Preface

After living in Georgia for a few years, I bought a motorcycle, quit my job (right before the housing-bubble-crash-induced financial crisis, 'cause why not), and moved nearly all my belongings up to NH in my 2001 VW golf.

I then flew back down to get my 1980 XS850 Yamaha Midnight Special and took it around the country.

This site is dedicated to that trip and the thoughts I had along the way.

There are some photos and some information too but you'll soon learn that I know next to nothing about motorcycles and did very little research about what I'd do and see along the way.

Additionally, this is written retroactively by about 11 years so what little I did know is a distant memory.

Pre-trip photos:

As a final note, before I left for my trip, I sent the following email to all my close friends and relatives and prototyped one of my favorite ideas at the time, the (PicklePicker" (shown at the very bottom as an incentive to scroll down).

It should be noted the only real response I received was from my friend David who said, "this glimpse into your mind terrifies me...".

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey all,

i'm about to take off on my motorcycle trip and since i don't have a

job lined up i thought maybe one of you would want to help develop any

of these random ideas i've had over the years. might be one or two

good ones in the bunch (most are extremely weird, unuseful, or not

even ideas so much as concepts or a random thought that popped into my

head one day and i had to write it down someplace... so ummmm, sorry?

and, hope you like these things... well... you'll see). Oh, and its

ok to send any of these along to close friends or family members,

haha. Look forward to your feedback, and take your time!

-------------------------------

3d bingo cube and other shapes? Either digital and transparent or

just mark on the outside

3d dart plushes / dolls - different tips (magnet for steel scultures)

- dart scenes diagrams like paint by numbers

3D lcd / clear windhield sun protection

3d maze, crawling/ climinging (cubes w/ 2 or 3 openings)

3d tetris (like connect 4)

adjustable brush width and length for paint brushes (could do

contrours and angles too)

air cleaner for laundry (like dry cleaning at home)

air hockey, suction, whiteboard w/ lights - folds up/down (magnetic?)

aluminum chips into pillow

AS seen on TV review website (Chris Jacobs & Tara)

assume ideal efficiency for non-efficient processes. Future ideas.

audio tape of how to sign in ASL

auot binder. Hole punches then bindes it onto a 3-ring

autmoatic fish feeder

auto solidworks/ 3d modelling (photos on cameras)

Automatic salsa dispenser

bad ass globe with local rocks to each region and actual water

ball bearings on a digicamera (small skateboard or just for smooth

shots on a table)

bed pissah (scott's idea to allow men to pee in the bed… useful in hospitals?)

beer holster (like for a gun, ended up getting one in Tijuana mexico

after I thought of it)

beer/ alcohol to drink after brushing teeth (morning and at bedtime)

(or non-alc)

belt-sander rotation with exchangeable clamps

big people's little car (not an suv)

bike helmet for people with lots of hair / pony tails (a slot in the

back with an optional bar that could be closed to help keep the hair

off of their backs (which i hear can get really sweaty) [Hannah

Cassidy]

bike tunnels with heat for mass transporation in winter and rain

black paper towels (for cleaning up white or off-white substances)

booze bag (I forget the thought process behind this one)

bouncy ball guns/ slingshot gallery - ping pont balls?

bouncy or soft landing or blended viscosity pool and foam pit to

skydive without a chute (magnets?)

bouncy walkways (dif textures)

braille printer (lcd better)

brain detection with linked voice recognition

breakable cigarettes (snap off when done certain sections)

Breakable computer/ keyboard (Rachel Ranney)

breath activation in all cars

bring back other old time products and process

built in bottle opener (wine) cork puller (kristen marullo?)

bungee/ rubber rope. Make own bugee kit

camera with varying lense shapes (Deana)

can clip to poor from cans (spout like, sorta like visors for people)

can crusher with a queue. Could also make into fun shapes or

rectangles/ bricks to make into something else

can sleeves to make one barnd look like another (alcohol and soda)

candy corn on the cobb. Sell as whol or just the cop for people to

load it themselves

capitalize on common mascots and symbols/ emblems

capture ordinary people's voices, DNA, etc for futuristic grave

car dash heads-up display by bouncing off windshield

car mover truck. (!) layer and top level is socializing area / office space

car roof weight sensor with alarm

car seats and tables on outside and on top that flip out when stopped

cars on highway were pods - sell together or take on autonomous

aerodynamic shape

cat couch scratch corner cover

cell phone attachment that expands to securely fit into a cup holder

cheater wood carvings (hard centers or just started, diff colors?) blank faces?

