Bodett Reviews: Motorcycle Gear and Accessories

Just a couple cool shots of my bike

2009-07-27T22:46:00.000-07:00

Got bored on a nice 90 degree night and thought it was a good time to go take a few pictures of the bike in my work's parking garage.
They're not the best (too noisy) but I really needed a tripod.

If the Glove Doesn't Fit you Must Acquit...

2009-06-20T23:58:00.000-07:00

I was riding around a few weeks ago with my Motogp RPM gloves, which oddly enough I don't think I've reviewed yet, and got caught in a massive downpour. Wasn't the worst thing in the world, and it's not the first scuba trip these gloves have seen, but after two days of hanging them in front of a space heater and wearing them they still hadn't gotten dry. I had recently taken notice of a strange pain in my right palm while riding for extended periods of time and thought that maybe this new pain and recent damp state of my current gloves warranted seeking a replacement. I went straight from work one day all of two miles over to my resident Cycle Gear to investigate what they had in the way of leather gauntlets. All the familiar brands were there: Tourmaster, Dainese, Alpinestars, Frank Thomas. I tried on a pair of Dainese gloves that felt pretty good, but not $190 good. A pair or two of Alpinestars and a set of touring gloves from Tourmaster just for giggles. For the money the Alpinestars felt like a decent replacement. Yes, I base comfort on cost. I'm not going to pay $200 for jeans unless it feels like I'm not wearing pants. Likewise, I'm not going to pay $200 for gloves if they feel baggy or constrictive.

The Alpinestars SP-2 gloves that I picked up were size medium, my usual choice, and were just a wee bit on the tight side when holding on to an actual grip. I thought this would be best and decided to give the gloves a few weeks to break in before thinking about a write up. Sure enough they loosened right up and well, fit like a glove. Interesting phrase, 'fit like a glove,' because personally I don't really find that many gloves that fit well enough to warrant their own expression. Usually gloves have fingers lengths that don't match that of my actual fingers. They also detract from tactile sensation which can be a little hindering at times.

This was not the case with the SP-2 gloves. I immediately noticed an increase in tactile sensation in comparison to my Motogp RPM gloves. They're both made of cowhide, but I can only assume that the Alpinestars must use a slightly thinner grade. Even so, the SP-2s have good additional leather in all impact areas and the now typical carbon fiber knuckle protector. One feature that I wasn't sure if I was going to like but ended up really enjoying is the lack of a wrist closure. There's a large Velcro strap for setting the cuff around the width of your jacket, but you only really need to do it once. After that it's just a simple pull on, pull off operation. The cuffs are long enough to make up for the short sleeves on my RS Taichi jacket and have finally filled the gap and prevented air from rushing in under my sleeve. The gloves provide good comfort, perhaps after a break-in period, and great ease of use. For right around $100 they're a very nice glove and come in black, black/white, red and blue if your'e so inclined.

The Good

Very decent price for great Alpinestars gear. Carbon fiber knuckle guard. Reinforced palm area. Decently long cuffs with good adjustable for most jackets. Easy on-off operation.

The Bad

A little stronger elastic around the wrist wouldn't be frowned upon by me. Tags are placed at very end of cuffs and tend to hang out in the wind, not a big deal. Broken-in feel at purchase would have lent to a more confident purchase.

Sorry Shoei, I have a new love....(Arai RX-7 Corsair)

2009-06-20T22:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Shoei RF-1000

I'm not quite sure how to start this letter. We've spent so much time with each other and we fit so well together. I feel really safe with you and you've always been really great to me, but lately I've gotten this strange feeling down in my gut. This feeling that maybe there's something more out there and I'll never know if I don't try something new. I know I left you before for that Suomy Spec1R, but it was just so pretty and expensive and I thought we'd be happy together. But it was only after long periods of time that I found the Suomy just wasn't for me. If I spent too much time with Suomy I would get a headache and it was just so loud sometimes. Suomy's still around, and we hang out every once in a while, but she's nothing like you. You're so versatile and comfortable. Good in the heat, and in the cold. But, not great in either. I might as well just say it. I'm leaving you for an Arai RX-7 Corsair. She may not look like much, but she's gorgeous to me and I'm way more comfortable than I've ever been before. Not to mention how well the Arai keeps me cool, or not, depending on what I want. So that's it. I'm sorry it had to be like this, but, you're a helmet, you don't have ears. Now that I think of it, you probably can't read either, let alone English. I promise we'll still hang out from time to time. I still think you're pretty, I've just found something better for me.

Sincerely,

Courtney's big dumb head

Wow, so that was awkward. Yes it's true; I bought an Arai. I had tried them on before when I was first looking at helmets, and they did feel nice, but their color patterns really didn't do anything for me. Recently though my buddy was helmet shopping, and it got me researching a little. I discovered that Arai's have different head shapes for their different model helmets. Intermediate oval, round oval, and long oval are the shapes I became aware of. I was under the impression that my head was very long front to back, like an Alien, and because of this the long oval sounded like the perfect shape. The Suomy that I own is a whole size larger than I normally wear and it still pinches my forehand noticeably after 45 minutes or so. After work one day I decided to go a couple places and try on some Arais and see what these head shapes were all about. I tried on a medium Quantum-II with the round oval shape, a large Profile with the long oval, and a medium RX-7 Corsair with the intermediate oval shape. Much to my surprise the Profile with its large oval shape felt tighter than the other two helmets and it was a whole size larger. I guess my head isn't as long as I thought it was. It was a toss up between the Quantum-II and the RX-7, but the dealership I tried to RX-7 on at already had it marked down plus an additional 40% off. Last one. Making way for the new Corsair that Arai has out which is somewhere to the tune of $900. A really nice guy at Soundbound Honda in Tacoma let me walk around the store for a good 15 minutes or so wearing the helmet to make sure it wasn't going to be uncomfortable. After debating inside my private helmet sanctuary I decided that it was now or never since last year's models would obviously be going fast, especially at these prices. It wasn't the color I really wanted, but it was too comfortable and affordable to let go. I scooped it up and a dark visor out the door for $430.

One of the first things you notice about this helmet, besides its subtle sex appeal, is that it is very light. This is a great feature when you have to wear it on your head, sometimes for hours at a time. Accomplishing this while still being DOT and Snell approved is an impressive feat in itself. Top that off with comfy ergonomics, 8 closable vents and a fog resistant visor and I'm in motorcycling heaven. If you remove the liner and all padding inside you can clearly see the 6 holes in the top of the helmet that allow air to move in and out. There are three forward facing vents on the top that have simple toggle rockers for opening and closing. There's two rear facing vents that require rotating a level for each to open or close. Then there's two vents built in to the top of the visor itself, and a three position mouth vent. The feature that really grabbed me was a small chin/wind guard that doesn't protrude very far under the chin. But, simply reach up with your hand, grab hold of the guard, and gently tug down, and it rotates down nearly an inch to block more wind from coming up in your helmet. At speed it's immediately noticeable whether this piece is up or down, and it's very effective.

Visor changes do not require any tools although they might require a little practice. Simply rotate the visor all the way up, exposing two levers under each side of the visor, and then remove the visor. Installation is basically just the opposite of this with some subtle nuances that get easier with practice. However, I've noticed that even though the outward appearance of Arai's dark visor is similar to that of my Shoei's dark smoke and Suomy's dark visor, the view from inside is actually much lighter. It used to be that if I started riding in to the hours of dusk visibility dropped almost exponentially and it was frequently easier for me to just open the visor and squint through the high winds. This is not the case with the Arai's dark visor, although your results may vary, this is just my observation.

