Wichita Wildlife Refuge

I haven't posted anything here in a VERY long time, but I wanted to share a few photos from a recent day trip through the Wichita Mountains. A lot has changed since the last time I posted to this blog. A post with updates and more stories will come soon.

Product Review: Motorcycle Headset for iPhone

Before reading this product review, you should skim over my post: Motorcycle MacGyvering pt. 1: iPhone Helmet Headset. As there are no other commercially available helmet headsets for the iPhone, at least that I've been able to find, that post will give you an idea of what I'm comparing to.

This is a review of bikeintercom.com's motorcycle helmet headset designed specifically for the iPhone. The headset arrived packaged in a plastic bag, basically as you see it in the photo to the left. The overall build quality seemed good, especially compared to my homemade version. The design is thoughtful, and easily adaptable to many different helmet styles.

The speakers and microphone come with velcro and 3m adhesive to mount them inside the helmet, and I found that it adhered to the helmet lining better than most adhesive velcroes I've used.

The headset includes a button, used to answer calls, play and pause music, and skip tracks on the iPhone, as well as a velcro strap to attach the button to the handlebars. This allows you to control the iPhone without removing your hands from the handlebars. The strap would work well on bikes with bare bars. However, the strap isn't long enough for bikes like mine, with plastic bodywork covering the bars. I found strapping it on to the left hand mirror stem worked well though. A piece of adhesive velcro placed somewhere within reach of your thumb would work also. The button is large and easy to find and manipulate, even with winter gloves on.

My first tests of the headset showed that the microphone worked well. Though it didn't eliminate all wind noise by any means, the person on the other end could understand me clearly and easily.

My first tests of the speakers, however, were not as successful. With them installed as intended, inside the ear pockets in my helmet, music sounded tinny and muffled, and phone conversations weren't even loud enough to understand at city traffic speeds, let alone on the interstate. To be fair, my helmet, an HJC SyMax, has deeper ear pockets than most, putting the speakers farther away from my ears then they were probably meant to be.

I did manage to work around this issue somewhat, by cutting two pieces of soft foam to the shape of the speakers and hot glueing it to the inside of the ear pockets. I then attached the speaker velcro to the foam, bringing the speakers in much closer to my ears. This helped quite a bit, especially with the sound quality for listening to music. The volume of the speakers, especially on a windy day, is still a little on the low side.

Though the speakers are less than perfect, I think one of the best parts of the products design is that the speakers attach to the rest of the headset with a regular 3.5mm headphone style jack. This means that you can easily swap out the included speakers with any helmet speakers you like. For the price of BikeIntercom.com's headset ($49.99) you could get the iPhone compatible headset and a higher quality set of helmet speakers and still come in under the price of many helmet headsets. I did notice that BikeIntercom.com carries three different levels of helmet speakers, the X Pro, the X2, and the X3. Based on the pictures on their website, it looks like the iPhone set-up comes with the X2s, which seem to be the bottom end of the three. It might be worth asking what that cost difference would be to upgrade to different speakers before ordering, though I haven't personally tested the others.

I think the iPhone Motorcycle Headset is a worthwhile product, though not perfect, and with the popularity of the iPhone, I'm surprised there aren't more companies making headsets compatible with it. The $49.99 price point comes in much lower than similar products, and other than the disappointing speakers, the bargain price doesn't seem to come at the expense of quality.

Just as a side note, BikeIntercom.com has several other products that are worth looking at as well, including a throat mic set-up, which is a technology that I've always thought would be ideal for motorcyclists, and and system with a microphone that mounts to the inside top of the helmet, and apparently picks up the vibrations in your skull when you speak.

If anyone else has any experience with this product, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Update: BikeIntercom.com has posted a video to their YouTube account explaining installation and operation of the iPhone headset:

Dan's Motorcycle

Just a quick one for now. I stumbled across a webpage tonight made by a longtime motorcycle mechanic named Dan. It's filled with all kinds of tips and tricks, as well as some pretty helpful (and well illustrated) instructions on the basics. (like soldering, the skill that I was trying to improve upon tonight). 

