Sorry I never did a wrap up of our Labor Day weekend trip to Connecticut. That was the pre-ride for our Fall Foliage Trip with our HOG chapter that we just got back from. Please enjoy the pictures from that trip while we post the new pictures and write about our newest adventure.
Cell phones put us in contact with family, friends, roadside assistance and emergency help. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve called AAA to help me out with my car. Unfortunately I have had to use my phone in a real emergency to call for assistance.
I never worry about my cell phone running out of power in my car because I have one of those cell phone chargers that plug into the cigarette lighter. Many of you have a cigarette lighter outlet on your touring bikes, but most of us don’t. We don’t have a 12 volt cigarette lighter outlet on our motorcycles! This is unfair and dangerous! What are we to do if stranded in the middle of no where in need of help and our phone dies?
SOLUTION: I have partnered with local biker Ray Bowers to bring you a solution! Ray has contracted an American electronics manufacturer to make 12 volt cigarette lighter adapters for motorcycles! These high quality American made 12 volt power ports have a cigarette lighter style outlet at one end and an SAE 2-pin connector at the other. They are connected by 9 inches of 18 gauge wire with an overall length of 14 inches. This device can power a dead cell phone, recharge your phone while you ride or even power small electronic devices like GPS systems.
As a Road Captain I consider cell phones critical equipment, just as important as first aid kits. I have never called HOG Roadside Assistance. I hear it’s more difficult to locate professional motorcycle assistance than it is for an automobile. Plan to be on the phone a few times with calls back and forth to your roadside assistance provider before a professional is located near you; especially on weekends and holidays (when we are usually riding). This ordeal can easily drain your phone.
Click here to read about Joker and Wendy from the Blackstone HOG Chapter in New England. They had mechanical problems on the road while riding home from the Harley Davidson 105th Anniversary celebration. They were stuck in a strange neighborhood in Chicago, miles from home and it was getting dark. It took a handfull of desparate calls over the course of several hours before help was located. Just as the they were losing power on their phones the final call came and they were rescued! I’m glad things worked out for Joker and Wendy. If their phones had died, who knows how the story would have ended?
Most of us in the northeast have a battery tender pigtail permanently attached to our motorcycle battery. This is the quick connect cable that you attach to your battery tender in the off season. It has an SAE 2-pin connector. The 12 volt power port connects to this pigtail via the SAE 2-pin connector and provides you with an electrical outlet to power your cell phone right on your motorcycle. You will never be stranded with a dead cell phone if you purchase this 12 volt power port. I can’t guarantee you a signal, but a dead cell phone battery is one less thing you have to worry about!
You will have to purchase a cell phone charger with cigarette lighter adapter that works for your particular phone separately, I do not provide these. You also have to provide the pigtail or purchase this with your 12 Volt Power Port. You can also purchase yourself a good battery tender for the upcoming cold months which comes with the quick connect cable.
Order your 12 Volt Power Port now for $9.95 and never worry about being stranded with a dead cell phone! Click here to go to the new www.Shop.RoadCaptainUSA.com online store to purchase this unique motorcycle accessory. It’s a life saver! Get it now while supplies last.
For months now I have spent practically every free moment motoring around somewhere. Whether it be vacationing in the mountains of West Virginia, rekindling old friendships in Connecticut, developing new bonds of friendship in Rhode Island, enjoying local roads along Maryland’s Eastern Shore or Pennsylvania’s Amish Country, or simply an early morning jaunt to work, I’ve put close to 3000 miles on my new bike and spent just about that many on the back of Jay’s. Not that I am complaining! I love every minute of it. The problem is that it has caused me to fall WAY behind on domestic chores.
I probably have enough Harley Davidson t-shirts and tank tops to last the entire riding season without ever having to do laundry…but the other day, I noticed that my garden looked like this:
This is not a joke, or some picture I found on the internet. It is true. I have been suffering from a severe case of Domestica Neglectitis. Since Jay’s bike is in the shop this weekend, I took advantage of the opportunity to make our house look more like someone actually lives here rather than an abandoned shack! Not only did all of the weeds go, but I actually transplanted a few things. (I really am not much of a gardener, so I hope I didn’t kill them in doing so at the wrong time of year!) I planted some daffodil & crocus bulbs, and added several bags of mulch. What do you think?
Tomorrow I may have to just go on a ride without Jay. I can’t let another gorgeous day go by without cruising somewhere!
This news just in from Harley Davidson…
Marisa Miller, the Victoria’s Secret Angel and Sports Illustrated cover girl, recently teamed up with Harley-Davidson to shoot photos as part of an upcoming ad campaign for the new V-Rod Muscle™. The shots will be released in the coming weeks, and feature Marisa alongside the Muscle.
In the meantime, we have exclusive, behind-the scenes footage of the shoot that just went up on the Harley-Davidson YouTube channel. The video offers a glimpse into the making of the ad campaign, as well as an interview with Marisa discussing the merging of an “authentic American” girl with the “authentic American” brand. You can check it out here
Motorcycles and tattoos seem to go hand in hand. For most of my life I never really understood why anyone would want to get a tattoo. Then I met Jay who has five tribal tats. This was before either of us owned a Harley. I asked him to explain each of them to me on one of our first dates. Some of his stories were fascinating. The one where he got a tattoo that looked like Goldberg’s (the wrestler) because it was his birthday wasn’t so fascinating and did not do much for the cause! However I did start to become intrigued by the concept.
I watched a few episodes of “Inked” and “Miami Ink”, and even a documentary on tattooing. I talked to several people about their tattoos and listened carefully to their stories. I began to come around.
I could understand the motivation, but I knew that if I were ever going to even consider getting a tattoo it would have to have special meaning. I wondered what in my life might have that special of a meaning that I’d consider having it permanently engraved into my skin.
And then it hit me! My mother had been killed in a tragic car accident about a dozen years back. Her favorite flowers were very appropriately daisies. A daisy represents innocence and virtue. Nothing could embody her spirit more. I could go with that….or could I?
OK, I found an acceptable subject, but did I really want a tattoo? It will hurt, won’t it? Do I want to embody that “tattoo culture” image? Jay took me to a tattoo parlor and I looked at flash art and talked to some artists. The idea became real to me.
After months of debate I finally decided to go for it. I made some sketches and brought them into one of the best tattoo shops in the area; Wild Card Studios. The tattoo artist took my vision and made an awesome rendering of a ring of daisies around my ankle. Getting the tattoo on my boney ankle hurt like hell but I’m glad I did it. Months later when I married Jay, having the tattoo on my ankle made me feel as though my dear departed mother was there with me for my wedding day…and that was worth more than words can ever describe.
Lately I’ve been considering getting another tat. I’ve come to peace with some new subject matter, and I am working on the design. Time will tell how it pans out.
I heard somewhere that it was an unwritten rule that you never walked up to an old school biker and asked what his tats represented. But in this day and age the definition of a “biker” has evolved in most circles to include all motorcycle enthusiasts, not just the 1%-ers. So I am asking you….
Note: for another interesting story about a moto blogger and his tattoo click here.
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