Archive for the ‘Motorcycle Gear’ Category

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The Motorcyclist In Winter

Monday, February 17th, 2020
motorcycle sidecar rigs

Sidecar riders are especially capable of winter riding.

Riding motorcycles in the snow is not a lot of fun (unless you’re doing the annual Elephant Run or going ice racing), so for most of us winter is pretty much down time.

For the hard-core rider, at least those who don’t live where a “cold” day means 40 degrees, this time of year is sort of like doing jail time. What can you do to while away those days until Springtime springs you from your cage (pun intended)? Here are some ideas.

First off, just as farmers use the winter to mend their equipment, so should we. Take the time finally to give that bike a good cleaning. If there are repairs you’ve been putting off, now is the time. Or perhaps, more along the fun route, there are some new enhancements (otherwise known as “geegaws” or “farkles”) that you’ve been wanting to add to your bike. If Santa didn’t bring them to you, or you could play Santa yourself, to yourself. Your bike will thank you.

Of course, there’s no time like now to be planning next summer’s trip. Get out the maps, hit the Internet, and let your imagination run wild. The more you crave a ride the more you’re going to enjoy visions of next summer on the road. Take all the pleasure you can get from it. I know people do this because traffic on this website really spikes right after the first of the year and the pages being visited say “trip planning.”

On occasion you may want to drop by your favorite motorcycle dealership and enjoy the eye candy. Touch those gleaming tanks, sit on a few of those beauties. Again, let your imagination get carried away. The truth is, this may stoke your fever more than assuage it, but that’s still a lot more fun than sitting home moping.

Have you ever watched “On Any Sunday”? Surely you’ve at least heard of it, the motorcyclist-favorite 1971 documentary about racers and racing fans, including Steve McQueen, but have you ever watched it? If the answer is no, you owe it to yourself to do so now. This one will definitely get your motor running. And you can find it for free online.

Finally, there is one option you should never forget when the winter doldrums have you down: Go ride.

OK, sure there are times when you absolutely can’t. Two feet of snow on the ground and streets that are impassable even for four-wheel-drive vehicles will not miraculously open up for a motorcycle. But how often does that happen each winter? Watch the forecast, keep the bike well-charged so you know it will start, and be ready.

Never mind that it’s freezing cold out there–man up! Dress warmly (an electric vest is a wonderful thing) and get out there, if even just for half an hour. You’ll be glad you did, and you know you’ll be telling all your buddies about it. And all the time they’re telling you you’re crazy they’ll have that wistful look in their eye wishing they had done it, too.

Biker Quote for Today

Even as a second commuter vehicle, it knew when to dance into an opening and when to open its joy and race past every standing fool on the road. — tomisb

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Fall Riding, Very Cool–Sometimes

Thursday, October 17th, 2019
motorcycle and fall color

This time of year makes for some fabulous rides.

Riding a motorcycle is not like driving a car. Have you noticed that?

For instance, no one ever mentions to you how they headed out in their car and discovered it was a lot warmer or cooler than they expected and therefore they were way too hot or way too cool. They just took care of it with the AC or the heater and didn’t give it another thought.

Not so those of us on two wheels. And there is no more likely time to get that surprise than at the changing of the seasons, like right now.

Until this week, the last several times I’ve been out on my bikes I have consistently underestimated how chilly it was going to be. I’m not stupid, though, and I have a few years of experience under my belt, so I was carrying along the warmer gear to compensate.

And riding in cool weather is pretty energizing. The term “cool, brisk fall days” speaks to a reality. It’s very cool (yes, double meaning) actually.

Then there was last Tuesday. The forecast was for one more warm day followed by serious, serious cold. As in a low of 14 degrees. That’s cold! I figured I’d better take advantage so off I went on the Concours. The thermometer said 75 so, after being surprised by the cool recently, I overdressed for the warmth. You can always remove layers.

