Joe's Personal Blog

The Suzuki S40 is the latest incarnation of the LS650 made since 1986.  It is a beginner and in town motorcycle that is 352lbs, only 50lbs heavier than the MSF course bikes. You can find them used on Craigslist at reasonable prices.  Sellers are a mix of those moving and those who realized that riding a motorcycle wasn't for them.  My bike is pictured below with the OEM windsheld and Shad top case. This is an old picture. I've mad a couple modifications to my S40 Headlight Upgrade I'm always looking to make myslef more visible so did a simple headlight upgrade.  A stock 5 1/4" headlight is standard, shown on the right.  The mounting holes and rake of the S40 are the same as the larger Suzuki Marauder so they are a direct swap. I purchased mine on EBay from Pinwall Cycles.  It came off of a bike they were parting ouit and was in excellent condition.  Make sure that you get the base and the bell. You can see the difference between the size o...

Admore Lighting makes LED products that can be added to many types of topcases and hard saddlebags. They also make standalone light bars for motorcycles. The units are powered off the mains and are microprocessor controlled. They come with dual brightness LEDs that act as run and brake lights. They are also capable of acting as turn signals when tapped into the turn signal circuits on the motorcycle. I don't think you need load resistors when using as turn signals but haven't played with that feature because I didn't want to tap my turn signal lines. I would probably contact Eastern Beaver to see if they could make cable extenders that I could tap into. That would let me restore the bike to original condition without any tap holes in the signal lines. Steps  1.        Open the case and remove the 3 reflector retaining screws in the case lid and remove the reflector. There are two small washers in the end wells in the lid.  Make sure they ...

I learned to snowboard at 40 after 15 years skiing blues and blacks. I took one lesson the first year and decided that it was too hard , awkward and painful. I took one less then next year and again decided to go back to my skis. Finally on the 3 rd year I took one more lesson and stayed on the snowboard for the next 2 days without retreating to the safety of my skis. I totally caught the bug after that and haven't been on skis since. Snowboarding is exciting. The boots are really comfortable, the clothes are more relaxed you can wear any wild thing with the explanation “I'm a snowboarder”. I also really appreciate the fact I can sit down off to the side somewhere without little kids coming by to ask if I need ski patrol. They just assume I'm “one of those snowboarders”. Snowboarding has a short steep learning curve that rewards mistakes quickly and forcefully. A lot of older folks aren't sure they want to try something that looks painful while learning to...