Many of the BMW owners I know have bikes over 10 years old and they think System 3 helmets are new. Cheap, Cheap, Cheap.

Lovely discussion!
Any solutions for angry wifes ,after beeing a week late from that "weekend" ride??

Dogo,
living in peace with bugs,bikes & babes.

I had cockroaches in my flat in Sharjah for a long time and got fed up wasting money on PifPaf and Raid etc. Even fumigation was only a temporary respite as they live in the building vents.

I recently bought (for about 20 US dollars) a small syringe of ‘Maxforce IC cockroach gel bait’ made by Bayer. It’s wiped out those suckers and I’ve hardly used the tube so it would surely have dealt with the helmet problem.

Here’s a delightful description of how it works:

The unique action of Hydramethylnon (the active ingredient in MaxforceGel) makes it an ideal active ingredient for killing roaches. After consuming a lethal dose of bait, cockroaches return to their harborage (or helmet) where they excrete feces containing Hydramethylnon. As other cockroaches consume the contaminated feces, they too receive a lethal dose. When the roaches die, other roaches may consume their carcasses and die as well. Tests have documented that this can result in one cockroach causing the death of up to 44 other cockroaches. (Did you watch the helmet carefully to make sure the other 44 left?)
(http://www.e-bug.net)

If I were planning an extended trip to somewhere cockroachy I’d definitely find a place for the tube somewhere under the bike seat.

[This message has been edited by Stephano (edited 05 May 2005).]

ha, cool. no other roaches have tried to live in my helmet. a spider made a move, but I managed to flick it away. strangely, I had a small lizard living in the bike for a couple of days though.

On the subject of finding nasties in your transport, a friend of mine found the nest of a Mississippi Mud Daub Beetle in his plane which had been imported from the USA. It looked like a lump of dried earth about 50mm across stuck on to one of the structural tubes in the cockpit and had six or seven parallel holes in, of about 8mm diameter.

Apparently Mrs. Mississippi Mud Daub Beetle lays her eggs in all but one of the little chambers and then catches some passing bug and stings it, putting it in a state of suspended animation and pops it in the last hole. As the unfortunate bug is still alive it provides fresh meals for the little M.M.D. Beetles until they fly the nest.

Something else to check your helmet for if you find yourself near Mississippi.

------------------
Johnefyn

Excellent thread.
Surely it has proved itself worthier than being just an item in "Travellers' questions that don't fit anywhere else"...

Now is the time for a new "Living creatures on bike and equipment" category!
(could include 'dogs as passengers' questions.)

Did anybody ever think COCKROACH wise?
Was she or he a touring fan?
Was he or she an off road kroach?

Just wonder, what if you couldn´t get a bike but could ride (for free) on the best, most secure and better sightseeing part of the vehicle?, The helmet.

Just a reflection

United COCKROACH riders foundation, INC.

[This message has been edited by hmoro (edited 06 May 2005).]

A couple more "infestations" for everyone's amusement. Both occured whilst I was travelling through Asia in 1990 on a Yamaha XT600Z (Tenere).

Bombay Jan '90
I went to meet a friend at the airport in the early morning (still dark). Swung my leg over the bike and hit the starter. Immediately I felt a number of alive "things" pushing against my inner thighs which I obligingly opened and 4-5 huge rats jumped out from the spaces behind the cylinder/carb where I presume they had been sleepig until I came along. I don't like rats - they give me the creeps. That incident didn't help!

Songkla to Krabi, Thailand 1990
Stopped for a roadside drink/cig and noticed a flying ant walking on the inside of my goggles (attached to an open face Arai helmet with face guard). Closer inspection revealed that a colony of black ants (thousands of them complete with white egg collection) had moved in the previous night and were living between the helmet liner and polystyrene shock absorber. That explained why I had been suffering from an itchy head whilst riding! The can of Raid in my tank bag and a lot of shaking solved the problem and I was soon back on the road to Krabi. 3 days later I checked my helmet before putting it on and found another colony of thousands ants/eggs had moved in (this time the ants were red)!!

I have never had another problem with ants in my helmet since that day!

However, when I stayed in Chiang Mai later on the same trip I took an instant dislike to the stream of ants that were running up the hotel bathroom wall into a hole in the ceiling so I give them a "hit" of Raid (especially into the hole in the ceiling). before sitting on the "throne" with my new bike mag that I had just picked up from AMEX. Minutes later I saw "something" alive descending from the ceiling directly above me. It was a snake exiting the Raid filled ceiling space backwards (i.e. tail first). That caused me to exit the bathroom with my jeans round my ankles whilst the snake went the opposite direction out of the open window..

The moral of that last story is "Don't shoot Raid at ants that aren't directly bothering you".

That's all:-)

Give your helmet for a few minutes to
Ewan Mc Greggor, the cockroach will
run out shouting furiously;
This is not real overlanding, I´m bloody leavin !

Good luck,

Matt

Be careful if you are to put solvents around your lid. A lot of the bug killing stuff can crack them!