Boy did I overdress. To the point where I was roasting. So I stopped and shed a layer, right? No, that would have been too easy, too intelligent.

I wanted a convenient place to stop. And it’s amazing how when you want something specific you never seem to find it. At any time I could have turned off onto a side street, stopped and de-layered, and turned around and gotten back on the main road. But that would not have been convenient.

I finally remembered that my jacket has vents so I opened the ones in front, and that helped some. I groped in back but could not locate the rear vents or that would have helped even more.

So finally I ended up back home and oh golly, how glad I was to rip some layers off.

As I said, you never hear stories like this from people driving cars, do you. But I’ll bet that nearly every one of you could tell some similar story about riding your motorcycle. Riding a motorcycle is not like driving a car.

Biker Quote for Today

Riding motorcycles helps clear the cobwebs from my mind; if I ride long enough I get to kill some of the spiders.

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Road Tested: Update On Riding Gear

Thursday, August 29th, 2019
motorcyclist on bike

All geared up on the V-Strom.

It occurred to me on this latest OFMC trip that I was road-testing various articles of gear for the first time. That is to say, the first extended test, as opposed to going for a two-hour ride. So what’s the scoop?

Riding Pants
I had tried out my new riding pants on day rides but this was a quantum leap. I brought only one pair of jeans and the rest were lightweight, comfortable pants for in the evening. I planned to ride each day with the riding pants and only underwear underneath.

When I tried them on at home before the trip, though, it was the first time in warmer weather and thus the first time I didn’t at least have long underwear on. I found the armor in the knees rubbed uncomfortably on my knees. So I took an old pair of socks I was throwing away and cut off the toes. Then I pulled them up over my knees, with the heels covering my knees and then tried the pants on. The socks worked great.

This system got more of a test on the trip because a couple days I forgot to put the “knee socks” on. And the armor rubbed uncomfortably. So I’m sold on the socks. Plus, I’m sold on the pants. For one or two days on the trip I decided to wear the jeans instead. You know, I never noticed before how tight and constricting jeans are, at least compared to these looser fitting, very comfortable riding pants. I’m sold.

I will say, though, that at times when we were standing around and it was hot, these riding pants were definitely hotter than jeans would have been. Kind of like keeping your jacket on.

Riding Jacket
Oh yes, the jacket. That was new as well.

I like this jacket. It’s mesh with a zip-in liner. On the hot days it was so nice to have that cooling air movement passing over me. On cooler days, with the liner in it still needed assistance, such as a sweat shirt, to be warm enough but that was not hard to address. And pockets? I mentioned pockets previously and there are so many I didn’t even use all of them.

The jacket is definitely comfortable all day. With the armor it doesn’t compress as compactly as I might like so it wasn’t always possible to stuff it into the top bag at stops but I can live with that. I’d certainly rather have the armor in case it is needed.

Tank Bag
My newest acquisition was a Wolfman tank bag for the V-Strom. Though not as large as the tank bag I’ve had on the Concours for many years, this little baby proved itself to be extremely useful.

There are always a variety of smaller things you want to keep handy on a bike and up till now I had been keeping them stashed in the top bag on the back. But that was never ideal because in order to get in there I need to dismount, take the key out of the ignition, and open the thing. Then do the reverse to get ready to ride again. With the tank bag, I just unzip, do what I need to do, and rezip.

I kept granola bars, my camera, sunscreen, a cap–all sorts of stuff in that bag. Plus, at stops, I would stash my gloves in it. This tank bag is a big winner.

Top Bag
Speaking of the top bag, I’ve definitely road-tested it well over a period of years but this time out I ran into an issue. The bag is mounted on two rails on the bottom, with four bolts. In the six years I’ve had the bag the bike has been dropped at least four times that I can recall. Apparently, that impact has caused those bolts to rip through the rather cheap rails and/or the even cheaper plastic connection points on the bottom of the bag.

