360bikers.com

Connie is a regular rider with our group. She is an active rider with other groups and assists with organizations. I wanted to get some perspectives from her in an online interview. Here is what we talked about.

Lee: Where are you from?
Connie: Originally from Philadelphia but living here about 20 years !!

Lee: Did you ride motorcycle when you lived there?
Connie: No, I didn’t.

Lee: How long of you been riding?
Connie: Going on year 5 now.

Lee: What is the longest ride you’ve been on? (elaborate)
Connie: I rode up to visit friends In Georgia who live 45 minutes north of Jacksonville. It was quite an adventure…..a bit scary alone…..but an achievement…..Also, rode to Mt. Dora here in Florida, and of course the West coast of Florida.

Lee: What do you like most about riding in South Florida?
Connie: I would say the weather ….. it’s almost perfect all year round; longer rides in the winter, shorter ones in the summer heat.

Lee: What do you like least about riding in South Florida?
Connie: lol…..it’s flat !!! and we do have some crazy “snowbirds” driving down here in the winter.

Lee: What is your favorite kind of ride?
Connie: Humm….. I really enjoy overnighters….to me it’s like a mini-vacation over a weekend….as having my own business… it’s not easy to just take off whenever I feel like it….. I like all types of rides, some with a bit of challenge is good also, and especially enjoy riding through areas like LaBelle here in Florida with the tree-lined roads and also through horse country.

Lee: What are your opinions on the helmet / no-helmet laws?
Connie: Personally, I prefer not wearing one as I love feeling the wind, and the freedom of riding without one…however, it can save you from becoming brain damaged or a spinal injury in the event of am accident if you are wearing one.

Lee: Do you always wear a helmet?
Connie: Sometimes……I do wear one always on 95 or on highways…..If I am taking a shorter ride along the beach say early morning when there are not many people out driving, or on a very unpopulated country road, I prefer not to…..However, they do say most accidents happen close to home !!

Lee: If you were to describe a general common attribute about women motorcycle riders, what would it be?
Connie: They’re hot !!! They are independent and free spirits…….I think they are very careful riders…. I do feel some men are intimidated by women motorcycle riders…. and that’s a shame…..

Lee: If you could say one thing to all the women bikers out there, what would it be?
Connie: Keep on riding !!!! Look and act like a woman … I dislike tattoos and/or hard looking women riding motorcycles….it brings a bad connotation to the rest of us.

Our first local ride for the group was this past Sunday and it couldn’t have provided a better day. The short ride was just under 100 miles under a cloudless sky with moderate temperatures in the 70’s. It was great and the group of people we had were great, too. We met at Starbuck’s and at the Citgo station on Southern Blvd. where some had to fuel up. Riding out SR80 all the way to the lake we found our timing was perfect as there was very little traffic. This held true for the entire trip. We rode north through Pahokee and Canal Point to the levee at Port Mayaca where we just watched gators and talked for about an hour. We rode out SR78 to SR710 (Bee Line Hwy) to get back home before the holiday shopping traffic got out of control.

This was a great, short introductory ride. Next week’s ride starts a little earlier with breakfast at John G’s in Lake Worth and going north along the beaches. It should be a great ride, too. Come join us! Any sensible biker that likes the road and riding is more than welcome to join our rides. We aren’t bike-specific and welcome all motorcycles. To join the 360Bikers rides go to http://motorcycle.meetup.com/210/ and join the group. You’ll get regular information on planned rides.

Click any picture for a larger view.

Every year motorcycle riders are involved in careless accidents because a motorist wasn’t paying attention.  Every year thousands of families are effected by the temporary loss of a breadwinner because a car driver “didn’t see them” on the highway.  And every year bikers do charity runs, host bar-b-ques, and create events to make some money to help the victims.  Bikers are without a doubt the most charitable, caring interest group in the county.  Bikes take care of bikers, unlike other interest groups.

360Bikers will transition to a charitable foundation over the upcoming months.  Ideally, we can get the legal process out of the way in 6 months and be fully functional shortly after that when we satisfy all the criteria required.  The focus of this foundation will be to help fellow motorcycle riders who are injured in accidents that are not their fault.  Most specifically, we will seek to help those that have the greatest financial needs as a result of an accident of this nature.

The fund will be paid for with proceeds from the 360Bikers web site.  This makes bikers the winners on both sides.  Not only will we continue to provide the lowest possible prices on auctions and ads, but the proceeds will go to help our fellow riders, perhaps even friends of yours.  This process will take some time to set up, but we’ve started the work towards making it happen.  Check back for more news as it happens.

