Archive for the ‘Motorcycle Gear’ Category

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The Rubber Meets The Road

Thursday, December 27th, 2018
piles of tires and wheels

Tires are pretty important, do ya think?

Have you ever watched the tread melt off your tire? I have. Not literally turning to liquid and dripping off, but being worn off in a matter of hours.

What you need to understand is that motorcycle tires are an entirely different critter than car tires. With car tires you have a broad, almost flat tread that the car rides on top off all the time. Motorcycle tires have a round profile because when you turn, you are leaning the bike. The round profile ensures that you always have tread in solid contact with the ground.

With only two tires, and those having very small contact areas, it is extremely important that you have good grip. Car tires have a hard rubber tread that will last 35,000 miles and more. In order to get a good grip, motorcycle tires use a very soft rubber. And guess what? That soft rubber wears away a whole lot quicker than hard rubber, generally not lasting much more than 10,000 miles.

Then there’s the effect of air pressure in the tires. It’s common knowledge that under-inflated tires wear out quicker, on cars as well as bikes. And while under-inflation can ruin a set of car tires in just a few thousand miles, that’s nothing compared to the soft rubber on motorcycle tires.

Which gets me back to my story.

In the early days of the OFMC, John and Bill and I went one year to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. While there I noticed that I was getting a bit thin on tread and mentioned it to the guys, who looked and agreed I would be needing new tires pretty soon after we got back home.

We only rode on to Page, AZ, the next day, which is about 100 miles. While unloading the bike I happened to glance at my rear tire and I was shocked. What little tread it had just a few hours ago was almost completely gone! I called Bill and John over and they gasped in amazement. Somebody had a tire gauge and when I checked my air pressure it was very, very low.

Of course I put air in, and it’s no surprise I was nervous the rest of the trip about the possibility of a blow-out. Realistically, I should have had a new tire put on right there in Page, but ever the optimist and a cheapskate to boot, I didn’t. And it did get me home safely.

But I tell you what, these days I have it on my calendar to check tire pressure on both my bikes and my car at the first of every month. And if I’m getting set to go on a trip I check the pressure before I leave.

This is really all just common sense, but it’s so easy sometimes to ignore common sense. It is far, far harder to ignore your own eyes when you see the tread vanish from a tire that quickly. We all learned a good lesson that day.

Biker Quote for Today

If you think it’s too dangerous, go home and cut your lawn, and leave us to it. — Guy Martin

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Comparing Chaps And Riding Pants

Thursday, December 13th, 2018

It has gotten fairly cold lately but that doesn’t stop me from riding. Only icy streets and snow stop me from riding. So it makes sense that I have gear to keep my legs warm.

fleece-lined chaps

My fleece-lined chaps

My legs actually get short shrift compared to the rest of my body. I have boots on my feet and electric gloves for my hands. I have an electric vest for my torso, and a helmet for my head. And of all this, the stuff I wear least often is the stuff for my legs. I don’t know why; maybe this year I’ll make more of a point of using these things. Anyway, lately I’ve made a point of wearing everything just to do a comparison.

My earliest acquisition was leather chaps. These don’t have any insulating properties and there is no armor but they stop the wind. Often that’s all you need. But when it’s really cold, your butt is going to get a bit chilly. And your legs, too, after a long enough while. But they’re quick and easy to put on and do offer protection in case you go down.

Later on I got a pair of fleece-lined CORDURA®︎ chaps from Colorado Chaps and these were really meant for colder weather. They stop the wind, and they provide insulation, but there is no armor and they probably offer less protection than the leathers. They are chaps, however, so once again, your butt can feel the cold. And after awhile you’re going to get cold just the same. In fact, that’s the case with all three of these things and the only way to get around that is electrics. That’s something I don’t have yet, electric pants liners. Maybe that’s next on my list.

For overall (non-electric) warmth, my Vapor 2 riding pants by REV’IT! are the winner. They have armor, they cover my butt, and with the liner and long underwear they are the warmest of the three. They’re also the most awkward to get on. (The fleece-lined chaps are the easiest to get on.)

