American Automotive Service Solutions Provides a Guide to Use When Inspecting a Used Car for Purchase

So you have come up with a budget that you are comfortable with and even gotten a car you love. This is great. Before you seal the deal, you need to inspect it to make sure you are not getting a raw deal. This is all the more important if you will be buying from a private seller. The safest way to go about the inspection is to have your trusted mechanic have a look at it. But if this is not a luxury you can afford, below are some tips to guide you on how to do it yourself.

Look for Rust under the Car

A car that has a rusted frame is bound to have lots of structural issues. Sure you could opt to repair the damage, but be aware it will cost you a lot and eat up most of your time. You are better off choosing another car.

Check the Wheels and Tires

Ideally, tires wear out evenly. If you notice any unevenness, it could be a sign that the car's suspension system is uneven.

The Exterior

Check to see if there is any part of the car’s body with paint shade that does not match the rest. This could be a sign that the body has been damaged. You should, however, ask the reason the paint job was done as there are also chances it could have been done to pimp the car.

The Interior

You obviously want to have a car with an attractive interior. Given that there are individuals who tamper with the odometer, you should be keen to check the mileage and compare it to the overall wear and tear on the interior and tires as well.

Check under the Hood

If you notice the bolts are smooth on the edges, it could mean that the repair work done was shoddy. On the other hand, if you notice the engine features new spark plugs, it is an indication of regular tune-up and maintenance.

Take it for a Test Drive

Before you make the purchase, take it out for a drive. Feel how it responds to you. If it is sluggish, there is a problem. Below are some tips and practices to make your test drive fruitful.

Drive the car cold. You will learn more from a cold engine than a warm one.

Take your car for a test drive on your usual route or one similar to it. Cars always feel great in neighborhoods streets but perform differently on expressways. Mix things up. Do the freeway, rural roads, parking lots and city streets.

Note how the car reacts when you turn the ignition key. Does the engine make weird noises and does it start easily?

Be sure also to check on the controls, transmissions, and brakes.

For more details on our extended service contracts contact American Automotive Service Solutions at 800-293-5048

How Paintless Dent Removal Can Be Used To Repair Motorcycle Gas Tanks

Modern technology has brought great advances to minor auto body repairs, particularly those repairs involving dents and scratches.

Paintless dent removal (PDR) has emerged in recent years as a great alternative to the traditional body shop options.

Paintless dent removal is often used to remove minor dents from cars. However, PDR is not only for cars -- PDR can be a great benefit to motorcycle owners. Beyond just the paint job, there can be some very practical applications to PDR for motorcycles, particularly when repairing the gas tank.

For minor dent problems, PDR is the perfect solution. With the right tools and experience in the maintenance of motorcycles, or by using a PDR-trained technician, repairing your motorcycle gas tank can be a quick, painless, and much less expensive option.

What is PDR?

Paintless dent removal removes dents from cars and motorcycle gas tanks by working both from the inside and the outside. With motorcycle gas tanks in particular, PDR involves going back and forth between using tools on the exterior and interior of the tank and patiently working until the dent is removed. Having the proper tools is absolutely crucial to the success of PDR.

Benefits of PDR

There are a number of benefits to the PDR technique that make it a much better option than going to a traditional body shop.

Cheaper

First of all, PDR is much more affordable than a body shop. Body shops can be extremely expensive since the mechanics’ time is billed at a higher rate. A trained PDR technician will charge a much lower rate than an auto body shop, and doing the repairs on your own saves a great deal of money as well. However, it is advised not to attempt PDR unless you have the correct tools and knowledge of motorcycle maintenance.

Saves Time

Oftentimes, body shops will take days to repair your motorcycle, leaving you without your bike for a while. However, by either performing PDR on your own or having a PDR technician do it for you, you save a great deal of time. The typical paintless dent 

removal of a motorcycle gas tank takes about an hour. Your bike will be ready to ride in no time.

Able to DIY

The other great thing about PDR is that it is possible to do on your own, given you have the correct tools and knowledge about the workings of your motorcycle. It does take a great deal of patience as well, but can certainly be done on your own.

