What Is a Guardian Bell for Motorcycles: Biker Legend Complete Guide
What is a guardian bell for a Motorcycle?
Many people see little bells on motorcycles and wonder about the purpose. Do the riders hear constant ringing as they travel?
Motorcycle bells aren’t for decoration or charming chimes. They protect the rider from evil road spirits so they stay safe.
Our group, the Disorderly Drifters, took a long-distance moto journey and rode our Honda Monkey 125cc motorcycles from North Dakota to Yaviza, Panama.
And I am here to tell you that after our 10,000-mile journey through 9 countries, I feel much safer riding with a guardian bell.
If you’ve ever wondered, “What is a guardian bell for a motorcycle?” I will cover all you need to know about the legend of the guardian bell and its protective power.
What Is a Guardian Bell?
A guardian bell is a small silver bell that hangs on your motorcycle for good luck. This small bell prevents evil spirits from harming you or your bike while you ride.
There are multiple names for these little bells, including:
- Angel bells
- Gremlin bells
- Spirit bells
While many bikers pray for safety before they ride, some prefer the additional security of a guardian bell. These little bells ward off evil spirits, also called gremlins.
You can find gremlin bells made with brass, copper, or pewter. The material doesn’t matter much as long as it’s durable.
The main concern is the shape of the bell since the curved body holds the evil road spirits as it captures them.
The concept behind the guardian bell focuses on these evil road spirits. These spirits wait for motorcycles to pass by.
What Do Gremlins Do To Motorcycles?
Gremlins or evil spirits jump onto the bike as it passes by and cause mischief, ranging from damage to the bike to harm to the rider.
If you’ve ever heard of motorcycles with rare electrical issues, you know of the gremlins that plague motorcycle riders.
Whenever a mechanical issue with the motorcycle doesn’t seem to have a logical cause, it’s the work of a gremlin.
You can keep yourself safe by hanging a guardian bell on your motorcycle. The bell’s hollow captures the gremlins as they try to cause trouble with your bike.
They’re stuck in the bell, listening to constant ringing that drives them mad.
Eventually, the gremlin can escape from your bell. They return to the roads and wait for a biker without a bell.
You’re spreading goodwill when you give other riders a guardian bell to keep them safe. Your positive karma shows the evil road spirits that they’re not welcome here.
You’re caring for other riders, so the gremlins won’t have any people to harm.
Where Do You Put a Guardian Bell on a Motorcycle?
Since the guardian bell captures evil road spirits, you want to hang it on the lowest part of your bike’s frame.
Some put their gremlin bell on a guardian bell hanger, while others use a key ring. I personally have my bell on a key ring.
If you put it near the front of your motorcycle, you’re most likely to grab the little gremlins before they can hurt you or your bike.
The Legend of the Guardian Bell
There are many legends relating to gremlin bells. They vary based on your location, but here are some of the most well-known.
The Knights Legend
After the Crusades, knights returned home with bells. Whenever they protected people in a village, those citizens would give bells to the knights to show their gratitude.
Since the knights offered protection for others, these bells kept them safe in return.
The Old Woman Legend
One legend involves a motorcycle rider traveling through England in the early 1920s. His bike randomly stopped working, and he had to stop at a cottage for help, or else he’d wreck.
An old woman lived in the cottage. She said a local gremlin had interfered with his motorcycle and gave the man a bell to scare away the negativity.
He hung the bell on his bike, and it ran like new.
The World War II Legend
During World War II, exhausted pilots would hallucinate and imagine gremlins harming their planes. They hung bells in the cockpit to ward off the negative spirits.
The constant ringing also helped pilots stay alert and not fall into a hallucination while in the air.
The Solo Rider Legend
The legend of the solo rider focuses on a man who stopped at a small restaurant for lunch on his motorcycle journey.
When the bell over the door rang, signaling his entrance, he asked the waitress what it meant. She told him that the bell warded off negative spirits.
Since it worked for the restaurant, the rider got a bell for the rest of his journey. Anytime something went wrong with his bike, he rang the bell, and it started working smoothly.
Instead of carrying it everywhere, he hung it from the motorcycle, kickstarting the use of gremlin bells.
The Couple Legend
This unique legend sees things with a positive spin. When a young couple took a late-night motorcycle ride, they felt a bump and heard a shriek.
They stopped and looked around, realizing they had hit and killed a gremlin.
After that night, the couple hung a bell on their bike to alert all gremlins of the bike’s approach, giving them time to run to safety.
