shell of my helmet – sans interior padding – was too thick (roughly a half inch) to accommodate the clamp. To address this, included with the kit is a stick-on solution that replaces the clamp. Personally I don’t like the use of glue or other adhesives on my helmets but realize that’s just a personal quirk.  Nevertheless, in my case this was the only solution, short of fabricating a new clamping mechanism. The manual included with the kit did an “OK” job of presenting the step-by-step instructions for both methods.

The speakers were pretty simple. They’re backed with Velcro and the kit also includes the mating pieces of Velcro. The speakers tucked nicely into the ear pockets of my helmet, with the wiring hidden behind the padding, which kept it all clean and out of sight, and keeps them from making physical contact with my ears. Two very good plusses. But, given the depth of the ear pockets, this proved to be bad for me (I couldn’t hear the speaker output). In my attempts to remedy this, I used soft foam and more Velcro to build up the inside of the ear pockets. Nope, that didn’t work because as it turns out, the speakers were now positioned well behind my ears. But being able to keep them inside the ear pockets I managed to find that sweet spot where the sound is at its optimum because the speakers are now les than a quarter inch away, and directly inline with my ear holes. Expect to play around with this until you have it the way you like it. I can say that volume and sound quality vary greatly depending on their position relative to your ears. Even in the enclosed confines of your helmet. Again, instructional information in the manual was “OK.”

Overall, installation on two helmets, including multiple attempts at positioning within the ear pockets, took about 20 or 30 minutes from start to finish. It was pretty straightforward, with easy to read, “OK” instructions, and rather simple in task. It required no special tools nor specialized expertise.

Testing

While limited in scope, I focused testing on the following:

• Controls – ease of use while wearing the helmet.
• Varying ambient noise – Accomplished by opening and closing the face shield on my helmet while riding at varying speeds. With and without my audio system playing.
• Varying distance – What is the max distance between units before quality begins to degrade? This is limited to the bike-to-bike (AKA secondary buddy intercom) communication.
• Cell phone – Bluetooth, VOX, and other cell phone functions similar to any other headset for your cell phone.

Controls:

Each unit is equipped with four buttons.  These are for volume up and down, and two multi-function buttons (some chording is necessary for the set-up functions but not for user-controls). The three things important to me with respect to user-controls are:

• Audible feedback needs to be consistent. It’s not. Sometimes it’s so feint that it’s impossible to hear while at speed. Others it’s so loud it feels like my head will implode. The good news is those loud blasts are very infrequent when using the unit under normal operation.
• Can be located and acted upon by feel only. While wearing the helmet, at 70 MPH it’s important to be able to press the buttons without too much work, by touch only… with very little concentration. This test passes nicely. With only 4 buttons in easy to find locations, this is actually one of the things I really like about the Scala Rider product.
• The controls need to be glove friendly. This for me is a semi-pass. Consider there are many different types of gloves riders use. Thick, thin, loose fitting, tight like a second skin, etc. I tested this with a pair of tight, second-skin gloves and it all just worked as expected. I then switched to looser fitting, mesh gloves and it was only slightly cumbersome. Lastly, I tested using a pair of thick, cold-weather gloves. Forget it! I was able to operate the buttons but it took too much concentration to make it safe.

Using the intercom feature and ambient noise: My initial tests were a disappointment.

• Using the Primary Buddy intercom feature (the one used for rider and pillion rider), initial attempts were in my kitchen with a partner helping out. Problems encountered were: Spotty ability to use the feature by voice only, spotty ability to use this feature by button control, and one side of the connection between the two intermittently dropped. This can only be described by “you’re breaking up, what did you say?”
• In an attempt to cure this problem I re-paired the two units using the instructions in the user manual. The pairing was successful but it did not eliminate the frequent drops.  Not good… not good at all.
• Sadly, there is no meaningful troubleshooting section in the manual. This in my view is a major blunder on the part of Cardo Systems’ technical writers. There is a reference to online support, but tell that to the guy who’s out carving up the canyons, in the middle of nowhere without an internet connection. Not good… not good at all.

Correcting a problem (aka Cardo Systems Technical Support): Since I was not able to remedy the problem myself, I took a look at the support section of the Cardo Systems website.

• FAQs did not address my specific issue and those that were close, didn’t help.
• I used a web-form to send a support request on May 12, 2011
• I got impatient and sent a standard email to support@cardosystems.com on May 13, 2011
• On May 13^th I received a detailed reply with a handful of troubleshooting tips. In my view, this was of the canned response variety, which tells me this is a known issue.
• Results of the suggestions sent by Technical Support: Long story made short, it fixed the problem. Longer story, I received tips on cleaning the contacts, positioning the microphone and the all-important complete unit reset. It worked. Testing can now resume.