The Arai interior padding is what I would call plush. Supportive, but very forgiving. Slightly more supportive feeling than my worn in Shoei while somehow still feeling like it has more 'give.' The shell size also seems to suit me as my mouth isn't dangerously close to the interior of the helmet, my ears have room to breathe, and my chin doesn't hang out the bottom. All the various holes for venting do add to the wind noise a bit, but I still don't find it to be as loud as my Shoei. I tried with and without ear plugs on several occasions and even without earplugs it's not awful.

The Good

Multiple vents that can be opened and closed with gloves. No-tools visor changes. Vast visor selection. Pull down chin/wind guard. Completely, and easily, removable liner that's machine washable. DOT and Snell approved. I got it for cheap!

The Bad

Normally quite an investment (but so is your brain). Not a huge selection of colors or patterns. Rear vents are pretty vague with gloves on. If I can find anything else I'll let you know.

And using MS paint I circled the chin/wind guard in the down position. When it's up it's flush with the bottom of the helmet.

Anticlimactic: Handlebars=Done

2009-06-20T22:19:00.000-07:00

It was the beginning of last September when I was bitten by the nudist bug. Not the urge to live sans clothing but rather the idea of stripping some of the excess plastic off my bike and riding 'naked' as they say. Part of my original intention was to eventually convert the bike to using an actual handlebar rather than the very nice Cycle Cat clip ons I've been running. My idea was to buy a spare GSXR upper triple and drill it out to add mounts for a handlebar. I also figured I'd need longer throttle and clutch cables, and a nice long depressing Northwest winter would give me plenty of time to scavange for parts and take the bike apart. However, that's not the case. Instead I rode the bike all winter netting an impressive (to me) 3000 miles between October and April. Don't pat me on the back yet, I only rode when it was not raining out. Correction, I tried to only ride when it was not raining out. This was not always how it played out. Every time I rode I cursed myself for not having a balaclava, warmer gloves, or any kind of appropriate winter gear. I kept telling myself that the more I rode in the cold weather the more it would motivate me to purchase winter gear. Instead my funds went towards other winter hobbies and my body remained mostly exposed to the elements.

The last couple weeks of May I decided to get motivated on this whole 'naked' thing and get these handlebars on there. I ordered myself up a longer clutch cable, and with a little help from Peter Lombardi found myself a set of naked sv650 throttle cables. I ended up picking the Rizoma conical handlebar. 1). Because Rizoma is bling for your bike, and 2). because Flavor flaaavveeeee!!!!. But in reality, the rise and sweep of the bar fit my requirements. I wanted to convert to handlebars, but I didn't want to end up with ape hangers. Something with minimal rise and sweep was all I needed, and the Rizoma conical bars boast a thick-wall aluminum construction that would likely dampen vibrations. I picked up some ProTaper over sized bar mounts that, according to the specs, would work with the Rizoma conical bars. Back in the middle of winter I ended up finding a really cheap set of decent looking mirrors from Koso in China that I wanted to use, and I bookmarked them (smart thinking). Ordered those, and with all parts inbound I just needed a garage to work in, and access to more tools than my own. One of my co-workers who doesn't live that far away from me offered to let me use his garage and tools when the time came. Doing quite a bit of his own fabrication for various off-road vehicles, this seemed like a good choice for tool variety.

I won't give you the play by play of the whole process, but I will break down the numbers for you:
3- last minute parts
4- trips to Lowes
1- trip to Home Depot (closed)
4- bolts destroyed
3- Red Hook beers
1- cutting wheel disc worn out
2- holes drilled in the wrong spot
14- swears words used in a single sentence
12- hours spent

That just about covers it. I've been riding it with the new bars now for two weeks solid and I definitely love it. The seating position is more upright. The grip angle and width is very comfortable. Almost all vibrations that I used to feel in my hands are gone. The leverage over such a little bike around town is very fun. The only problem is, now I wish I had a bigger motor.

I was very tired when I took these pictures, but you get the idea:

And yes, I know I need to fix my brake resevoir.

Impulse Gear Buy: Overpants

2009-05-06T21:28:00.000-07:00

*gasp* a new purchase?!

I don't know what came over me the other day, but something inside me said I needed to buy some decent overpants for riding. Maybe it was the fact that I put over 3000 miles on the bike this past winter with nothing but jeans and boots to protect my ability to walk/wear shorts. Or maybe it was just that empty feeling deep in my chest from not having reviewed anything lately. We'll never know for sure.

A quick jaunt over to my local Cycle Gear and I was in business. I really only had two choices: The Firstgear HT Overpant II, or something from Frank Thomas. I asked the nice guy behind the counter which pair floated his boat and he said that he ultimately preferred the Firstgear's. The Frank Thomas ones looked nice, but I think I was just attracted to how form fitting they looked, whereas the Firstgear Overpants were closer to snow pants than anything.

Looks are definitely important, because I'm vain like that, but functionality and practicality are what really counts. The Firstgear's won hands down because they were easy to take on and off and that's something that's very important in an overpant. If they were difficult to put on and take off I'd be less inclined to actually wear them when heading out.

$180 later and I was riding away from Cycle Gear with more protection on my legs than just stylish denim. Immediately a couple things became noticeable. The first was that they only used heavy Kevlar on the knees and the shins, but not on the but or hips which are another high contact area. What this meant for regular riding (not sliding across pavement) was that my lower half felt very slippery. My knees no longer gripped the tank, and my butt slid across the seat like an ice cube on linoleum. Under hard braking I had to squeeze the tank pretty tight to keep from dashing all future hopes of procreation. Also, different from my leather pants, there are no pads in the butt area to help cushion the ride. Granted the 'given' padding of wearing overpants was quite sufficient, I did miss the extra padding.

It was probably around 50 degrees out when I was riding and I had the full length removable down liner out of the pants and I was very comfortable. I imagine that in the winter having that liner back in will be very nice, although I've seldom complained about the temperature of my legs. It looks like Firstgear also makes an "air" version of these pants that utilizes alot more mesh and has a full length removable waterproof liner. The full length zippers down the side of each leg have an extra flap, and then a Velcro closure to really keep wind, and potentially rain out. As an overpant these zippers are what sold the pants for me. I can simply unzip the sides of the legs all the way to the hip, and step through the pants with my boots on and then just zip them back up. The pants also have two front pockets and a back right pocket. Regular zipper up fly with Velcro flap and button snap waist closure with adjustable sides for snugness (or not). The only thing I really have a problem with is that there's a nylon panel running behind the fly that prevents you from actually unzipping the fly and getting 'access' to your pants. This just means that if you have to stop and use the bathroom you're going to be doing it like a 6 year old in a public restroom.

The Good
Lots of zipper coverage and full length removable down liner make these pants a very formidable piece of cold weather gear. There's enough room inside to easily wear them over your jeans, khakis, or even shorts. The full length side zippers make taking these pants on or off a breeze and don't even require that you take your boots off to do so.

The Bad
Absolutely zero airflow means your legs will likely feel like steamed asparagus in the hot summer days. The somewhat 'accommodating' size of the pants makes you feel like you just hopped off the chair lift for the bunny hill. The lack of CE approved armor and only soft pads on the hips and knees leaves something to be desired. No abrasion resistant material on the hips of butt = hamburger-butt?

Just a general picture of the pants themselves:

A picture showing one of the legs half unzipped, revealing the removable soft knee pads:

Until that day folks. Thanks for reading.

Is it summer yet?

2009-04-10T00:22:00.000-07:00

I think everyone in the world has probably noticed that the weather is a little odd this year. Snow the first week of April in Washington? What?!
Regardless I have been riding all winter. As long as it was dry out, and devoid of snow, I tried to ride as much as I could.