So what’s my preference? I guess for really cold weather I’ll choose the Vapor 2s. When it’s cold but not so much, I think I’ll start wearing the fleece-lined chaps more. And I will probably continue not to wear the leathers very much. I never have worn them much, even though they’re the ones I’ve had the longest.

On the other hand, I’m looking forward to the summer now when I’ll be able to really try out the Vapor 2s as summer riding gear. Without the liner and without jeans, and with vents, they should be very cool and comfortable to wear while still offering serious protection. And that will be another update, in maybe six or seven months.

Biker Quote for Today

Try to remember the reason you started riding a motorcycle in the first place. For me, it was a couple of things but mostly rebellion. — Sonny Barger

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Further Experience With New Riding Pants

Monday, December 10th, 2018

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.

REV'IT Vapor 2 pants

My REV’IT Vapor 2 pants

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

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My New Riding Pants

Monday, November 19th, 2018

For quite some time now I have been looking covetously at my friends who have weatherproof, armored riding pants. These are the people who have no reason to stop when the weather turns wet. While the rest of us are making quick stops to suit up, they sit and wait for us.

REV'IT Vapor 2 pants

My REV’IT Vapor 2 pants

I decided to become one of them. I went down to Performance Cycle and came home with a pair of REV’IT! Vapor 2 pants.

There are several attractions. First there is the armor. If I go down I like the idea of having armor in the knees and hips. I’ll still need to put on a rain jacket but putting on the rain pants is always the biggest pain.

But another really big thing is the benefit for packing. These are pants you can wear without having to wear other pants beneath. When you’re traveling, you get up, put on the Vapor 2s with just your underwear beneath, and when you get to the day’s destination you change out of them into shorts, light-weight pants, jeans–whatever you want. The point being that you can pack pants that are more compact than jeans and/or you can just pack fewer pants.

What I’m still looking to explore is their winter usefulness. In the summer I can ride with just underwear beneath, or I can wear jeans beneath. All of this with the flannel liner removed. In winter I can ride with jeans beneath and no liner or add in the liner for additional warmth.

So far I’ve only worn them once on a cold day and that was without the liner. I found that in front, primarily due to the armor, they were plenty warm. However, the back sides of my legs felt the relative coolness. I have yet to ride with the liner in.

All that said, wearing them takes some getting used to. They feel a little big and clunky on me and them impede the act of swinging my leg over the saddle. I just have to do it in a more planned, deliberate manner.

Will I really take to them, and make them an everyday part of my riding gear? I’ll let you know.

Biker Quote for Today

Son, someday you will make a girl very happy, for a short period of time. Then she’ll leave you and be with new men who are ten times better than you could ever hope to be. These men are call motocross racers.

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To Fair Or Not To Fair

Monday, July 9th, 2018
motorcycles

I just don’t like not having at least a windshield.

I was pretty ignorant when I bought my first motorcycle but there was one things I was sure of: I didn’t like getting pounded by the wind. So one of the very first things I did was go to a parts shop for wind protection. I asked to see fairings and mentioned that I really wanted a windshield; the sales guy rolled his eyes and asked which it was, did I want a fairing or a windshield?

Truth is, I didn’t know the difference. I thought they were pretty much two words for the same thing. Wrong. A windshield is essentially a curved piece of clear plastic that blocks the wind. A fairing often covers up much of the front end of the bike, has compartments for storage and installation of electronics, and provides much greater protection from both wind, rain, and flying objects.

I bought a windshield that day, for my Honda CB750 Custom. Years later, when I bought my Kawasaki Concours, it came with a full fairing as part of the package. I still don’t like getting pounded by the wind.

A lot of guys think very differently than I do. For many, a windshield or fairing ruins the look of the machine and that’s what they care about, at least more than they care about the buffeting. Others actually seem to like the wind blast, considering it part of what motorcycling is all about. I just don’t get it.

