| May 17, 2007 - New Jersey Run For Some Serious Noise |
| |
|
It is unimportant to me whether or not other motorcyclists employ the use of these tools. I've
personally experienced countless situations that each of these items has saved my skin and I find
them to be worth their weight in gold. (Like when I was in this region last Sept and met a
moose! Scroll to the bottom of: THIS)
So, after purchasing my FJR, I sadly discovered that installing my preferred air horn (compact Stebel)
was going to require a significant degree of fabrication.
My ride to Randy's house this morning was rather mixed. I decided to take the interstate so I
could slice through Springfield, MA and Hartford, CT then as I got closer I planned to dive off on
side roads, some of which are actually familiar to me since I rode them last July.
I left MA at 8:30am, in very cloudy and 50 degree conditions. The forecast was for rain late this
evening so I was glad to see thus far I would be navigating through NY and NJ in dry conditions. I
missed most the morning rush hour traffic and snarling faces around the cities of Springfield, MA and
Hartford, CT. As I crossed from MA into CT I saw a sign stating hand held cell phone usage is
prohibited. I decided I was going to count how many people were not abiding by this CT law until
it became apparent that I would be needing some type of hand held device myself to keep track of the
plethora of folks who either didn't know or didn't care about the stated law. One such truck driver
to my right kept drifting into my lane as we neared an interstate interchange. I could see his
elbow and the phone in his left hand which, of course, blocked his view of me. I honked my
dinky stock horn and got the same response as of I hadn't honked at all – jack nothing! I got out
of the situation but I was confident beyond a shadow of a doubt that if the horn I was blowing was my
Stebel air horn that the driver would have heard me and I would not have been forced to make the
evasive maneuver that I did when he decided he needed to be in the far left lane to make the interstate
exit. I really don't understand why something as critical to safety and survival on the road as
being heard is so completely lacking across the board among motorcycle manufacturers... 99% of all
stock motorcycle horns sound like, as a friend of mine says, “a fart in a hurricane!” Definitely
not the preferred descriptive terms of a safety device on a machine that is the smallest, lightest
vehicle on the road, huh? Regardless of why motorcycle horns suck (versus blow!), I'm sure the
answer involves costs and something along the lines that manufacturers are not in business to keep us
safe, which is why I take my safety into my own hands and why my FJR made a special trip into New Jersey
today to see Randy.
As I neared New York I jumped off the interstate in lieu of back roads, particularly the ones that run
through Bear Mountain. Some of my friends who have never been to New York have this idea that all
of NY is like Manhattan. I stopped at Bear Mtn to take these pics and add them to the collection
of “See, It Ain't All Bad” photos for them: (That's the Hudson River)
I stopped at the same exact point last year to take a photo as well. I spent few minutes at the
overlook thinking about the past year of my life, and where I've traveled internally and externally
since that time. While I was contemplating thoughts about life and living a meaningful life,
a van pulled into the scenic overlook. The occupants were Japanese tourists who I can only
assume were motorcycle enthusiast given their facial expressions and energetic gestures. The
absolutely only thing I understood them to say was “FJR”. If I had charged for every photo
that was taken of me and the bike then I would have been able to pay for the rear tire waiting for
me at Randy's! I've managed to rack up 6,500 miles since the start of my East Coast 2007
journey, and my rear tire was ready to be set out to pasture. Thankfully, Randy offered to
help change my worn rear tire so I had a tire shipped to him last week.
Bear Mountain was once again a lovely ride. I didn't see any bears but I did see a red fox as
well as numerous LEOs (Law Enforcement Officers... aka “police”). It's odd for me to see
stationed radar during the week on back roads but every time I've been riding in the Bear Mountain
area it is under heavy patrol.
I made it into Lyndhurst, NJ and Randy's garage with no issues or tickets (keeping my Goose Egg
streak alive... yup, ZERO or warnings on a motorcycle EVER...yee-haw!!) and no flat tires or bent
forks—geez, the roads in that area were horrible!
Met Randy and his 5 year old daughter Lauryn. We pulled my rear tire...