Using the intercom feature and ambient noise (Testing resumed):

After fixing the intermittent drops noted above, field-testing consisted of the following:

• Riding at speeds up to 80 MPH.
• Riding with the face shield opened and closed.
• Riding with the sound system on and off.

Result: The simple explanation is this test passed quite nicely.

• Ambient noise did not come through. No wind noise, no sound from the stereo. This was with the face shield opened and closed. In fact, I learned later that the unit is designed such that it actually performs better when there is a lot of ambient noise. Pleasantly surprising and very cool.
• Using the voice-activated intercom works well but after 30 seconds of silence, the units go back into standby mode. This helps to conserve battery life but makes delays in the conversation an exercise in vocal finesse.
• Using the MC button to initiate the intercom connection has the advantage of the connection remaining active until the MC button it tapped again. This is good for those situations where you just want the ability to have simple but reliable conversation with your passenger.

Bike-to-bike intercom:

Due to the absence of any of my riding buddies having the Scala Rider systems, I was not able to test this feature. Perhaps I’ll test that later and report on it under a separate post.

Cell phone:

Pairing: Instructions in the manual were adequate in walking me through the pairing process for my cell phone. In this case the phone I used was the Apple iPhone.  Pairing took about a minute and was successful on the first attempt.

Sound quality: Tested while riding through the streets of Long Beach reaching top speeds of perhaps 40 MPH. This was done with the face shield in both the opened and closed positions.

• I could hear fairly well with only a couple moments where ambient noise made it difficult. Though I will openly attribute this to my inability to hear certain frequencies.
• The person who helped me test by being the other end of the call reported hearing wind noise that seemed to have been reduced when I closed my face shield.
• The person who helped me by being the other end of the call reported that I could be heard just fine. Note here that I made special attempts to keep my voice at what I consider to have been normal speaking volume.

VOX: I did not test any voice controls for cell phone use. Why? Because that stuff never works right, so any deficiencies that may have been found could easily be attributed to the overall paradigm of vocal control.

Button controls: With the units equipped with easy to find and execute buttons, the controls for the cell phone use were pretty easy. Call answer, call reject, and last number redial all worked as expected with no error or odd behavior.

Overall Assessment:

The Scala Rider communication system installs easily with no need for special tools or expertise. It seems to handle wind and other ambient noise quite nicely, with only the rare instance of unwanted sound getting through. Easy to use (by touch) controls make it a safe exercise when operating while on the move (unless you happen to be wearing thick gloves like those used for cold-weather riding). The user manual leaves a bit to be desired as it contains no real troubleshooting guides and very little in the area of definitions of terminology. The help section of the web site offers very little by way of self-help resources. But the technical support folks are responsive and my issues were corrected with their first response. Is this device worth the full retail price? I don’t know quite how to answer that. I suppose that’s going to be different for everyone so I’ll just say I paid for it and don’t regret doing so.

More later.

General, Product Reviews, Raves

Tattoos! Lots of bikers (and motorcycle enthusiasts) have them. Yes! Tucked nicely in the whole motorcycling culture are a variety of body-modifications, including tattoos. So much so, that we are surprised to meet a “biker” who doesn’t sport some amount of ink somewhere on his or her body. I have a few myself. So it seems fitting, since this is a motorcycling blog, that I share my recent excursion into the wonderfully addictive world of body-ink.

Given my age and the generation from which I come, I am somewhat “old-school” when it comes to tattoos. I have a handful of very independent pictures on my body; a peacock and a unicorn on my chest sporting my kids’ names, big cats on my arms, and a dragon on my back. While each tattoo has special meaning to me, none are presented such as to be part of a larger piece of work. That’s the old-school way. Today however, the trend is to create large and elaborate pieces that span major amounts of skin to create unique and compelling works of art. And in my effort to cling to every single piece of my youth, I have decided that I too want a big piece of art. Which is what brought me to Sunset Tattoo .

My initial meeting with Creeper, an older guy with long gray hair and beard at Sunset, was simply to discuss the possibilities and ideas of how to bring the peacock on my chest, the tiger on my right arm, and the dragon on my back, together into a single piece that includes a partial sleeve of ink on my right bicep. He had me remove my shirt so he could take a look. And that’s where it started. He began just spouting a handful of ideas on what could be done and before I knew it, I was asking him to get started.

