Argus Battery Bug for Motorcycles

Back in 2007 while walking the floor of the SEMA show in Las Vegas I discovered a product called the Argus Battery Bug. It was a cool little unit that was marketed as a way to monitor your batteries health. The only issue with the unit they were showing at the time was that is wasn’t very practical for motorcycle use. I actually spent about 20 minutes with the engineer at their telling him what would like to see and he actually took notes!

Fast-forward to 2008 and I stopped by Argus booth and was surprised that both guys working the booth remembered me and then they excitedly showed me their new Motorsports Battery Bug. This one would be able to be mounted away from the battery and had a much better cable that could be routed in a manner to place the display somewhere it could be viewed.

There is not much to review on this product. It shows the voltage on the battery and the percentage of life left on the battery to start the vehicle. In a nutshell you’ll be buying piece of mind. It allows you at a glance to understand that you are first of all not taxing the electrical system with electrical components and that when you shut the bike down or right before you start, you’ll have enough cranking power to accomplish that task.

I recently installed one on my ST1300 right before my trip to Alabama and it provided me with quiet comfort that all was good with my battery. In the past I’ve never been sure when my battery might give up the ghost, so it will be interesting to see exactly how well the Argus Battery Bug serves its purpose. I’ll report back when I find out more, but I am pretty sure this will be a “long term” review.

A Little Trip to Barber

In July of 2007 I was able to visit the Barber Motorsports Museum for the first time (Barber Photo Set) and was stunned by the absolute perfection in execution of the facility itself and the attention to detail of the restoration and preservation of the bikes.

The reason I was so interested in restored bikes was not because I was actually restoring a bike, but I had just completed a tribute of sort. The bike as most know is my ST1300, but what most do not know is that the bike was styled after the race bikes that made Honda the company that it is today. When Honda finally won the TT on the Isle of Mann, they achieved what Soichiro Honda had proclaimed that they would do just a few years before.

While my goals might not be as lofty I at least like to do what I say I am going to do and when I visited that museum I decided I needed to get a shot of my bike in front of it, even though it was 1800 miles away.

The reason I was able to visit Barber was because my father lived just 60 miles away, so the easiest way to make what I wanted to happen was to ride to see my father. I of course did that and then was able to get the above photo after riding to Barber the day after I arrived at my father's.

I stopped in the museum again, snapped a few shots and had a great conversation with one of the stewards of the bikes. Then after a little conversation I got to do something I was asked to not publish, so you'll have to see me in person and I'll tell you what it was. Of course if you follow this blog, you probably can figure it out.

Here are a few shots from my trip, including my dad's house and a few things along the way. I had fun and I'm now ready to set another goal.

Shots from the Trip!

Trip Complete - AZ to AL and back

First the numbers

3674.7 - Total Miles Traveled
600 - Average Miles per day (2.5) on trip to Alabama
600 - Average Miles per day (2.25) on trip back
$235.56 - Total Gas Bill
$214.49 - Hotel Bill
$144.54 - Food Cost
6 - Number of times I thought I forgot to put on my glasses
2 - Number of nights in Hotels headed to Alabama
1 - Number of nights in Hotels headed back from Alabama
1 – Number of nights spent at a friend’s house headed back from Alabama
1 - National Landmarks Visited (Fly by actually)
1 - Old National Highways Traveled (66)
.1 - Number of days I was rained on
3 - Number of times I saw police pull over speeders
1 - Number of times I actually forgot to put on my glasses
0 - Number of times stopped by police. (Top speed shown was on a closed course.)


I decided this year that I would ride to Alabama to visit my Father and Step-Mother and also got to see my Sister and Husband, Step-Sister and her 2 boys.

The trip much like anything cross-country had highs and lows but for the most part was pretty easy. I did find that the I-10 to I-20 route was very, very boring. I also found that the difference in mileage for the I-40 route to my house was a whopping 12 miles.

Along the way the biggest challenge turned out to be on the way back, initially I would have figured that it would have been the trip there as it was very hot and quite boring, but that would all change about 20 miles after leaving my Dad's house.

I could have made the trip there more interesting if I would have stopped and looked around, but I wanted to spend time with my Father, so getting there was the goal! The way back was much the same since I had a deadline to meet at the other end. Not the perfect plan for the trip but it worked.



The morning I left my fathers I did all my pre-checks for myself, my equipment and my bike and everything checked out. Unfortunately for me a part on my helmet didn't fail when I checked it but about 15 miles later when I pushed the face-shield forward on my Schuberth C2 helmet to city mode the side clip popped off and I was left with a face shield held only with one clip. This would prove to be a challenge the entire trip home.

I ended up covering 680 miles the first day and only in the last 200 miles did I fasten the visor in place with a paper clip. This meant I could not open or close the shield and hoped that in rain it would provide enough seal.

The next morning I awoke to heavy clouds and upon leaving dealt with a little rain. At that moment I learned a couple things. One was that the shield would not seal and the second was that I was not wearing my glasses (I had left them on the bed of the hotel.) I returned for the glasses, the rain stopped and I continued on my way.

About 100 miles from Albuquerque the clip failed and I was left once again with a loose visor.





I awoke the next morning after spending a very restful night at a friends house and fashioned yet another clip. This time I though I had one that would be better for opening the upper section at stops (not the visor, but the chin section.) The previous design popped off each time. Well, 20-miles out of Albuquerque I turned my head for a lane change a in an instant the entire visor was gone! Out loud I literally said "The whole thing...really?!?"

I did not even bother to turn around an look. I simply raised my ST1300's windscreen and lowered the internal (now only) sun-visor to shield my eyes.

While the skies threatened rain the entire 400 miles home it never happened and I arrived home safe and sound.

I have a few more stories about the trip I'll share in a few days (including a very odd bird incident) but the visor (or lack of) was the pivotal riding challenge.

Sweet Home.....from Alabama!

Well, my time in Alabama is coming to a close and I'll be heading home in the morning. My time here in Alabama has been fun, but the trip here was not as exciting, that's for sure.

I decided that I would ride I-10 to I-20 across Texas and that is something I can now say i have done and will most likely NEVER do again! It is long, straight, boring and sometimes a bit scary. (Mostly at night.)

My route tomorrow is not yet set, but most likely I'll take I-40 across the US back to AZ. Of course looking forward, I have that wonderful state of New Mexico, that I am convinced hates me that and will most likely try to blow me back to Texas. But, compared to the Southern route that might not be such a big deal anymore.

When I get back I'll report on the entire trip and get ready to head back out almost immediately for yet another adventure.