In Memoriam
While not a legend, many bikers hang an angel bell as a memorial to a friend lost to an accident. Some angel bells have inscriptions for their loved ones.
Over time, some riders started hanging memorial bells for lost friends, family members, or pets. The constant ringing reminds them of their lost one instead of warding off evil road spirits.
Guardian Bell Rules
Though the guardian bell’s purpose is to ensure motorcycle riders’ safety, there are some rules to follow to meet the mark.
1. Don’t Buy the Bell
You want to stay safe on your rides, so you understandably want to buy a guardian bell. However, that’s against the rules.
Someone has to give you the guardian bell to activate its powers. The gesture of goodwill when someone asks the bell to keep you safe ensures it pushes away the evil road spirits.
2. Hang It Low
The person who gives you the gremlin bell will also hang it on your bike. The best placement for the motorcycle bell is on the lowest part of the frame.
Put it near the front of the bike so it’s the first thing that road gremlins encounter. The bell’s body grabs them before they can cause mischief and harm your bike.
3. Keep Your Bell
If you plan to sell your motorcycle, remove the spirit bells first. Someone who buys a bike with a guardian bell attached won’t get the same protection as from their own bell.
This goes the same for a stolen bell. It will not work for the person who stole the bell, or the bike the guardian bell was attached to.
You can, however, remove the angel bell and give it to the buyer to revive its power.
4. Give With Good Intentions
When you give someone an angel bell, you should have good intentions. You might sell your bike because you need the money but hate to part with it, so you begrudgingly give someone the gremlin bell.
This gift is worthless because it won’t have the power to capture evil road spirits.
You can buy a guardian bell with intentional goodwill for a fellow biker. It is also the perfect gift for a new rider to protect them from harmful spirits.
Guardian bells work on good intentions and karma. You always want to express kindness and goodwill when you give someone a biker bell.
5. Polish the Bell
Each time you clean your bike, polish the bell. Since it’s a low-hanging bell, it encounters a lot of dirt and debris.
You want to keep it shiny so it can absorb more bad luck and keep you safe from mechanical problems and other issues.
Treat it respectfully, thinking of all those lost from motorcycle accidents as you clean your motorcycle bell.
FAQs
If you want more information about guardian bells, check out the answers to these frequently asked questions.
What does it mean when someone gives you a bell for your motorcycle?
Someone giving you a bell to put on your motorcycle is a gesture of goodwill. They show that they care about you and your safety.
In fact, the guardian bell works best if someone gives it to you instead of you buying one for yourself. The kindness of the gesture and good deed activates the bell’s power and keeps you safe while you ride.
What is the difference between a guardian bell and a gremlin bell?
Guardian bell and gremlin bell are different names for the same item.
A guardian bell wards off evil spirits and gremlins for motorcycle riders. You’ll hang the bell on your motorcycle near the front, low to the ground, to intercept any bad luck before it reaches the rest of your bike.
How many guardian bells can you have on a motorcycle?
There’s no strict rule about how many guardian bells you can put on your motorcycle, but most motorcycle riders only have one.
Some people say that bikes in accidents either have no or several bells, so one is the safest bet. If you follow all the guidelines from the article, one bell is all you’ll need for a good luck charm.
Are there different types of guardian bells?
Each guardian bell may have different types of designs. However, all of these bells hold the same legend of good luck.
The constant ringing of the bells can trap a group of gremlins in the hollow of the bell. A new bell bought with good intentions is a great gift.
You can find guardian bells with designs such as the American bald eagle and the United States flag, Jesus Christ, angel wings, commemorative bells, and many more.
If you look around, you can find the perfect guardian bells with protective power for your friends. Don’t forget to grab a few bell hangers!
Here are a few popular designs:
Final Thoughts
A guardian bell is one of the best gifts you can get for the motorcycle rider in your life.
When someone gives you a little bell, hang it on your motorcycle proudly.
This guardian bell indicates that someone cares about you and wants to keep you safe while you travel.
When we left for our trip on our small motorcycles, I didn’t yet know how much of a difference having a guardian bell can make.
There are several legends about gremlin bells, but they all have the same focus. The bell distracts or captures gremlins trying to harm you and your bike.
So on a short ride or a long cross country trip, bring your bell along. Hang the bell low, so it’s close to the road, grabbing the negativity before it ever reaches you.
It’s a beautiful thing that a small bell can hold so much power.