Posts Tagged ‘review’

Photo provided by Sam Manicom

Sam Manicom’s fourth motorcycle adventure book tracks his and his partner Birgit travels through Mexico, the United States and Canada.  While I have never toured the world like Sam but, he lays out the work involved while making it a fun read.

I say work because he is not reliant on sponsors or doing “viral” things to get attention and “followers”.  He sells stories and does “odd jobs” while touring to have the money to move from point to point.  He does rely on a network of friends and friends of friends to reduce his costs of traveling. The “work” part of global motorcycle touring comes out well in the book.

This book has been in my stack for a couple months and now I wish had moved it to the top when it came in.  It is an easy, fun read that I can readily recommend.

I particularly enjoyed the sections on the border crossings.  I found it funny how it seems that the crossing guards are pretty much the same just with different languages, overworked and underpaid and less then helpful. However, of all the places to cross into the US, Tijuana would be at the bottom of my list.  But no one asked me LOL!

I was a bit surprised that after traveling through the many third-world countries that they travelled, that they were worried about travelling back into the first world.  I understood the worries on cost of travel in the US/Canada but, as their trip unfolded, I like to think that the other worries were abated. 

Full disclosure Sam wrote an unpaid article for this blog a few months ago and I paid for the book.

I liked this book enough that I am going to buy his other books!  4 Stars

I have watched 3 episodes of Discovery’s newest motorcycle themed TV show.  As noted in an earlier blog post this is another in the networks “motorcycle builder” TV show history.  For more you can go to the Discovery Channel’s website to find out more. 

Based on the commercials, I did not have a lot of high hopes for the networks newest b2motorcycle TV show.  I expected a late Gen-X or Millennial version of American Chopper.  Motorcycle builds with lots of drama, yelling and some forced “stuff”. 

I was right but,  I was wrong too.  These guys seem to get along and honestly like each other.  I think they would be building motorcycles in the same manner whether or not there was a TV crew hanging around.  Jason Wilson, the part time builder the show revolves around, comes across as a good guy who is trying to become a full time builder … but admits he is a terrible businessman.   

With that said, you would think that this would be just more motorcycle eye-candy TV…and you would be right.  BUT, I have caught myself genuinely smiling while watching the show.  These guys are having fun doing what they are doing and I am having fun watching them do it.  I recommend you set your DVR to record this latest motorcycle TV show. 

I am giving Scared Steel Bikes 4 out of 5 stars.

4 out 5 stars

Saddlebag Lighting

As noted in a previous post, we had some work done on the Ultra Classic Limited. Today I will cover and review the Air Wing Saddlebag Lid Rail LED Light Kit (Part Number 68388-10) we had installed.

I am a big proponent of lighting up my rear end (the bike that is).  This would not have been the first lighting change the rear I would have made but Frederick Harley Davidson had a good deal on for lights.

Harley Davidson Bag Light

Air Wing Saddlebag Light (braking)

When we bought the bike the Air Wing Saddlebag Rails were already installed.  The rails look good and prevent some of the normal scuffing that occurs when folks mount and dismount the bike.  These lights fit under the little “wing” are almost invisible with the smoke lens (red is also available). 

The lights function as supplemental running and brake lights only and that is why I am giving the lights a  4 out of 5 review.  I can only assume that there is not enough room in the rail tubes to add the turn signal function, but that would have been a great additional feature and earned a 5th star.

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We had some work done on the Ultra Classic Limited. Over the next few days I will describe what we had done by Frederick Harley Davidson.

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Mirror with LED Turn Indicators

The first item is the fairing mounted mirrors.  We purchased this because I was having issues seeing out of the standard mirrors. I am 5’8″ and sit well in OEM saddle but I needed to lean left or right to get a clear view of what was behind us. Because of that I have not been comfortable with knowing what was going on behind me.  I have been associated with the fairing mounted mirrors on the Street Glide and I did not have a problem using that type of mirror. So I had the standard mirrors replaced with the fairing mounted type with illuminated chrome covers (Part Number 92600-10).  The illumination provided is amber LED running lights which also function as another turn signal indicator.

So far so good, we had the 115 mile ride this past weekend during which I was continuously doing the minor adjustments one does with mirrors.  I have the right mirror just where I want it but the left one still needs tweaked, but I am sure I will get it right soon.

My early review of this product would be 4 out 5.  I would have liked the LEDs to be a bit larger in order to be even more visible.

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