Product Review - Marlin Handlebar Clock (model HBC) submitted by Wayne Mah My wife and I have an "arrangement". She knew I had a passion for motorcycles when we got married 16 years ago. I knew she had absolutely no interest in motorcycles. The deal was that during the riding season I can spend half the weekend riding and half the weekend doing the "family" thing, particularly after the kids were born. Luckily I'm an "early bird" as I'm up at 5:00am for work during the week so sleeping in on weekends for me is getting up at 7:00am. On the other hand, my wife likes to sleep in on weekends so our "arrangement" works great if I get an early start in the morning and watch the clock to get back early afternoon. The good news is that I am able to ride 15,000 - 20,000 kms per season within the confines of this arrangement…not bad at all! The bad news is that I need to time my riding appropriately...which leads me to this product review…the Marlin Handlebar Clock. I, like I am sure many of you, struggled to check a wristwatch while keeping the rubber on the road, especially in the cooler weather with everything zipped up. My first solution was wrapping a cheap plastic watch around my handlebar. Functional but cheap looking. Somehow not quite fitting in with $30M plus of chrome and leather. I even got a red one in an attempt to match the colour of my bike. Still cheap looking. I've seen a few motorcycle clocks but when I saw the Marlin Handlebar Clock reviewed in American Iron Magazine (August 2003) it was love at first sight. Marlin's model HBC is a beautiful billet aluminum show-chrome piece. Big black face with large glow-in-the-dark numbers, it is a perfect match for my Heritage Softail look. The hardware mounts easily and the adjustment is such that no matter where you install in on your 1" or 7/8" handlebars you can adjust the angle to face you. I ordered mine by secured e-mail on their website http://www.marlins-motorcycles.com/clocks but you can also order by phone (1-800-777-5543). Once the order was placed I got an automatic e-mail confirming my order. The next day I got another e-mail from Marlin (apparently a real person) thanking me for my business and advising me the clock had been shipped. At about $106.00 Canadian ($69.95USD) plus $24.85 at the post office for Canadian taxes coming over the border it's not cheap, but then nothing billet aluminum is. However, it was certainly comparable to anything I've seen in Canada but infinitely better looking (including the "genuine" HD clocks). Installation was a breeze. I got the main mounting hardware fully installed in less than 5 minutes. Now for the part I hate to admit…I was just about to make the final adjustment to angle the clock face appropriately for my sitting position when, being the klutz that I am, I accidentally dropped the clock (at this point removed from the mounting hardware) onto the hard cement floor of my garage and cracked the glass face. The watch is water proof and shock resistant but obviously the glass is not shatter proof if dropped face down several feet onto a hard cement floor (nor do they claim it to be). On the other hand, the clock kept right on ticking proving the shock resistance claim.. Really bummed out I e-mailed Marlin to see if I could send the clock back for repairs or buy just the clock without all the billet aluminum mounting hardware (I suspect the majority of the overall cost). The next day I got an e-mail from Marlin that a replacement clock was in the mail. The only charge would be $5.00USD to cover the shipping. Talk about standing by the product considering this was my clumsiness, not any fault of theirs! Now proudly installed, it looks and works great. I would highly recommend this item to anyone who is a clock watcher, not just because it is a great looking, high quality, addition to any bike, but also because of the great attitude Marlin has towards the customer. In addition to handlebar mounted clocks, Marlin has fork stem clocks, one that mounts to the clutch level bracket, and one that fits Road King fork locks. They also have thermometers with identical installation options. Company Information: Marlin's Motorcycles 5243 Latimer Drive, West Bloomfield MI 48324 U.S.A. Tel: 1-800-777-5543 Fax: 248-683-8284 e-mail mberg@icc-comm.com |