...and headed down the street towards Donnie's, a friend of Randy's who works as a mechanic out
of his house. Donnie mounted and balanced the tire while we waited (THANKS, DONNIE!!):
Donnie does a lot of custom work, particularly chroming and fabricating for stunt street
riders. I found it interesting that he said the “young kids” these days are more into
stunting than bling, at least that's the current demands of the locals riders. I guess
you'd be more likely to see a repeat customer that is a stunt rider since they're more likely
to crash than the bling-bling bike that shows off at the local bar, so perhaps that's good news
for business. Donnie said he was slammed with business and given the view a his yard from
inside the garage I can see why:
Back to Randy's so he could work on my FJR's horn transplant:
While he was busy working his magic mojo I made a few phone calls, combed over the bike looking
for loose bolts or any issues, and took a photo of the back of his FJR that I just know a certain
friend of mine in TN will find hysterical....
Webmaster Note: Yee HAW!
... and took a pic of Lauryn, who is a horse lover. One day she might want 145 of 'em and
maybe by then Yamaha will offer it in hot pink to match her hat:
Webmaster Note: For the uninitiated or those not familiar with the FJR it has a
145 horsepower engine. As to hot pink:
I have to say that Randy's work should more appropriately be called “art”. I'm going to
suggest he enter his horn harness in an abstract art competition! Yes, very, very nice work
indeed! Since I had heard all the “you can't do it”, “no”, “won't work”, even “you ain't
getting' that thing in there” crap from people regarding my desire to mount my beloved air horn,
I was expecting for the bike to be in Randy's hands all day. Suffice to say, like a skilled
surgeon, he was in and out in no time flat and made the job look very easy. If you too are
interested in upgrading your sorry excuse for a stock horn (regardless of the type of bike you own)
and are in need of an electrical harness, then you are in luck as Randy can make one for
you. (Send me an email and I will forward it to Randy to contact you). For all those who
are either confused or undecided about what all this hoopla is about my beloved horn, then maybe you
need to HEAR it for yourself. Go to This Link
- then below the horn click the sound file.
A pic of one side of my horn:
Before I left we made a quick run back to Donnie's house to recover my tire's valve stem cap. While
Randy was inside, I met Ricardo and Gary:
They ask me all kinds of questions once they learned I had ridden from Phoenix alone. They were
particularly interested in why I wasn't afraid, especially “around those big trucks.” They also
said they'd like to trade their current bikes for these one day:
I left NJ around 5:30pm. What better time to try and wade through outbound NY traffic, huh? Actually
it wasn't all that bad since I was heading northeast and since I wanted to take back roads. Unfortunately,
my GPS did not agree with my intentions and proceeded to send me on various interstates and in circles and
re-routes until I finally pulled over, zoomed in on the map and found my location was missing from the stored
maps within the GPS, much like the photo I posted earlier in the week. After contemplating tossing it
into the Hudson, I decided to just wing it for a while, which actually worked out fairly well since I was
able to stop and take in some of the great views looking back into the city like this one:
And of this bridge that I saw peeking through the trees:
While I was stopped to take that photo I checked the weather radar and sure enough the “late evening
thunderstorm” forecast was apparently arriving much earlier. I knew I needed to take the fastest
route out of the area, but what I didn't know is that it meant crossing that bridge. I quickly
learned it's called the “Tappan Zee” bridge and it costs $4.50 to cross.
I dodged most of the rain until I neared Hartford, CT when an intense thunderstorm distributed buckets
of water for about fifteen minutes. During this time of low visibility conditions I definitely
felt more armed with my new air horn. It didn't take long before it was called to duty
either. This time I did not need to take evasive action as the driver heard me loud and clear
and reacted as such. WOO-HOO!
Day's end GPS (hard to believe I've accumulated over 6,500 miles thus far in this East Coast 2007 journey!):
If you wish to receive direct emails when future reports are posted click
This Link
AGirl
| |
|
|
I've been waiting for this day since the day I bought the FJR (3 months ago) and I am relieved
it is finally here!! There are several equipment additions that I add to my bikes and,
frankly, I feel so strongly about their function and safety features that I would not consider
owning a bike without them. One of these items is an upgraded air horn (the others being
auxillary and modulating taillights and headlights). You can't go wrong with anything that
increases your chances of being seen and heard by others... and that includes those with two and
four legs.
I was told adding my Stebel wasn't possible, told I would have to use another type horn, told I
should just stay with the stock horn, and then finally I was told about an FJR owner named Randy
who makes electrical horn harnesses. Woo-hoo! A few emails exchanged, a check of my
calendar, and lo and behold he lives near my East Coast 2007 journey route (New Jersey)! Randy
agreed to make the horn harness and install my beloved Stebel, so a date was set....and today was the day!
Geez, makes you want to ride in the rain and take the long way, huh?
|
Copyright © 2006-2012, All Rights Reserved. |