1. Pick A Lane! A lot of folks would choose the slow lane or the middle lane to keep a buffer around their bike. Not me. I prefer the fast lane. I picked this lane because I learned quickly that commuters would suddenly at the last second dive for their exit ramp…usually without looking and seemingly aiming right for me. You are invisible in this situation. While in the fast lane I would move over for the faster drivers to let them by. But usually you can ride with the flow of traffic and have a good view of the road in front of you.

2. Where In Your Lane? I would ride in the left hand tire track of my lane, giving as much space between me and the car next to me on the right. This would give me an opportunity to ride off onto the median if I had to make emergency maneuvers to escape an accident, debris or someone cutting into my lane. Always give yourself an out and try not to get boxed in. Also, beware of the center of the lane, as it can be slick with oil (especially in the rain!). Try to ride in “open zones” where there is a break in the cars and your not riding in the pack.

3. Heads Up! It’s important to know what’s going on around you at all times. Keep your head on a swivel. Check your mirrors often. Watch traffic a few cars ahead and watch for brake lights and to see if they are braking hard or swerving to avoid a road hazard.

4. Keep Your Distance! The two second rule applies to how much distance you should keep between you and the car in front of you. But you will soon find that if you give too much room a car will sneak in there every time!

5. Body Language. Watch the driver’s heads in the cars in front of you. They may not always look into their mirrors but will usually turn their head in the direction they’re planning to go. It’s not always true, but you will see this enough to start to anticipate a driver’s directional intention.

6. Get A Handle On It! Keep your controls covered. By keeping your hand on the front brake lever as you travel, you will greatly increase your reaction time in a panic stop situation.

7. Be Seen! Bright clothes, reflective tape and high beam on. As many lights as you can turn on the better! This is also where loud pipes can help but I don’t want to get into that argument here.

8. Be Aggressive! You have to be assertive in your decision making and let other drivers know you are there and that is your space. Sometimes you’ll see someone try to crowd you out of your lane for no other reason beside they think they can. Be careful, but position yourself in your lane where they know you are occupying that section of highway and they should keep to theirs.

9. Always Let Tailgaters Go By! Never start a fight while riding because you will lose every time to a 2000lb weapon called the other guys car. Keep cool and let the jerks and speeders go by. There are enough Troopers out on the roads these days that they will soon have their day!

Remember, you ride because you love it. It’s a sport and a form enjoyment. But as you know even on a quiet back road things can change quickly with obstacles like gravel, left hand turning cars or a dog or deer running out. So never let your guard down, keep alert and use your head. Reaction time is something you gain only by experience. So start slow on the back roads and build up to highway riding. And don’t be shy with your horn! Wiley

Cobra Speedster Longs Exhaust with Powerport for Roadliner '06-up

The Cobra Speedster Longs feature full-length, 220° heat shields that fit tip-to-tip for ultimate bluing prevention and an attractive seamless look. They are constructed of high-quality, triple-chromed steel and are finished off with chromed aluminum billet tips that are replaceable in case of damage.

They also come equiped with the revolutionary Cobra PowerPort proprietary crossover technology:
•Developed to create a power increase similar to what you’d get from a two-into-one system while still maintaining the clean classic lines of 2-into-2 pipes
•Strategically placed in the muffler section to make it easier to install the pipes (header pipes can be installed individually)
•Best of all, the PowerPort works while remaining discreetly out of sight, tucked away behind the heat shield

The pipes install easily with exceptional, user-friendly, mounting hardware and will transform your bike with great looks and added power!

Cobra Quiet Baffles for Speedster Longs

Click here to order! Cobra Speedster Longs Exhaust with Powerport for Roadliners

1. Make sure you have a good set of clear glasses, goggles or a shield. Make sure they are scratch free and clean of all bugs and fingerprints. Scratches and smudges can blind you when oncoming car lights hit them. Try your glasses or goggles out in the daytime to make sure they fit and work property. In the dark of night is not the time to find out if you have an issue.

2. Wear bright clothing. If you think other drivers can’t see you in the daytime, then you’re nearly invisible at night. A bright reflective vest and reflective tape on your helmet and key areas on your bike are very effective. Every little bit helps!

3. Add additional driving lights. If you travel a lot at night, say on your daily commute, you may want to add more luminance. Extra drive or highway lights improve your view of the road and it’s many obstacles and increase your visibility to oncoming traffic.