It's worth bookmarking as a reference point, if nothing else. Dan has been a motorcycle mechanic since 1967, and seems to have learned a lot of things the hard way, so you and I don't have to.

Ride to Vote, Vote to Ride

I know it's been a while since I've written anything here, and really, I mean to. I actually have several entries that I should have written by now. It's just a case of making time. Right now, however, there's a more pressing matter to address. Tomorrow, November 4th, history will be made one way or another. I want to take this opportunity to encourage every single one of you to be a part of that history, regardless of your political affiliations. 

On a more motorcycle related matter, Ride to Work will be sponsoring Vote to Ride Day. They're recognizing the importance of riders being represented, not only in the polls, but on the roads and in the parking lots. Ride to your polling place, park near the entrance, and wear your riding gear as you fill out your ballot. Print out the "I Rode" stickers available on the vote to ride day website and wear it alongside your "I Voted" sticker. If anyone asks you about your sticker, remind them that riding is a good solution to many social, urban mobility, and environmental issues. 

Diabetes Solutions Poker Run

Last Saturday was the first annual poker run to benefit Diabetes Solution of Oklahoma. I was there, working the silent auction table and just helping out in general. I didn't bring my camera, but I did snap a few pictures with my phone. Also, thanks to Sharon (another volunteer) for some of these pictures, as I borrowed them from her facebook album. 

Riders lined up early to register for the run. The majority were cruiser riders, though there were a few sport bikes and sport tourers in the mix too.

A group of Honda Goldwings all showed up together, sporting patches on their jackets from the Oklahoma Goldwing Club. I didn't even realize Goldwing riders had their own clubs...

The Thunder Roadhouse, where the run started, is a restaurant and bar, with a custom chopper shop attached. They had some of their bikes out for display.

There was a bit of a lull while the riders were out riding, so I took some of the volunteers for some quick joyrides. That's Casey riding pillion, asking me where she's supposed to hold on. 

Boyd was very excited to have the winning bid on one of the silent auction items, a special date night including an 8 hour limo ride, a meal at a fancy restaurant, and a night in the Skervin Hotel, in downtown Oklahoma City. He planned on using it on his upcoming wedding night. 

A group of riders posing after finishing the route.

Over all, the Poker run went very well. We had a turn out of just under 100 bikes and raised over $7,000 for Diabetes Solutions. Not bad for a first time. 

Motorcycle MacGyvering pt. 2: Driver Backrest

For the second installment of the Motorcycle Mcgyvering series, I want to talk about the driver's backrest I built for my Majesty. Unfortunately, this one won't really translate to other models of bike since the seat design's won't be the same, but hopefully it'll at least give you an idea of what's possible with harvested parts and a little experimentation. 

My original backrest design used the Majesty's "butt pad", raised up on a metal bracket, to serve as a back rest. It worked alright, and looked good, but it lacked lower back support, and left two holes in the seat that were difficult to cover up. 

I settled for this set-up for a while, for lack of any better ideas. However, we had replaced the driver's seat in my family's RV, and the headrest from the original seat seemed like an ideal candidate for a new and improved backrest. If you don't have an extra headrest laying around, you could probably find one at an auto salvage yard. I'd imagine many of them would probably just let you have one for free, especially if the upholstery on it is in bad shape. As long the foam on the inside is ok, it will work fine for these purposes.

I reused the bracket from the first backrest. It basically consists of some flat steel from Home Depot, welded together in the shape of an uppercase "I". I asked a local welding shop to do the welds for me. It took them all of 30 seconds to do them, and they didn't even charge me. I bent the vertical portion of the "I" to match the curve of the seat as closely as I could, and drilled holes in the bottom of the "I" to match the holes in the seat. I then drilled holes in the back of the head rest to push a couple carriage bolts through, and fastened the headrest to the top of the bracket. 