Two sittings later my back is finished and we are now ready to get to work on my arm. But the real take-away message is this man’s creativity and the things he can do with that ink-gun. First, as one would expect, tattoos hurt! They are a deliberate injury to the skin that is somewhat akin to road-rash. But with his skill with the equipment, or maybe it was just his technique, the pain of it all was left to a very tolerable minimum. I managed to live through three hours in my first sitting and two for the second. Not the norm by any stretch. Next is the man’s artistic talent. It amazes me that he pulled this idea out of his head in a matter of minutes and actually drew the castle and grounds free-hand (no stencils here!)! Lastly, the environment. The shop is clean and orderly, the atmosphere is comfortable and offers just enough distraction that the time seems to just blow by. He even has movies playing on a computer! The result… he took a simple dragon and comfortably created what I think is an awesome piece of work! Wow!

Over all I would most definitely recommend Creeper as a damn good artist with a great flair, is a creator of a comfortable atmosphere, and has a funny disposition. Of course as we get more work done, I’ll be sure to post more photos. Personally, I can’t wait to have it all finished!

General, Raves

Nestled deeply in the joy of riding, is the love affair we have with our bikes. Being in love with our bike includes a collection of photos. Right? Any rider worth his or her salt likely has a host of pics of themselves with their bikes, their bikes in front of everywhere they have ever ridden, other people sitting on their bikes, their bikes after being freshly detailed, and the list goes on and on. The bummer though is we rarely get that awesome photo of us while actually riding. Sure some of us have been lucky enough to have someone riding pillion on another bike snap a few. But we rarely get to see ourselves in motion, in the perfect riding position, looking cool and well… you know what I mean.

It’s not some self-glorifying, vanity thing. Not at all. It’s seeded in the fact that our bikes are cool and we like to see ourselves when we’re looking cool. Human nature! How many times have you been riding past some strip-mall and watch your reflection on the store front plate-glass windows? Come on… admit it. You’ve done it! I know I have! Okay, maybe there is SOME vanity there but hey… we’re only human!

Well, if you ever get out to Southern California and find yourself riding through the hills of Malibu you simply MUST ride the famous Mulholland Drive up to The Rock Store . In July of this year I took such a ride (See my article on the Hills of Malibu), and on that route, as I negotiated the twisties, digging the feel of my floor boards dragging, was a pair of guys, strategically positioned on one or the other side of a rather nice bend in the road popping off pictures with their pro gear and logging hundreds and hundreds of incredible images. Each made available at Rock Store Photos (for a price of course).

Look at the picture at the top of this article. That handsome rider poised on the big Triumph in that cool riding position would be me! Note the detail in the picture is so clean that you can see I didn’t shave that day, and you can see a few scratches on the side of my tank. Heck, you can even see my pal Marvin the Martian clearly on the windscreen!

Photos are priced individually by the photographers themselves and are in fact quite affordable. They go through the painstaking process of cleaning up images, correcting color, and essentially bringing out your spirit as you ride by them. Thus satisfying the need for the much coveted “in motion awesome shot.” I took it a step further though and after receiving my images (delivered digitally right to your computer), I ordered a large print on canvas to hang in my office at home. Yeah… yeah, I know… vanity. But it’s a cool shot!

Note here that I am not receiving any compensation or commission or even a discount for my own image with the writing of this article. I’m posting it here because I know what riders like. And in my quest to point you all to the things I think are cool, I am presenting this to you just because it’s really bloody awesome! So, get your wheels to Malibu, jump on Mulholland, and get your image immortalized so you to can show people how bitchen you are while straddling your machine and digging into the twisties!

Product Reviews, Raves

 

There is a big misconception about Southern California, with respect to choice motorcycling locations. Given that SoCal is home to Los Angeles, Hollywood and other “big city” places, most believe there aren’t any decent “out in the world” rides left for the true motorcycle enthusiast. Well, let me share something.

For about a year and a half I have been a member of the Southern Cruisers Riding Club (MT. Baldy Chapter). With them, I have had the benefit of being in the company of a lot of good folks, who know a lot of great places to ride. Yesterday was one such ride. In fact, I’ll even go as far as to say, the absolute best, to date, ride I’ve taken with the SCRC! 

First, a slight mishap. I dropped my bike trying to turn around in the parking lot. I put my foot down, slipped on something, and down it went. No damage except a tiny, superficial scratch on the underside of one of the pipes. No biggie at all. 

