Monthly Newsletter
GoldwingDocs sends out a newsletter on the first day of each month to all of our members via email. This newsletter contains the announcement of the previous months' contest winner as well as details on the current month's contest. In addition, it includes news, reviews, information about new additions to the site, and other relevant information.
Goldwingdocs.com August 2013 Newsletter
Are you prepared? We really are at the mercy of our environment when out on our bikes. It's raining? We get wet. It's cold? We get cold (well, unless we have our heated gear on!). Nowhere is this more apparent than when the unthinkable occurs, and we are injured. Everything we have with which to deal with any kind of injury must be carried with us on our bikes. Gold Wings are unique in that a large majority of us use them to ride long distances, often in remote areas, far away from any kind of medical help. Especially on long or remote rides, it's imperative that we carry at least some sort of first aid kit; which is why I so often give one away as our monthly contest prize. I've always carried the same kit we give away as a prize in my bike, along with a couple extra items. I have the same kit in my car. However, after reading the editor's article in this month's Cycle World magazine, I think I will be augmenting it once again. To see his recommendations, and read what others carry in their first aid kit, have a look at this topic: What's in your first aid kit? Member Pictures: One of the most popular yet most overlooked sections of the GoldwingDocs site is the Member Picture Gallery. This section allows users to upload pictures of their bikes, trips, whatever - and share them with everyone else. We have over 6,000 images uploaded by various members, and they are searchable. Looking for a great picture of windshields? Type "Windshield" into the search box and see what you get. Any user can leave comments or questions on any of the pictures. BUT WAIT!!! We've got something NEW and exciting for the Member Picture Gallery: A daily Image Update Email! Visit this page and you can see all of the pictures added recently, and a "subscribe" button. Click on the button, and you will now receive an email, at most once a day, when new pictures have been added to the site. If no pictures have been added that day, you will not receive an email. I think it's a great way to keep on top of all the fantastic pictures people are adding to the site each and every day. Of course, if you don't want to receive the email anymore, just click on the "unsubscribe" link in the email, or visit the Image Update Email page and click the Unsubscribe button. Super Deal: Last month I mentioned that one of the most respected and reliable Gold Wing vendors on the Internet, Cyclemax, has made a deal with the manufacturer of Superbraces, and is now selling them for GL1500's and GL1800's at a crazy discount. Well, due to popular demand, they have added Superbraces for GL1000, GL1100, GL1200 and F6B Gold Wings as well - so if you have a Gold Wing, they've got a Superbrace, in stock, at a crazy prize. Want to know more? Or perhaps you don't know what a Superbrace is, and need to find out why you need one on your bike (and believe me, you do!). Read on: Superbrace, super cheap Crash! Bang! When lightning starts flashing around you while riding, what do you do? Hide under an overpass? Pull into a gas station? Or just press on? There are as many opinions it seems as there are options. Lightning can be a very dangerous thing to motorcycle riders - motorcycle riders are hit (and usually killed) by lightning many times every year. Unlike a car, which has a highly conductive metal cage around you to protect you from the strike, on a bike the rider is the highest point, so the lightning strike usually hits the rider's helmet. When I start seeing lightning getting close, I get to shelter. What do you do? Riding through electrical storms Does your wife, or small-statured friend want to learn to ride? (shameless plug) Now that my wife has a larger PC800 Pacific Coast, she's selling the 250 Virago on which she learned to ride. It's fantastic for a beginning rider, easy to ride and light. I modified this bike to fit her, as she is quite small (5'2"), so it would suit someone of that size. It's in the Cleveland area - if you're interested, take a look: Yamaka Virago XV250K For Sale Until next month, stay safe and keep the shiny side up! |
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Looking to buy a new (to you) bike, or parts and accessories? We've optimized our Classified Ads page to streamline its operation, and ensure the results are fast and accurate. There are thousands of Goldwing and Goldwing-related ads, from all over the world. If you're looking for a new bike, or maybe parts for your old bike, check us out first! |
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Featured This Month on GoldwingDocs.com: | ||
Tire SafeGuard TPMS: A year down the road I had wanted a TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) for my bike for years. I really didn't want a "keyfob" monitor like most of the offerings from other manufacturers - I wanted something more or less permanently mounted to my bike. I also wanted something that might perhaps be able to work with my trailer as well. Lastly, I wanted something that work be easily installed on my GL1500. I found all of those things in the Tire SafeGuard TPMS - and as an added bonus, it was the cheapest motorcycle TPMS that I found. I installed it a year ago, and have ridden with it for thousands of miles through heat, cold, sun and rain. How did it perform? Amazingly well, actually. So well in fact that I bought a second unit to install on my wife's motorcycle. I have a few complaints, so it's not the perfect product in every way - but it's pretty close! Have a read through my original thoughts, as well as my year-later update, with my list of pros and cons: Tire SafeGuard TPMS |
Those Three Yellow Wires It's on the "must do" list for all new four-cylinder Wing owners, along with timing belts: get rid of the stator connector. This connector connects the motorcycle's stator (the coils that generate electrical power to run the bike and charge the battery) to the rectifier/regulator (the device that coverts the 50 volt three-phase AC that the stator produces to the 12 volts DC that the bike requires). The problem is, it is undersized, and as soon as any dirt or oxidation begins, it starts heating up, to the point where it can melt and short out. This can destroy your stator in short order, which requires removing the entire engine to replace! The universal fix is to cut the connector out and solder the wires directly. If you are a four-cylinder Wing owner and haven't done this yet, you need to read up: Three Yellow Wires |
