Russ had given me a heavy gold sleigh bell off of a harness to use as a Gremlin Bell...http://www.gremlinbells.com/.. I wired this onto my license plate bracket with, of course, wire. I wound that wire through the holes of the bell & bracket 6 times as I wanted to be sure it would not come off. All was well & I had zero problems with the bike.
On 3/22/08, a few of us went on a ride to Muenster Texas & we took the scenic route. Coming back, we stopped in St. Jo Texas, at a bike shop to look around. We left there & headed back to Wichita Falls. (scroll down to see the Muenster Run blog). Somewhere between St. Jo & Nocona, a nasty gremlin with sharp teeth ate through the wire & the bell came off. Apparently, Robbie, who was in the 6th position, and Lance, who was tail gunner, both had bells working. My bell missed Robbie but struck Lance's fairing right above his headlight & then just missed his head as it richoceted off that. Lance was ok and there was not even a scratch on his bike. So we rode on..
We got home without further incident and on the way to the house, I stopped & got the mail...When I got home I opened the mail from the motorcycle company that made my bike...Imagine my surprise & wonderment at losing the bell just an hour or so before I opened that letter..That letter was a recall on my bike because the fuel line & injector's were defective leading to fire & possible explosion!!! It said,further, to PARK the bike in a ventilated area and not ride it until it had been inspected...
Say what ya will about Gremlin Bells being an old wife's tail, fantasy or they are a waste of money. I KNOW they are fact not fiction. They protected Robbie & Lance & when mine came off, my bike had to be parked...Coincidence? I think not!! I have a new one on order!!!!....... Until next ride/post, tighten down your bells!!! John
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