Oddly enough this didn't lead to any nice winter gear with which to review, no matter how cold my hands got. Honestly I think motorcycles were kind of on the back burner this off season. But never fear, I still plan to convert my bike to handlebars instead of clipons and I've got a good portion of the parts to do that. Once the nice weather really gets roaring I'll spend a weekend doing that. But other than the bar conversion I don't have my eye on a lot of new gear. What will become of my humble blog? I may end up buying a new pair of boots. My Sidi B2s are nice, however something with a little more protection seems like a good idea.
Since there won't be any gear to update with (possibly) I'll just have to do some rides and take some photos. Thanks to a generous donation from Peter Lombardi I actually have a decent camera now, so I'm out of excuses. I'll just have to learn how to shoot.

Until next time readers.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

2008-12-26T09:55:00.000-08:00

I apologize for the late post here since it's now the day after Christmas, but at least got in before the new year. It's been a little crazy in Washington as of late and with the temperatures dipping in to the 20s during the day and the snow cover rivaling Canada's (ok not really) riding has become near impossible, or at least suicidal. I still haven't collected all the parts I need to convert to handlebars so I've continued riding the bike with the Cyclecat 954 clipons. Oddly enough it actually seems more comfortable now that the bike is naked. I think the extra wind pushing against my chest helps hold me upright.

In recent news I went to the motorcycle show at the Seattle expo center a couple weeks ago and got to see all the new hotness. I actually found that it wasn't nearly as exciting as it was last year. Part of it may have been that my buddy Peter wasn't there to enjoy it with us, but more than that I think I just had a lack of excitement for this year's bikes. Last year there were a lot of exciting new models to look forward to. This year however, I felt like the biggest changes at most booths were paint schemes. This is far from the truth, but it marks how I felt about the show.

The bike I looked most forward to seeing was the new Ducati Monster 696. It was, of course, awesome. The bars were a little flat and far forward, but the seat height was incredibly low even for a bike sitting up on a rear stand. Everything else on the bike felt very smooth and well put together. Something about trellis frames just gets my juices going. If I ever get bored of my SV and want to just buy a bike that I don't have to do anything to, it will probably be the Monster 696.

The show stealers were the Ducati street fighter, which is basically a de-faired 1098 and oh so hot, and the Yamaha V-max. The v-max was designed by Chuck Norris when he was cranked up on the juice. He drew the plans with a sharp stick on the back of one of his fallen opponents after defeating 72 men in a no-holds bar street fight. He called for engineers to build the entire bike out of masculinium, a nearly indestructible alloy that actually endows whoever touches it with Chuck Norris like manliness and a featon level higher than Tom Cruise. The point is, the bike is all that is man. Unfortunately the price is all that is unobtainable so don't expect to just stroll out of dealership with one on a whim. If I sell an organ to UW medical I may be able to afford one. I guess the bonus would be if I sell a testicle to UW to buy a V-max at least the bike will give me two back because that's just how bad ass it is.

I digress.

What I really came here to say is that I hope everyone has a happy holidays and a great new year. Be safe out there, and if you've got the stones to be riding in this weather, my hat is off to you.

I'm naked!!!

2008-09-27T22:25:00.001-07:00

For awhile now I've been secretly debating on a cosmetic modification for my bike. When I first got in to motorcycles I appreciated the look of naked motorcycles, but couldn't picture myself on one.

For the record a naked motorcycle is simply a sport bike that hasn't been adorned with lots of plastic fairings. With a nice handlebar setup you get two bikes in one; A nice comfortable bike for around town and cruising, and a sportbike for attacking the twisties.

There's a company out there called Aztec8 that makes headlight conversion kits and they sell a lot of them to SV650 owners. I ordered their 7" single black headlight kit and their bracket for mounting the gauge cluster.

They had very fast shipping especially considering it was coming from the opposite corner of the country. Unfortunately for me the weather, nor time, was on my side. I waited until I got off work on Saturday and got to work.

Taking everything apart was a simple process as it's something I've done many times before. Altering the wiring harness however was a little more complicated, but I got it done.

The only snag I ran in to was that the holes in the headlight bracket for holding the headlight were not large enough to take the bolt that came with the headlight. This was a little disappointing, and very frustrating, considering I purchased a 'kit' from Aztec8 and was under the impression that I wouldn't need anything extra. My brother showed up with a power drill after a bit and helped me enlarge the holes.

Problem solved.

After that I started to lose my light and we needed to get going, but I was able to snap one blurry picture of the finished product before leaving.

I'm still collecting parts to convert my clip-ons to handle bars so expect an update in the winter months. Tomorrow I'm going to head to Cycle Gear and pick up some bar end mirrors until I get my handlebars going.

Hooray not having a garage!!

Bye jaundice headlight

Aztec parts

Messy compact tool box

Just a flesh wound!

Big bolt, small hole. Grrr

A simulation to tide myself over while I waited for my brother

And unfortunately the final picture is blurry because I was low on light, but.

And then there was light...

2008-06-12T19:29:00.000-07:00

It's been a long long time since I've reviewed an actual piece of motorcycle gear on this blog, and I apologize. I owe my loyal two visitors a day much more than that. Sometime last fall I got on the trail of a Japanese gear manufacturing company named RS Taichi. They make some really nice stuff. While the graphics on most of their suits and jackets are a little flashier than I'd usually care for on the street they did make one jacket that was very appealing to me: Creatively referred to as the “RSJ815” this jacket is fully perforated, armored, and comes in any color as long as it's black.

While buying this great summer jacket in the middle of fall may have seemed like a waste it was 'now or never' at the time. Although the jacket is still viewable on their website every distributor I found was telling me that they were discontinued. I managed to snag one that was on sale in a size EU52. After discussing with a very nice rep at Motoliberty I was able to glean that these jackets run a little small and that I should consider going a size up over my regular EU50 and it's a good thing I did. The fit of this jacket (on me) is so good it had me wearing it all through the winter with as much clothing on underneath as possible. I ended up paying somewhere in the $300 range for the jacket, but it's been so long it's hard to remember.

Unfortunately this whole review is probably for not as the jacket itself is discontinued. But I'm going to try and use the review as more of a look at an RS Taichi product rather than this specific jacket.

As soon as I picked up the jacket I was a little surprised. Even though it's completely filled with wholes it has quite a bit of heft to it. Although I can't find any specifics as to the actual construction, I would wager that this is at least 1.4mm leather if not 1.6mm. Putting the jacket on and zipping it up the weight disappears due to it's great fit around the chest and shoulders. Immediately I was glad I got the 52 rather than the 50. The next thing I noticed however was that the arms felt baggy. The chest, waist and torso all fit like a fresh spandex unitard, but the the arms had “room to grow.” After the initial feelings of inadequacy subsided I realized that nobody but Popeye himself would fill these sleeves out. The mesh and armor liner inside the jacket fit fine, so the elbow pads didn't move around at all. It just seemed odd that a jacket made for such a small would have so much extra material in the bicep and forearm area. Oh well.

The liner is fully removable and washable and includes one inside vertical drop pocket with a Velcro closure. This is just big enough to put a wallet or phone in, but because of the excellent fit of the jacket, you can tell when something occupies this space. No matter though as the jacket also has two hand warmer pockets that use a zipper and actually have a really nice liner. This jacket came with a large foam back pad but my Dainese back protector fit in here quite nicely so I'm using that. There's also a 360 degree waist zipper for attachment to RS Taichi pants. Without being able to try a pair on I'm reluctant to spend the cash when I've got a perfectly good 2-piece already.

The jacket has pre-curved arms which make it very comfortable to wear while riding, and only slightly awkward when off the bike. It also utilizes according style leather panels behind the arms and around the waist to create a flexible snug fit. There's a really nice supple leather inside the collar and wrists to protect from irritation against the skin. The sleeves also close up via a single longitudinal zipper rather than a zipper/Velcro combo, so there's less to fasten when putting the jacket on.

