Road Captain USA.com

The first time I wore my First Gear Sierra nylon rain pants they melted onto my chrome exhaust pipes just a HOG’s whisker past the heat shield. I was pissed! FLHX Dave from the Road Grits Cafe came to my rescue with another one of his now famous product reccomendations.

 See that nasty black plastic?

At the time I was more amused by the product name: Blue Job. Shortly thereafter I wrote a post on the product but was still focussed on the amusing name and partly goofing around. Then the owner and inventer of Blue Job contacted me and we got to talking about the unique qualities of Blue Job. Blue Job was originally invented as a polish for valuable gems. Unlike traditional chrome polish Blue Job is non abrasive and does not create swirlies. It is a deoxidizer and will take the blue out of heat stained pipes. It comes with a special non abrasive cloth similar to a gem cloth that will not scratch. Jeff was kind enough to send me a Blue Job care package which included some Blue Job for me to try out. So I tried it!

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Tags: Product Reviews by Jay Green
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Keith Myers, President and Founder, of Moto-Maps didn’t want you all to wait till June for me to test and review the Moto-Maps system on Road Captain USA…  so he sent me the Delaware & Maryland Moto-Map Back Road Touring Guide along with a Map-Sak. Diana had to go to Baltimore Saturday so I took the opportunity to try the only Delaware Moto-Map route. It’s called the Red Ride and is documented as being 210 miles and taking approximately 5 hours. I measured 250 miles in 7 hours.

After riding in the rain in staggered formation with a passenger for three days straight the previous weekend I needed to get out on the road all by myself unrestrained for some 96ci V-Twin therapy! No worries, just me and the pavement! I stripped all touring accessories off the bike and put the compact Stop & Go tire repair kit in my riser bag. My bike felt feather light as I backed it out of the porch-garage. Without a passenger, loaded saddlebags and two tons of raingear I guess it should feel lighter. Ah the acceleration! All stress from the past work week melted away when I hit the throttle.

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Tags: Product Reviews, Trips & Places To Go by Jay Green
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For those of you who read my January 25th, 2008 post titled Dyna Touring Bike - 2 Bikes In 1 you know I have been adding only detachable accessories to my Harley Davidson Dyna Low Rider motorcycle. Without the accessories the Low Rider has a chopperesque look but with the accessories it looks like a touring mount. The best of both worlds! I call my motorcycle The Transformer.

The latest accessory is this Harley Davidson hard coated polycarbonate windshield. The retail cost of $340 was an issue for me. A fellow HOG member offered to loan me his new shield for my trip to Pennsylvania. I wasn’t going to take him up on the offer until the weather report started to scream RAIN! Fortunately for me, my friend decided to trade in his Dyna but kept the shield. He sold it to me for a price I couldn’t refuse!

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Tags: Product Reviews, Technical Stuff by Jay Green
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Diana purchased a bottle of Doc Bailey’s Leather Black a long time ago and it was sitting in the shop unopened. As our Soggy Hog Trip approached my thoughts drifted to waterproofing our gloves and boots.

I sprayed my work boots with a cheap aerosol water proofer from K-Mart. The brand was Texas Steer and it didn’t work. even though I sprayed several coats on my boots. Oh well, who needs warm dry feet?

Back to the Doc Bailey’s Leather Black which is sold at many motorcycle shops and by J&P Cycles. This leather treatment is made special for black leather. It’s great for motorcycle jackets, motorcycle chaps, motorcycle boots, motorcycle gloves, motorcycle seats and almost anything that starts with motorcycle. It’s like goopy shoe polish. The treatment promises to clean, nourish, restore color and waterproof. Doc Baily’s proudly advertises “Developed in Canada for extreme conditions”. I treated our leather gloves, Diana’s River Road boots and my motorcycle seat. It definitiely made the boots and gloves cleaner and softer. Diana’s boots looked like new. For these benefits it worked well and gets an A+. For waterproofing to endure ”extreme conditions” it did not work. A big fat F! Thirty minutes into the trip my gloves were soaked. Oh well, who needs warm dry hands?

The bottle of Doc Bailey’s Leather Black came with an application sponge that you use to apply the goopy black substance. This is something you should apply with latex gloves on. I think there was more of this inky black stuff in my skin than in the leathers. The good news is that I work at a printing company and we have special cleansers for pressmen that takes ink off. It did a good job but didn’t get it all off. Oh well, who needs clean hands?

Do you have any suggestions for good leather treatment or waterproofing products?

Tags: Product Reviews by Jay Green
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The recipie for cleaning melted plastic, melted rubber, and even girlfriend skin from your beautiful chrome pipes is Blue Job Chrome Polish + Elbow Grease. You can purchase Blue Job at J&P Cycles but you have to supply the Elbow Grease. J&P Cycles® - Motorcycle Parts and Accessories

Blue Job is different from abrassive chrome polishes as it is an oxidizer and will not scratch your beloved chrome. No swirlies or spider webs or any scratching at all!

