Two more suggestions:

cork/foam handlebar tape.

and 2242 Electrical tape.  It's thick and gummy.

or maybe both -- 2242 underneath, cork on top of that.

I've got both of these already on my FreeRadical tubes where they get
rubbed and/or dinged by the FreeLoaders and the chain.

David

I think another important thing to look at is a very loud horn.All 2-wheelers
should have one.I was thinking of trying my hand at installing a small
scooter/motorcycle battery then hooking up a Stebel Nautilus horn.The Stebel is
a proven loud horn.Iv'e read in scooter forums where many riders have used em
quite successfully.Just like lights,it improves safety.

Wonder how long until these ultra-bright Luzxim plasma mini-bulbs make it
into our lighting systems:
http://tinyurl.com/3gmc92
_TONE_

You might want to try polymer clay.  My kids have this stuff in their art
supplies--I think the brand we use is Sculpey.  You mold it like like clay and
bake it for about 20 minutes on moderate heat in the oven.  If you don't cook it
too much the resulting product is firm but pliable.

I used some of this stuff to make a handlebar-to-flashlight adapter for my wife.
He handles bars have no right angles so I need something very custom.  I rolled
a ball of polymer clay, placed it on the bar, squished the flash light into it
while aiming the light straight forward, then shaped it to conform nicely to the
two.  I carefully pulled the clay free of the bars and light, baked it and have
the perfect adapter.  Wrap some double sides hook and loop tape around the whole
thing and it stays on and properly aligned.

I think you could do the same with the kick back.  I have a BD with a kick back
and I know the problem of which you speak.  I pulled whole thing off today and
the carpet is walking after just a month of service.  I'm not sure of the clay
would be strong enough to not get cut in two, but it will conform nicely to the
surfaces.

Philip

P.S.  Don't cook the clay too much or it gets brittle.

--- In rootsradicals@yahoogroups.com, Andrew Kreps <andrew.kreps@...> wrote:
>
> All,
> I've had a Kickback on my Big Dummy for a month now, and I have completely
> worn out the piece of carpet that came with it to cushion it against the
> frame.  The carpet slid back slowly and wore through to the point where the
> kickback has taken enough paint off to see the bare frame.
>
> What can I do that would be a longer-term solution?  I'm definitely not
> going to replace carpet swatches once a month.  I'd think about super-gluing
> a swatch on there, but then if it wore through again, I'd have a heck of a
> time replacing it.  I have some plast-i-dip spray, and I may try applying it
> to the Kickback.  Are there any other ideas out there?
>

Ditto, I hate blinkies!

I also hate those strobe light thingys on the tops of school buses--talk about
blinding!  Can't even see the bus!

CL

--- In rootsradicals@yahoogroups.com, "John W" <john.p.wendell@...> wrote:
>
> blinking lights on bicycles are a nuisance and should be avoided.

No squeezing necessary.  Road is totally unmarked, no postings or lines of any
sort.  That's another reason why I consider myself lucky, most cars driving that
road are flying.  The road parallel a limited-access highway and so the cars on
this road seem to try to keep up with the cars on the highway.

My feeling is the kid probably really didn't see me because he wasn't looking at
the road.  I don't know what he told his parents, their insurance agent, or the
police, though.  He was going surprisingly slowly.  Police estimated he only
pushed me about 4 m.  So I assume he had slowed down to look at things inside
the car (changing the radio, digging out his cell phone, programming the
GPS--internal distractions are way too common).  The damage to the bike isn't as
though he clipped me.  Left side is worse than right, but both rear V-rack
supports are bent.

The motorbike that passed me right before the accident came back in time to hear
the kid say 'I didn't see you.'  His response was the same as mine, just much
calmer.  He stayed to call the police and make a statement as a witness.  I
heard him talking about how conspicuous I was.  So, I'm very grateful to him and
all his help.

CL

--- In rootsradicals@yahoogroups.com, Mighk Wilson <mighkw@...> wrote:
>
> I think the kid saw you and tried to squeeze by, and being a new driver in a
big vehicle misjudged the space.

Good point!  If you didn't see someone, then you weren't paying attention and if
you're not paying attention, you shouldn't be driving.  The statement should
automatically make you at fault.  An instinctive statement to make, though, and
one I've made myself after close calls when driving.

CL

--- In rootsradicals@yahoogroups.com, Devin Quince <coultraguy@...> wrote:
>
> The sad think is that when I was learning to drive 20 years ago, you were
> told to NEVER say I did not see the person. Now it is used as an excuse for
> murder
>
> On Sun, Mar 29, 2009 at 8:55 AM, Mighk Wilson <mighkw@...> wrote:
>
> >   >> I was biking along enjoying the empty road and the night and the next
> > thing I knew, I was sitting on the ground. ... The college kid that hit me
> > came out of his car saying "I didn't see you!"<<

The weirdness of the xtracycle does help and certainly attracts attention.  I
frequently get people on motorbikes asking about it--like maybe they'd consider
switching to a bike if it was like mine...  Maybe just wishful thinking on my
part.