We left San Dimas mid-morning, and headed east on the super-slab. Yeah, we burned about 55 miles on the freeway to get where we were going. Which was US Highway 101, north along the coast toward Ventura County. From there we took the ever-famous Mulholland Drive, a road with smooth sweepers and tree-top canopies, skirting the Malibu Mountains.

First stop, The Rock Store. The Rock Store, is a well-known stop-spot for motorcycling enthusiasts of all kinds. From the hard-core Harley guys, to retirees with their vintage British bikes, to the sport-bike crowd, to celebrities, to the simple joy-rider, the Rock Store is an attraction that you simply must visit. Great ride getting there, the people are cool, and you’ll have plenty of opportunity for good-old-fashioned motor-head conversation.

From there, lunch at Malibu Seafood for some tasty fish-n-chips and onto Latigo Canyon road for about 20-odd miles of some really hairy twisties! What an awesome ride! No traffic to speak of, few bicyclists, great weather which lead to great visibility, and a group of folks who know how to negotiate their big cruisers through those tight switch-backs! And me at the back of the pack, digging into the turns and occasionally dragging the floor-boards! Yes!

Riding home was south from the LA/Ventura County line on the Pacific Coast Highway, all the way into Long Beach and eventually, home. A coastal ride with the waterline to our right and weather that couldn’t make up its mind. We rode through warm and energizing sunshine, to brrr, chilly and damp air, and it even rained for about 30 seconds! What?!

In the end, I had enjoyed freeway, sweepers, twisties, tight switch-backs, and a wonderful coastal ride. We actually hit every venue I enjoy. And surprisingly, I came in at just under 300 miles for the entire day.

So to those who will assert that Southern California doesn’t have any nice rides, I’d like to suggest you check out the hills and coastal rides of beautiful Malibu! I promise, you’ll soon change your view.

Raves, Rides

I have to say, this was by far and away, THE largest motorcycling event in which I have ever taken part! The eleventh annual West Coast Thunder! I was both humbled and honored to have been involved in such an emotionally charged experience. Read more…

Events, Motorcycles, News, Raves, Rides

Review: Life Savers Traction Control Braking (TCB)
And a special rebate offer for readers of Twist the Grip. Details at the end of this article.

Life Savers Traction Control Braking (TCB)
When brakes are applied, a pressure spike occurs that causes the brake pads to grab onto the high and low spots of the brake rotor. In panic or sudden braking situations where both the front and rear brakes are applied, the weight load of the motorcycle is shifted to the front of the bike. This causes a reduction of the rear wheel contact weight, such that up to 70% of the vehicle weight is shifted to the front. Effectively this “lightens” the back-end and that means the likelihood of rear wheel lock-up increases.

The TCB is a control valve that replaces the brake caliper banjo bolt and is designed to turn the pressure spike into a pressure wave, thus allowing the brake pad to apply an equal amount of pressure to the entire rotor. This has the benefit of more efficient use of the pads and rotors, as well as decreasing the ease with which rear-wheel can lock-up can occur.

Having experienced a rear wheel lock-up… at speed… several times…  I know firsthand that it’s a dangerous situation and regaining control of the bike is completely dependent on the rider’s skill , the capability of the bike, and the presence of mind not to panic. And in those situations, while my brain was yelling at me to “get off the brake!” my foot remained firmly planted.  Needless to say, this solution seems exactly what I need.  So my good friend Donivan and I each got one and tested them on our bikes. The following documents the installation, road testing, and overall impression of the device.

Test bikes:
We installed the device on two separate motorcycles.

• Bike 1, Mine: 2008 Triumph Rocket III Standard.
  • Roughly 25K existing miles on the bike with the last 10K miles on the current brakes.
  • Drive train including brakes and suspension are completely stock.
  • You can read about this bike here
• Bike 2, Donivan’s: 2008 Triumph Rocket III Touring model
  • Roughly 15K miles on the bike with about 5K miles on the current brakes.
  • Brakes and suspension are stock

Installation:
The lifesavers website has installation instructions that you can print out. It’s a fairly simple installation and from start to finish it took about 15 minutes per bike. This included bleeding the brakes. Keep one thing in mind, you’ll need to get replacement crush washers, brake fluid, and if your bike needs one, you’ll need to supply your own bleeding kit.

 

Locating the Banjo bolt on the brake caliper was easy, but I’d suggest checking your bike to be sure it’s located as easily as mine. An alternative would be that you can install the device at the master cylinder end.