I used a scroll saw to cut a notch out in the back of the butt pad, to allow room for the bracket. In retrospect, I should have been more careful to remove the vinyl material covering the butt pad before cutting it, then  reattached it, instead of trying to pull it out of the way and rewrapping it around the notch. Some electrical tape is currently doing a decent job of covering the edge and holding the cover in place. At some point down the road, I'd like to have both the headrest portion and the butt pad recovered by someone who knows what they're doing. 

The headrest originally had a blue fabric covering it. I removed the fabric, and spray painted the foam as a temporary solution until I can get it recovered.

I held the new backrest in place and sandwiched it between the seat and the butt pad, using the bolts built into the butt pad to hold everything in place. (The yellow line across the seat in this picture is evidence of how insane the tree pollen has been this spring) 

The new backrest is much more comfortable than the first version, providing both upper and lower back support, and placing me in the proper place on the seat. With the butt pad raised up, I felt like I was sitting too far back, as the padding in the seat gets a little thin towards the very back of the seat. Now the seat works as it was originally designed, plus the addition of the backrest. I think that the result looks professional enough, and it will look even better when I get around to getting everything recovered. 

A new look

I've been playing with the look of the site a bit recently. I think I'm finally happy with this one. Let me know what you think.

Talking on 2 Wheels

Since my article about the iPhone Helmet Headset, I've been talking with a lot of people about using a phone while riding, especially in regards to safety. In response to what seems to be a fairly heated debate, I'd like to make my own thoughts on the matter clear.

First of all, I've always been critical of people driving with a cell phone to their ear. It's statistically been made pretty obvious that it cuts into your reaction time and distracts you from the road. Using a hands free system helps, but due to the fact that the person on the other end of the line can't see or react to things that the driver can, the driver is still distracted. This rule applies to motorcyclists as well. If you're paying more attention to the voice in your helmet than the road in front of you, there's a pretty good chance you may miss something (or worse, hit something you probably should have missed). 

The problem I find with this argument is that it just seems a little too black and white to me. There's definitely a gray area to be considered here. Yes, I will answer my phone if it rings while I'm on the road, but that doesn't mean that I'm chit-chatting about last nights episode of American Idol. I'll answer to tell someone I'm on my way, or get a message about, say, picking up a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread on the way home, but if someone calls me just to chat, or to talk about anything more extensive than a minute long conversation, I always tell them that I'll call them back when I'm not on the road anymore. What I definitely won't do is make an outgoing call while riding. That would require focusing not just some of my attention, but my vision as well, on my phone, and that's a risk I'm not willing to take. 

As for those who feel that listening to music while riding is too much of a distraction, how many of you listen to the radio in your car? The DOT, as well as the MSF I believe, actually recommend wearing earplugs while riding to eliminate some of the wind noise. Music is not much different, as far as I'm concerned. 

I'd love to hear some other opinions on this one, so please don't hesitate to leave comments.

p.s. I know the guy in my stolen stock photo looks like a real tool. Try not to let that affect your opinion too much...

Just a Reminder

The Diabetes Solutions first annual poker run, that I mentioned back in February, is coming up, the Saturday after next. If you're in the area, don't forget to register at www.DSOK.net ASAP. The Run will be April 26th, starting at 9:00am at the Thunder Road House Cafe. I'll be there and I'd love to talk to some readers if you're coming, so don't be afraid to say hi.

Motorcycle MacGyvering pt. 1: iPhone Helmet Headset

This is the first of what I hope to be a series, about homemade gadgets, gizmos, and dohickeys, made in true Angus MacGyver style (i.e. making it up as I go along, with whatever happens to be on hand).

First of all, I want to talk about the iPhone. When I first heard about it, I thought it was God's (or at least Steve Jobs') gift to motorcyclists. I can listen to my music AND answer my phone while riding. If I'm lost, I can pull over and use Google Maps to find my way and I can use the internet to find road suggestions/restaurants/campsites/repair shops/almost anything else.