While many car dents are repaired due to cosmetic reasons, dents in your motorcycle gas tank are far more than just a cosmetic repair. The gas tank on your motorcycle requires being in tip-top shape in order to properly function. The gas tank needs to be restored to what it looked like in the factory, and PDR is able to do just that.

Long gone are the days of having to remove the gas tank from the motorcycles, remove the paint, apply filler, and then re-paint the entire thing. With PDR, your gas tank stays right where it is and you work in the art of going back and forth between the interior and exterior of the tank to slowly “massage” out the dent.

A key part in getting rid of the dent via PDR is using the reflection of the motorcycle via light into order to catch every part of the dent. If the tank is dented, the reflection will be distorted where the reflected dent is. You can continue to check your progress on the dent by checking the reflection.

As the dent is worked out, the reflection will become less distorted. And by the time the paintless dent removal is complete, the reflection will be smooth.

PDR is a wonderful option because it can be used for a variety of purposes. Minor dents are no longer the big issue they used to be with the use of PDR. It is no doubt that the motorcycle community has a lot to benefit from paintless dent removal. As a more affordable option that saves a great deal of time as well as being something you can do on your own with the right knowledge and tools, PDR gives you a stellar alternative to a traditional body shop for your motorcycle dent repairs.

Finding your next bike or your dream bike just got easier!

Here at Belt Drive Betty Media we are constantly working to improve our offerings to the riding community.

Buying a motorcycle is an exciting but stressful time for most of us.

We want to make sure we are getting a motorcycle that fits us, suits our riding style, is a color that we enjoy and that we are getting it for the best price from a dealership that is going to look after us after we purchase.

There are so many ways to hunt for a motorcycle, Kijiji, Craig’s List, hundreds and hundreds of web sites, but that takes a lot of time and effort!

So, how could we as a company, make finding the motorcycle a little easier?

Since you already rely on us for your daily world wide motorcycle news at www.beltdrivebetty.com and your weekly Canadian motorcycle news through The Busted Knuckle Chronicles that comes into your inbox every week, we decided to see if there was a way we could bring you the offerings of dealerships from across the country!

After months of working the kinks are, we are very proud to introduce

DEALER CONNECTION!

What is that? 

We connect you with all of the new and used motorcycle listings from dealerships across the country in one central location.

No more hunting through dealer web sites!  We are, through the Rider Friendly Business Association going to be working very hard to get as many dealerships across the country involved, making the hunt for your next motorcycle, your new motorcycle just a little bit easier!

We already have hundreds of motorcycle both new and used listed!

Visit: http://bustedknucklechronicles.com/dealer-connection.html

Our brand new Rider Friendly Directory, (www.riderfriendly.com), is being embraced by riders! Over 500 businesses are now listed and that number is growing daily!!!!!

On another note, we now have three submissions for Canada’s MOST Rider Friendly Community Contest!  Check it out and get your favorite community nominated – it’s the only way they have a shot at winning the $35K top marketing package!

www.riderfriendlycontest.ca

Our mini series on the Fort McMurray Wildfire and the various people who volunteered and what they experienced is available on YouTube, Ride Like a Local as well as on channel 10, EastLink TV.

Doing the interviews and editing has been a rewarding experience and seeing the exact same situation through someone else’s eyes and point of view – very, very enlightening.  I hope you check out Part 1 & 2 of our 4 part mini series, The Fort McMurray Wildfire 2016 & The Riding Community that Stepped Up.

If you are blessed enough to be riding today, please remember to ride like everyone around you is blind and cannot see you!

Belt Drive Betty Editor & Rider

And the HUNT IS ON!

Our second annual "Canada's MOST Rider Friendly Community Contest" is now under way!

We already have three nominations, two are for Two Hills, Alberta, the reigning Canada's MOST Rider Friendly Community of 2015 and one is for a runner up community from the 2015 contest, Nisku Alberta!

With over $60K in marketing prizes to be won, this free contest is meant to help riders find those wonderful smaller communities that have a lot to offer a rider.

Nominate your community today!  Nominate a community you love riding to - tell us why and share your knowledge with the rest of this community! 

It's FREE, it's easy and it helps our entire riding community from coast to coast to coast.

