Each Spring, when the weather starts to get warm again, Ara and Spirit set out on a journey. Their journey takes them to places traveling roads seldom seen by others; experiencing the country in a way that captures all of the senses. Unlike passing through a place at highway speed, only seeing things in a blur, everything is there to be seen, and some times captured by Ara’s lens, as well as smelled, heard, touched and occasionally tasted. Add to that, seeing and making new friends along the way, they get an experience rich in memories that could fill volumes.

This Spring, the journey started with travel to and participation in the Overland Expo, which presented an opportunity to see old friends and make new ones. Put on by the Overland Journal, the Expo is a gathering of people and companies that share a lifestyle of environmentally responsible, global vehicle-supported expedition and adventure travel (from their site). To quote Ara directly, “Such an incredible array of Friends present, faces now matched to names read in the past and new ones which will not be forgotten. Adventure, Overlanding, vehicles of all sizes shapes and colors capable of escaping the black top, camping gear, gadgets and so much more. All was here.”

Distant cousins to the RV world, these rigs are purpose built to follow the road (and I use that term loosely), or path not traveled, providing shelter in locations that are remote, where the nearest hotel, not to mention camp site, is hundreds of miles away. Out here, one isn’t thinking I need to lock my doors…

While the event was all about gear, trucks, tents, motorcycles and countless other items of interest to overland travelers, for Ara and Spirit it’s about seeing friends, meeting people, and sharing their travel and life experiences. As one might imagine, Spirit attracts a lot of attention wherever they travel, and the Overland Expo was no exception. While the constant center of attention, he also managed to pose for the camera and was the subject of a contest winning grand prize photo!

Parting ways from the Overland Expo, the road calls yet again, Ara and Spirit making their way toward the solitude they share together wherever they roam, the next stop on this journey, Lake Powell.

Click here, for more on the the Overland Expo from Ara’s perspective.

But if you have every worked on a Harley Davidson motorcycle you know its more of an art than a science. I recently had the joy of learning all the quirks of working on these magical motorcycles firsthand with upgrades to my new Sportster 883 Low. Tired of carrying my Beast Chain, lock, work gear and tools around on my back, I spent a hefty $400 on a set of HD Sportster saddle bags.

In a previous life I rode a BMW GS650 Dakar desert racing bike. It had simple mounting points for all the gear, bags and hard cases. Not so on the Harley, adding the saddle bags to the sportster was a major task that required hours of work to get it done.

The first step was to get the bullet turn signal lights moved to the rear of the fender next to the license plate mount. The stock turn signals block the frame and fender mounting area that the saddle bags attach to. I had no idea that this seemingly simple task would take 4 hours to complete. The first issue I encountered was the turn signal mount itself. Harley uses a bolt the size of engine mount bolt to hold on the bullet lights. The bolt was so strong it could support the weight of the entire motorcycle.

Getting a socket under the fender between the fender and tire was no easy task. I had to use very narrow box wrenches to get in there and even then getting a grip on the bolt was dicey. After getting the lights off you have to disassemble them to get the wires out for rebuilding the new T bar light mount. This took a half hour to do including the reassemble of the new license plate mount point. Four hours later the lights had been moved and I was on the road to victory with the bags, despite not even unboxing them up to this point, or so I thought.

The directions to mount the bags were simple. Just 2 bolts per bag and spacer to keep them off the fender/frame area in the back of the sporty. I was able to get the fender frame bolts removed quickly, only to discover that the mount bolts for the saddle bags were about 3 inches too long and needed to fit between the tire and fender to push them through to allow the bag mounting.

Reading the instructions provided no help. How the hell was this bolt going to fit between the fender, frame and tire? The answer I soon discovered by talking to another would be harley mechanic in California, was that it would not! The answer to this problem was to drop the suspension to make room for these bolts.  Again no where is this mentioned in the official instructions.