Anyway, since January when I got an iPhone all my own, I've been thoroughly enjoying all the aforementioned things. However, like all things, it's not perfect. The 3/4'' jack for the headset means that most cell phone headsets won't work. You can use bluetooth headsets, but it lacks the protocol for stereo via bluetooth, making listening to music mediocre at best. It does come with a decent set of white earbuds with a built in microphone, and I've been getting by with that so far. The earbuds don't fit my ears particularly well though, and they tend to come loose on the road. The microphone has a built in button to answer/reject calls, pause and play your music, and skip tracks. The mic and the button both work fairly well, but it dangles down almost at your throat, making talking into it while riding less than effective.

So, now that the problems are clear, how do we remedy them, preferably without spending any cash? The first step was to replace the earbuds with something that won't come loose and move around on me.

I found this video, explaining a simple way to replace the earbuds without losing the functionality of the mic. The earbuds don't come apart quite as easily as they do in the video. It required a small screwdriver to pry them apart, but other than that it went fairly smoothly.

The next step was to find some replacement speakers. I had a set of larger over-the-ear headphones sitting in the back of a drawer. If I remember right they cost about $20 when I bought them, several years ago. I attached them to the ends of my iPhone headset and checked to make sure they worked. Success! I also adhered some velcro to the backs of the speakers to attach them to the inside of the helmet. The velcro turned out to not really be necessary, but it doesn't hurt.

Now that I had the new speakers ready to go, all I had to do was attach them to my helmet. As it turns out, the speakers fit perfectly into the ear space in the cheek pads on my HJC SyMax. I'm not sure what the little straps are intended for, but they do a great job of holding the speakers in place. The velcro helps to add just a little more security to them, but I really don't think they'd go anywhere without it.

After I snapped the cheek pads back in place, with the new speakers inside them, I attached a small piece of the hook side of the velcro to the back of the mic. The velcro holds it onto the liner inside the helmet. Keeping it up inside the helmet eliminated a lot of the wind noise, but it's still easy to access the button by reaching up inside from the bottom of the helmet with my left hand.

The final step was to use an awl to make a small hole in the padding running along the bottom of the helmet, in the back. I tucked the wire up inside the padding, and ran it out through the hole. It's not quite long enough to reach into my pants pocket, but as long as I keep my phone in the inner pocket on my jacket, it's long enough.

Once it was all together, I took a ride around the block and had someone call my phone to test it all out. The only part that's not perfect is the volume. I can hear it okay, but I'd like it to be just slightly louder. (Edit: After fiddling with the speakers a bit and moving them slightly farther forward, the volume issue is at least somewhat better. Just play with them a bit to fit your head.) The larger speakers are probably a little underpowered compared to the little earbuds they replaced, but they get the job done, and for the price (essentially nothing since I just used things from the junk drawer) they really can't be beat.

p.s The iPhone also allows me to take simple pictures like these without having to mess with my real camera gear, so expect to see a lot more photos for non ride report entries.

Update: See my review of a less homemade iPhone headset here.

Another Reason I Love Being on a Bike

I went to the annual medieval fair in Norman, OK last weekend. This is probably the first year in a decade that it hasn't been either pouring rain all weekend, or pouring rain for half the weekend, and nothing but swampy mud for the second half. Anyway, due to the unexpected nice weather, there seemed to be three times as many people attending this year. This, of course, meant that there were a lot more cars than parking spaces. People were patrolling the streets waiting for someone to pull out, lining up along neighborhood streets, and parking several blocks away. I, on the other hand, just pulled into this spot in the grass, along with several other bikes, right on the edge of the fair grounds. I was so pleased with myself that I snapped this picture with my phone before heading into the fair.

 Honestly, if we had to we probably could have fit four or five more bikes in there too. 

Day Trip, Lake Murray Loop

I took the opportunity a couple weeks ago to take a day and drive down highway 77 to Lake Murray. I had heard good things about the loop that circles the lake, and decided to give it a try. Highway 77 was a great road, running roughly parallel to I35, but twistier. I'd recommend it on it's own as a good day ride, even without the lake loop. 

