For those that don't check their email often, or keep up with motorcycling news, the American Motorcyclist Association has changed vendors they use for roadside assistance. We now much pre-register our bikes (up to five) with the normal membership. What if I want to be covered in my car, truck, RV, etc. just like I was before? There is an option to pay an additional $50 a year for Roadside Assistance Plus. This also exempts you from the auto-renewal requirement or purchase a three-year membership. But what about those of us who are AMA Life Members? AMA Life Members who pay the $29 annual fee to upgrade to AMA Life Member Plus receive all the benefits of Roadside Assistance Plus.Roadside Assistance Plus is an included benefit in the AMA Life Member Plus program. . Covered vehicles must be registered. Check your email to make sure you are one of the ones grandfathered in. Here's the message I received Eligible for Roadside Assistance? AMA members in good standing who participate in AMA's membership auto-renew program, are primary family membership members, or 3-Year membership members. If you are a valued AMA Life Member, you are able to upgrade to Life Member Plus and become eligible to enroll in Roadside Assistance. What's Covered?  Motorcycles. Motorcycle-only coverage includes three service calls a year for enrolled motorcycles. Coverage is limited to a total of five motorcycles. Motorcycles must be registered to receive roadside assistance.   Upgrade Roadside Coverage - Add a Car, Truck, or RV You need to purchase Roadside Assistance Plus! Upgrade to Roadside Assistance Plus for $50 by calling AMA Member Services M-F, 8:30a-5p Eastern: 1-800-262-5646 Roadside Assistance Plus includes three service calls a year for up to five registered vehicles. Roadside Assistance Plus does not cover commercial vehicles or commercial trailers. Vehicles must be registered to receive roadside assistance. Roadside Assistance Plus is included with the purchase of an AMA Life Member Plus membership. In order to enroll and have vehicles covered by roadside assistance, vehicles must be registered using their form. You can read the general information about the changes to AMA's Roadside Assistance on their website.

After a hotel room update on the road, I ended up with an XT2 that would restart every five minutes. I was convinced it was related to the FW, and Garmin just needed to push an update or let me roll back the update to fix the issue. Took a week of troubleshooting, and a lot of back and forth with Garmin Support. They we just about to send me an RMA number (return material authorization) when I got last ditch instructions on how to reset the Bluetooth connection. I'm not going to lie, everything listed was something I had already done. However, it got me to thinking that maybe my issue wasn't with the device itself, it had to do with how the Tread App interfaces, Android (Apple could have the same issue to be honest) Bluetooth prioritization, setting conflicts, or just strange bugs that hide in code.... So the inner Test Engineer in me came out to troubleshoot. Here are the steps that resolved my issue. I have an Pixel 8 Pro phone, so you will have to adapt to your own device if you are having a similar issue. Remove the Tread App from your Phone 1. Open the app properties 2. Force Stop the App 3. Delete the Cache 4. Delete the data stored in memory 5. Uninstall Tread from your Phone Unpair your Zumo XT2 from your Phone 1. On your phone, open Bluetooth settings and select the Zumo XT2. Then select "Forget". 2. On the Zumo, go to Settings > Phone> then Forget or Unpair Restart Both Devices 1. Long press the power button on your Zumo XT2, unit it turns itself off and back on again 2. Hold the Power Button on your phone, then select Restart (note, in general restart is always preferred if you want to clear RAM) Reconnect Both Devices 1. On your phone, open the App store, search for Tread (by Garmin), then select install. 2. Once installation completes, open and sign into your account. 3. On the Zumo XT2, enter your country and language. When prompted, select to pair to a phone. A QR code is displayed on half the screen. 4. Open the Tread app on your phone and select add device. The app will search for an try to pair with your device. Follow the prompts. • Alternate Method 1: Scan the QA code with your phone, follow the prompts • Alternate Method 2: Open Bluetooth settings and search for a new device (make sure the Zumo XT2 is trying to pair with Tread), add the Device. 5. On your Zumo XT2, make sure you phone paired with the device and it is now connected. Fix your Settings 1. DO NOT enable Explore. • Note: You will not be able to save and manage routes, rides, waypoints, tracks, or collections from your phone. It stinks, but there is a known conflict with Garmin Explore, the Tread App, and your Zumo XT2 that causes the endless synchronizing and restarting loop. 2. Enable Notifications through the Zumo XT2 to your phone. 3. Allow the Phone to share notifications with the Zumo XT2. 4. Add Emergency Contacts if you wish to use this service. I hope this helps someone out there. If nothing else, yes the XT2 is worth it. You can't use Basecamp, or manage your info off device. Yes, it was advertised to be stored on the cloud and all kinds of great things. It no longer works the way it was originally intended. As long as you do not enable cloud storage with Garmin Explore everything else will work. Traffic, weather, music, point to point navigation, and even some crude route planning.

Fun was had by all that attended and it looked like lots of toys were donated. There will be some happy children this Christmas!