I jumped in my pickup and headed to the nearest autozone to get some sort of rig to jack up the bike and release the rear shocks. Luck would have it the store had a motorcycle jack that set me back 150 bucks, but after 5 hours of hard labor on this, it was a small price to pay for victory.

Once the bike was jacked up off the ground, I was able to drop the suspension by unbolting the top shock bolt.

The tail dropped, the space opened up and sure enough the bolt would now nicely fit. Again victory was close, but I learned already not to get too excited too soon.

With the two bolts sticking out of the frame and fender, ready to mount the bags and spacers, it occurred to me that with the bags on there was no room to get a 45 Torx socket in there to reattach the rear shocks!

Good catch. I then decided to leave the bolts exposed, drop the bike off the lift enough to reattach the rear socks.

After another half hour of wrenching I was able to get up under the fender and tighten the saddle bag main bolts, apply thread lock and wrap up the project. Overall it took over 7 hours to get the bags on.

Hey at least my chain, lock and work gear no longer is hanging in a backpack.  Now wherever my bike goes, the Beast Chain comes along for the ride. That’s high security..

My bosses bike

As seen on craigslist, read the last two lines.

This guys boss needs a lock.

This beater was 1 of 2 being sold as a pair for $50.00 on Craigslist

As cyclists we play a roll with the choices we make in a thieves decision making process when it comes to stealing our bikes. To understand this better consider who you are dealing with.

It’s generally accepted (stereotype alert) that bike thieves come in three general varieties, “the joy rider” and or “the opportunist”, and the “professional”.

The first two are not as likely to wake up one morning and say, “I’m going to go steal a bike today.” These thieves are far more likely to operate in the moment, taking advantage of low hanging fruit, bikes that were left unattended. Famous last words, “this is a safe neighborhood” or “I’ll just be a moment”. In cases like these, even a basic deterrent like a small cable lock can be the difference between your bike still being there when you come out with your cup of coffee, and an empty space where it once sat.

The “pro” on the other hand is just that. This person plans to steal bikes. They have tools, and they have an idea of what they are willing to take risks for. They can calculate of how easy a given bike will be to turn around, and what they can expect to get for it in return. For this person, this is a part of their income. This is what they do. The pro is further bolstered by the knowledge that bike theft is a very low priority for most metro law enforcement agencies, therefore there is little consequence for their actions.

If we as cyclists choose to ride bikes that are our pride and joy, leaving them locked up and unattended for extended periods of time, we should also be prepared for the likelihood that someone else will find our bike attractive as well. Someone with tools…

Two choices you can make that will ensure that your ride home will be waiting for you at the end of the day:
1) Purchase a good heavy lock
2) Find yourself a beater bike and love it for what it is

With these two simple steps, you can choose to take away thieves incentive.

OnGuard featured in the May issue Maxim Magazine.

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After a long day of technical training in the Cycle Gear classroom, I had long heard about the pot smoking, roaring mufflers and yes, half naked women roaming the streets. I had to find out for myself. So I seized the opportunity to walk around Daytona to learn about the infamous street scene.

My friends were in fact were telling the truth, as I learned first hand that the street scene was the place to be. There were so many bikes, as cars were the minority in this town. My rental PT cruiser didn?t get a second look one afternoon as I drove into town. It was a classic American scene as the road hogs took over the road.

Pretty women riding on the back of bikes and some even gave the crowd a roar as they rode solo down the crowded streets. The red carpet has nothing on these scantily clad women parading their wears or lack thereof. I wondered if their mothers knew where they were on this warm Daytona afternoon?

My sniffer told me in fact that what I smelled was probably not legal but who cared, I as more interested in my visual learning capabilities. Of course I was really investigating how many 5049?s or 5100?s, I would find along the way. There were several bikes that were locked and loaded with OnGuard product parked along the streets, which would have made Stewart proud.

Who knew there were so many custom rigs out there in the world? A terrific visual sub-cultural learning experience. Everyone should experience firsthand this scene, as 500,000+ fun loving motorcycle-driving fans descended on the streets of Daytona.