Walk around the house with your helmets on. Should be a funny way to test it. Take pics.. ha ha ha
I still need to install it on her helmet. That, and I've read that the intercom doesn't work well when there's no background noise... it actually works best on-bike, when you're moving. *shrug*
Anyway, I've installed the rider unit on my helmet, and tested the Bluetooth interaction with my phone. That works just fine. The Blackberry responds to voice commands fairly well. This functionality was tested in the house, though, not on-road yet. It's sunny in Hood River today, so I rode to work, and I'll test the Bluetooth phone interaction on the way home. Supposedly... it works great at 70 mph. From what reviewers have posted, people on the other end have no idea the person they're talking to is clipping along on their motorcycle. We shall see.
Speaking of weather and riding... anyone get out on Saturday? I wish Erica and I had! Instead I had work to do under the GTI and a hellacious lawn mowing. The grass had gotten a couple feet tall; way too thick for the standard mower my landlord made available. So I was hunting around the pole barn looking for a weedwacker to knock it down with before mowing, and instead I found this:
The BCS 732 walk-behind tractor. It's Italian, believe it or not, tho it's powered by an 11-hp Honda GX11 engine.
I prolly wasn't supposed to use it, considering the landlord never told me about it and it was under a tarp... and if I can't blame him. I wouldn't want to try explaining to an average tenant the innumerable options and controls on that thing. It has an output shaft for multiple attachments (had the brush mower installed, with a tiller and a snow plow sitting elsewhere in the barn), the clutch lever, engagement/disengagement for the attachment output, a 2-speed (hi/lo) fwd/rev gearbox for the wheels (plus a forward-only overdrive for transporting the tiller), a locking differential (!), throttle lever, adjustable-height handlebars, and more.
So, while I wouldn't want to explain all that and how to work it to the average tenant... I'm a rocket scientist.
I took my time tracing all the cables and figuring out how it worked, cautiously started it up, tested the functions (and got no unpleasant noises), and proceeded to tear through the field grass and ferns that had been taking over the yard(s).
That locking diff came in handy a couple times... that beast has to weigh 250+ lbs (the power/drive unit alone is stamped 82kg = 180lbs), and it nearly got stuck in a couple places where the back yard is kinda gnarly.
Anyway... I'm a little sore after wrestling that beast around on Saturday, but I got all of the yards mowed. Now I need to go over the front and side yards with the normal mower and a weedwacker in order to give them a "finished" look. I don't think I'm going to detail the back yard... as long as it's not wild and untamed, it's fine. It's on a bitzatch of a hill, and with all the rain we've had the ground is quite soft, so the "normal" self-propelled Craftsman mower tends to get stuck more often than not. Erica doesn't care so much about detailing the back, either, and that's probably my biggest criterion (she's happy that it doesn't look unkept).
Okay, enough inane ramblings... back to reality. Plenty left to do tonight. Hope y'all had a great weekend!