For one thing, it’s work to ride fast when the wind is beating on you trying to throw you back off the bike. Additionally, for example, right after I bought the Kawi I went riding with the guys and of course they wanted to test ride it. So John and I swapped bikes and I rode his naked Honda Shadow. Not only was the wind uncomfortable for me, without a fairing or windshield it also blasted my eyes behind the glasses I wore for eye protection, making them water profusely. By the time we stopped to trade back I could barely see and the sides of my face were streaked with the tears that had left trails back toward my ears. Give me my own bike back!

I do understand that on some bikes with lower seat heights you actually sit down more into the bike than on others, and the front end and aerodynamics reduce the wind blast. I experienced that when I test rode some Triumph motorcycles. Even without wind protection they were comfortable until I got up to 70 mph, and at 70 the blast was not as bad as on other bikes at much lesser speeds. But if I ever buy a Bonneville I’m still going to put a windshield on it.

In recent years, manufacturers have made big strides in making windshields more attractive, as well as easy to install and remove. Harley-Davidson, in particular, offers attractive brackets that allow you to do either in about two seconds. That makes it easy for the guys who want to cruise around town without the windshield, but do want to have one when they travel.

And that would include people like my buddy, Bill. He decided to go with that type of system when he bought one of his Harleys, but after giving it a try he decided he still liked traveling without it. Later, however, with a newer, different Harley, he has finally concluded the fairing really is kind of nice. I still just don’t get it why he preferred no fairing for so many years. I never will.

Biker Quote for Today

Life is not waiting for the storm to pass . . . learn to dance under the rain.

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My New Shoei RF-SR Helmet

Monday, July 2nd, 2018

So this is probably the best helmet I’ve ever had. It’s certainly the most expensive. But hey, you know the saying: If your head is only worth $5 then buy a $5 helmet. Otherwise . . .

Shoei RF-SR helmet

Not the best picture I could have come up but this is my new helmet.

The helmet is a Shoei RF-SR. And I’m happy to say I already need to clean the visor.

So how do I like it? Well, it’s kind of mixed. It is certainly the most comfortable helmet I’ve ever had. My first was a Bieffe and it pressed on my forehead and gave me a headache after wearing it awhile. Since then I’ve had several others and while all have been serviceable, the two I’ve been using the last few years are by far the noisiest I’ve ever owned.

This was one of the selling points for the RF-SR. Eddy McCarty at Fay Myers says Shoei makes the quietest helmets on the market.

So maybe I was expecting too much. Yes this new helmet is much quieter than the old ones but it was not as quiet as I hoped. Of course, what I really need to do is go for a ride with one of the old ones on and see if it now seems much noisier than the Shoei.

Eddy also talked about the ventilation and that is another thing I may have had too high expectations. The RF-SR has vents at your forehead and matching vents in the rear. Riding on a hot day I could feel that flow of air across the top of my head and it was welcome. But the rest of my head was very hot. I suspect that is in part a result of having a better helmet than I’ve had before: With better padding and better fit there is simply not as much room for air to move around inside the helmet. When you have padding pressed right up against your cheeks there is not going to be air flow past your cheeks.

The one thing that is terrific about this helmet, however, is the built-in pockets for communicator speakers. In all previous helmets I have had to do my best to locate the speakers in any recession existing, and usually ended up with them rubbing against my ears. I think all new helmets now come with spaces designed to take speakers and keep them away from your ear and therefore comfortable.

Removing and installing the visor is a two-second job with the RF-SR. Several of my old helmets–most notably my Bieffe and HJC–made these operations so difficult as to be almost impossible. I busted the whole mechanism on one of them one time just trying to get the visor attached.

So there are a couple things I’m not as thrilled with as I had hoped but I do like the idea of having an actual high quality helmet finally. If in a few weeks I find I’m not so thrilled–or find myself much more pleased–I’ll make note of that here.

Biker Quote for Today

She’s got a wide seat, a couple of saddlebags, smokes like a fiend, and doesn’t mind being call a hog. What a hottie!

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