Do you have a Gremlin Bell ?

[Sully]

It's a long read, but interesting,

The Origin of Gremlin Bells that’s not part of a Retail Campaign

Contrary to the “lone biker beset by gremlins” story, some 30-plus years ago, I was told an intelligent, believable story about the origin of gremlin bells and I’m inclined to believe it because the source was part of the story long before there was a retail industry selling these things. He’d been riding his Harley Knucklehead since he came home from World War II, where he’d been flying over Europe and Germany as part of the Army Air Corps. His story, and the story of the gremlin bells, have their origin in that war experience.

The first time I saw it, I asked about the bell he had hanging off the frame on his bike because I’d never seen one before. This guy (I feel bad that I can’t remember his name) was a greybeard in his mid to late 60s when he told me this story back in the early 80s, and was still riding the Knucklehead he’d purchased new when he came home from the war in 1946. He had been a WWII bomber crewman, flying B24s from North Africa to eastern Europe, and later from Britain to Germany and back. American “daytime” raids leaving during the morning would often return after dark after being in the air for 8 or 9 hours, particularly in winter. Flight crews often flew from dawn til dark, and after a mostly monotonous day in the air is when and where the gremlin stories began, apparently. If you’re a fan of old sci-fi television, you’ve actually seen the origin of the bells but didn’t know it.

There’s a famous Twilight Zone episode from when it was a TV show 50 years ago, with good ol’ William Shatner (Captain Kirk from the original Star Trek TV series), as a former WWII pilot who sees gremlins outside the window, tearing apart the wing of the passenger plane he’s travelling on. Was it really some metaphysical creature trying to tear the wing apart, or was he just losing his mind? This episode of the show actually had a foundation in history, and it’s the same history as the gremlin bell.

Was he losing his mind, or was he sleep-deprived and/or … well, not to put too fine a point on it, spun out from sleep deprivation and/or speed?

You see the greybeard pointed out that “gremlins” aren’t mythical creatures. Nope, they’re the things you see out of the corner of your eye when you’re sleep deprived and have been taking amphetamines and your mind begins playing very real tricks on you, particularly in your peripheral vision. 10 hour bombing missions were boring as hell for 99% of the trip and the drone of the engines, the sheepskin lined clothing from head to toe to keep them warm, sleep deprivation, and prolonged lack of mobility all contributed to lulling them to sleep. The air forces of the various nations didn’t want their pilots falling asleep and flying into the ground at 400mph (or failing to see enemy fighter planes swooping down on them), so many issued amphetamine tablets like candy to help these people stay awake.

Amphetamines were, and are still an acceptable method of compensating for sleep deprivation in such circumstances, and well, lack of sleep and amphetamine use can lead to hallucinations, particularly under stressful conditions.


That’s where the whole gremlins thing started.

Keeping fighter pilots and bomber crews awake was critical for obvious reasons. This wasn’t the tooth rotting, brain eating crud your wife’s cousin makes in a 2 liter soda bottle in the No Tell Motel and smokes from a glass pipe. It was pharmaceutical stuff made by Bayer and Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson and other large pharmaceutical companies.

Not quite the same chemical responsible for The Faces of Meth, even if it contains the same (or very similar) chemical compound, but more like the Adderall you and your buddies did to study for exams in high school and college.

But flight crews and fighter pilots would often go long hours without needed sleep, and they’d see things out of the corner of their eyes, that looks like “something out there on the wing.” Add to this the battle damage from German fighter planes or anti-aircraft artillery, and occasionally bits and pieces of the planes would fall off in flight, and if you just caught it out of the corner of your eye after 3 days with little or no sleep, you were likely to “see” something out on the wing, tearing chunks out of the wing, just as William Shatner’s character did in that episode of The Twilight Zone.

According to the guy who told me all this, different people came up with different ways to get around this effect, from singing to playing harmonica to… hanging a cowbell or dinner bell from the dashboard of the airplane where the constant jingling would cause them to bring their focus back to reality when it began to drift, even if it was just because it had become annoying.