cheese and cracker sticks

cheese melting glue stick thing (rayann)

chew toys for grown ups not just kids and pets

cigarette clip to car windw (clip or suctions?)

cigarette dispensor (like straw or toothpick dispensors)

city caving courses / races

clear walls in house or car to see outside but not in

click-in / snap-on grips for shoes (climbing/ bouldering, extreme

walking, stils, healies)

climb sh!7. Adult tree climbing. More industrial stuff like bridges,

fire trucks, etc

cochlear implants to limit amount of decibles for people in everyday life

color changing materials (at the flick of a switch)

combos sticks (long)

Compressed air power cooler (Tucker)

concave tvs with the eye at the focal point?

conversational music / background on a phone

crazy cool technology into barely affordable products and novelties

cross sterotypes and customized products

cutter/ snuffer for cigarettes and cigars (does both at once)

Dead people channel (like obits)

design something for one industry as if it was another (ex: if this

was a bike, ppl would put reflectors in the spokes)

diapers packaged with wipe, trash bag and twist tie (or ziploc)

Different balls for minigolf (velcro, gun putter, wood etc) floating

dissolving needle point patterns

distortion/ whammy on each string of a guitar

door to door consultant agency give multiple paged report on how-to

___ and advice

downhill skateboard places/ trails (like skiing)

drum stick sleeves to make them like mallets (thin enough not to mess

up normal playing)

ear piercing / covering that clips over ear (like fabric covers?)

earth/ ground as fill, substance, and material in building and product design

easier 1-person car cover

easy to reuse mailings/ envelopes (how?)

easy to update cellphone messages (record something and it can then

synch with the nework

edible glue (would make it more fun to play with your food… like

gingerbread houses)

edible play-doh

E-ink for more applications (Alex)

electric bottle washers (single jet station… for nalgenes?)

electronic connections toy (3-dimensional atom-like. Kids view

electricity as magic

electronic learning guitar

engineer things for industries that don't have good engineers

(toothpick, spoon, etc.?)

engineering consulting for everyday people's $1million dollar idea.

I'll develop it for you

engraving services like tattoo artists.. And etching (already have in malls)

exercises that do actual work at local businesses

expanding towel racks (circular pattern spreads out for when multiple

people are in the house

extreme sport: bungee jump off building wrappedin bubble wrap so its

ok to boune off of it

extreme sport: human gerbil ball like floating 8-ball / eyeball - always upright

face recognition sort of… tells you when a camera is looking at you

(Anti-papparazzi) - flashes light at them

fake AI (like eliza from Macintosh)

fake friends for company while shopping, doing chores, errands

fall with controls. Airjets? Not water (dangerous for those

underneath skydiver)

fart fan in cars

fax previewer to save fax ink

fire cover houses near wild fires (rent)

flating powered skiis and other forms of transport (boat, motorized

__, different bikes, etc)

foot protector for motorcylce shifting (Chris Casillo)

force recorder for videocameras (would allow for seats that move to be

automatically programmed to move in the right directions when the

movie is played)

fridge that doesn't need bags or boxes (own compartments)

fruit salad forks

fuzzy microphone stick-ons for digital cameras - windy or loud

environments like concerts (cell phones too?)

generate power at home gym (or directly to heat or ac unit by skipping

electrical generation)

giant hampster wheel for multiple people side by side

giant magnifying glass and new solar panel technology

glasses handkerchief that fits into a wallet (credit card sized with hard sides)

gloves that heat up and make it possible to make snowballs no matter

what type of snow has just fallen

golden spiral compass (optional stop at 90º)

Golfcart snowmobile in Inc. Magazine (GE ecomagination I think)