The jacket also looks great. Black goes good with everything so I don't worry about clashing with whatever bike I'm riding. There's also some silver piping lining the grey chest/back panel, shoulders and sleeves which reflect very noticeably, even in the day.

Most importantly, this jacket is cool! With the shoulders vents, and full perforation on the front of the jacket wind passes through this jacket effortlessly. This has reduced the temperature inside of the jacket significantly and made it much more pleasant to wear leather in even 90 degree heat. There's two zippered vents on the back near the kidneys but I've noticed no difference in feel having these open.

If the other RS Taichi jackets fit and feel anything like this one then they're are definitely some high quality pieces. Considering that on closeout their jackets go for around the $350 range it's an amazing deal. If anything were to ever happen to this jacket, or I won the lottery, I would definitely buy another RS Taichi jacket.

The Good

Excellent venting making this a great jacket for those hot days. Very snug fit, although be warned that I usually wear a 50, and this is a 52. Two outside pockets in addition to a single inside pocket provide decent storage space. Subtle styling with classic stripe around the chest. Reflective piping for more visibility at night. Thick leather construction and full CE approved armor means that if you feel like doing your impression of a break dancing Ninja Turtle while sliding across I5 you've got a chance. The price was great on closeout, and if you watch motoliberty.com for sales they frequently sell RS Taichi jackets for cheap.

The Bad

Excellent venting means you'll either want to leave this at home if it's below 55 or grow yourself a Steve Corel sweater vest. Odd sizing on sleeve diameter makes you want to hit the weights more. That's really about all the bad stuff I have to say about this jacket...

And just to illustrate how good this jacket it is I've found that it improves my lap times on Motogp 06:

Oh yea, and that's my new RF-1000. Exactly the same as my last one, but a more neutral color scheme.
Till next time!

You guessed it...

2008-05-05T23:01:00.000-07:00

Another non-gear related post. Sadly the weather has been pretty batty as of late. I've only gotten scattered riding in here and there between bouts of rain and working 6 days a week. It's the beginning of May and we're still suffering through high 40s and perpetual rain. It does make the summer feel all that much better when it finally does come though.

I promise I do have something to write about, I just need to get you guys some pictures. I recently purchased another Shoei RF-1000 after having sold my previous one. I missed having it around as it definitely handles cooler weather better than my Suomy. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before, but some time last fall I also bought a discontinued RS Taichi jacket that I really like. The highlights are that it's very sturdy feeling, completed perforated, and classically good looking.

Hopefully more to come soon!

Nothing new....

2008-01-10T10:07:00.000-08:00

It's been a couple months since I've update the ol' blog here and that's most likely because of the weather. I've only been able to ride sporadically here and there and it's become very apparent that I'm in need of some better cold weather gear.
The only update I have is that my good friend gave me his set of CycleCat riser clipons for a CBR954RR and I installed those on my SV. They really made a big difference. The stock 954 clipons I had on there before were nice, but very down swept and short. These new clipons make the SV feel like a couch on the freeway. I don't have any detailed pictures of the clipons but I do have two very nice pictures that Peter Lombardi took of my bike just after the install.
When the persistent rainfall of the north west dies down a little I'll be looking to buy another Shoei RF-1000 and possibly some new gloves so don't worry your little heads. More Reviews are forthcoming.
For now though, I'll just share these pictures with you.

*UPDATE*
With the help of Peter's pictures my bike won February SV of the month from svrider.com. Needless to say I am pretty stoked about it. Nothing else new to the bike since the photos, and no new gear either, sorry.
Spring is almost here everyone and here in the NW the riding season is just about to kick in!

Swappin' cams

2007-10-05T09:26:00.000-07:00

I know I know. Another non-gear related post. But since we're now creeping in to the winter months my motivation to buy expensive hot weather gear has gone way down. I might purchase some cool weather gear, but at the moment the best post I can muster is an engine modification.
Among the copious amounts of things you can do to a suzuki sv650 is swapping the exhaust cams. On the 2nd gen SVs you need to buy 1st gen intake cams and put them on the exhaust side. I had always considered doing this mod, but the risk-to-benefit ratio seemed a little high. If I got in there and destroyed my motor somehow I'd feel pretty bad about taking the risk so that I could potentially make 1 or 2 horsepower.
Maybe it was the boredom inducing rain, or maybe it wa my overwhelming desire to fiddle with things. Regardless, I picked up a set of used 1st gen intake cams and decided I was going to give the mod a shot.
Firstly, I got most of my information from www.svrider.com and used the pictures from the following link.

Also, instead of removing the cam chain tensioner (CCT) from either head I simply removed the bolt that holds the CCT's spring in, therefore relieving tension. Then in order to loosen the cam chain I removed the valve cover, and using a flash light and a screw driver, pressed down on the ratcheting latch that holds the CCT plunger in place. This loosens up the cam chain and and allows you to remove the cams without replacing any CCT gaskets, or breaking your hand trying to wrench in small spaces. I also just unbolted the bottom radiator bolt and held it out of the way as I worked which saved me some hassle. The whole thing took me 4 hours with some help from my friend Peter.

I test rode it the next day and was pretty impressed. The little SV650 power-wheelied out of a 2nd gear corner right off the bat. Granted I probably hit a bump just right, it was a corner I'd been taking all summer devoid of power-wheelies. Top end was much improved and the overall torque spread felt stronger. Not a face-melting difference by any means, but worth it considering I only spent $90 on the whole adventure. I could have spent twice that on headers and not noticed the same results. Besides, you get some nice bragging rights with the cam swap.

Luckily for me Peter Lombardi took pictures of the swap.

All photos property of Peter Lombardi.

The Transformation Has Begun

2007-03-28T15:17:00.000-07:00

I traded my 01 RC51 for an 06 SV650s back in November and haven't looked back. It's such a great street bike. Lots of usable power, balanced with great fuel economy and ease of use. One of the things that attracted me to the bike so much was that it has a laundry list of modifications that can be made to it. Another benefit being that most of the parts are stock parts from other bikes. I won't go in to lots of details about the benefits or reasons for the parts, but here's a run down of what's on the bike now:
01 GSXR750 forks, triples, wheel, rotors, calipers. Forks built for 175lb rider with gear.
04 GSXR front fender
Galfer SS brake lines
CBR954RR clipons
RC51 (SP1) master cylinder w/ pro tek billet resevoir cap
R6 throttle tube
z1000 bar ends
Custom tank risers and de-snorkelled airbox
pro grip tank pad
integrated tail light and custom fender eliminator
Kawasaki 636 rear shock
CBR F3 rear wheel with 46 525 sprocket on stock chain
Unfortunately running stock tires
Custom painted bronze wheels
Yoshimura TRS slip on
Used chin spoiler painted to match
new speed sesnor pieced together by yours truly
Sylvannia silverstar headlights
amber LED running lights
black short stalk turn signals
Factory frame sliders (yuck)

All of the following pictures are property of Peter Lombardi. Finally I got a real photographer to take some pictures for my blog. Check out more of his photos at his website

All photos property of Peter Lombardi.

*UPDATE*
I started selling off stock parts and quickly made enough money to buy these new PP tuning rearsets. They're really nice. They came with a stainless steel rear brake line that I hope to install soon. The first two pictures are mine, and the last picture is courtesy of aquamarine_hg2085 from Flickr.