As I was packing to go I noticed that it wobbled a bit on its mounts and an inspection showed that it was only attached by two bolts, not the four as originally. It has probably been this way for awhile so I didn’t see any immediate issue but I figure the next time the bike gets dropped that bag is likely to come completely off, with no good way to put it back on. Still, just for insurance, I decided to stabilize it a bit using a bungee cord.

The problem there was that I kept undoing the bungee when I needed to get in the bag and then forgetting to reconnect it after. So I would be cruising down the road and realize that the cord was hanging loose. Now, if it was hanging loose over the side that could be a real hazard but I found that it was always just sitting there on the seat behind me. Still, there was always the danger so I finally figured out to hook the loose end to my handlebars so there was no way I could ride away without remembering to reattach it.

Bottom line, though, is that I expect I’m going to need a new top bag at some point in the future.

So there we go. A bunch of new gear and I’m very pleased with each item. Cool.

Biker Quote for Today

Don’t let the fear of what could happen make nothing happen.

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Riding And Electronics

Thursday, July 11th, 2019

I’m developing a bit of a love-hate relationship with the electronics I (try to) ride with.

For years I was the hold-out who still didn’t have a cell phone. Now I do and so when I ride I want it with me in case I have trouble and I want it to work. But I want more from it than that.

I have this REVER app on my phone that will track your rides, which for someone like, me who blogs about my rides, it’s really convenient so I can show the routes, such as that one above. But to use it you first need a cell phone with power and you also need to remember to launch the app and start tracking.

I did a ride with the RMMRC recently over Guanella Pass and had intended to track it but when I turned my phone on to start tracking I saw I only had about 19% power. First I figured I’d start tracking and let it die at whatever point it did, but then realized I had not brought a camera, needed to shoot at least one picture, and if I ran the battery dead I would have no picture. So I turned it off so I could get a photo, no tracking today.

Then I went on the Ice Cream Ride and this time I tracked. That’s the map above. But REVER uses GPS and that sucks a lot of juice so I brought along a back-up power source to supplement. Between the phone battery and the back-up I barely made it home with any power left. But I did.

I also found on this ride that they have upgraded REVER so that it now automatically powers down when you’re stopped and starts itself up again when you start moving again. That saves power (I guess, maybe not, the GPS must still be functioning) and it saves you having to constantly turn it off and on again. So thanks guys, that upgrade is appreciated.

Then this past Saturday I went on this dual-sport ride and definitely wanted to track it. And this time I took my camera along so I wouldn’t have to depend on the phone for pictures. So we started out from Performance Cycle and it dawned on me I had not started REVER. Oh well, I’ll fire it up at Sedalia when we stop there.

At Sedalia I pulled out the phone and pressed the start button and nothing happened. I pressed and held it and it came alive, started booting up, and shut down. Somehow I was down to about zero power. How the heck did that happen? Did I leave some app running that sucked all the power? Who knows.

So now I’m going to add a new item on my prep list: make sure all electronics are fully charged the night before the ride. I had done that with the camera, but that’s not even so important because with that I have a spare battery I can easily swap in. But I need to make sure that dang phone is fully charged and also that back-up power source. And then I need to bring them both! And then I need to remember to start REVER!

I may eventually figure this out.

Biker Quote for Today

I pull out the choke and turn on the key, I squeeze the clutch, press the button and I’m free. — Nsmith82990

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Fun With Fobs

Monday, July 1st, 2019
Kawasaki Concours 14

I rode one of these and loved it but Jungle says he would never own one.

My friend Jungle was for many years a big fan of the Kawasaki Concours. He owned several and put many miles on them. Of course, I ride a Concours, too, so that may have contributed to our bonding.

A few years ago I had the chance to test ride a then new Concours 14. I didn’t like that it had a smaller gas tank or that it was heavier than the old one but the ride was wonderful. I loved it.

So of course I had to tell Jungle about it the next time I saw him.

