It's a bell that traps road gremlins, gremlins get stuck inside the bell, die, fall out and create pot holes. You can not buy your own bell, someone has to give the bell to you or it will be bad luck for you, most real biker vendors will not sell one to you if they know you are buying it for yourself. Any good friend will buy one for you if they know you do not have one, all the biker events with vendors will have several vendors with bells. OBX bike week is around the corner... April 16th. Be careful until then.
A word of caution...don't ring it in the house. Mine arrived in the mail and my wife gave it a little jingle. That day, a hole opened in one of the copper pipes near the washing machine. We called the plumber and mopped up the mess with towels. He fixed the leak and went home. That night I through the towels in the washing machine, only to have the waste pipe clog up and send the wash water gushing up and out the pipe. We couldn't budge the clog, so we call the plumber again and he'll be there the next day. In the morning, at about 5 am, I wake up to hear water running and wonder why my son is showering again when he took one before going to bed. I get up and realize the sound is from the basement, not the bathroom. A safety valve where an old water softener use to be had blown out and water was shooting across the laundry area at full force. A third call was made to the plumber within 24 hours of the first.
See, when she rang that bell, some Gremlins fell out and into the basement where things immediately started to go wrong. If you remember the movie, they are worse if you get them wet.
What branch of the service are you in?
Since no one has responded in the bell exchange pm me your address and I will get one on it's way. From a vet to a future vet.
Thank you for your service.
Do you have any special interests as there are hundreds of themes on the bells.
For future reference, you are supposed to hang the bell low to be most effective. On my Valk, I have it tied to my lower engine guard. On the Shadow, that was TOO low, so I had to tie it to the triple-tree. Also, the bell should stay with the bike it was purchased for. If you sell the bike, gift it to the new owner. If you wreck the bike, don't take the gremlin bell with you.
And, if you do include the bell when you sell the bike, tell the new owner or they may be chasing a mystery "jingle" for weeks.
Personally, I think all new bike purchases should come with a ride bell from the seller, but maybe that's just me.
It's a Bell! A physical object and that's all it is. It's a gift from someone who cares for you. And that's a good thing! But the mystical thing.. A bunch of bunk. IMO. Sorry to be a downer... I'm a realist.
Give someone a bell and then you will understand, it's more about a nice gesture and caring for a friend, fellow rider or someone you just met on an internet forum. It's a way of welcoming that person into the fellowship of motorcycle riding. If you know the person you can buy a bell that symbols something special in their life ie fireman, police, military, vet, religion. Thousands and thousands of symbols that personalize the bell. That is where the real magic is!
Gotta agree with Mark-B and smurfy71 on this one. Did I think that little bell was gonna keep my temp. switch from going out 80 mi. from home or my son from dumping his bike at a sand scattered stop sign? Nope, but it's a fun story, I like seeing it hanging there and actually look for as I'm mounting up so maybe it does give you pause to think why it's there, believe or not