Removing it was a fairly simple process, but be sure to put down some paper-towel because you will drip some fluid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When installing the new TCB, we added a little teflon tape just to give it an added seal. Note: be sure to use new crush

washers when you do this to ensure there’s a good seal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final step is bleeding the brakes. We used a bleeding kit that you can get from just about any auto-shop retailer. But you can use any bleeding technique that you are used to using.

 

 

 

 

 

Road test considerations:
We approached this with the mindset that testing of the device should include controlled scenarios that emulate sudden or panic stops, as well as real-world riding. And with that, the specific considerations were:

• Baseline information must be recorded prior to installation so we have something to compare it to once the device is installed.
• Braking from a variety of road speeds.
• Weight and load on the bike (single and two-up riding).
• Application of rear only or of both brakes simultaneously.
• Affect on stopping distance.

Note: Because this test and report were done in a single afternoon, what this eval doesn’t cover is if there are any long-tem implications with respect to the wear on brake pads, rotors, or any other part of the braking system.

Test results:
My initial results (with both bike 1 and bike 2) in all honestly were not all that favorable and I was concerned about the efficacy of the device enough to contact the CEO of Lifesaver to share my findings. Donivan did as well and he was able to return his for a refund and opted to return to his stock set-up. After some back and forth between myself and the CEO, with him conveying some tips and ideas, we settled on removing the originally installed valve and getting the next size up instead. And after installing that one I am happy to report… I am officially impressed! Read on!

Bike 1:

Straight line hard braking – rear brake only:

• 30 MPH.
  • Trying hard, I was not able to lock up the rear wheel.
  • Stable braking with zero impact on control.
  • This is expected behavior.
• 60 MPH.
  • Trying hard, I was not able to lock up the rear wheel.
  • Stable braking with zero impact on control.
  • This is expected behavior.

Straight line hard braking both front and rear brakes applied:

• 30 MPH.
  • Resulted in a roughly a 15 to 20% reduction in stopping distance.
  • No rear wheel lock up
  • This is the expected behavior
• 60 MPH
  • Resulted in a roughly a 15 to 20% reduction in stopping distance
  • No rear wheel lock up
  • This is the expected behavior

Summary of testing:
With the originally installed device: On Bike number 1, the ability to lock the rear wheel actually increased in situations where the rear brakes only were applied. However when both front and rear were applied there was no locking except in one particular instance during a real-world ”panic-braking” situation from about 60 MPH. This occurred on a freeway ride where I got tangled up in traffic and a sudden slow-down. I hit the brakes hard and the rear wheel locked causing the bike to slide.

I elected to (a) keep the device on and (b) bleed the brakes a second time. The plan was to extend the amount of time and miles for testing, while at the same time being in contact with the Lifesaver CEO, who in the end opted to send me the next size up on the device. This, as noted above produced much more favorable results. I will note however that all tests with the new valve were under controlled situations and I have not yet had a real-world experience.

On bike number 2, Donivan’s overall impression was that the device did not perform as expected, produced the high-pitched whine, and allowed for rear wheel lock up. He took the device off and requested a refund. Which was granted.

Responsiveness from the Manufacturer:
Both Donivan and I were in constant email contact with Steve Chicilo, CEO of Lifesaver. In our communications we conveyed our testing results and initial impressions. Steve was responsive, gave some instruction, suggested a prolonged test and over-all stood behind his product indicating that after selling several hundred monthly, has had no requests for return/refund. Nevertheless, Donivan, as mentioned above, has returned his and a refund (not counting shipping costs) was granted. With the continued effort from Steve and the installation of the next size up I am happy with the level of attention and responsiveness from the company.

Overall assessment:
After settling with the appropriately rated valve, my overall impression is that the device has performed, under controlled testing, as advertised and I am happy with it such that I will be keeping it on the bike.

Take control of your breaking and get $10.00 for it!
My good friend Steve Chicilo, CEO of Lifesavers has kindly offered a $10.00 rebate for orders placed as a result of reading this article.
Here’s what to do:

• Visit the Lifesavers website and place your order.
• Payment is made via PayPal
• Use the discount code, “Karl” (no quotes) and proceed with your checkout.
• You will receive your $10.00 rebate with delivery of the TCB Valve.
• Offer expires July 15, 2010

General, Product Reviews, Raves

I’ve made the statement before that riding provides mental relief. That it causes the rest of the world to simply vanish. In my article titled My Zen Road Trip I wrote: “…there are those moments where time simply stops. There you are; straight line, 75 MPH, beautiful day, and you hit a mental zone where it all becomes almost meditative.”