Green/ biodegradeable and growable (Renewable) material and energy

ground boards/ bikes (superman position)

grown-up paint by numbers/ excel spreadsheets?

grown-up playground: Recess

guitar tab scroller (clips onto sound hole)

hair cutting gel (trimming, not shaving)

Hand-held mix station for mp3 - like DJ booth

hands free-mirror (uses facial recognition to automatically track one

position while you move)

hat clips for backpacks (caribiner with bag clip)

heads up jogging computer with split keybard gloves (would have to use

predictive text software like on phones)

heads's up display or keyboard to write while driving

heated boots (power off car?)

heater-human powered

hemet to see around corners and overhead or behind. Finger vision?

high tech technology used in everyday items (carbon nano-tubes, smart

fluids, smart materials)

house persever time capsule

Houses that are habitats for the animals they displace

I'll ship it to you - at airports for knives, liquids etc

implatable signal senders (biodegradeable?)

improve something existing and replace with different solution

in future we can give sight and hearing. Also take it away for people to rest

indoor minigolf in cities downtown (batting cages?)

infinite towel, cleans as you pull it thru mini cleaning unit

inter-car talking (person to person and veh to veh)

intuitometer (like lie detector but includes monitors of neural activity)

invest in other startups rather than my own

IR on car headlights and receivers (around turns) - more for daytime than night?

john breen atlas (local nicknames and such)

journal with stamps and stencils (moveable type) to customize pages

key seperator (less fumbling for keys by splitting them open so you

can grab correct one… also personal safety device?)

kool aid pills (instantly disolving)

laundry machines that are small enough / light enough that they can be

on airplanes (dry cleaning on airplanes perhaps?)

lcd display in the back of a motorcycle helmet so the rear person can watch tv

leaf traps (use wind to advantage)

light up bike locks

lightening power, tornado power

lighter sleeve that also holds a cigarrette or 2

litter bug paper "trash the roof!" - like fly paper on the roof of a car

local-based engineering consulting: birdhouses etc

log splitting stand with small steadying pegs. Foot release? Like

those pin toys

long distance hands. basically you move your hand around and a

machine hand (nearby or far away) moves identically. you could

then even touch or hold hands with someone else with a similar thing

and the force feedback would act as though the two of you were holding

hands, or shaking hands, or playing thumb war even.

machines to fix machines (more internal diagnositcs)

magnetic belt/ pants combo

magnetic watch band clasp

make farts smell good or not at all

manual piano perhaps cutting width cable strung around....

match brain styles so that similar people can hang out

materials that reflect heat

mattress re-filler (for when the center of a matress or couch gets

squashed down over the years)

messy stuff like ink or soap as coffe table items (think mobile

pedestool. Ok for guests to make messes)

Methane from septic tank or garbage disposal (Tucker's)

modular furniture. Convertible from inside to outside.

moleskin wallet

More human powered ___

mostly sticky post-its (not just the top)

motor skis (basically mini-snow mobiles on each foot)

movie audio tracks - start with old movies that are free, build from there

mybod - people have recievers on them so they know wehre their friends

are and can meet up

nano-solar?

new movies at the gym?

note-taker at night. Bedside. 1-hand typer. Or dguides hand line by

line. Palm pilo like or signature scroll at dmv.

note-taker cups: use in cup-holders of cars (other similar products?

Camera, binnoculars, hand sanitaizer

old style tuner radios (Fast skip between)

online idea sorter; free thinking: maniac.com or the Jumble

optical radar detector

pant leg catcher/ saver (so that you don't step on your pants)

paper clip bending machine. Also an unbender.

pen string for drawing circles and perhaps other shapes like those on

a sewing machine

phone silent mode activated by motion

pickle picker / skewer in lids or separate suction cup skewer

pillow to suction oto a car window

pin-type stuff for computers in different shapes to display 3d models

of things (sphere or cube-based first)

pix of every time/space; auto-label new, hand label old) - add sketchs

and interpolation

place to practice driving fast in traffic or laying down motorcylces

plate with pilotor countsunk holes already in it (transfer holes visually)

power generating speed bumps (machinist jake at Alum-a-lift)

practice/ mock skateboard

pressure sensitive keyboard so that one can type "loudly" on aim or in

documents and stuff without changing to caps or boldface or italics or

whatever.