Where the weirdness of the xtracycle is a drag is dogs!  Dogs tend to see my
bike and freak out.  I get chased by more dogs on my xtracycle than on any other
vehicle: car, motorbike, motorscooter, standard bicycle, walking....  This
happens so often and so predictably, that I bought a dog trainer from ebay that
I keep in a cell phone holder on my handlebars.  This way I can zap
ultrasonically any dog that starts to make trouble.  There's one dog, though,
that I've pondered escalating to ammonia...

CL
who agrees that there's a lot of 'don't think' going on out there.

--- In rootsradicals@yahoogroups.com, David Chase <dr2chase@...> wrote:
>
> Most cars seem to leave me plenty of room.  I think the weirdness of
> the xtracycle helps.  Of those that don't, I am not sure whether they
> don't see, don't think, don't know, or don't care.  I suspect the bulk
> of them are don't think (don't stop to think about the clearance they
> leave) or don't know (don't know how much clearance is appropriate).

Inner tube and hose clamps?

CL
who's going to have to come up with something creative to keep the disc brake
housing from wearing holes in her FreeLoaders...


> On Mar 30, 2009, at 10:37 AM, Andrew Kreps wrote:
>
> > I've had a Kickback on my Big Dummy for a month now, and I have
> > completely worn out the piece of carpet that came with it to cushion
> > it against the frame.  The carpet slid back slowly and wore through
> > to the point where the kickback has taken enough paint off to see
> > the bare frame.
> >
> > What can I do that would be a longer-term solution?  I'm definitely
> > not going to replace carpet swatches once a month.

It can help when people start cutting you off...

CL
who hates the idiots who, without any turn signal or warning, change lanes to
turn right in front of her...

--- In rootsradicals@yahoogroups.com, "tim_h_49068" <tim_h_49068@...> wrote:
>
> I think another important thing to look at is a very loud horn.All 2-wheelers
should have one.I was thinking of trying my hand at installing a small
scooter/motorcycle battery then hooking up a Stebel Nautilus horn.The Stebel is
a proven loud horn.Iv'e read in scooter forums where many riders have used em
quite successfully.Just like lights,it improves safety.
>

Dunno that I'd feel safe biking with ear plugs on--but some things on the road
are way up there in the decibels... motorbikes, cars in high rev, trucks, but
mainly Taiwan's talking cars.  These are little pick-up trucks surrounded with
billboards and topped with loud speakers (think of the one used to make
announcements in M.A.S.H) that hold up traffic and screw up traffic flow as they
inch their way around neighborhoods.

In my neighborhood, there's one old guy on an old rusty 'China' bike held
together with wires that has wired an ordinary tape player to his handlebars. 
This way he gets music while he bikes around the neighborhood collecting plastic
bottles and cardboard for recycling.

CL

--- In rootsradicals@yahoogroups.com, Julio Alvarez <jalvarez080704@...> wrote:
>
> But if an individual is concerned about not hearing loud music or noise,  
there  are ear plugs one can put on. 

Fortunately, Taiwan hasn't adopted the strobe-light-on-bus idea.  Fortunately!

CL

--- In rootsradicals@yahoogroups.com, "Fred K. Aron" <inluvwithsara@...> wrote:
>
> really, when I see them I just break out the glow sticks and crank up the
Techno...
>
>
>
>
> I also hate those strobe light thingys on the tops of school buses--talk about
blinding!  Can't even see the bus!
>
> CL
>
> --- In rootsradicals@ yahoogroups. com, "John W" <john.p.wendell@ ...> wrote:
> >
> > blinking lights on bicycles are a nuisance and should be avoided.
>

Delta Cycles makes a very nice bike air horn called the Air Zound.  The clever
thing about this horn is that it uses a small bottle (held in the water bottle
cage) to hold the air charge used to sound the horn.  When it runs out, you
simply use your standard schraeder-valve bike pump to pump up a recharge for the
horn bottle.

I have a buddy who uses his on his daily DC commute.  It's certainly loud enough
to be heard within a car.

Scott

--- In rootsradicals@yahoogroups.com, "tim_h_49068" <tim_h_49068@...> wrote:
>
> I think another important thing to look at is a very loud horn.All 2-wheelers
should have one.I was thinking of trying my hand at installing a small
scooter/motorcycle battery then hooking up a Stebel Nautilus horn.The Stebel is
a proven loud horn.Iv'e read in scooter forums where many riders have used em
quite successfully.Just like lights,it improves safety.
>

I--or rather my wife and kids--have used Sculpy before. I would have
though it too brittle, but perhaps with less baking... comes in pretty
colors too. :)

David

Hi,

Does anyone have Radish I can test ride?  I'm in Huntington Beach CA.

I have a Big Dummy and my wife wants a Radish, but she wants to test ride one
before buying.

Thanks,
AC

http://vimeo.com/3948124

Just uploaded the complete build of Andrea's Big Dummy.  Hope you enjoy!

Rick

My Air Zound horn has laryngitis.  Any ideas for treatment?

Thanks,

CL