OK, so maybe the toys aren’t just for the boys anymore. I am writing the beginning of this entry from perhaps the hottest new toy for this year. I’m using an iPhone. This device will provide the rider with several great tools in one very small package. Sure, it’s nice to have your cellphone with you on a ride. It’s nice to have some tunes, too. But this has those plus movies, full Internet, maps, and weather. It isn’t inexpensive either at $500 and $600 for the 4 & 8 GB versions. You also get ail and SMS chat messaging. On a bike with limited space this is a great device. I’ll write more later.

I’m taking a break from customization topics today. It’s actually getting very tempting to start a project, but the time isn’t there yet. I actually plan on running the miles up on my Yamaha Roadstar to around 25,000 miles and doing something with BMS. But after researching customs I think I might actually have to try the whole thing myself in a year or two.

Today I am looking for some serious feedback on the original concept for 360Bikers. I have never really got past the prototype level on this idea, but with different people I’ve made levels of progress in design. I’ve worked with some dealers on the idea and they seem receptive, but for some reason or another I’ve never had everything in place to make the final push to a completed product. Try the links and photo in this entry to see examples.

Initially I was working with a welder with some extensive experience in materials. Gary and I were working towards completion when all of a sudden he disappeared on me. The prototype was nearly done and he just quit answering my calls. He wasn’t at his shop when I’d try to stop by and I eventually gave up on the pursuit with him. I liked the design we had together, but without his expertise it wasn’t going any further. I did a session with Victory Motorcycles of Pompano in 2005 using an early version of the prototype and you can see an example using the link. He just dropped the ball and walked away. I never found out why.

After the set-back with Gary I looked around for components to move forward myself. I ended up finding a company that had a similar pursuit in mind, but from a different perspective. I started working with Shawn from SemcoMotion in Utah. His company created rotating displays based on their electric motors. Working with Shawn, we started designing from the motor out instead of the unit towards the motor. We made progress on a tilt function and I was ready to test it in a real situation.

Nature was not kind to me and in a one week period I had the death of my father and a major hurricane (Wilma) hit our area. I lost a few thousand dollars invested in doing a booth at Biketoberfest in Daytona Beach in spite of spending the night in a last ditch effort to attend the event. It turned out that I made the right choice as the eye of the hurricane went right over our house. Our area suffered a lot of damage and left us without electricity for 12 days. Even at that, I felt lucky compared to some people who to this day have not been able to complete repairs.

As luck would have it, I followed that up with another loss when planning to attend Thunder by the Bay in Sarasota, Florida. With everything in place I was fighting a medical situation that is still not successfully diagnosed, but no longer the serious threat it once was. While I often feel lucky to be alive and functioning, I lost that opportunity to test the system as well. Since then, it is I who has dropped the ball and need to get back to Shawn with new ideas to make the prototype functional and perhaps a lot lighter.

So, here’s the basic idea for our process. Our studio (portable and stationary) will shoot a series of programmed rotational photographs of your motorcycle along with some close-ups. Models sitting on your bike are optional, but you’ll see how nice they look in a minute. The photos are then processed into two primary products for our clients. The first is a high-resolution interactive business card CD that will work in any Windows-based computer. It lets you look at your motorcycle from 360-degrees and zoom in almost to the nut level for exquisite detail. You can make endless copies to share with your friends or use our services to make duplicates. The second product is a lower resolution version that is web ready and published on the 360Bikers web site. While this version doesn’t let you zoom in as much, it is optimized to be viewable quickly at today’s Internet speeds. A third optional product is print photos of your favorite shots from the photo session with your bike.

So, my question is do you think this is something that some bikers would we interested in purchasing? With my health returning and fresh ideas on making this viable I am ready to re-ignite the pursuit of this passion. I love photographing motorcycles and offering a 360-degree view of your bike is something no one else does.

I also created a process called “Homemade Pie” where you would take our package to shoot your own photographs. You would then send them to me to process into the 360-degree versions. If you are interested in testing this with your bike, let me know. I’ll shoot an instruction kit out to you via email and we can see if it has the acceptable quality for a reduced version of the 360Bikers view.

I appreciate your feedback.

In this series on customizing motorcycles we’ll look at many things you can do to give the bike your personal touch. There are so many places to start and I wanted to pick something really personal. Well, if you’re truly a rider you spend a lot of time sitting in your seat.

Like every other area of customization, there are many levels to work from. You can use any of the standard manufacturers of custom motorcycle seats or you can have a one-off created that will express your theme. The major manufacturers will create seats for almost any motorcycle from Harley-Davidson to Yamaha. Some customized vendors will only work with specific bikes. Seats can range in price from just over $200 to the tens of thousands of dollars.

Unlike most customized parts of a bike, this is one you can test to some extent. If you can’t find a friend with the seat you’re interested in, many of these manufacturers can be found at rallies where you can sit on their products to get an idea of what you want. Of course, your riding style will be an important part of your choice.