pre-zip-locked bread for sandwich's or quick seal

print screen onto electronic paper

pull down sun-shade for car windows

pull-out shelves from nowhere (can fold one way but not another… sort

of like bread drawers)

purse that weighs items or uses smart tags

puzzle sliders people can modify with their own photos. Digital version?

radar detector that looks like a GPS (best used in virginia)

raindrop power - harnessing the power of raindrops. basically the

drops would hit a stack of various sheets and their movement relative

to one-another would create small bits of electrciity.

receipt holder from trips (folds up to credit card size but has two pins

reinforce pants BEFORE they rip

release a cheeply manufactured item

removeable rear end of sandles for driving

reuseable flip books - plastic/ clear pages. Electronic?

rfid in playing cards

RFID, pay for elevator

ride in remote control cars while someone else drive it

roll up guitar with usb (piano?) more electronic instruments

roll your own cigar kits

roller pen that lays out equally spaced dots (actually saw this

somewhere after the fact)

rolling paper books. Bible pages sort of. Water/ proof?

room where things randomly fall from the ceiling

rope slider on mountain clmibing cliffs (right on the ednge to avoid

frayed edges

round dice (weighted or magnetic for a metal board/ table)

Salad drizzler (small streams)

Salsa jar leaner stand

seat belt slack keeper for seatbelts. is it safe?

self-loading dvd/cd spindle thing (side labels for the discs

sensors in roads so cars can see edges. Double as invisiclbe dog fence?

sewing needle that holds slcak of string

shampoo doses (like mouth wash with reservoir)

sharing center

shoes with lots of rping loaded pins (like moon boots?)

shotgun can (bottom spiggot)

shower with cleaning setting and/or cleaning or soap/ strap attachment at nozzle

side to side mass in car

single cigarette rolling kits (fresh and convenient and roll the way

you want them)

single cookie cooker

single hole punch with tracking to punch all three holes

skateboard rollercoaster (stand-on)

skating with ropes and wires from ceiling. Bungees? Teammate

controls your location

ski confeyor belt selector

sky dive into progressing viscosity

slideshow/ photo transistions: photo becomes drawing in another photo

(zoom in or out)

slideshow/ photo transistions: zoom in on 1 color, out in another photo

smoke or particles out of the air (sort of like a smokeless ashtray

but for car exhausts and smokestacks) maybe a filter that is on a

reel that filters then gets cleaned, then gets back to filtering.

snack to fit in a chain link fence

snap-on digicamera lenses

snow delivery

snow sled shoes (bowl shaped x2 for downhill)

snowball gloves

soap box shoes (cross pattern, not just side-to-side

soapy water at faucet, that then ends after a few seconds

solar panel roation

spray on whiteboard paint

spring/ hand powered novelties. Think music box (MP3 prgrammable?)

stearing wheel piano (drums, trumpet, etc)

steering wheel braille. Not just for blind people (oviously)

step on door handle at the base of a door so that doors can be opened

without using one's hands

stilt boots (like healies, pop in/out when not in use)

store area to rent out - exchange ideas, work out, snack, drink,

different color walls and square table with couches around can be

video-ed online

strap on wheels for luggage

strawbar. Straw or camelback tube when you walk in. Good for sampling.

strong man pens (tough to click and can use to work out)

super golf (extra sensitive balls and clubs with longer holes and

special terrain

SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats

tanning rooms. Like the sun. Beach volleyball for a group tan

tell a story game - 5 points for 1st person that is a lie and people

believe it. 2 points for story of someone else

thermorest - secondary valve to keep inflated overnight (compressed air?)

thin cars for mail-people

things that can only be made in zero gravity, vacuum or elecro magnetic field

think ahead to when computers are instantaneous (storage, diff views

of places at all times, animal communicate)

threaded pen inserts (set screws with marking tip)

toilet, ultra quiet

tongue and limb tracker (strain gages on camera)