*UPDATE* 8/30/07

More parts coming in then going out now. I did get a new jacket, but I need to put some time in with it before a review can be made. In the meantime, here's updated pictures of my bike with a complete mod list.
Here's my list of things
Mod list:
01 GSXR750 forks/front end reworked by GP suspension, 04 GSXR springs, GP suspension valves
04-05 GSXR fender
carbon fiber triple cover
CBR954 clipons
R6 throttle tube
Pieced together speedo kit with home made bracket
Galfer SS brake lines
RC51 SP1 master cylinder
Pazzo shorty levers
Pro tek resevoir cover
Traxxion preload knobs
Puig dark smoke windscreen
short stalk front signals
amber LED running lights tucked in front fairing vents
amber LED running lights in headlight
silverstar headlights
personally made tank risers
desnorkeled and enlarged airbox opening
pp tuning rearsets with SS rear brake line
galfer rear rotor
F3 wheel conversion
both wheels painted bronze
+2 rear sprocket
zx-10r rear shock
M4 carbon fiber slip-on
custom made carbon fiber pipe guard
integrated tail lights
factory seat cowl
factory chin spoiler painted with color-rite
vortex fuel cap
custom asymmetrical stripe

and I made the rearstand

That's all for now!

Hats off to Suomy (Suomy Spec1R)

2007-03-07T21:48:00.000-08:00

My first helmet was a pretty horrible considering it was my introduction in to the motorcycling world. It was loose, loud, and horrendous looking. What more could go wrong? It was one of the most recalled helmets from KBC. Not a real confidence instilling piece of hardware. When I finally upgraded to my Shoei RF-1000 it took all the stress out of wearing a helmet. It fit snugly, without pressure points. It blocked a decent amount of noise, looked good, and had a lighter weight. Absolutely fantastic helmet, especially when you consider what price you can get for them. It wasn’t until the end of the summer of 2006 that I started lusting after some of the higher end companies and their eye-popping graphics. I tried on Arai’s and Suomys, but unfortunately my local Cycle Gear didn’t have anything smaller than a XL in the Suomys, so I just assumed that a medium would be fine. I was absolutely in love with Suomy’s designs and could not be convinced to settle for anything else, even after I was told that the particular one I wanted was back ordered for months. I waited for almost two whole months before it even struck me that the medium might not fit me. I frantically called around trying to find a local store that stocked Suomys. Finally I went to a dealership and was able to try on a medium Suomy. My face immediately turned red. I don’t know if it was the sudden realization that I had made a mistake, or that the helmet was just far too tight. When I took it off there were perforation marks in my forehead from the lining. They had a large as well and I tried it on, and it fit very snugly. I was a little shocked, and maybe a tad insulted, that Suomy felt that my head was large while other brands seemed confident in the mediumness of my cantaloupe. The store clerk was kind enough to measure my head for me, which came out at 58.4cm around. This was a perfect size for storing all that gray matter but apparently just .4cm too big to fit in Suomy’s medium.
After changing my order with ridersinc.com to reflect the correct size the non-backordered large Suomy Spec1R arrived at my door in just a few days. Nick and Andrew at ridersinc were able to sell me this helmet for $400 shipped which is an absolutely amazing price. I also had them add in a dark smoke visor which I believe was about $35.

Suomy Spec1R Bostrom Tattoo

As soon as I took the helmet out of its box I knew I had purchased something phenomenal. The helmet truly is one of the lightest lids on the market. Pulling back the supplied carrying pouch revealed the gorgeous paint job I had been eye humping for months now. I suddenly wished I had a glass case in which to display the helmet all the time for all to see. There’s no question that cagers would be looking at me now I’d be sporting this helmet. The first thing I went to do was try it on and of course, it fit great. The large I tried on at the store had obviously been tried on a lot before and was broken in a bit. The helmet I had just received was brand new and very snug. The next thing I wanted to do was put my smoke visor on. This proved to be more difficult than I was expecting. Suomy helmets, in case you didn’t know, take a special tool in order to remove the visor. You have to lift the visor all the way up and then jam the supplied tool in to the side pods to pop them off, then you can move another piece around to get the visor off. This isn’t such a big deal if you only ride with one visor on, but I had become very accustomed to swapping visors out on my Shoei and even carrying an extra visor with me. The visor swap on the Suomy causes enough frustration that I’ve pretty much resolved not to change the visors on it. I had a very hard time getting my side pods back on and was worried the entire time that I was going to break something. Beyond that little issue everything else about the helmet is top notch. The lining is very soft, especially around the neck. This means there’s no chaffing or rubbing of any kind when rolling your head around. The straps are also very soft so that they don’t irritate the underside of your chin. Once on, the helmet provides plenty of space for my mouth and nose and even just sitting in my living room doesn’t fog up. After taking the helmet out for a few rides I was able to gather some initial impressions, if I come up with more after this post I’ll make an update. This helmet is light. You hardly feel that you’re wearing when checking both ways at a stop sign. I love the locking mechanism for the visor. You can pull the visor all the way down and not click the lock shut and this will allow quite a bit of air to creep in and cool your face, but even at highway speeds the visor didn’t flip up. To lock the visor shut you just have to place one finger on the large knob and click down. Get your thumb under it and press up and the visor clicks right open and slides smoothly to full open. I personally prefer the smooth action of the Suomy visor of the ratcheting action of the Shoei. The only air vent on the helmet the user has control over is the mouth vent, but opening or closing this actually makes quite a difference. It was probably around 70 degrees out when I was doing my rides and I actually found myself closing the mouth vent because my face was cold. Opening or closing the vent is easy even with gloves on which I appreciated. I was only able to move my Shoei’s mouth vent once before it seemed to get stuck in the open position. The only thing the Suomy is missing is a chin screen to keep turbulent air out. I think the lack of a chin screen attributed to the frigidness. Another draw back to the Spec1R is that it lets in a lot more sound than the Shoei. This is most likely why it is a lighter helmet. But to a person like me, who wears ear plugs every ride, it’s of no consequence. I tried a ride without plugs just to experience it and it was very loud. I would not recommend riding without ear plugs in this helmet. However, I prefer riding with ear plugs in the Suomy now because it lets in just slightly more sound in comparison to my Shoei. This makes me feel more aware of my surrounds and better able to hear things like car horns, screeching tires, and bike related noises. The Spec1R is very aerodynamic and actually exhibits no wobble, even at 100+mph speeds sitting fully upright. You can turn your head in any direction at any speed while riding and the wind seems to just move around the helmet rather than in to it. I never had any problems with the visor fogging up either. The only thing I noticed was that I was seeing reflections of my own sunlit face in the smoke visor while looking through it. This wasn’t a huge issue, but it’s not something I noticed on my Shoei. Could be the difference between the Spec1R visors and the Extreme visors. All in all the Suomy is an amazing helmet and I will definitely be buying another one in my lifetime.

The Good

Light weight. Awesome graphics. Lots of replacement shields to pick from. Comfortable interior. Removable/washable interior. User controllable mouth vent. BSI/DOT rated. Awesome aerodynamics and breathing. Couldn’t argue with ridersinc’s price.

The Bad

The actual retail price. Noisy. Needs chin screen for less wind turbulence. User controllable top vents would be nice, but that comes on the Extreme instead. Fussy visor removable makes for frustrated end-user. Possibly breathes too well, making for a poor all weather helmet.

