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What is a gremlin bell?
A small bell attached to a motorcycle, believed by some bikers to scare off road gremlins. Gremlin bells should be given as a gift to assure maximum effectiveness. --------…---------------------------- Mostly just a decorative item. ------------------------------------ Road Gremlins: There are motorcycle gremlins (AKA: Evil Road Spirits) that LOVE to ride, but they are also mischievous little devils and they cause all sorts of problems for you while you are riding. Road gremlins leave obstacles in your path- old mufflers, pieces of rubber, boxes and things like that. Some say they are responsible for that old lady in the minivan not seeing you and cutting you off in traffic. Or, you may be having trouble shifting smoothly, your battery goes dead, your turn signal suddenly refuses to work, an oil spill appears out of nowhere, etc - you get the idea. Those little gremlins look for trouble and try to steer your bike towards it. Road gremlins hope to make a biker crash so they can rejoice over their little acts of evil. Once you get a bell on your scoot - it wards off these attacks from the little gremlins, not allowing any more to get onto your bike. If you already have some gremlins riding with you, they will get trapped in the hollow of the bell, and the constant ringing will drive them insane - causing them to lose their grip and fall to the roadway. When you purchase a motorcycle bell and place it on your bike, it offers protection. If you receive the gremlin bell as a gift - the powerful magic of the bell is doubled. When you place it on your bike, you want it to be low to the ground, but not so low it will catch on obstacles and come off. Place it as forward as possible, so that the road gremlins will jump away when they first see you. Motorcycles bells come in all types, small angel bells, patriotic bells, dealers specific bells, POW bells, etc. No matter if you believe in road gremlins or not, a road bell and regular preventive maintenance goes a long way to keep you feeling safe and secure. The Progressive Insurance Company believes in road gremlins and has caught them in action in their commercial, Gremlins-Kickstand. (Find it on YouTube to see what a road gremlin looks like). ------------------------------------------ LEGEND OF THE BELL Many years ago, on a cold December night a crusty old biker was returning from a trip to Mexico with his saddlebags filled with toys and other assorted trinkets for the kids at a group home, near where he worked. As he rode along that night thinking how lucky he had been in life, having a loving riding partner that understood his need to roam the highways and to his trusty old pan that hadn't let him down once in the many years they shared the road together. Well about 40 miles north of the border, in the high desert lurked a small group of those notorious little critters known as road gremlins, you know the ones that always leave little obstacles like, one shoe, boards, pieces of old tires, and dig the dreaded pot holes for bikers to run over and crash thus giving the road gremlins a chance to rejoice over their acts of evil. Well as the lone wolf of a biker rounded a curve that moonlit night the gremlins ambushed him, causing him to crash to the asphalt and skid for always before coming to a stop, next to one of his saddlebags that had broken free. As he lay there, unable to move, the road gremlins made their move towards him. Well this biker not being one to give up started throwing things at the gremlins as they approached him. Finally with nothing else to throw but a bell he started ringing it, in hopes to scare off the dirty little gremlins. About a half a mile away camped in the desert, were two bikers sitting around the camp fire talking about their days ride, and the freedom of the wind blowing in their faces as they rode across this vast country. In the stillness of the night air, they heard what sounded to them like church bells ringing and upon investigating, found the old biker lying along the roadside with the gremlins about to get him. Needless to say, being part of the biker brotherhood they preceded to ward off the gremlins until the last of gremlins ran off into the night. Being grateful to the two bikers the old road dog offered to pay them for their help, but as all true bikers do, they refused to accept any type of payment from him. Not being one to let a good deed go unnoticed, the old biker cut two pieces of leather from his saddle bags tassels and tied a bell to each one, then slowly placed them on each of the bikers motorcycles, as near to the ground as possible. The tired, old road warrior, then told the two travelers that with those bells placed on their bikes they would be protected from the road gremlins and that if ever in trouble, just ring the bell and a fellow biker will come to their aid. So when ever you see a biker with a bell you'll know that he has been blessed with the most important thing in life -- friendship from a fellow biker. ( Full Answer )