Town Wreck center - laser mazer with fog and mirrows, rollerblading

with goals, replace laser tag and paintball, etc

trash deodorizer (goes in trash can before a trash bag)

travel in water tubes not air. Like willie wonka

Travel soap/ shampoo body sponge (hard, sealed container)

underbed storage-like desk (for Marisa)

upper and lower guitar halves (elecric) for travel. 2-piece, fold, or telescope

usb powered items

use roof space in car (what about if there's an accident?)

vinyl at home for cars (basically bumper stickers)

volume knower (decibel meter, smart)

volume recall on TVs, radios, remotes

walk around displays (link to group and phone)

watch that synchronizes with alarm clock

water injecting toothbrush (save water)

waterproof bike

waterproof computers for under fire sprinklers

weekly classes / how to-s. Trial center/ club? Like church? Men

scouts. Badges, projects, etc

weening benefit socials - each decreasing in their splendor and decadence

welcome mat that lets uv light thru.

wet suit to hold water IN (heavy)

wheels on roof rake (anything to keep it off actual roof)

wind funnel for out of car windows… why? To clean something maybe?

wind turbines in tall buildings

windshield protection - stick-on for pets (like the ones on front of glasses)

winter motorcyle capped for heat (Still on-road) AC in summer?

zero friction toy for everybody. Lubricated dic in a sphere?

zip-in and button additions for maternity pants

zoom feature on rear-view mirror

well, that's all. :) see you all soon!

-ben

ps, here's bonus material for those who may care!

book ideas:

It could happen to you Delayed Senses Guy

It could happen to you Freudian Speaking gradually taking over a man's life

It could happen to you Gaps in a person's memory. Worth filling them

in? (New gaps appear)

It could happen to you Man kills his hallucination after which no one

remembers the person

It could happen to you Person is slowly convinced they are someone

else by others (becomes them)

What if? Alternate Present, things slightly different (history and

current culture)

What if? Animals were people/ the dominant ones

What if? Biorhythms/ moods were much more drastic

What if? Food was bad tasting.

What if? People didn't have different opinions (like things based on

their quality)

What if? People had different illnesses often and randomly

What if? People were different species (couldn't breed or at least

not sterile offspring)

$1 million ideas - 1st mine and others I know. 2nd majorly other peoples

$20.12 - economic theory / philosophy/ fiction (1) week for each

theory. Follows a family for the plot

____(s) for NOT dummies (link ideas and industries for smart people How-To)

Abigail Bad-at-gal - woman with mental problems trying new jobs

All the shit that could have happened (worst case of my own life stories)

Another kid raising book: Kid's raising Kids - Ice cream tastes

better, don't be too nice, don't wear condoms

As if written 3rd or 4th in series. Inside stories, later write 1st

books and show the "good guy" is actually bad

Ben's lists of wit (or top 20 things for normal people)

Biography by similar events, not chronological - more about who I am

now due to the past

Book about raising kids chronologically corresponding to human

development (cave man to video games)

Book of concepts (concept houses made of sticks, bricks, etc, or cars,

clothes, etc)

Calendar: Front: Don't have sex with anyone born after [today's date]

1987 - Back side; bargo

Don't Mix these (Terrible Drink mixes) and their effects with

associated stories (bonus: accidental good mixes) - Spicy Italian

Meatball, White Pizza, Chad's skittles drink

Dr. Seuss Style Children's books

Embellish my stories or write as if bad-ass or goody goody wrote.