National Cycle Chrome Light Bar for Drifter 800/1500 '99-06 & Vulcan 1500 FI

4. Change your riding style. Slow down! Give yourself more distance from the car in front of you and more buffer all around yourself. Things come out of the darkness quick and reaction times need to be fast. Sometimes a road hazard will present itself and you’ll have no time to elude it. Make sure your skills are up to speed on safely riding over obstacles and you have solid hard braking techniques firmly in your arsenal of riding skills.

5. If you’re tired, don’t ride at night. In fact, you shouldn’t ride anytime you are tired, day or night. The same goes for riding impaired. If you’re out riding impaired in the slightest way, you’ll probably get a chance to use your organ donor card.

6. Keep your eyes up and scanning for animals. Depending on your neck of the woods, there might be pretty large critters darting out across the road. Try to look for their reflective eyes and always assume they are about to run out in front of you!

7. Get some practice first. If you are hesitant about night riding do some twilight riding close to home. Stay out longer and long until you feel you have the confidence to own the night.

8. Remember to keep your mouth shut. There is a lot more bugs out at night and you can’t see them coming! But as the saying goes, midnight bugs taste best!

Hope some of these tips help. Riding at night can be a little unnerving until you gain some experience, so just take it slow at first. It also can be one of the greatest riding experiences as you glide through the night, feeling detached from the earth like you’re flying above the ground. So suit up, light the road in front of you and ride like you own the night. Just ride smart and safe so you’ll be able to ride again into another sunset. Wiley

Hoppe Industries Quadzilla Fairing w/ Stereo Receiver for '05-Up FLHR Models (except FLHRS) w/ OEM Quick Detach Windshields

If you’re planning any sort of long trip or simply looking for a new look for your bike, then a fairing is the way to go. Couple that with a kickin’ stereo system and now you have found a functional item that entertains as well as stimulates your eye.

The culmination of these ideas all come together with the Hoppe Industries Quadzilla Fairing w/ Stereo Receiver. A brilliant design that allows you to simply use the OEM quick disconnect windshield mounts to install the fairing and is pretty much a plug and play set up. The Quadzilla features are listed below. The benefits are to numerous to list!

Choose the Eclipse (CD1200), Jensen(JHD3620B) or the Fusion(MS-IP600) radio..
FOUR 5″ coaxial marine speakers for great sound at any speed with any pipes!
Optional Sirius decoder box and antenna can be ordered built into your fairing. (requires upgrade to JHD3620B radio)

Optional iPod cable can be ordered built into your fairing.
Optional 3.5mm “mini-jack” auxillary input port with detachable 3ft. patchcord can be ordered built into your fairing.(CD1200 only)
Optional Removable Windshield Pouches – Available in Standard Black, Blackout or Studded. Click here to view all available pouches.
Optional Wireless Remote Control

Optional Hand controls – enable you to control volume and channel adjustment using only your thumbs. Also controls volume based on speed! (CD1200 only)
Optional Fairing Locks – Added security for your investment. More details about our Hoppe Fairing Locks can be found here.
NEW!!! Handlebar Multimedia Holders – Puts your MP3 player, ipod/iphone or other mobile device at your fingertips. A perfect Hoppe fairing compliment!
These fairings integrate with your OEM windshield mounts and use a quick-detach power cord to go on or off your bike in less than 5 minutes.

Includes your choice of a 5″ Dark Tint, 5″,8″ & 10″ DOT approved Light Tint, or 5″,8″,10″,or 12″ clear windshield.
Optional chromed finish on speakers and radio bezel (two configurations available – see our chrome packages area for more details).
Concealed internal antenna for a clean, uncluttered appearance.
Weather door and internal shielding to protect the radio from water.

Superb wind protection and great audio with a classic appearance.
Made of hand laid fiberglass. Stronger than ABS plastic and only 20 lbs. complete.
Finished in gloss black gelcoat, ready for your painter.

Quadzilla™ fairings offer contemporary styling and premium quality. Finished in durable Black Gelcoat. Both inner and outer shells are made of true hand laid fiberglass. What does that mean for you? True hand laid fiberglass is glass mat and resin laid by hand (not chopper gun). This gives you a better glass to resin ratio and more strength to weight than plastic. We feature round speakers for more accurate sound reproduction and the most linear response, and four speakers because receivers have four channels.

