A couple of adventure bikes are looking at a creek crossing when, out of nowhere, …. a Harley Davidson Street Glide scoots across the creek!
Not only that … He has his wife and small child on the bike….
While I can’t recommend doing this without the proper gear, and a Harley is not the best motorcycle for this type of riding …….
Take that adventure riders! 🙂
Motorcycle Radio…The #1 Motorcycle Show in the US
This week on the DawgHouse…. lots of discussion not a lot of news 🙂
– Ken’s News –
Kid rides Canadian university tunnels and they’re not happy – watch the video:
AMA announces loss of another legend of motorcycling.
First 4 of 10 tips when attending a bike rally.
– Warren’s News –
Top10 bikes used by women riders.
Best bikes for passengers????
– Racing News –
Discuss MotoGP
Results of Flat Track
My daughter and I rode in a charity ride supporting Neurofibromatosis (NF). The ride was hosted by NFmidatlantic.org and the Baltimore Ramblers Motorcycle Club.
NF is the most common of the “rare” diseases. Neurofibromatosis is extraordinarily complicated. It comes in many forms, is often undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, and presents in a myriad of forms. Read more about the different types of NF here.
The event began with a pancake breakfast at Applebee’s in Timonium, MD. After everyone had their fill of pancakes the riders, about 50 or so, broke into smaller groups for the ride.
Members of the Ramblers guided us through the back country of Maryland for about an hour and a half before we finished at their clubhouse. The ride itself was quite nice, we only had to dodge giant farm tractors twice! 🙂
There were a few vendors and food available at the clubhouse along with door prizes and 50/50 draws (Eryn 5 feet 100 Lbs won size XXL gloves 🙂 ). There was also several vintage motorcycle to look at including an old Indian and a 1953 BMW. After hanging out for a while and talking with the volunteers from the Mid-Atlantic NF and the Ramblers Eryn and I headed for home. BTW the Ramblers are one of the oldest AMA motorcycle clubs in America, founded in 1929.
Much to my worry, the sky started to darken and the closer to Leesburg the more rain drops we felt. Luckily we missed the down poor by a bit and made it to the garage dry. The XM radio traffic worked well and had routed around a jam and saved us from getting wet!
By Warren S Massey
Well this somewhat surprised me… Ken, during our last DawgHouse Motorcycle Radio show, gave us a report on how the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, CA is putting on a long term motorcycle exhibit.
Now before I dive into the show I need to tell you about Forest Lawn. According to reports there are more major Hollywood stars buried at Forest Lawn memorial Park than anywhere else. A few examples of some of the stars interred there are Jimmy Stewart, Nat King Cole, Walt Disney, Casey Stengel, Humphrey Bogart, Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor. This place is more than just a final resting place as it has works of art scattered about the grounds and a museum. The museum is hosting the motorcycle Exhibit.
Called “Vroom: The Art of the Motorcycle” the show runs from June 27th until the 5th of January 2015. According to the Forest Lawn website the show “is a meticulously curated exhibition that will offer an in-depth look at the dynamic history of motorcycle culture, featuring some of the most beautiful, historic, rare and collectable vintage motorcycles; one-of-a-kind hand-painted motorcycle helmets, previously worn by world and national racing champions; painted motorcycle gas tanks and fenders; as well as paintings, sculpture and photographs by a dozen of today’s most celebrated motorcycle artists—many of whom are Southern California natives and/or residents”
A few of the bikes on display include a 1910 Flying Merkel, a 1938 Indian Flat Track Racer, a 1938 Crocker and Steve McQueen’s 1939 custom Indian Chief. Other items for your viewing pleasure include sculptures and paintings by official Harley Davidson artists. In the gift shop you can purchase hats and sweaters featuring the North Los Angeles Motorcycle Club logo along with coffee mugs depicting the Last Supper.
I, for one, have no problem with this show. In fact, I think it would be cool to be displayed with those bikes before being put in the ground!
2014 Harley Davidson FXDL Low Rider
[in your best Scottish accent, aka Mr. Scott from Star Trek] “Cap’n I am given her all I can, but if the engine and frame reach a resonant frequency of 5800 RPMs…the engine could shut down!”
All kidding aside a recall that started in Australia a few weeks ago (and reported on The DawHouse #269) has made it to America. Apparently it is possible that the engine vibration at 5800 RPMs could cause the ignition switch to move to the ACC position shutting down the motor. I am sure we all know what could happen if you were doing 80 MPH in the center of a multi-lane highway, just in front of a Tractor Trailer and the engine clicked off….not a pretty picture!