Instead of threw up in vegetable crisper -> I spilled pencil lead all

over David's good vellum

Empowering your self-conscious

Family loses kids, adopts, and then raises new ones as if they were

the originals

Folding things like origami & pop-up books

Galaxy's Guide to the Hitchhiker (PANIC! <-- on the front cover)

Ghost & Angel Network/ Bureaucracy

Ghost Battles and Competitions - that ones that don't give in to the

light or the dark

Gives life to "God" but ends up killing and escaping by divine

inspiration - end up with war of 3 groups - each divinely inspired

Good Adult choose your own adventure - intricate plots and story line

How to Speak American - "Can I get that super sized?" (satire)

How to turn everyday into a competition (groceries and laundry in one

trip), speed and quantity of ___, dedicate to mom making us run around

the house

If I had $1 Billion or How to spend $1B. New socks, towels, sheets

etc. Shoes and jeans all broken in…

It will happen to you (both good as well as bad things depending on

which way you read the book) - Bad car, broken heart, get ridic.

drunk, etc VS get raise, random hook-up, have someone lay themselves

on the line for you, etc

Liv'n Yankee - Photos and descriptions and How-To (sequel: Jimmy Rigged it)

Next 100 great presidential addresses

Option to Change things in your and other lives but then immediately forget

Over-Engineered [list of tables and equations] Forward discussing me

and like-minded engineers. Over-analyze

Parties: crazy containers (fishbowl, gas can, syringe, bottle,

antiques, tea cup and kettle, beer hat…)

Post super volcano - many cryogenically frozen, rest governed by

marshal law in charge of clean-up

Re-useable flip-books with plastic pages (clear?) - electronic?

Ridiculous coincidence family

Road trip: map/ atlas of town nicknames. Church signs "stop drop and

roll doesn't work in hell"

shitty inventions - bad versions of good ideas (building a worse

mousetrap… sorta like rube Goldberg?)

Snap - People flipping out/ mid life crises/ stress/ panic attacks

Sucky happenings (vomit while driving), funny last words, crappy coincidences

Suicides with life flashback. Some bad timing, some just useless people.

Swiss Army Book (Engineering/ drawing) like clipboards but different.

Pen holder, ruler, stencils, paper types

The Competition - People competing in all sorts of things. Dirty

jokes, athletics, IQ, music, listening, video games

The way things Don't work (man writing How they Don't but also doesn't

follow conventions, society norms…)

They don't warn you about…. [pie chart with it pointing to other(1%)]

causes of injuries and deaths plus safe guards

They thought it would help. Free Energy leads to a raped planet and

war over land airspace and minerals.

Things to Master while driving (and what not to)

Use dreams as premises (ship mystery dream with yoda)

Uses for Bacon - Straw, cigarette holder, utensils, plate

We are just an Alien's experiment, the earth being their lab

possible careers paths:

artist/ sculptor

cartoonist (syndicated)

collumnist

ebay

enrepeneur

flip cars

flip houses

grant

invest

land

local handyman

manufacture item

national guard (coast?)

published

run non-profit

sales rep

teach for america

vinyl car

weekly play area

website?

things/ ppl to do with crafts, art, or random sales of things:

_Becky: pottery, yoga

_Brad: puzzle boxes, furniture, frames, copper T's

_Brandy: herbalife

_Breen: computer stuff

_Deana: art

_Ian, Chris, Tiffany: photography

_Jessi: jewelry and stories

_Marisa: music

_Mike Cassidy: lithography and sketches

_Mom: art, random inventions, stonework

_Mother-truckers: music

_Sue: stained glass among others

3-d interspersed lattice work for stained glass

craft fairs

digital art as starting place for hand painted art

itsy.com

market research: what forms sell the best?

materials: candy wrappers, tinfoil, cigarette packs, soda cans, fast food stuff

metal etchings

old bottles: candles, sand holders, remelt

puzzles into coasters and picture holders (pay kids to bring in complete puzzles

puzzles obviously done wrong that are squashed flat and framed

quilt odd things like crown royal bags

Rich people items (cell phones with marble) short run items

spinning stained glass lamp

stained glass models of peoples houses

steampunk

wood and metal puzzles

Places i want to travel to:

england

amsterdam

berlin

dublin

Australia

school's i wouldn't mind going to:

MIT

Stanford

University of California-Berkeley

University of Illinois-Urbana

Georgia Institute of Technology

California Institute of Technology

University of Southern california

Purdue University

University of Michigan

Cornell University

music movies and books i want to listen to, watch, or read.... ooh,

and websites i want to visit... um, yeah, let's just stop this email

here. let me know if you want the part 2 after my roadtrip. peace!