Gremlin bells WERE to keep the gremlins away, and they even sometimes worked. It’s just that they weren’t given to some lone biker to keep gremlins from tearing his bike apart on the long, lonesome highway.

Fast Forward to the End of WWII

WWII ended and vets came home and more than a few of them got on motorcycles and made history in another way – they were the original bikers and MCs to become something different than the AMA motorcycle clubs, with their nifty “Bob the friendly milkman” riding outfit and cap. They became the 1%ers in the late 40s and into the 50s and 60s. These vets who had been flying during the WWII and Korea brought the gremlin stories with them. In the late 40s and 1950s you could go to your family doctor and get a prescription for amphetamines, just by telling your doc “I’m tired all the time and work and kids are taking their toll.” Abuse was as real then as it is now, and amphetamines, like many prescription drugs, were treated as social drugs, that would “extend the party.”

Fast forward to the 1960s and hardcore 1%ers were the majority of bikers in the US and some/many/most of them used amphetamines for recreation and to add hours to the day and to help get **** done around the pad and working on the bikes. Nobody smoked that **** until the ephedrine based **** started around 1990 (that’s another story, and one that I don’t think gets told in the media… ever), and the only tweakers we worried about in the 80s were people putting the stuff in their arms. They/we partied all weekend, slept Sunday night, and got up and went to work… at least those who had jobs. People used amphetamines during the week to get stuff done, the way you might have used Adderall to get through school. Dope was just part of the life, and it generally didn’t screw up your life unless you were an IV user or just didn’t bother limiting your intake.

After two or three days or even four days of partying, people riding at night would experience the same hallucinations, especially on dark roads where headlights leaking light to the side would cast weird moving shadows as you went past a tree or a bush or a rock or a… “damn, was that someone standing on the side of the road back there? Was that a dog? What the hell?!?

There’s nobody there, but I swear there was a second ago.”

Gremlins are real, they’re just not physical things. They’re the tricks your mind plays on you when you’re exhausted, and they’re a sure indication that the brain desperately needs sleep to replenish and rejuvenate itself. They live in your nervous system, and they can be very annoying and very scary some times. I’ve been on night rides (going somewhere, rather than pleasure riding) where I was so tired that every tree or bush or rock had someone or something start to jump out at us as we went by, where every shadow shifting as we passed a bush was a deer or a dog or a mountain lion about to run across the road. When it starts, it’s just slightly annoying – it’s your brain telling you “Pull over. I need sleep or you’re going to crash.” These were the things this old greybeard was talking about and this is what the internet bell sellers get wrong because they don’t actually believe gremlins are real. They’re just selling bells.

So if someone gives you a gremlin bell for Christmas or your birthday, it’s not based on a completely made up story, but it’s not the story the giver thinks was the origin of the bells. Who knows, the endless, annoying ringing that can make you think something is falling off your bike may well keep you awake, or allow you do stop drifting off, since you’re obviously too tired to think clearly and pull over and get some sleep.

[Jack Klarich]

Yup, same bell since 92

[ol' school]

Yup, I've had one on every motorcycle I've ever owned. And the wife and I always buy one for our friends when they buy a new ride.

[David357]

Yes, on every ride I have owned

[Ozarkryder]

Cool - another plausible story on the origin on the bells.
The first one I heard had that the settlers going west across the prairies had a bell on the wagons and/or horses. There aren't many around anymore, but tall grass prairies actually had tall grass, up to 6' and more. The bell ringing helped childern that wandered, as kids are wont to do, find the way back to the wagon train, and the same for adults and children that may have stepped away do do their personal business. Also, the sound of ringing was not natural to the prairie, and anything unusual in nature is usually a threat so other creatures would give the sound a wide berth, i.e. the "gremlins" would stay away.

Here is a thread I posted back in 2008 about bells, and before that on a Goldwing page based in Ireland. I'm 61 now and still have that same bell on my Harley. Was also given one for the Triumph, and Gloria got one for her TrikeShop Roadhawk. All old school brass bells, not bought in shops (though that is OK if not bought for yourself). Whenever we go the garage sales flea markets,etc, I am on the lookout for small brass bells to give out.
Re: Question on the gremlin bell.