The NHTSA has issued campaign number 14V413000 that affect 3,361 2014.5 Dynas, built between 1/6/2014 and 6/19/2014, in the US (and based on fact that they were recalled in Australia I assume all 2014.5 Dyna motorcycles are affected).
This recall is self-reported by HD. It first found the problem at the end of March 2014 when a bike turned itself off while on a dynamometer. Further testing determined that this was a true safety issue and they reported the recall to the NHTSA at the beginning of July.
Owners may contact Harley-Davidson customer service at 1-800-258-2464.
In a little more than a month, FX’s hit soap opera for men will be back for its last season. The next episode will premiere on the 9th of September, so get your DVRs set to record the 7th and final season. 
While not a lot has been released about the final set of shows, a few tidbits have come out:
* The show starts 10 days after Tara’s murder and Jax in jail.
* Malcom-Jamal Warner (The Cosby Show) will play the VP of the Grim Bastards.
* Rock Star Marilyn Manson will play a white supremacist inmate…not sure where that is going. LOL
* Courtney Love will play the preschool teacher for Jax’s son Abel.
* The “After the Show” show Anarchy Afterward, which was web based will now be on TV immediately following the show, hosted by Chris Franjola.
By Warren S Massey
Motorcycle Radio…The #1 Motorcycle Show in the US
Highlights from the show:
Putting the FUN in Funeral, you can now attend a motorcycle show in a famous cemetery.
Woman lets God take the wheel, nearly kills motorcyclist then stops for burgers. (God fled the scene before the police arrived)
Like something from Star Trek… resonate frequency issues between the engine and frame is forcing Harley to recall Dyna’s in Australia!
Spring Creek Motocross results and discussion.
AMA Daytona Sportbike and AMA Superbike results and discussion.
By Warren S Massey
The dealer database is just WRONG, I don’t understand why!!!
Debbie and I took an 890 mile weekend ride over the 4th of July holiday. It was here that a VERY surprising weakness with the built in GPS appeared. The motorcycle GPS has a database of HD dealers. During our ride I selected Freedom HD (Canton, OH) from the list of local dealerships in the GPS and we rolled out.
After about a 15 minute ride the GPS announced that we had reach our destination “on the right”. “Technically” it was correct, Freedom HD was on the right, but we were in the middle of the interstate and the dealership was about 300 yards, a large ditch, a fence and another roadway away. It was no better when we attempted to go to Adventure HD. You could see the dealership as we traveled down the interstate but, the GPS lady directed us in the opposite direction when we hit the exit. Following her directions we ended up in the parking lot of a Sheetz gas station.
Thank you for using the crazy GPS lady tours of eastern Ohio, my name is Harley I hope you had a good time.
Not only did it fail to find these two dealerships, it also failed to find Steel City HD on our trip home, placing the shop about a mile away on the wrong side of the road. We only found this store because there was no place to turn around along the road. To give the GPS system database of dealerships some credit it did find Valley HD and Neidengard’s HD with no issue. This is a brand new 2014 Ultra Limited with the most current software load. To only find 2 out of 5 dealerships listed in the database is poor quality control at best and plain stupid at worst.
Another weakness of the database is how the dealers are displayed. At one point in the trip I thought let’s see what dealers are in the area… when I went to the database everything displayed as “Harley Davidson of” that’s it, just “Harley Davidson of”.
Now the reason for that is that all the dealers in that area were Harley Davidson of XXX city. With a lot of the dealers named in that manner it would take some effort to make them display in a manner that was usable to the rider. There may be a way to see the entire name, but it is it was not an easy to find selection.
So, I state with some energy, the GPS in the new Rushmore motorcycles is crazy in the head, the head unit that is!
All in all I have to give the bike a big thumbs up over the 2011 model. Yes there are some weaknesses, but there is no reason that HD cannot overcome them, IF THEY DESIRE TO. That last part is what worries me. Are they going to leave are GPS and other items as is or are they going to make our rides better? I have no idea.
You can read part 4 of the review here!
I want to go to HD of ????
In this part of my review of the 2014 Ultra Limited I take on the Infotainment System. There has been a lot discussion of this system on many different sources. I am not going to rehash known issues (i.e. GPS only able to handle 9 waypoint), but what I have personally witnessed as either good or bad. The most important thing I have taken away from actual use and reading on other forms/blogs….wait until you hit “Accept” on the screen before starting the motorcycle!