*UPDATE*

I've had the helmet for almost a year now with pretty steady use during the summer and a quite a few cold weather rides. This helmet is still a great looker, and I've become very proficient at changing visors out in a short amount of time. In the summer the excellent breathing is much appreciated and with the mouth vent fully open my face is about the coldest part of my body, even on a 100 degree day.
However, now that it is winter out the ability of this helmet to allow air to pass through it without resistance has become a bit of a trouble. With no way to close any of the vents when the weather turns sour it can get a little on the chilly side. Fogging up is a non-issue due to Suomy's film that they place on the inside of their visors. Mine recently peeled back slightly along the top edge, which I admittedly picked at, but it's still functioning, regardless of aesthetics.
Also, after wearing the helmet for long periods of time I've discovered that it pinches my head front-to-back. This is more than likely due to the shape of my individual head. It does lead to a headache if I wear the helmet for longer than 45 minutes at a time and it has led me to order another RF-1000 from Shoei which is in the mail presently. This is just another testament to the idea that it is important to try a helmet on before you buy it and try and wear it as long as you can to identify any pressure points.
I'll probably still wear the Suomy when the weather warms up again as it does provide excellent cooling. But the versatility of the RF-1000, coupled with the bang-for-the-buck factor, just can't be beat in my opinion.

A Leather Frenzy (Motogp Compression Kangaroo Suit, Motogp Corkscrew Jacket, Motogp Apex Leather Pants)

2006-11-12T20:47:00.000-08:00

I spent an entire season switching off between my Frank Thomas strike jacket and my Dainese TT-72. The Dainese mostly pulls cold weather duty while the Frank Thomas, with its copious amounts of perforation, gets used most of the time. Towards the end of my first season of riding it was looking like I was in need of some leg protection. If I wanted to do track days in the future I would need some kind of full suit. I would also want to use whatever I got on the street as well. I didn’t keep the latter in mind so much when making my decision. Unfortunately I couldn’t just get pants from Frank Thomas to zip up to my jacket because I already tried that. You can read about it here. Having seen a Motogp Apex jacket in person and being pretty impressed with the quality, I decided to give Motogp stuff a run for my money. I picked up a Motogp Compression 1-piece suit in kangaroo for $700 from flatoutmotorcycles.com. This was a fantastic suit with a great price, but I soon realized that the 1-piece wasn’t the best choice for the street. I sold the suit after only a couple months and picked up the Motogp Corkscrew jacket and Apex pants. I got the Jacket for $290 and the pants for $260, both from my personal favorite, ridersinc.com. The Corkscrew jacket is my main jacket now and does everything except extreme cold and/or wet riding. I use the pants almost every time I ride and it’s great to be able to take the jacket off when I’m stopped somewhere.

Motogp Compression Suit Kangaroo

This is an absolutely fantastic suit. I’m actually considering getting another one to go along with my Motogp 2-piece. The price is almost too good to be true especially considering the kangaroo construction. This suit really is light. It probably weighs as much as my Motogp Apex pants by themselves. The fit on this suit was also very good for me. I wear a 40 (US) in everything. I may have mentioned in a previous article that I’m 5’10” 165lbs, with a pretty small frame. The Compression suit fit very snugly everywhere and even conformed to my legs as if it were a second skin. I had a pretty hard time getting the suit on by myself the first couple times, but either the suit or I broke in and after that getting in and out was a breeze. It’s also a very aesthetically pleasing suit. My pictures, which were taken at the time of sale, don’t do the suit justice, but they do show the bright silver parts that are often seen as white in company pictures. This silver (shown just above the knees, and elsewhere) is on every color of the suit they make so keep that in mind. The speed hump is very nice looking while also being functional. The suit has perforation on the chest, arms and legs. There’s no doubt this suit keeps you cool. Riding around in 90+ degree weather was no problem, but once I stopped it became very apparent that I was sitting inside a leather suit. Walking around in the suit wasn’t the easiest proposition. The legs and arms are very articulated and the cut is very race oriented. When traversing from the bike to my apartment I carried the look of a badly operated puppet. This is what ultimately made me reconsider my purchase, and get a 2-piece. If I were only doing track days, or rides into the twisties, I would definitely keep this suit.

The Good: CE approved armor at shoulders, knees, shins, forearms and elbows. Padded protection around hips, back and stomach. Comes in red, blue, yellow or gray. Aerodynamic hump. Comes with knee-sliders. The price! The fit! Stretch paneling in strategic areas lends to ease of motion. Perforation keeps you cool when it’s hot. Softer leather used around collar and wrists for added comfort. Inside pocket! Very light suit. Did I mention the price?

The Bad: Only one inside pocket. So if you’re street riding it can get kind of crowded in there. Perforation can make you too cold when it starts to get slightly chilly out. Kangaroo version not available in some states, but they do have a cow-hide version.

Motogp Corkscrew Leather Jacket

For $290 this jacket is a screaming deal. It comes with a full waist zipper, two outside pockets, two inside pockets, and a removable vest liner. It has hard armor in all the standard places and memory foam in the back and assorted other places. The front and sleeves are perforated. There’s also a breathable mesh material down the inside of the arms that seems to breathe more than the leather. The fit is very nice. The back comes down further than the front, actually keeping my belt-line covered when riding. The arms are articulated for a sport riding position, but not so drastically that you can’t walk around and look normal. I absolutely love this jacket. I wear it even when it’s 100 degrees out and I wear it when it’s 60 degrees out. The removable liner does a pretty good job of stopping all the frontal breathing, but it is necessary to wear something long sleeved underneath when it’s nippy out. The inner material is some kind of fishnet-looking mesh. This is fine until you start to sweat pretty profusely, then it starts to stick to your skin. It’s also non-removable, so you’ll have to find other ways to wash it. The jacket was a little stiff when I first got it, but it’s very limber now. I always clean all the bugs off after each ride, and the jacket still looks new after a full season of riding. The wrist closures are tight enough to allow the user to pull long cuff gloves over with ease, but also loose enough that you can slide a short cuff glove underneath. Give ridersinc a call at 877-246-2337 to get the cheapest price around.

The Good: CE approved armor at shoulders, elbows and forearms. Two outside pockets and two inside pockets means plenty of space for your wallet, cell phone and keys. Lots of perforation for excellent breathing. Removable vest liner. Full waist zipper for attachment to Motogp pants. Good price. Good looking construction. Good looks with quite a few color options to match your bike.

The Bad: No optional hard back protector. Sizes are in Small, Medium, Large and so on rather than chest sizes (i.e. 40 US). I’m a 40 and I bought a MD.

Motogp Apex Leather Pants

The perfect accessory to any of the leather jackets made by Motogp is the Apex leather pants. They come with knee sliders, knee and shin armor, and padding around the hips and butt. They only come in black so they match everything, and they come with a great price tag. The first thing I noticed about these pants was that they actually fit. After my horrible ordeal with the Frank Thomas pants I was relieved to be able to buy a pair of size 32 (my pant size) leather pants and have them fit. They do fit slightly looser than the Compression suit from Motogp but not to the point where it’s detrimental to the riding experience. They have perforation along the thighs to help keep you cool when moving along. The fly is a nice thick YKK zipper that leads up to a leather strap with two button snaps making the pants feel pretty secure once on. The waist also has some stretch leather on the sides to universalize the fit slightly. Paired with my Corkscrew jacket I’ve got myself a 2-piece suit worthy of a track day with enough ease-of-use to allow me to go in to town in it as well.

The Good: The price. The fit. Comes with sliders. Has CE approved armor at knees and shins. Also has pads for hips and butt. Stretchy waist has snug fit, but leaves room to grow. Perforation in the thighs. Stretch material around crotch keeps the pants from restricting leg movement. Full waist zipper makes them legal for track days.

The Bad: Only comes in black?

Happy Halloween!!

2006-10-24T13:16:00.000-07:00

From Bodett Reviews to you, happy Halloween everyone!
I made you all a pumpkin.

The night time picture doesn't do it justice, it actually does glow blue and red.