Gremlin bells, bike bells or whatever you call them are an old tradition. They supposedly keep the gremlins away that cause breakdowns, crashes and generally bad juju on your ride. They don't work unless they are freely given, and should be put on the bike as far forward and as low as possible to keep the gremlins from getting on the trike at all, as they can't abide the sound of the bell and will stay away. In the old days before the marketing types got into the act with chrome and little cards to sell you on the bell and angels, logos, cute sayings and such on them, the bells were almost always brass. Usually bought at flea markets, found in grandma's junk drawer or the like.
I have had one on every bike and trike I've owned. Never even hinted that I wanted one to anybody, was just given them.

Was given my first one by a friends dad (A M/C "gang" member - 1st 1%er I knew) when I was 8 years old (I'm 53 now) for my Rupp minibike and told about the gremlin deal. It was, and still is, a large round sleighbell, about 2 1/2" in diameter. That bell is on my Harley in the garage as I type.
The one on the Goldwing was given to us by a guy at a rest stop in Iowa right after we got the trike.
We were talking bikes (what else?) and he noticed there was no bell on the bike. Seems he was just at a yard sale and bought 2 bells, and gave us one for Her Purpleness. It resides on the front of the left side engine guard. A friend has his attached to the rubber part of the front fender extension.
Everytime I see mine or hear it jingle I know that someone thought enough of me to give me a token that they wish me the best. Think what you will about gremlins, silly superstition, or whatever, what they _really_ mean is that someone likes you, is thinking of you and is concerned for you.

[Bronson512]

I got one! I actually wished they were bigger. Like an old cow bell so I could hear it dong!

[Ozarkryder]

I got one! I actually wished they were bigger. Like an old cow bell so I could hear it dong!

LIke this?

[LadyonaMission]

Strange this came up again today. I have one on my Freewheeler that was given to me several bikes ago by a dear friend who passed away this morning.

[desertclassic]

Yes, on all the bikes I have ever owned. I just bought one as a Christmas gift for my granddaughter's future husband. Jim

[Gone2Three]

Yes, the same one transferred from my sportster's to my Freewheeler... Gremlin free since 96

[consitter]

Yes, the same one transferred from my sportster's to my Freewheeler... Gremlin free since 96

Did you have the same Sporty since 96, or several of them?

[Gone2Three]

Did you have the same Sporty since 96, or several of them?

Had a 96 hardly rode- then sold it, purchased 99 model in 03. Again sold when married...then a 2000 model back in 13...until the trike.

[consitter]

Had a 96 hardly rode- then sold it, purchased 99 model in 03. Again sold when married...then a 2000 model back in 13...until the trike.

I'm going to guess there's a lot of difference power-wise, unless you tinkered with engine.

[consitter]

When I bought my TG the salesman bought a bell for me. I've never put in on. My wife bought me a St. Christopher medal. I never put it on either. I probably out to get around to it.

[rhino 2]

When I bought my TG the salesman bought a bell for me. I've never put in on. My wife bought me a St. Christopher medal. I never put it on either. I probably out to get around to it.

St. Christopher haven't seen one of them in years' A lot of years...
I thought they went out with the plastic Jesus's on dashboards...
I think there might be a Country and Western in there somewhere..

[consitter]

St. Christopher haven't seen one of them in years' A lot of years...
I thought they went out with the plastic Jesus's on dashboards...
I think there might be a Country and Western in there somewhere..

Heck, we ain't even catholic.

[rhino 2]

Heck, we ain't even catholic.

It never hurts to cover all the base's.....

[consitter]

It never hurts to cover all the base's.....

Always looking for a loophole.

[Gone2Three]

I'm going to guess there's a lot of difference power-wise, unless you tinkered with engine.

I'll see if I can dig up a pick or two if I can remember where there stashed. Post them on the late night thread.

[03VolusiaTrike]

Yes I was given one by my daughter after I bought my trike. Any help with safety is greatly appreciated while riding in the Chicago area. At times I wish it was the size of the Liberty Bell so the other drivers could hear it.