...then get rid of it! I decided to operate under that principle when I recently had to replace the rear windshield wiper blade on our Honda Element.
After cleaning off the car countless times during this brutal winter, we discovered that the rear wiper was swinging some loose rubber around. To avoid leaving gashes in our rear glass, we stopped using it until I made it to AutoZone to pickup a replacement.
Long story short, the rear wiper blade on the Element is atypical. None of the commonly-available wiper blades can attach to the rear arm. Sure, you can buy a replacement blade or insert through the right outlets (particularly the Honda dealer), but those places don’t fall within my network of oft-traveled roads.
Do we need the rear wiper?
I said, “hell no.” Megan shook her head in the negative. So now the rear wiper motor is in the basement, along with it’s stupid one-of-a-kind arm and the pathetic, damaged wiper blade.
In its place is a faucet plug (typically used to blank-out unused holes in sinks), which came as a recommendation from a thread at the EOC:
So next time you have to replace something that’s not easily attainable - piece of trim, tire valve cap, clutch master cylinder, who knows - ask yourself: Do you need it?
Just got a roll of film developed that's been sitting in the N75 since November. What do you know, it had a few freshly-developed frames from our November excursion to Carolina Motorsports Park!
The recent spell of cold temperatures and unusual blizzards has put me in a state of blah for a while now. But these pictures have me excited for the warm temperatures that are on the horizon.
So yeah, the next track day can not come soon enough...
I felt I didn't have to worry about motorcycle theft. Until my most recent acquisition, my 2-wheelers have been bikes that wouldn't attract theives (or at least I believed this). A Ninja 250, a Honda Shadow VLX, a Triumph Thunderbird, and an SV650. I mean, these are way-cool machines, don't get me wrong. But anyone I know who's had their motorcycle stolen lost a 600 supersport.
So the ZX-6R came with a bit of baggage: theft paranoia. I did a lot of reading to uncover that magic trick for securing your motorcycle. You know, that simple thing that doesn't cost much yet ensures your bike will be there every morning when you wake up? Yeah, I don't think there is such a thing. I instead came to the following, common-sense conclusion:
If you don't want your bike stolen, chain it to an immovable object.
Chain Obviously, the conclusion above assumes an impenetrable chain. A chain you can't cut through. The chain of all chains. The Almax.
Checkout how easy it apparently is to break most chains:
...and how apparently impossible it is to beat an Almax chain:
I read about the Almax chains in Motorcyclist. A few issues ago, there was a short blurb about chains and bike security. After digging up these videos, I was convinced that if you want a chain you could trust, you buy an Almax. Is an invincible chain really necessary? Is the Almax even invincible? I don't know, but I think so :)
The chain is ridiculously heavy (and the links are huge!). I didn't weigh it, but its gotta be 5-10lbs. It fits in a tail bag, so size is not a problem. But my opinion is that it's a stretch to call this chain portable. However, after the price I paid for it, this chain's coming with me on the road one way or another!
Immovable object Chain? Check. Immovable object? Hmmm...I wanted to chain it to one of our cars. I figured a parked car to be rather immovable. But I couldn't trust myself or someone else to throw the Element into reverse after considering that a motorcycle might be tethered to it. So opted for a dedicated ground anchor.
Almax sells a ground anchor made by Hardie-Secure. It's a neat, flat, presentable-looking ground anchor. I wanted something tough, but as low-profile as possible for aesthetics. Plus, this thing's so flat I can run the motorcycle over it while parking. Since we constantly have to get creative when extracting the parked-in bikes, the shallow anchor is almost a necessity.
Installing the ground anchor was...interesting. It requires drilling a 20mm diameter hole, 100mm deep. That's a big freakin' hole to make in concrete. Thankfully, the anchor comes with a huge masonry bit to use. You have to supply the hammer drill. And I'm thinking you probably need a hammer drill for this one. It took about 30 minutes to get 100mm down. And it was quite a workout.
Conclusion It's fun to call an Almax the best chain and to assume they make and sell the best products for securing your motorcycle. But it's not fun to look at the bill after placing your order. I converted the GBP value to USD once, forgot the number, and have decided not to think about it again.
They are expensive products that will only be worth their cost if you use them constantly and correctly. I welcome the challenge.
Insurance rant I called Progressive to see if they'd lower my comprehensive insurance rate since I will now be chaining my motorcycle to a ground anchor. They said that they'd only lower my comprehensive insurance cost if I get lojack, which is ridiculous in my opinion. Sure, maybe lojack can disable the ignition - but we're talking about a motorcycle here. 3 guys and a vehicle can pick up a bricked motorcycle and be done with it. And sure, Lojack might assist in motorcycle recovery. But my guess is that theives will find and disable the lojack. It's a freakin' motorcycle. Where the hell can Lojack hide things? If their product is outside the crankcase, then I'm sure I could find it if I wanted to.
As far as recovery goes, that's the last ditch hope, in my opinion. If my bike is gone one morning, Lojack or not, I don't expect to get it back. Priority #1 should be keeping the theft from happening in the first place. Progressive doesn't appear to think so. Always reactionary, never preventative...
