newOldUser

Welcome. Nice work.

Welcome from the other side of the county.

Welcome, enjoy and stay safe.

Welcome.

Welcome. Take the course to get your license. It's well worth your time and the $25. You've got a good bike to cruise through your 50's on. Enjoy.

For a while I was using a Garmin Nuvi 200 GPS unit to geo track. It was their entry level unit and you can pick them up pretty cheap. You needed to apply a hack to it in order to make it record your travel (hack: http://www.nerdboys.co.za/2008/03/19/garmin-nuvi-200-track-hack/ ) After the ride I would dump the data into the GPS Visualizer site ( http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/# ). This site is also good for converting GPS output from one format to another. From there you can put your maps on sites like EveryTrail http://www.everytrail.com/ Long story short... It was interesting but I didn't use it much. The Nuvi 200 hack does not allow me to set the time/distance interval so it was collecting a position check ever second or so. This seems to drain the battery quicker so I had to keep it charging all the time. I found it easier to just hit the 'where am i' button every now and then and save that as a location name like 'today-1', 'today-2', 'today-3'. Then when I got home I would just look at google maps and my saved locations in the Garmin and I could usually figure out where I'd been. That didn't give me speed or elevation data but I wasn't too interested in that anyway.

Welcome. I've only been through the Athens area by car but it looks like a nice area to ride.

Have a look at some 'Instructables'. They have several home-made mounts for GPS. http://www.instructables.com/tag/?q=motorcycle+gps+mount&limit%3Atype%3Aid=on&type%3Aid=on&type%3Auser=on&type%3Acomment=on&type%3Agroup=on&type%3AforumTopic=on&type%3AforumTopic=on&sort=none I don't use mine while I'm riding. If I do need it while riding I put it in the clear map pouch on my tank bag. Most of the time I stop and use it, if needed. With the people I ride with the number one use seems to be. "Where the heck is the nearest gas station" as we sit in the middle of farmland, ohio.

Yikes! That's a real difference. Thanks for the photos. Planes are going to try to land behind you as you go down the road. I did a little more poking around and found several articles in webBikeWorld like this one http://www.webbikeworld.com/r2/led/led.htm They all seem to say that if you go with the cheaper LED set ups you will not get as much light/lumins as the incandesent bulb you're replacing. (So, pretty much what you guys on the board have been saying.) The advantage is that you're using less juice so you can power other stuff. Well I'm not looking to power other stuff, I just wanted a cheap, brighter, replacement bulb that would give better daytime and nighttime visibility to drivers behind me. Not to take my own thread off-topic but I did get a message from someone telling me to look into "Xenon" bulbs if I just wanted something brighter. I'm not sure if they change the amount of juice used or not. Don't know if they produce too much heat or fail with motorcycle vibration. I've seen two red 1157 xenon bulbs on ebay for about $6.

Welcome

I agree. If you find a good pair of hiking boots with ankle support you should be able to ride with them. You wouldn't want to ride with them all the time because you'll wear out the hiking boots quicker on a motorcycle and they don't have all the protection and fit that real motorcycle boots have.

Great advice and videos everyone. Thanks. I've been looking at ebay and have found several vendors selling the 36 LED bulbs. I like the 36 LED becuase it seems to give more light (though maybe not as much as the SMD versions). I'm hoping that the bulb will sit in the current reflector well enough that I don't need to do any modifications. I don't like the LED configurations that have all the lights facing in one direction. I know from experience that LED light drops off greatly at an angle to straight on. My bike has a red lens cover so I'll probably stick to getting white bulbs. I'm not replacing the turn signals (yet) so I don't need to worry about the relays. I've also seen these "spinning" type bulbs. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2x-36-LED-SPINNING-BRAKE-TURN-TAIL-LIGHT-PART-1157-BULB_W0QQitemZ370332902079QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotorcycles_Parts_Accessories?hash=item56398fa2bf They worry me a little because I don't want the driver behind me thinking "What the heck is that guy signaling" when he should be thinking "Hey, I need to stop before I hit that motorcycle". Anyone use the "spinning" type? SMD type : http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2x-1157-SMD-13-LED-White-Light-Bulb-2057-380-BAY15D-P21_W0QQitemZ130367911245QQcmdZViewItemQQptZMotors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories?hash=item1e5a88754d non-spinning 36 LED: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370324859566&ih=024&category=33713&_trksid=p4506.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26ps%3D6%26clkid%3D7955418153743224426 I must be getting a little touch of cabin fever because I'm thinking about buying several different sets and seeing which I like best. And then there's that Solar power battery charger that I was looking at.... http://www.innovationhouse.com/products/cycle_saver.html?promo2 Too many toys to buy, not enough time to ride...

Welcome. Lots of people from the Columbus area on this board.

Welcome to the board.

Welcome from the great Southwest (Southwest Ohio that is.)

Anyone using LED replacement lights for their brakes or turn signals? I'm interested in anyones experience with 1156/1157 replacement bulbs. Here's a sight with some examples: http://www.ledshoppe.com/ but I've seen them on ebay and other places. Prices seem to be all over the place from $5 to $50 for a brake light. I'm looking for something that will give me a more visible running/brake light. I also like them becuase they're easy to install and I don't have to cut into the wiring. A couple of 36 LED red ones look good for my vulcan 750, just wondering if anyone has had a problem. I've heard that if you use them for the turn signals they might fool your blinker-box into thinking the bulb is burned out because they draw so little juice.

Welcome

Welcome.

Congrats. It's good to hear about someone finding a job instead of getting laid off.

Welcome. Hope you enjoy the site. The board must be running a recruitment drive up in Galion. There seems to be a lot of new members from there recently.

Welcome. I've been through Morrow on US-22 often. I stop a little east of there at the M&M Diner for breakfast when my travels take me that way.

1) "The Flying Car was fun... now I want a Flying Motorcycle." 2) "These headphones are great. Man I just love the Bee Gee's 'stayin alive, stayin alive, ah ah ah...'"

discount

Welcome

Welcome. Ahhhhh, August in Youngstown. I wonder why there aren't more movies made about it...