road gremlin bell

[Harald]

I had one on a previous bike that was given to me by (surprise!) a Harley rider. irate:

The tinkling really annoyed me so I took it off. I kept thinking that something was falling off the bike, as if my bike was a Harley. :blink:

 

[sonicspeed]

i just threw mine in the glove box and let it rattle around

 

[Neil San Diego]

I don't know if I buy into the superstitions wholeheartedly or not.

I know for a fact that I don't buy into the superstitions. But I still have one on the feejer, just cuz a friend gave it to me. Janet has one on her bike also. At the very least, I can point to it and say I have at least one friend...

Just cuz I decorate a Christmas tree every year, doesn't mean I still believe in Santa.

 

[Hello Kitty]

Two bell questions:

1) Can a bell be transferred from one bike to another? I saw someone say he let the bell go with the bike... I do have one on the FZ6 that a friend gave me and yeah, it's kind of a special little momento (Chaz, if you're reading, it was your wife!) and I'd like to keep it, but if it must go with the bike... No plans to get rid of the bike, just wondering since the topic came up...

2) Does it HAVE TO be a 'gremlin bell'? A friend bought me a little itty bitty cow bell from Switzerland that I hung on the GS. Just wondering if it's helping.

 

[Patriot]

Two bell questions:
1) Can a bell be transferred from one bike to another?

yep

2) Does it HAVE TO be a 'gremlin bell'? A friend bought me a little itty bitty cow bell from Switzerland that I hung on the GS. Just wondering if it's helping.

a bell is a bell...gremlin is a descriptive adjective, not a noun...

for my friend, our CMA chapter President, for his Ultra, we gave him a full size copper cow bell...he mounted it with pride

 

[ShinyPartsUp]

Two bell questions:
1) Can a bell be transferred from one bike to another? I saw someone say he let the bell go with the bike... I do have one on the FZ6 that a friend gave me and yeah, it's kind of a special little momento (Chaz, if you're reading, it was your wife!) and I'd like to keep it, but if it must go with the bike... No plans to get rid of the bike, just wondering since the topic came up...

2) Does it HAVE TO be a 'gremlin bell'? A friend bought me a little itty bitty cow bell from Switzerland that I hung on the GS. Just wondering if it's helping.

1) I'd keep it. I wish the bell my now deceased buddy gave me hadn't fallen off my bike. Worst case scenario: Put a second one on if needed

2) NO

 

[RaYzerman19]

It has to be within 4" of your deer whistle....

 

[palerider]

It has to be within 4" of your deer whistle....

Damn! Brilliant! Someone needs to make a combination bell-deer whistle.

 

[Defiant77]

My wife gave me and her father one today since we are getting ready for a ride in June and mine is going on the bike right away. It a gift from my best friend and it will bring me luck, the same way the St. Michael's medallion kept me safe working the streets for 30 years. I will take any extra luck I can get to go along with my experience and training.

For those of you who think it is a silly superstition, somehow not masculine, or something those "Harley" riders came up with, then you have failed to understand the history behind the guardian bell and the tradition that goes along with it. Those traditions are the kinds of things that helped forge the bond of brothers and sisters riding motorcycles and separating us from the cagers.

That being said, if you don't like it, don't put one on your bike. But, there are of us who still remember what the bond and traditions stand for when it come to riding a motorcycle.

 

[bigjohnsd]

I have one on my FJR and I have one I got at Beemerdon's funeral I'll put on the Wee-Strom on Monday before I ride it. JSNS

 

[Redfish Hunter]

My first thought here is to thank Defiant for doing a search and resurrecting a Zombie instead of starting a NEW thread. Well done.

My second thought is...Why would anyone get upset over something so ridiculous?

I have bought these bells for Harley Riding Friends. I helped install a few. It was mostly a gesture of friendship and good wishes upon the purchase of a new bike. It tells the owner that YOU care and wish him/her the best and is a reminder to ride safely.

I believe in some strange things but I do not believe in that bell nor do I believe in Road Gremlins. I do believe in friendship and sentimentality.

We all do what we want. If we must argue, let it be about something important, not a thread from 7 years ago.

And finally... A dear friend and co-worker gave me a bell when I arrived at work with my brand new, straight from the dealer, first in Louisiana, 2015 FJR ES. We could not find a good place to hang the bell. I crashed on the way home. With the bell in my jacket pocket.

I still have the bell but I never hung it on the bike.

 

[Larry33319]

I was given one several years ago after I had restored an 83 Honda CB-1100F. We were riding in the mountains around Deals Gap. The first day it was on we stopped at a pull off to take pictures. The area was at an angle and I had to park on a hill. The bike tipped over away from me after I got off and was trying to open my tank bag to get a camera. It was in slow motion away from me and all I could do was hold the handlebars and try and slow its fall. That bell is now somewhere in the valley we were stopping to look at. Did the bell make it fall? Seriously doubt it but it is no longer a part of anything I own or ever will.

 

[rbentnail]

Another forum I belong to had a tradition: throw in your name and you get paired up at random with someone to trade bells with. I've ridden with bells on 2 Kawasakis, 1 Honda and my FJR from Fernie, BC; San Diego, Omaha, Anchorage, Arizona, Loosiana, and gawd knows how many other places. Each yr when I got a new bell I threw the old one in the saddlebag and gave it to some stranger I met on the road who didn't have one, telling him/her the story and that it worked great for me for a yr and now it'll help you.

I hang it down low, right side. There's a sensor by a metal loop, use a key ring instead of tying it, lasts longer.

 

[ionbeam]

I believe DCarver has had gremlin bells on his bikes. The first one was on his deer strike bike, the bell was the only functional item after the crash. On his other bike the bell clapper fell off, a rock crushed the bell and then it got ripped off by a pot hole on the goat trail he calls a driveway. He's just naturally lucky like that

It was just after the last bell fell off that his headlights stopped working.

 

[HyperPete]

I've got Gremlin bells on all of my bikes. My girlfriend just gave me one for the FJR. Right now it's in front of the handlebars.

 

[Happytrails63]

Another forum rider gave me this one. Very nice guy. Up until then I didn't know what they were.

 

[art miller]

I have only seen the bell on Harley's. Just sayin'.....

^^^^^ Me too. Do the Bell Boys also have their bikes blessed by a motorcycle evalangist??

 

[HotRodZilla]

I have only seen the bell on Harley's. Just sayin'.....

^^^^^ Me too. Do the Bell Boys also have their bikes blessed by a motorcycle evalangist??

Some have them blessed by a priest. I grew up Christian, but don't totally get doing that. I have a St. Michael in my unit that my wife gave me, and I had a bell on my VTX. They are cool trinkets that remind us someone loves us and cares if something happens. When it comes down to it, I believe in my training, my Springfield, and my rifle. On my bike, I rely on good decision making and my ability. Any "spiritual" help from a bell, or saint is just icing on the cake.

I would never tease anyone or berate anyone for their belief, as I would expect about my beliefs. If you want one, use one. If someone gave me one, I would mount it and proudly ride around with it.

 

[Tyler]

I view it as a gift from a friend who cares about you and wishes the very best along your journey on the road... and it makes me think of that person and smile every time I see it. B)

 

[lonerider]

Back in 2005, the owner that organized the Madura rally in Boyer, WV handed out bells to all who attended. I fastened mine to the bottom of the radiator guard, where it has remained since. I left it there out of respect and thanks for the thought and effort shown by the giver - it definitely wasn't loud enough to deter the suicidal forest rat that ran into the bike in November 2009 west of Mercersburg, PA.