The contest is brought to you by Community Futures of Alberta and the Rider Friendly Business Association.


The Rider Friendly Business Association helps Riders find Rider Friendly Businesses and Community Futures helps small business in rural communities.

Speaking of the Rider Friendly Business Association - the new online, fully mobile directory was just recently launched!  Check it out at www.riderfriendly.com 

Today, Episode 8 of Ride Like a Local airs and if you were touched by the Fort McMurray Wildfire, the next few episodes are something you aren't going to want to miss! Watch it below!

Have a great day everyone and if you are blessed enough to be riding today, HUG AN OILFIELD WORKER.

Belt Drive Betty,
Editor & Rider





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What a really good pair of riding boots should be

Kimpex has a brand new online ordering system and since their business is a member of the Rider Friendly Business Association, I decided to give their new online ordering system a try.

Theirs is pretty unique you see. You get to choose which Kimpex Dealer you want to support with your purchase, so it allows you to shop local even when your local dealer doesn't have your boots in their size!  How sweet is that?

A wholesaler that sells to the public and rewards the local dealer for the sale.

https://www.kimpex.com/en-ca/home

What a great concept!

It works based on your postal code - a list of local Kimpex dealers come up and you choose the one you want the sale to be attributed to.

The ordering process was simple, I got my boots, the Milwaukee Clothing Company's Trooper Boot quickly and the shipping was free because my order was over $99!

That experience made me feel really good, I gotta tell you!

And the boots? Well, for me that was the icing on the cake.

I LOVE my Troopers!  Right out of the box, even though stiff, I could tell these were going to be wonderful boots.  I was dreading the break in period. I shouldn't have worried.

I wore them for the first time to Two Hills AB, Canada's MOST Rider Friendly Community of the 2015 riding season, and I wore them all weekend at the Run to the Hills Memorial Rally and only one really tiny blister!
















The are study and comfortable!


The side zippers and front laces allow me to wear my ankle braces with these boots and that is very welcome for when I ride without my ankle braces, I sometimes don't feel very sure of myself, especially on gravel. I don't like walking on it much less riding on it.

The chances of my ankles rolling, causing me to land on my face and hands and knees scares me.
I have had it happen too many times.  And there is always the concern that one could break a bone as a result. Not going there!

I love the fact that I can walk at all and so I guard that freedom with all of my being!

The eyelets at the top of the boot hold the laces in place and make it far easier for me to get my brace starts tightened and not worry that they have gotten caught up in the brace straps! For me, that's a handle little feature that might not mean much to others.

I also like the zipper pulls which are reasonably long, (with out being over long) and and how well the zippers work. That can be challenging with side zippered boots,  I have had some boots that the zippers are so hard to pull I have broken the pull tab!

These are what riding boots should be!

I am glad that Milwaukee Clothing Company makes side zippered boots as not many companies do.
I am grateful that Kimpex wholesales them!

So, thank you to Kimpex for allowing me to shop local, get the boots I need and do it quickly and painlessly!

What a great experience over all!

If you are blessed to be riding today, please remember to ride like everyone around you is blind and cannot see you!

And remember folks, next week we kick off the hunt for Canada's MOST Rider Friendly Community of the 2016 riding season!  Which community are you going to nominate?

Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider.

A VERY SPECIAL Series on The Fort Mac Wildfire & The Riding Community

I know I have not been writing as much as you had all gotten accustomed to, but I have been very busy working on a ton of very special projects. And when I say a ton, I am not exaggerating, not even a little. From launching our new Rider Friendly Business Association Directory to working on the TV Show Ride Like a Local, the Afghanistan Monument Project, Canada's MOST Rider Friendly Community Contest for the 2016 riding Season and a host of other items, well, writing has had to take a bit of a back seat.

What I have been working on gave me shivers and the urge to write became larger than the looming deadlines I am working under.

I have been blessed to interview some of the riders who were instrumental in keeping people fed and cared for.  Some of them I worked with, others that worked behind the scenes, that never got the notoriety or hugs.

I am proud to announce that Ride Like a Local will be sharing a very special 3 (Maybe 4) Part Series called "The Fort Mac Wildfire & the Riding Community".