He surprised me telling me that he would never own one. His issue: they use a key fob, which, as a security measure, makes it impossible to start the bike unless the fob is nearby. I know a number of bikes have these now but Jungle is dead set against them.

His complaint is that it is electronic, and anything electronic at some time or another will not work. As he said, at some point you will try to start your motorcycle, everything will be in perfect working order on the bike itself, but the fob will fail to work and you will be stranded. Inevitably, in his estimation. It will happen, sooner or later.

That conversation comes to mind because in the latest issue of Rider magazine that showed up in my mailbox the other day there is a letter about fobs. The letter writer encountered a fellow walking along the road with a helmet in his hand and figured something was definitely amiss.

Long story short, this guy was one of two who had rented bikes for a few days and at one point they decided to swap and ride the other bike. This guy left his running and got off. His friend turned his bike off. The friend jumped on the running bike and took off. When the first guy tried to start the other bike it wouldn’t.

They had not traded fobs. Once the buddy realized his friend was not behind him he stopped to wait. Turned off the bike. When his friend did not show up he decided to head back to see what the matter was, but the bike would not start.

The letter writer was the savior in this misadventure.

Not exactly Jungle’s postulated difficulty but one to keep in mind.

I remember when I bought a new car many years ago and was considering whether to pay the extra for a car with extras, such as power windows. I was convinced that sooner or later those windows would fail to work–it was just a matter of time.

I bought that car anyway and I drove it for 207,000 miles. The windows always worked perfectly. Then I got another car, and this time thought nothing of the power windows. Well, I have about 71,000 miles on this newer car and . . . drumroll . . . one of the power windows no longer works.

Bottom line: you never know. At least with user error you can think ahead and avoid it (swap your fobs!).

Biker Quote for Today

Anybody who could ride a 500cc GP motorcycle well enough to qualify on Grand Prix grid is a hero, Anybody! because these things are the most evil devices if your treat them wrong they will bite. — Julian Ryder

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Tank Bag For The V-Strom

Monday, June 10th, 2019

If I have one motorcycle that has plenty of storage space it is the V-Strom, especially now. I just put on a tank bag.

Wolfman tank bag

    My new Wolfman tank bag on the V-Strom.

The V-Strom already has a pair of really large Givi side bags. These things are so big that when I travel one-up I don’t even need to worry about packing, I just throw stuff in and never get them more than half full.

Nevertheless, awhile ago I added a top case on the back. What that enables me to do is leave the side bags off most of the time while still giving me cargo room. I mean, who needs to be riding around with those huge, empty side bags all the time?

Now the tank bag takes that a step further, adding a lot of convenience in storing smaller items such as a camera or gloves or such.

I had no idea how this tank bag was supposed to attach and I don’t recall that there were instructions, which now strikes me as somewhat odd. But it is made by Wolfman, and I knew that Ron Coleman, who rents V-Stroms and equips most of his bikes with Wolfman bags would be able to help me out. So I headed up to Boulder for assistance. I mean, heck, what more excuse do you need for a ride on what proved to be a beautiful spring day?

It turned out to be super simple. If I had known what to do I could have done it myself easily. One of the things that confused me was that the bag came with four identical straps, but for some reason I’m sure makes sense to Wolfman, they were laced together in the package. I looked at that funny thing and had no idea how you would put that to use. Answer: you separate the pieces and hook each one up separately. Doh!

So all it took was to loop each strap around a bar at each end of the gas tank, slip on the snaps, and presto–tank bag mounted. Heck, I thought we were going to need to raise the tank so as to feed the straps under it. This was so much easier than I expected.

Not that I headed home right away. It seems Ron and Jacque recently took a three-week trip to Vietnam where they rented motorcycles and hired guides and did some serious touring of that country. And of course Ron had all sorts of stories to tell and photos to show me.

Anyway, thanks for the help, Ron.

Biker Quote for Today

Go soothingly on the grease mud as there lurks the Skid Demon.

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