There are several commonly known motorcycle seat builders that we know about. One is Corbin. They have a facility in Hollister, CA and Daytona Beach, FL. Corbin is one of these stock seat companies that will also create your custom seat with your design as well. I own a Corbin seat similar to this one designed for long distance comfort.

Mustang is another extremely popular brand. They also make a wide variety of seats for almost any kind of motorcycle. They are known for the extra support in the driver’s seat. You can see here in this Harley-Davidson seat that the driver sinks into the seat for comfort on longer rides.

Saddlemen seats by Travelcade is another variety. Saddlemen makes many leather related products for your motocycle. Many Saddlemen seats come with a specially constructed gel padding for comfort. Naturally, there are arguments both for an against gel padding. Most of the discussion involves the type of riding you will be doing. This is an important thing to consider when selecting your seat.

I’ll list a few more resources below, but let’s look at some customizers that build seats for the big boys. At the start of my list is Alligator Bob. With a name like that you’d expect to find this shop in Florida or Louisianna. Nope. You’ll find this group working out of Lake Villa, IL. Alligator Bob has made seats for OCC and other big names. I recommend you take a look at his site and look at some of the unique designs they create. Look under seat tattoos. They will also create your custom design anyway you like it. You just provide a seat pan, which you can make from a stock seat, another manufacturer like Corbin, or have it custom made.

Bill Mayers is another seat builder with a unique perspective. Bill’s order form starts with the basics and includes a few questions that others will ask eventually if they are making a quality seat. You’ll have to know your height, weight and inseam. Your seat will change the way you sit on your bike. Make sure you are aware of the changes before you plunk down your deposit on a custom seat.

This article could go on forever as there are many great leather designers and an endless variety of seat concepts to choose from to make your motorcycle unique. Your budget, you bike, your theme, and your riding style will help you pick the seat for your bike. Below are a few more links. I encourage you to do lots of research before purchasing a seat. Go to a few rallies. Talk to friends and local customizers. And definitely come back to 360Bikers for more information on customizing your motorcycle.

A Few Other Resources

• Le Pera
• Russell Day-Long
• CC Motorcycle Seats
• Diamond Custom Seats
• Extreme Motorcycle Seats
• Hartco International
• Jeffrey Phipps Custom Saddles
• Kalin Motorcycle Seats
• Custom Upholstery by Dean
• Beast Riders (custom seats for your dog!)
• Keith’s Custom Seats
• Chillowee Leather
• Roberti Customs
• Back in the Saddle
• M C Seating
• Bitchin’ Stitchin’
• Skin Seats
• Smith Seats
• Looney DD Seats
• Jammer Cycle Products

Send us any recommendations you have to add to this list.

There are a lot of definitions on what a custom motorcycle really is, what it really means. To some, it’s the outlandish extreme of the bikes you see built on television shows like American Chopper and Biker Build-off. To others, it’s that personal touch you put on your stock motorcycle that sets it apart from the rest that once looked just like it.

Somewhere in that range, every biker finds the spot for his motorcycle. Most motorcycle enthusiasts are regular people. They don’t have a cash flow that allows them to have a custom bike built for $40,000 or $80,000 or even more. Those bikes are works of art. They’re beautiful. But most are not good for much more than casual riding. She might be great to look at, but she’ll take all your money and won’t do the hard riding for you.

Customized motorcycles as most of us know them are the stock bikes we buy and then add a few things to it that makes it personal. I had a customized Harley-Davidson Road King for awhile. I sold it because it just didn’t fit me, though I loved the bike. The guy that bought it said he was tired of going to a rally, parking his black Road King, and losing it in a sea of thousands that look exactly like it. While this bike had more customizing than most of us would do, you can see how it would be easy to find in a crowd.

Over the next few weeks I’ll take a look at some customizing features. There are so many things that we can do to our bikes to make them more comfortable, more flashy, and more personal. We’ll take the parts one step at a time and you can choose the items you like. We’ll look at fabrication vs accessorized stock. We’ll consider everything from fenders to handlebars to seats to engines to transmissions to just pretty stuff. Feel free to send suggestions on manufacturers, customizers, and anything else on this topic.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I read a lot of motorcycle blogs. Today I contacted a few bloggers around the country to reciprocate their blogs with mine.  It’s great to hear the stories and see the photos of riders everywhere.  Take some time to check out the blog roll here and to see the listing on our biker link page.

If you have a motorcycle blog that you would like added, just drop a line to blog @ 360bikers.com.  Of course, remove the spaces.  I’m looking for stories local rides, major rides, poker runs, and fun.  I  love photos of customs, Harleys, Metrics, Sport-bikes and more.

Remember, it’s about the ride.