77 cuts straight through downtown Wynnewood, Oklahoma. The mainstreet still has the original brick-paved surface. Coincidentally, this picture was taken right around the time I lost 77 completely and went about 20 miles out of the way of my originally planned route. It all worked out though. We ended up passing through a very nice nature preserve on our way back.

We filled up the tank in Ardmore, just before reaching the lake. I wish I had a picture of the station. There was a woman in a little booth, and some very "retro" pumps. After you fill up, you just go over to the booth and tell the woman how much you put in and pay her. She even rounded it down to the dollar. Compared to the pay before you pump method at most stations today, it seemed very foreign. 

When we got to the lake, we stopped in this little park area for a picnic lunch. Other than being a little windy, it was a perfect day for it. 

Tamales and corn make a great meal for camping or picnicking if you bring a small camp stove. It might not look great, but it's easy, you don't have to carry much, it's hearty enough to fill you up during a long day, and it's delicious. Just take a can of creamed corn and a can of tamales, combine them in a pot, heat and eat.

After lunch, we got back on the bike for the ride around the lake. It had warmed up a little, and was really a perfect day for it.

Lake Murray is positioned just south of Oklahoma's Arbuckle mountains (or  at least what we call mountains here in Oklahoma, but they're at least pretty) so it has some great rock formations.

Lake Murray State Park is the largest, and oldest, state park in Oklahoma. There are several interesting buildings on site, including a lighthouse that has been converted into a museum about the history of the park as well as the local wildlife.

Other Resources: -The MotorcycleRoads.US page about the loop

-A bit about the history of the park

Spring, and Riding Season

Spring is almost here, and I'm declaring that it's officially riding season. As a year round rider, you wouldn't think that would mean much to me, but really, it's a great feeling to be able to pull the liner out of my jacket for the first time in months. Temperatures here are working their way into the mid 60's, and even the low 70's every once in a while. Aside from the fact that I won't have to feel quite so much like the michelin man when I get dressed to ride, that means that I get to start thinking about riding for more than just utilitarian purposes. I actually have a day ride in the works right now for next week, so expect an entry about that soon. 

Riding around today, I saw bikes everywhere. I even saw what I think was an old Honda Elite 80, probably a 20 year old scoot, being ridden two-up down a country road. Really, I'm not sure why I enjoy seeing other bikes on the road so often. It's not like, if I were driving a Honda Civic, I'd enjoy seeing all the other Civics out. There's just something about days when the riders are out in force... I guess it's nice to not be quite so unique every once in a while. 

Top 12 Motorcycle Myths

This will be a quick one. I just wanted to pass along an article I found regarding motorcycle myths, and the actual facts that make them myths. Most of them we've probably all heard before, but it's an interesting read all the same. Click the title link for the article.

Minimalist Tire Changing

I recently changed the tires on the Majesty, after about 15000 miles. I had never changed them myself before, so it was a bit of a learning experience, but I managed. The first tire took me several hours, and  one tire iron to the face, to get off, but after getting the jist of it, I managed the second one in about 30 minutes and saved myself fifty bucks and a trip to the shop. Anyway, as someone who doesn't have a lot of money for tools and such, I always appreciate finding a way to do something with whatever I happen to have laying around. On that note, I'd like to share a series of videos I found about doing exactly that. 

The first one covers bead breaking. I didn't spend quite as much time as he does making the "breaker". A short piece of 2x4 with one end cut at an angle worked just fine.

The next part covers removing the the old tire, and putting on the new one. I did it pretty much the same way, but I used pieces of milk carton to protect the rim from the tire irons. They worked pretty well, though they fell apart pretty quickly too. I've heard that the plastic they use to make motor oil bottles works well, or the white jugs of orange juice. Basically, something thick enough to hold up, but thin enough to be flexible and slide in between the tire and rim.

