Passes & Canyons Blog

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.

I mentioned previously that I bought a new pair of riding pants and now I’ve had more chance to try them out. This is an update.

As you may recall, the pants I bought were the REV’IT! Vapor 2s. Fact is, my primary interest was for some summertime pants that would offer protection and make packing easier because I would only need to pack pants to wear in the evening, after wearing the riding pants all day while on the bike. Nevertheless, I also wanted to see how they would do as winter pants, offering both warmth and protection. I actually see protection as a bigger issue in winter than in summer because in winter there is the possibility of ice or else sand laid down to counter the ice.

So it’s winter, or at least late fall if you go by the official season dates, so my testing has been to see how they do on cold days. First I rode with jeans on underneath and no liner, then with both jeans and the liner, and thirdly with the liner but no jeans, along with long underwear.

The first time, with jeans, I was comfortable but noticed some coolness on the backs of my legs. The fronts have armor so that does a great job of stopping the wind.

The second time, with jeans and the liner, my biggest problem was getting them on. It probably took me 10 minutes, and in order to snap the waist I had to remove my belt because the buckle was just too much. You might argue that I should have bought a size larger but if I had gone that route I probably would have needed to go to a different brand of pants. And who knows, maybe I should have. I went with a smaller size because the legs were so long and even then I had to special order the shorter legs option. If I had gone with a larger waist the legs would probably have been just too long. But with what I got, Judy made the very good point that I better not gain weight or the pants won’t fit.

Anyway, riding with both jeans and liner was totally warm. Really nice. Along with my heated gear it was just as comfortable as riding in much warmer weather.

The third time seems to have been the charm, though. Thermal long underwear made up for the lack of jeans and they fit better in the pants with liner.

I’m still getting used to the pants in that they restrict my movement a bit, but I just step onto the peg and raise myself up before swinging my leg over. On the Honda I don’t even need to do that because the seat height on that bike is so low. Once I settle onto the seat all is fine.

Overlooked in all this is the fact that I already had other things to wear on my legs for warmth. For many, many years I have had a pair of leather chaps and for a somewhat shorter period of time I have had some fleece-lined chaps. The leathers are meant for all-year riding while the fleece ones are specifically winter oriented. Just for a comparison I have been wearing them lately, too, and will discuss how they all compare in my next post.

Biker Quote for Today

Animals travel on all fours. Mankind on two. Motorcycling is not a means of transport but an ideology, a nomadic way of life. — Amit Reddy