Watching the footage of the first interview with my friend and a human being I admire deeply, Jeremy Hall, I can't tell you how overwhelmed with pride I am.

I am proud to be a part of a community, as divided as it can be sometimes, (YES we have our own breed of prejudice, our own brand of disfunction as a family)...


You see, there were people who are normally not colleagues, not friends, hell some of them down right dislike each other and yet, they all put personal feelings aside and dug in to do what they all knew was right.

The breadth and depth of the humanity that the riding community can exhibit during times of extreme need is breath taking. I had always known we were a tight crew and that regardless of our personal bias, situations, mind sets - we were all more alike than different and Fort Mac proved it to me time and time and time again.

I can't wait for you to see from other people's perspective that they saw and experienced the exact same things I did.

Jeremy and I both got some publicity out of Fort Mac, neither of us went there seeking it.
But I do believe that the interviews we both gave on radio and TV helped the non riding world look at our community just a little bit differently.

The sad thing about radio and TV in the mainstream world is they can offer you a two minute or a 10 minute look into what happened and that's all.  They pick and choose what they want you to hear and see.

They do their best in that short bit of time to tell the story but I am here to tell you that to tell Jeremy's story alone is gonna take up 2 - 30 minute episodes.
The people he acknowledges for their help and support all deserve to be publicly recognized.
His story is compelling and deserves to be really told.

I wrote somewhere around 9 Blog Posts only time in Fort Mac and didn't come close to thanking everyone, or telling all of the stories that could be or should be...

I hope that my editor Mark and myself can present a body of work that will make the riding community stand proud.

From coast to coast we had the support of riders from across this country who represented pretty much every cross section of the on road motorcycle community.

From the Red Knights to the Hells Angels and every cut in between, this community has a lot to teach the rest of society I believe.

When you see these interviews and hear from these people what they went through, what they witnessed and experienced, it is my hope that you see the same thing I see.

Until next time, please enjoy these last weeks of the riding season and remember to ride like everyone around you is blind and can't see you.

Belt Drive Betty,
Editor & Rider

The Ride to the Reynolds and the 1000 Motorcycles that came out!

The Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin Alberta hosted their first Ride to the Reynolds and based on its success I am positive a second one will be planned for the future.

According to the people manning the gates, 1000 motorcycles came through!

Honda Canada was on hand with an amazing display of rare 1950's and 60's Honda motorcycles. Some were only released in Japan and others were only released in Canada. The privately owned display of 40 motorcycles was absolutely impressive.

Honda Canada also had demo rides of their new models which meant that you got a great feel for how far technology has come on their motorcycles.

The rides were booked solid and many were disappointed to find out there were no more seats available.  

Veer from Honda Canada said that next year they will have more bikes and more ride captains so that there would be less disappointment. 

Those who got to test the new rides out all came back with grins on their faces and the comments were more than positive.

The rides in the parking lot were almost as impressive as the rides inside the museum and the diversity of rides and riders was equally incredible!

Inside the museum, Stan Reynolds' collection of cars, motorcycles and machinery is stellar. 

The variety of them boggles the mind especially when you realize that this museum only represents 4% of this amazing man's collection. 

His foresight of the importance of these conveyances means that we all get the opportunity to see very rare and incredibly restored vehicles.

The restoration shop is visible to the public and you can gaze over the various vehicles as they are being worked on.

The Reynolds-Alberta Museum is a place that you can spend days, not just hours. I spent the whole day there and only got to see about 1/3 of the displays. I never got to go to the aviation building and only got to take in part of the White Glove Tour.

Although Cynthia Blackmore, the marketing manager of the Reynolds-Alberta Museum plans on another event in 2017, I encourage you not to wait until then to go take in this very impressive collection. 

The Honda Canada display will be there until October.

Reynolds-Alberta Museum
6426 40 Ave, Wetaskiwin, Alberta
Phone: (780) 312-2065
Toll-free in Alberta: 310-0000 and enter (780) 312-2065
http://www.history.alberta.ca/reynolds/default.aspx

If you are blessed enough to be riding today, please remember to ride like everyone around you is blind and cannot see you!

Belt Drive Betty

Editor & Rider