***NOTE*** Fairing will also fit ’00-present H-D Roadking Custom by removing the duckbill and using OEM Roadking nacell, center trim & handlebar cover (H-D Part #: 67868-03 & 67866-03).

Click here for more info and to purchase one of your own.

Danny Gray / Airhawk Longhaul 2-Up XL for '08-12 FLHT/FLHR/FLHX/FLTR

Danny Gray / Airhawk Weekday 2-Up XL for '08-12 FLHT/FLHR/FLHX/FLTR without Backrest Receptacle

Danny Gray / Airhawk Bigseat Rear Pillion Seat for '08-12 FLHT/FLHR/FLHX/FLTR

Danny Gray / Airhawk Longhaul 2-Up XL for '08-12 FLHT/FLHR/FLHX/FLTR w/ Drivers Backrest Capability

“You no longer have to sacrifice looks for comfort.”

Click here to see all of Danny Gray’s seats!

Rush Full Exhaust Systems for Dyna '06-11 Short, Slash Down Black Ceramic Coated

SuperTrapp/Paul Yaffe Design Left-Side-Drive Phantom Drag Pipe for FXST Models '07-11 -Silver Ceramic

Bassani Road Rage 2-Into-1 System for FLHT/FLHR/FLHX,FLTR '10-Up Chrome, Long w/ Silver Ceramic Header Pipes

The ceramic coating industry started it’s roots in racing. Most racers have ceramic coatings inside their exhaust systems for the performance gains. So ceramic coating makes sense for the person trying to get maximum horsepower from their bike. And anything to keep the heat off you and you bike is always a plus for the summertime rider! So gain performance and keep cool with ceramics! Wiley

Vance & Hines Competition Series 2-Into-1 Exhaust for FXCW/C '08-11 Black Ceramic Powder Coat

First of all, why would aluminum foil and diet cola work on shining chrome at all? After a little investigating, this is what I found.

Rust is basically oxidized metal or another words metal that has taken on extra oxygen atoms. As heat is generated by the friction of rubbing the aluminum foil on the chrome, a portion of the aluminum will oxidize to produce aluminum oxide. Aluminum has a higher reduction potential (i.e a tendency take on electrons and in the process reduce or break itself down) than the chrome, and will therefore leech oxygen atoms away from any rust on the chrome surface which changes the chemical properties of the rust and breaks it down.

Aluminum oxide is harder than steel, and the microscopic grains of aluminum oxide produced during the cleaning process creates a fine metal polishing compound which, mixed with the water you added, creates a paste that smooths and polishes the chrome surface.

A common way to clean a rusted chrome surface is to use a fine steel wool. However, when you use this method you have to use a lot of elbow grease and you still end up with a slightly dull surface with some amount of scratches. That’s because you are physically scraping off the rust. When you use the aluminum foil method you are dissolving the rust chemically so you don’t need to rub nearly as hard and since the aluminum foil is softer than the chrome, you are left with few if any scratches. This method also allows you to get the rust out of some minor pitting without having to dig into the surface.

The aluminum oxide that is created by friction when you rub the surface of the chrome leeches the rust away and when combined with the diet cola creates it’s own polishing compound. The cola is slightly acidic and will help remove surface tarnish and help clean the surface. To that fact, white vinegar works in place of the cola but plain water works as well. I say use whatever is on hand. Try all three and check your results. Maybe you could come up with your own secret solution!

Here are the basic steps:

Step 1) Cut the aluminum foil into small squares approximately 4″ by 4″.

Step 2) Wash the surface to remove any surface dirt.

Step 3) Dip a square into some cola or sprinkle some cola on it and spread it around on the surface of the foil.

Step 4) Cup the wet square over the surface you want to clean so you get a nice even coverage.

Step 5) Start rubbing a 6 or 8 inch area and remember you don’t have to rub very hard. As you rub, you’ll feel the surface get smoother and smoother until the foil just glides over it. You will also notice a light brown paste building up. This is the polish that results from the chemical reaction.

Step 6) When the surface is nice and smooth and you have polished it. Take a clean cloth and wipe the surface clean.

Step 7) Once you finish cleaning and polishing the item you need to protect it from the elements. The best method would be to use a small amount of chrome polish or maybe something like turtle wax or an equivalent kind of chrome wax or polish.