Infotainment system overall: Not the reason for buying the bike but, what I considered at the time, as icing on the cake. A large screen I can very easily read without glasses, and the ability to have input from a media player, phone, radio, XM was very appealing. An internal GPS with the large screen was a good thing as well, it means I did not have to rig another mount to the motorcycle.
Left hand controls
Hand controls – Overall I like the hand controls better than the ’11 model. It is a easier to do things while riding like setting the cruise control while using the throttle. I have “almost” gotten to the point where I can change stations on the radio without looking at all.
One thing that has happened that I cannot figure out how messed up one of the controls. The left hand “joystick” for the first 2500 miles allowed me to move up or down the channels on XM or regular radio by pushing or pulling the stick left or right (volume is still up and down). Some how I have engaged a feature that now only allow me to move between the presets…I liked it better the other way.
Radio – the reception of both AM and FM signals are worse on the ‘14 then on the ’11. Both bikes have/had a stock antenna. I notice quite a few more areas on my commute where the signal is completely lost with the new bike v. the older motorcycle.
XM radio functions – XM Radio: I had it installed when I bought the bike. The reception with the antenna installed in the manner indicated by the instructions is HORROBLE. In a 45 minute daily commute I lose signal for at least 5 minutes (sometimes longer, sometimes shorter depending on traffic conditions). I have lost signal on open road with no overhead coverage on a 4 lane highway. To date I am so disappointed that I have debated, in my head, about asking for a refund.
Anyone considering this option for your bike…take my advice to either reconsider the purchase or have the antenna installed in a different position. I am currently in the process of moving the antenna outside of the fairing to the right of the vent. I will let you know how the reception is after the move.
Bad picture but the dark stuff… but you can see the green on green
XM – Traffic: This works as advertised! On a couple of trips, it worked with my GPS to reroute me around traffic. Once on the return trip from the NF charity ride I did with my daughter, it was spot on and saved us at least 30 minutes of sitting in traffic on a hot day with the threat of heavy thunderstorms. On another occasion it provided us with about a 10 mile warring of major construction ahead. This feature seems too good to go!
XM – Weather: I have only used this a little and I do not have a real opinion on this function yet, except for one item. Really Harley Davidson and XM, really….displaying precipitation as a shade of green while displaying the map/ground as a “slightly” different shade of green, someone did not think that one through. The few times I did use the function it was difficult to discern rain from ground except for areas that had yellow or red levels of weather.
Bluetooth audio/Media Player/Wired Intercom – No problems works like it should.
GPS – there has been many issues with the GPS noted on many different forums. I can concur that this was not a highly polished finished product. I feel we are beta testers for HD rather than customers regarding the GPS. It does its basic job but there much much room for improvement.
In the fifth and final part of my review of the bike I will talk about the item I have found to be the most surprising deficit of the entire motorcycle.
Read Part 3 of the series here! Click here for Part 5
In this installment of my review of our new 2014 Ultra Limited…..
Tour Pak/Saddlebags: The new latching system is a GREAT improvement! The new Tour Pak is better than the old style. Easy as that…as long as I remember to use the new latch and not try and open it the old way, oh it happens every now and again! See the pictures below for detail 🙂
Rear End: Looks good, well lit with the new tour pak lighting. The only distraction to its overall appearance is the “vents(?)” where the bag fillers will go after you buy them.
Engine and transmission: Harley Davidson claims that they made adjustments to improve performance are true based on my comparison with the 11 to the 14 Ultra Limited. Rolling on the throttle, even at highway speed, has a noticeable feel and affect.
Taking a big handful of throttle going from 1st to 2nd gear….I think I have had the front wheel off the ground a time or two, not much but it sure fills like it is getting a bit of air under the front wheel.
With that being said I did have a complete Stage 1 upgrade added before I took delivery. The Screaming Eagle Air Cleaner, Thunder Slip-on Exhausts and the Stage 1 ECM flash make up the complete upgrade.
Linked Braking: I do not have an opinion of this feature yet. I have nothing negative to say about it but I do not have anything positive to say either. It has caused no handling issues but I have yet to see any real handling improvement either.
In Part 4 of the review I will tell you what I think about the “Infotainment System”.
Click here for Part 2 Click here for Part 4
I JUST WANT 2 RIDE!! 