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Goldwing GPS Input Device We're very proud to announce that the Goldwing GPS Audio Input Device is featured in the January GWRRA Wing World Magazine as part of their "Cool Gifts for the Holidays" section, and we've been doing our best to make sure we have kept up with large influx of orders. It is far and away the most popular product we have ever offered, and the tons of positive feedback we continue to receive really makes us happy that we're making something that people really like - and use. What is the GPS Audio Input Device? It's an American-made plug-and-play device that lets you hear the audio output of your GPS, cell phone or radar detector over your GL1500 or GL1800 intercom - so that you can hear the spoken instructions from your GPS or cell phone in your headset. It's a simple plug-and-play device that can be installed in minutes, and does not permanently modify any bike wiring. It's been receiving rave reviews - check it out today! Do you already have one of our GPS Input Devices? We've had quite a few people who want to buy a GPS with audio output that they know will work with the GPS Input Device. Take a couple minutes to help out your fellow Goldwingers by posting your GPS make and model on this forum thread. GPS manufacturers don't commonly specify audio output jacks as features, so it can be hard to decide which model of GPS to buy, unless you know beforehand what you're looking for. |
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7 Volt Regulator If you have a GL1000, GL1100 or GL1200 Standard Goldwing with mechanical (not electronic LCD) temperature and fuel gauges, you've had this problem. Or...you will. It's only a matter of time. You'll start noticing that your temperature and fuel gauges are reading off the scale - the temperature is in the red, and the fuel shows full. The only thing is, the bike isn't overheating, and you know you've only got a quarter tank left. Or...even worse: your bike is operating normally, and suddenly your temperature and fuel gauges just turn off, and look like the picture to the right. How much fuel have you got left? You'll have to guess! What's causing it? A faulty, worn-out 7 volt voltage regulator. Behind the fuel and temperature gauges is a special voltage regulator that turns your motorcycle's normal 12 volts into the 7 volts on which these two gauges run. When it starts to fail, it typically starts doing so intermittently. Left in a failed state, it can cause damage - allowing a full 12 volts into your temperature and fuel gauges, destroying the delicate coils inside! That gets expensive, requiring the replacement of the entire center gauge cluster! What's the solution? For almost five years, we've been manufacturing a modern, solid-state 7 volt regulator to fix this problem once and for all. Hundreds and hundreds of Goldwing owners all over the world now have operating fuel and temperature gauges thanks to our 7 volt regulator. If you've got this problem - or you know someone who does - check out our 7 Volt Regulator and get it fixed! |
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Product Reviews I've had the Tire SafeGuard TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) on my bike for a year now, what do I think about it now? Tire SafeGuard TPMS Texas is hot - and who knows this more than user TXAggie87? He tries out the Veskimo Chilled Water Cooling Vest, and declares it a winner. User dingdog put a set of Avon Venom tires on his GL1500, and absolutely loves them! The Chatterbox Duo Bluetooth headset gets panned by one of our members as being unusable in real-world conditions in this new review. We've got a member who thinks that his Garmin 2455lm is a great alternative to more expensive GPS units, and it lets you pre-program your routes. The G-Max 3/4 helmet is an affordable helmet, great for summer, according to our member reviewer, who says it is more comfy with less weight, and fantastic visibility. We've got a member who purchased and installed BikeMP3's super-bright Driving/Fog lights for the 2012 GL1800, and wrote his thoughts. |
Organized Goldwingdocs.com Rides Are you interested in organized rides in your area? Let us know what you think, either by taking the survey, or adding your comments to the forum thread. Have an idea or suggestion for organized rides? We'd like to hear about it! Do you enjoy organized rides overall? Would you be interested in knowing when organized rides are happening in your area - regardless of who is running them? We want to hear about this as well! |
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Regular GoldwingDocs.com Features: | ||
How To Articles Want to do some of your own maintenance but scared to take your bike apart? You're going to like this: We have tons of world-reknowned How-To Articles articles - the largest collection of Goldwing How-To Articles on the Internet! Even if you think you might not be capable of working on your bike yourself, our illustrated, step-by-step instructions make it easy - even for the beginner. Check them out today! We've added lots of new ones, and more are being added all the time. - Improving spark plug performance - How to replace your dash lights with LEDs - How to rebuild your front forks - How to prevent cross-threading fasteners - How to make your own ethanol-free gasoline - GL1100 alternator conversion GoldwingDocs Classifieds Looking for a deal on a Goldwing, parts or accessories? Have you checked out our Goldwing Classifieds section? We have literally thousands of Goldwings and Goldwing-related accessories listed, primarily by private sellers from around the world, updated twice a day. If you're looking for a new-to-you bike, or something to add to your existing Goldwing, you should check us out first! GoldwingDocs Message Forum If you haven't visited our Goldwing Message Forum lately, you owe it to yourself to check it out. With tens of thousands of messages posted by thousands of helpful and friendly people, you can just about guarantee that you will find the information you're looking for, or find an interesting topic to chat about. Stop by and just say hello, we'd love to hear from you! GoldwingDocs Vendor Database The GoldwingDocs Vendor Database is a great place to search for sellers of Goldwings, parts and accessories. Not only do we have a huge, user-maintained database of vendors, but each of those vendors is rated in several categories, with written reviews from other Goldwing owners. Both traditional bricks-and-mortar vendors and Internet vendors are represented. If you want to check up on the reputation of an online vendor, or simply look for a Goldwing-friendly shop nearby, the GoldwingDocs Vendor Database has got what you need! GoldwingDocs Member Pictures The GoldwingDocs Member Picture Area has over 5,000 pictures, all uploaded by GoldwingDocs members. There's nothing that Goldwing owners love more than to show off their bikes - so take a few minutes and upload a few pictures of your pride and joy, to share with the world! You can search through all of the existing pictures, or just browse to your heart's content! |
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