Use a little extra soda if you want a super fine finish. Wad up a larger piece of foil when you work on pitted areas. The edges created will help smooth down the pits. Don’t rub too long with the first ‘paste’ created. Once the surface feels nice and smooth and you’ve wiped the paste off, you can use a new piece of foil with some more soda to get as much shine as you like.

Don’t waste your time with a severely pitted surface since the rust has probably eaten down through the chrome to the bare metal. Smooth it down as much as you can with steel wool then use the aluminum foil method to remove as much rust as possible.

It’s worth a shot if you deem the chrome accessory in question aesthetically unpleasing and you don’t want to fork out the cash to replace it. But if it’s to far gone, make sure you call West End Motorsports for all of your new and shiny chrome needs! Tell them Wiley sent ya!

How Far Can You Go?
Before starting any trip, you need to know how far you can go on a tank of fuel. Set your tripometer to 0 miles (that little button near your speedometer) and fill up your tank and ride it till it’s almost empty. Check your mileage and make a mental note of it. I know when my bike’s tripometer says 120 miles I need to start looking for fuel. Reset your tripometer to 0 every time you fill up and keep an eye on it during the ride. Fuel gauges on bikes generally let you know of an impending fuel shortage (ie: the fuel warning light) and should be used only as a quick reference. The tripometer is a much better indicator. My rule of thumb is, if you’re in unknown territory, fill up and top off whenever you can.

Got GPS?
Technology has caught up with what we really need by providing human services to a GPS system. Not only will it tell you where you can fill up and powder your nose but also sort stations by price and distance. All that plus where to eat, sleep and buy spark plugs!

BYOH (Bring Your Own Hose)
If you’re riding across barren stretches of highway where gas stations are few and far between, you might consider carrying a siphon hose in case you become stuck and need to draw fuel from another rider’s fuel tank. It’s also a good idea to have a stick of gum on hand for when you get that inevitable shot of gas in your mouth.

Lots of long riders go one step further by carrying backup fuel in a small jerrycan or a plastic jug…needless to say, you’ll need to exercise caution while rolling with auxiliary fuel. There are a few manufacturers that sell fuel storage that fits right inside of some saddlebags.

Bigger Is Better
If you know you are going to do a lot of big miles on your bike, you might want to invest in a larger capacity fuel tank. There are a number of manufacturers that supply larger tanks for most models (except for the VROD pictured above, it’s fuel tank is under the seat). Almost all new fuel tanks require new paint, but this will give you the opportunity to get that flame job you’ve always wanted!

Too Late!
So your bike starts to spit and sputter and then eventually shuts down. Hopefully you are familiar enough with your own bike to know if you have a petcock with a reserve position. The reserve should get you another 20 miles or so depending on the tanks capacity. If you bike is fuel injected, you are S.O.L.

If you don’t have a container to put fuel in think about taking the fuel tank with you, basic tools gets off some fuel tanks. Gas stations will sell you a small can to carry your gas if you’re lucky. If not, purchase a big bottle of water, slug it down, drain it thoroughly and fill it with fuel. Keep it and refill it when you get to the gas station for the next long stretch of desolate road.

Riding a motorcycle is like being in the scouts. You have to be prepared. Whether it’s mapping out your journey and plan your gas stops or simply carrying a hose to transfer fuel, it pays to pre-plan. FYI, most motorcycle boots are not very comfy to walk in. Wiley

Boss Bags Close Fitting #40 Model Studded Body and Lid w/ Fringed Lid Valence for Softail Models

Boss Bags Close Fitting #37 Model w/ Conchos (Red Trim Shown) for Softail Models

Boss Bags will work with most models of detachable sissy bars and luggage racks. Boss Bags are custom drilled to meet the specific features of your motorcycle. As with any motorcycle your turn signals may need to be relocated and there is a kit made for your bike.

Boss Bags #42 Model Studded on Lid and Bag Body

Boss makes saddlebags for the Softail Deuce but it needs lower pipes than stock, both to be below passenger peg

What kind of leather is used on Boss Bags? The #34, #36, #38 and #42 models have vegetable tanned cowhide. The standards for leather saddle bags are strict – the results are thick and firm. It also has a weather resistant finish. The bag’s leather, as well as the concho straps will not fade or lose their color.

Boss Bags #31 for Dyna '94-up -Tan

And if saddlebags are on your Christmas list, a laptop notebook computer will fit into #34 , #38 or #42 saddlebags.

Boss Bags #34 Model Plain Style w/ a Braided Lid Valence