I think by that statement alone you would be safe in the suggestion that riding provides some level of cathartic relief. On Christmas day however, I experienced just how profoundly cathartic it really can be. In this case it wasn’t a particularly active or overly aggressive ride. Instead, it was a 75 mile (one way) trek on the super-slab to see mom for the holiday.

In my case however, Christmas was not a happy occasion. Owing to a handful of terrible events in my life, I find myself indescribably anxiety-ridden and not in the best of emotional straights. I’m not prepared to share any specific detail about the recent events in my life but suffice it to say that these events have had the emotional impact of a broken-heart to the “enth” degree. The term, “Emotional wreck” would have been a mild form of what I was dealing with in my head and heart. The constant feeling that I was on the verge of tears was beyond agonizing and unbearable. Preparing to leave for moms I was teary-eyed and deeply saddened. Christmas just wasn’t Christmas and I actually considered not going at all, fearing that I’d only serve to bring everyone else down. Depression tends to be contagious that way.

My ride to mom’s and the ride home later the same day proved to have been a greater emotional haven than any number of years in therapy could ever provide. Ten minutes into it I forgot about everything. No anxiety, no heart-ache, no worry, no tears save for those provided by 75 mile per hour wind and not the most suitable glasses. I had experienced a profound emotional cleansing such that on my arrival to moms, I was smiling. Not one of those phony smiles that get put-on when trying to hide bad news. This was a real, warming-the-heart sort of smile. I was in a great mood and I suddenly felt a bit silly at my angst over the preceding days.

Thusly, in addition to the Zen-like meditative nature of riding, add to it the cathartic, emotionally uplifting, mentally cleansing properties and you have a pretty good explanation about why I ride.

General, Raves

I’m a stickler for service. On those occasions where I receive poor service I am the type of person who will stomp his feet, yell, and pitch a fit until I get what I consider to be fair and appropriate treatment. I also will issue praise whenever I am treated with respect and afforded what I consider to be exemplory service. Well I’m happy to report that this article is about just that. Exemplory service.

I recently had to take my bike in to OTD Cycle Sports of Orange County in Santa Ana. This is the second experience I have had with them and I’d like to describe the series of steps taken to extend excellent service and ultimately, to getting my bike taken care of.

It started with me calling. I spoke with Chris Lang, the Assistant Service Manager and described the problem I was having with a very high idle. I also explained that a couple months ago I had the TPS (Throttle Position Sensor) replaced by the guys at Southern California Triumph in Brea. Clearly, I initially suspected this was the problem. Chris explained that under normal circumstances he would suggest I return to the guys in Brea (since they did the original work). However, being aware of my very poor experiences with them, he suggested that I bring it to him instead. He also noted that the shop was rather booked up and that my bike would sit for a few days before they could assign it to a technician. This in my mind was him making sure to set my expectations correctly. So that’s brownie-point number one.

Next, I brought the bike in on a Saturday. The service writer was expecting me, noting that Christ had let him know I’d be coming in. Brownie-point number two. He then enganed me in a conversation that made it very easy to convey the problem and point out possible causes. The discovery process he used was easy to handle and executed really well. Brownie-point number three.

Before I left I asked about some unrelated stuff I’m considering for my bike and he had a technician (who really knew his stuff) come out and spend about an additional 30 minutes or so to chat with me about what I was considering. The details here aren’t important. What IS important is that he did this quite happily and didn’t stop until I had all my questions answered. That’s worth two brownie-points so we are not up to a total of five.

Chris called me on Wednesday to tell me that the bike was fixed. But he also added that because he was aware of recent problems with the bike and of my experiences in Brea, that he would be having the bike road tested for an extended ride… just to be certain. He said he would let me know, but was calling pretty much to simply convey the status. Brownie-point number 6.

He then called me on Friday to say it was officially ready for me to pick it up! I did so on Saturday morning. Here, the technician who worked on the bike took the time to chat with me about exactly what he had done and what it took to fix it. In this case it was not the TPS as I had originally suspected. Rather it was the Idle-Stepper mechanism. This was taken care of under warrantee and he was confident that it would be fine now. The fact that the technician himself took the time to do this was pretty cool and of course, makes me feel like I am being taken care of very well. Brownie point number seven.

I closed off the business end of this with Chris and rode away. And I am happy to report that so far… it’s running quite nicely. I’m granting an additional three brownie-points, bringing the total to ten, because I didn’t once have to chase anyone down, am known by these guys, treated with absolute respect, and I got my bike back in a week.

Color me one very happy customer.

Raves