Tags: Product Reviews, Technical Stuff by Jay Green
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My intention in developing RoadCaptainUSA.com was to bring you information and stories that will enhance your touring experience whether it be day trips or week long journeys. For those of you interested in riding further than your local watering hole, here is another product review that fits the bill.

There is a company called Moto-Maps in New Hampshire that makes little laminated flip chart booklets of scenic backroads perfect for motorcyclists. You do not have to go to New Hampshire to get these maps as I have them for sale at the RoadCaptainUSA.com bookstore which is powered by the very reliable Amazon.com

To help plan my upcoming Rhode Island trip I purchased the Connecticut & Rhode Island edition of Moto-Maps. To get a better shipping rate I ordered two additional maps: New York and Massachusetts. Each booklet includes maps and turn by turn directions for 6 or 7 loops. The books are small so that they can fit in pockets or small compartments. They are laminated for durability. They are bound by ring clips so you can remove just the trip you are using that day. Moto-Maps also sells some accessories to compliment the maps. They have a special map holder that straps onto your arm and a map clip that attaches to a shield.

The maps cost less than $10.00 so you can’t go wrong. Amazon delivered in a just a few days. No matter how you choose to use your Moto-Maps I’m sure you will enjoy the rides. I’ll post a follow up review after my Rhode Island trip in June.

If anyone is going to Laconia next month, you should take the below Moto-Map with you. Don’t waste too much of your time at Weirs Beach, ride those mountains. See the country! That’s what it’s all about!!!!

Tags: Product Reviews, Trips & Places To Go by Jay Green
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Maybe good motorcycle boots are not motorcycle boots; or do I mean that good motorcycle boots are not good motorcycle boots? I’m not sure what I mean. Read on… 

Harley Davidson Brake Light Boots 

Part# D91680

Retails for $119

I have met some real bikers that like these boots. I don’t like them, the boots I mean. I have owned a pair of these longer than I have owned my motorcycles. For me… these are my “wanna-be” boots. They have a really good lug sole! It grips the road really well, even in the rain. Probably the same rugged sole used on every pair of Harley Davidson motorcycle boots. The boots say “Harley Davidson” on them in twenty places on each boot. It’s stamped on each rivet. They look real “bad ass” and I wore them on many a body guard job. If I were gonna shove a size 10 up someones back side, this would be the boot!

They have a decorative rope with a metal knob at each end that does absolutely nothing. There are no laces. Just two zippers. Nothing to snug them up for a firm fit. Just a loose fit. Maybe this is the same fit that engineer boots have. Maybe most people like this loose fit. They are terribly uncomfortable for walking because the sole is stiff. A full day adventure in these and I can’t wait to get them off.

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Tags: Product Reviews by Jay Green
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As mentioned in yesterdays post; Jerry “Motorman” Palladino has some training DVD’s that can be purchased from my Amazon store. Maybe some of these techniques are too advanced for beginners; or even those of you who have not been on your two wheeler in a little while. Here is a little video clip to refresh your memory on how to operate a motorbike. If you are interested in purchasing Learn To Ride The Easy Way - click here. Enjoy!

Tags: Product Reviews by Jay Green
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eBay is a valuable resource for finding motorcycle parts, accessories and apparel. My wife bought her 2001 Harley Davidson 883 Sportster on eBay. It was her first eBay purchase. The Sportster was advertised on eBay by American Classic Motors in Zieglerville, PA. The motorcycle was in excellent condition. My only complaint is the oil in the bike was very black and filled up too high. Besides that our experience with American Classic Motors was good and she loves the motorcycle.

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Tags: Product Reviews, Websites & Blogs by Jay Green
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Once again HLFX Dave from the Road Grits Cafe comes through with another product reccomendation. Yes, Dave knows his Love Rubs!

I’m not much into cleaning and polishing. My bike is no trailer queen show bike, but I was pissed when some plastic got melted onto my pipes. This can happen from sneaker and shoe soles coming in contact with the pipes, rainwear, stray plastic bags in the wind, etc… Another common problem is bluing of the pipes from heat. Dave suggested I get Blue Job to clean my pipes.

This polish with the funny name is highly reccomended for cleaning chrome exhaust pipes and removing heat stains. It is available at J&P Cycle.

Regarding the J&P Cycle website: you can go to J&P and do a search using product name. J&P Cycle has Rider Forums where people discuss products and problems like cleaning stains and melted plastic off their pipes.

If you have any secret techniques for cleaning your pipes or have experience with Blue Job, please leave comments on this post as we would like to hear about it.

Tags: Product Reviews, Technical Stuff, The way I roll: Stories by Jay Green
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