Boots a plenty (Alpinestar SMX-Plus, Sidi B-2)

2006-10-15T13:54:00.000-07:00

My first pair of motorcycle boots was pretty terrible. I don’t recall the model name but they were of the lowest echelon from the Frank Thomas lineup. They had no hard armor on them and no adjustable parts. My Frank Thomas leather pants were so baggy they didn’t allow for the full closure of the boots. This struck me as a safety issue, that and the fact that after only two weeks with the boots my rearsets had worn a nice hole through the heel. Not exactly confidence-inspiring. I returned the boots to Cycle Gear using their excellent return policy. I walked out of the store with some brand new Alpinestar SMX-Plus boots. These immediately felt like heaven compared to the Frank Thomas boots. I don’t remember the price I paid because part of it was paid off using the store credit from returning the Frank Thomas boots. I used the SMX boots for a full season and this past summer decided that I wanted to try some other boots, just for fun. I ordered my self a set of Sidi B-2s, and while they don’t feel as sturdy as the SMX boots they were so much more comfortable I immediately sold the Alpinestars.

Alpinestar SMX-Plus Boots

As my first real pair of good motorcycling boots these were pretty great. They were stiff in the beginning but once broken in allowed for pretty easy walking. Make no mistake, it was very obvious audibly that you were wearing these boots because they squeak like crazy. I would frequently just wear these boots under my jeans but regretted doing it in public because they made so much noise. While riding the boot’s sturdiness was nice while on the balls of your feet. You don’t have to use your calves as much in order to ride on the balls of your feet. Up-shifts were also quicker because the boot wants to be at a ninety-degree angle. If you force it below that in order to get under the shifter its tendency to be at a right angle assists in forcing the shifter upwards. I also used these boots in rain quite a few times for hours on end in some instances and my feet never got cold or wet. The boots dried nicely and were back on the street the next day. The ratchet closure calf system made it very easy to adjust for different leathers. You could also close it down tight enough on just your naked calve that air would hardly get in there. The thing that bothered me the most about these boots was getting them on an off. I liken it to putting on a ski boot. First there’s the easy pull lace system. Then you Velcro the slack from that to the inside of the boot, then pull up the side zipper, then ratchet the top closed. It wasn’t all that time consuming, but it was enough effort that if I was in a hurry I might just leave the boots behind in favor of my street shoes. The heels on the back of the boot are also at a near forty-five-degree angle making it very hard to grab the kickstand feeler. Overall a very sturdy boot with some good adjustable features but its sturdiness numbed me to the controls a little bit.

The Good: The price is very reasonable for how much adjustable stuff this boot has. Adjustable calf ratchet system is great for all pants. Inner shoe-like area allows plenty of room for leathers. Laces, zipper and ratchet system means your foot is going no-where. Hard armor over heel and ankle. Replaceable toe sliders. Reflective piping on front of boot. Kept me warm/dry during harsh rain. Comes in black, blue and red.

The Bad: Kind of stiff and clunky for walking around. Laces, zipper and ratchet system means it takes a little effort to put these boots on. Only has replaceable toe and heel sliders. The hard armor over the heel makes flipping out the kick stand a chore. I felt a little numb to the controls in these boots.

Following picture taken from newenough.com

Sidi B-2 Boots

I picked these boots up for $220 shipped from newenough.com and I couldn’t be happier. These boots feel very light and make excellent street boots. Walking around in them is very easy. I once spent an entire day wearing these boots and never got uncomfortable. I also test drove a manual car and had no problems. It’s very easy to point your toes up and down which could be good and bad I guess. When riding I can very easily feel out the shifter and the brake lever. With other boots I’ve had it feels like work to get your toes back out from under the shifter. With these Sidis I can just slide back over my Sato rearsets without a problem. I have not tested them in the rain yet but I’ve been on a couple 50-degree rides and my feet don’t get cold. In hot weather however they can get pretty warm as they have no breathable material. The shin plate, ankle and toes sliders are all replaceable and you can replace them with Vertigo parts. Getting in and out of these boots is very easy. A simply pull of a zipper and all you have to do is slap the Velcro down and you’re off. The zipper comes up about ¾ of the boot meaning the Velcro around the top can be adjusted for different calve sizes. I’m not sure how adjustable this really is but it works really well for switching between my leathers and my jeans. If you’re skeptical about getting a tall “racing” style boot for the streets get these boots. They’re not loud. They’re not uncomfortable. They’re cheap, and if you wear them under jeans people will hardly notice.

The Good: The price. Their flexible light feeling makes movement easy. Replaceable shin plate and heel and toe sliders. Interchangeable parts with the Vertigo boot. Easy on and off thanks to a single side zipper with Velcro cover. Velcro adjustable calve means there’s some room in there for baggy leathers, or big muscles. Boot-style heel makes it easy to flip kickstand out. Very easy to feel controls and move around on rearsets. Can point toes up and down very easily which is nice since my brake lever practically points at the ground.

The Bad: Their flexible light feeling makes me wonder if their as protective as other stiffer feeling boots. Do not breathe very well; users may experience swamp foot. Only comes in black.

Following picture taken from newenough.com

A glove for your head (Shoei RF-1000)

2006-10-05T18:12:00.000-07:00

One of my first orders of business after getting my bike was to get a decent helmet. The KBC TK-9 I was using was just too loose for my head and made for some interesting wobbles on the freeway. Using my 10% Cycle Gear coupon from my Motorcycle Safety Foundation course I picked up a Shoei RF-1000 in silver voltage. At first the cheek pads felt too tight. Apparently I have cheeks like a squirrel on a nut binge. I bought a set of the smallest cheek pads Shoei makes and a dark smoke visor. The grand total ended up being somewhere north of $400, but I don’t recall exactly. Cycle Gear’s website lists the helmet as $449.99 new.

Shoei RF-1000

I measured my head roughly before purchasing this helmet and decided I’m a medium. As stated in an earlier review, my head is 58.4cm around. I eventually broke the cheek pads in and realized they were too loose. I’ve since gone back to the stock ones and thoroughly enjoy the fit of the helmet. There’s no harsh pressure on the front or back of my head. The cheek pads are firm, but not to the point of pain. Unfortunately for me, possibly because I’m in between a size, the inside of the mouth of the helmet is very close. Puckering up like it’s freshman year at the prom reveals that my lips can make contact with the helmet very easily. This is not uncomfortable, but it is worrisome. If I push on the front of the helmet it does squish back ever so slightly. I’m curious what would happen to my mouth in an accident. This will more than likely not be a problem for most people who try this helmet on, but if you’re in between a size like me it’s something to look for. My first impressions of this helmet are that it is pretty light, quieter than some, breathes well, and looks great. Thanks to Shoei’s in house wind tunnel this helmet performs very well at speed and is extremely aerodynamic. The vents on the top front of the helmet can be closed, as well as the exit holes on the back in the duckbill. If it’s particularly cold out, or raining, it’s a nice feature to help take the edge off of the weather. My helmet may have an issue with the mouth vent, or it could be concurrent through all, but I have an incredibly hard time opening and closing the vent. I’ve never felt a need to have it closed though as the breath guard below my chin keeps my face warm for the most part. Wind noise is minimal at city speeds, but once you hit the highway it can get pretty loud. I recommend wearing ear plugs whenever you plan on doing anything over 20-30 minutes. I noticed that with earplugs in the helmet is so effective at dampening noise that I can barely hear anything. Visor changes are very easy. Simply pull the visor all the way open and slide to mechanisms on either side. No need for finger nails because they made the button ergonomic. The visor pops out after that and the new one goes in just as easily. The visor also ratchets up and down with a good solid click after each position change firmly holding it in place. If you want to ride around with your visor half down you can without really worrying about it blowing up. There’s a locking device on the left side of the visor in case you want to lock your visor shut. I’ve never found much use for it. The fit on this helmet is very good and from my experience can fit multiple head shapes without much issue. The only downfall of this is that you can get a slightly snugger fit from a helmet designed just for your particular head shape. All in all the RF-1000 is a fantastic helmet that makes you feel like you’ve got $600 helmet without making your wallet feel it.