The final part covers balancing. I didn't actually balance my tires this way. I used a product called Dyna Beads. They work great, and saved a lot of time, and the ride seems to actually be smoother than it was with static balancing. Also, since they constantly rebalance themselves, if you ever do have to plug or otherwise repair a tire in the field, it'll still be balanced.

 

Anyway, as long as you don't mind getting a little dirty, I'd definitely recommend changing your own tires instead of taking them to a shop. It's really not that difficult, especially after going through the process once, and honestly I've never really trusted any shop to do a job as well as I'd do it myself.

1st Annual Diabetes Solutions Poker Run

Diabetes Solutions of Oklahoma is a not-for-profit organization based in Oklahoma City, aimed towards improving the lives of people with diabetes and reducing the incidence of diabetes and the complications of diabetes. It also happens to be an organization that I've been involved with for a long time. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was 9 years old. Only 2 months after being diagnosed, I went to my first session of diabetes summer camp, and it changed my life. Aside from the invaluable education I received that summer about the disease that was now a part of my life, I learned that I wasn't alone, and that it was possible for people with diabetes to live full and productive lives just like anyone else. Now, 14 years later, I still go to that camp every year, as a counselor for other children, many of whom are newly diagnosed and just as confused and frightened as I was. If it weren't for Diabetes Solutions, none of it would be possible. That's why I'd like to encourage everyone who's able to come out to the Thunder Road House Cafe on April 26 to support Diabetes Solutions of Oklahoma, not to mention have a good time and possibly win some money while you're at it. Click on the title link to go to the Diabetes Solutions website for more information and to register for the run. I'll be there, and I hope to see you there too.

Motocamping 101

I took my first motorcycle camping trip this weekend, to Devils Den State Park in Arkansas. Lessons's were learned (including just how far my bike will go on reserve) but there were no major catastrophes and everyone (and almost everything) made it home in one piece.

This was taken at our first rest stop. The bike handled remarkably well with all the added weight, though I could definitely feel it through the tighter turns, and ended up taking most them pretty slowly. She behaved herself just fine through the wider, sweeping curves though, and that's the kind of riding I enjoy most anyway.We stopped in Henryetta, Oklahoma for lunch, at The Pig Out Palace. It's a little pricey for a greasy spoon (a little over $10 a person for the all you can eat buffet) but the food's pretty good, and the service, as well as the customers, are always very friendly.
For dessert, they have a selection of 4 different kinds of cobbler. I highly recommend the blackberry, with a little softserve on top.
If you're ever not sure where to eat on the road, just look for the place with all the trucks parked outside. If anyone knows where to eat on the road, truckers do.
We took the interstate on the way there, due to time constraints, but once we got close to the park there were some pretty good roads.
When we finally arrived, my new luggage rack and top case (more on those in the series of entries I'm currently working on) made unloading go quickly. When we first started planning the trip, I couldn't figure out how to bring everything we would need without covering the pillion seat. Luckily for me, the Majesty has a deceptively large amount of underseat storage, and a little ingenuity and some angle iron will go a long way.

Saturday was filled with hiking, and cave exploring. Here, Erika contemplates life while staring into an infinite abyss, just before we climbed around in it.
There was actually quite a bit of climbing on Saturday, not just in infinite abysses. The hole I'm sitting in is caused by pockets of sandstone, which weathers much faster than the harder stone surrounding it.
On the way back, we took I-540 south to Oklahoma Highway 9, which runs roughly parralel to I-40, but farther south. It's a much more interesting ride than the interstate, and as it turns out, takes about the same amount of time.
The only casualty from the trip was my homemade saddlebags, which had never really been filled up before. It was nothing a few zip ties and a pocket knife couldn't fix though.

p.s. I'd suggest always keeping a few zip ties on board your bike, not to mention around the house. They're really just too useful not to have.
The final mileage came out to 525 exactly, with the way there being slightly longer than the way back. There's a good chance that it was because I missed the first exit to the park on the way there, but I'd rather just chalk it up to backroads being a better way to travel.