The Good: Great aerodynamics. Somewhat universal fit means it’ll most likely fit you. Good breathing with vents that open and shut. Visor changes are a snap! Stays defogged almost all the time. Great breathe guards by nose and under chin help to create a separate environment inside of helmet. Visor is easy to operate and can stay in multiple positions. Helmet absorbs sound very well for its weight. Interior is soft, easily removable/washable and customizable with different sized cheek pads to fit your needs. Multiple shell sizes to better suit your head. The price is right. Comes in lots of different colors and designs and Shoei offers tons of different kinds of visors for it.

The Bad: The universal feeling of the fit means that there are other helmets (read: more expensive) that might fit more snugly around your forehead. Although it does breathe well, it still doesn’t breath as well as my Suomy. Feels like it puts a lot of pressure on the cheeks for fit, rather than the circumference of the head. Although it breathes well when I go in to a full tuck it instantly fogs up. Taking out the chin guard might potentially change this. If you’re in-between sizes like me the smaller of the two sizes will have a shell size that may not work for you.

Here you can see the breath guard that keeps the visor from fogging

And here you can kind of see the mesh guard that protects from wind under the chin.

Ahh the smell of leather (Frank Thomas Strike 2-piece suit)

2006-09-29T00:54:00.000-07:00

I was really itching for some leg protection. I started hunting for 2-piece suits and didn’t get much further than Cycle Gear. I was able to get a Frank Thomas 2-piece Strike suit for $320. The jacket fit well in the store and ended up being a real breather. When at speed the air practically cuts right through it. Also, the Dainese back protector I have slips right into the pouch in the back, replacing the memory foam pad it comes with. Unfortunately my size in the pants, 32, didn’t allow me to bend my legs while wearing them which I thought might cause problems while riding. I tried on a 34 and they allowed me to bend my legs, but were pretty loose in the waist. I figured it wouldn’t matter with them zipped up to the jacket. After riding in the 2-piece suit for less than 10 minutes the insides of my knees were killing me as the baggy leather was bunching up and pinching. The pants were pretty awful. Shown in some of the pictures are some Frank Thomas boots I had for all of a week. They were also terrible and couldn’t even zip up over the pants. They also had no hard armor and were basically just leather sleeves you zipped up over your leg. I returned them for different boots you’ll read about later.

Frank Thomas Strike Jacket

This jacket is very comfortable, and for $200 is a steal. I must say that I’ve heard, and seen, that these jackets have problems with seems blowing open on impact. This is a little disconcerting, although I haven’t heard of any serious injuries, it’s mostly the fact that the jacket is ruined after one crash. Cycle Gear is very good about replacing them if this happens. Fortunately I haven’t had to test mine yet. I put well over 6000 miles on this jacket and never had any problems. The fit is nice and it’s very limber feeling when on. It’s completely perforated on the front and back with breathable textile material running down the sleeves. It only has one inside chest pocket, which can get cramped if you’re trying to stuff a wallet, cell phone, and keys inside. It’s a real bargain jacket though, especially if you want leather. It also comes in a variety of colors to match almost any make and model.

The Good: CE approved turtle shell type armor at shoulders and elbows. Fits the Dainese back protector in the back without modification. Has a full waist zipper to allow attachment of FT pants. The inside of the armpit and sleeve area is a softer synthetic material, rather than the net-like material used everywhere else. Comes with a zip in down vest, which helps to take the edge off at night. Cut a little longer in the back for more coverage when actually riding. Frank Thomas logos are reflective to help keep those pesky cagers off your back. Velcro wrist closures allow for almost infinite adjustment. Silver color is nearly reflective, making you very obvious.

The Bad: Full waist zipper looks measly in comparison to other companies. What’s the point of the zipper if the pants that match are terrible? Even with the vest in the arms still breathe, and it gets cold! There’s also no adjustable waist. Only one pocket means you have to pack light. Wrist closures stick out which makes it hard to pull long cuff gloves over. Silver color might be a little too intense.

Frank Thomas Strike Pants

I’m not going to bother writing much about these pants as you’ve already heard the gist of the story. The pockets on the front are nearly impossible to get in to, and with their location it’d be uncomfortable to have anything in there while riding. The sizing on these pants is all over the board. If you’re going to buy them I really suggest trying them on first. Make sure you do a full squat in them as well to see how the flexibility feels.

The Good: They’re cheap. They come with knee pucks. They have a Velcro waist closure, which allowed me to cinch up the extra slack from having to buy a size up.

The Bad: They’re cheap. The quality and thought just doesn’t seem like it’s there. Pockets are worthless. The pants are baggy making them uncomfortable while riding, and even more uncomfortable when stuffed in to a boot. The knees aren’t articulated.

Note: The Frank Thomas boots ended up getting a hole worn in to them on the ankle where they met with my rearsets. They also seemed to offer no hard protection, just leather. They had no adjustable calf, or adjustable anything. They were exchanged for AlpineStar SMX-Plus boots at Cycle Gear (which has an amazing return policy). Look for more reviews soon!

Gloves that fit?! (AlpineStar SPS gloves)

2006-09-29T00:30:00.000-07:00

After passing MSF and riding around for quite a while with gloves a few sizes bigger than my hands I thought it was time to upgrade to something a little more comfortable. I purchased these AlpineStar SPS short cuff gloves from Cycle Gear for $60. They’re great street gloves for their easy on/off operation and are reasonably comfortable.

AlpineStar SPS Gloves

The Good: The price is right! Lots of real carbon fiber and hard knuckle protection. Very easy to put on and take off. There’s light perforation on the inside of the fingers that allows for some breathing. Double stitching on the palm with varying grades of leather depending on contact area. Also has a nice padded flap under the wrist for protective purposes I assume.

The Bad: The pad under the wrist can get in the way, depending on the cuff of whatever jacket you’re using. There is no knuckle protection along the fingers. Why is pad on the top of the glove so big? The cut of the thumb made for some baggy leather that tended to bunch up on me when wrapped around the clip-ons. Could just be my hands though.

My first jacket (Dainese TT-72 Textile)

2006-09-29T00:06:00.000-07:00

I finally got to feel the “cool factor” of motorcycling when I put on my first jacket, a Dainese TT-72 textile. I purchased the jacket off of a friend and no longer remember the agreed upon price. The TT-77, which looks identical while perhaps being a tad longer, is for sale through Cycle Gear for $139 while the MSRP is listed as $279. Either way, I wore the TT-72 for my MSF course and the first half of the summer of 05. The jacket felt fine to me, but then again, I had never worn anything else. This jacket now pulls rain and cold weather duty.

Dainese TT-72

The Good: The gray color scheme is pretty low key, making it a good “around town” jacket if you don’t want to attract attention. The lack of pre-curved arms adds to that effect as well. The jacket has CE approved turtle shell type armor at the shoulders and elbows and also has a pocket in the back that perfectly fits a Dainese hard back protector. I purchased the back protector for $60 through Cycle Gear. This jacket has a full sleeve removable down liner! It also has plenty of pocket space with two outside pockets down low, a chest pocket, and a pouch pocket in the down liner. This jacket is very light and with long cuff gloves is capable of providing me with enough warmth to ride in 50 degree weather. I’ve worn it in the rain for a few hours at a time and it manages to keep me warm for the first hour or so, but then begins to soak through at the zipper.

The Bad: This jacket is very short for not having a waist zipper. Since it was not intended to zip together with a pair of pants I can’t understand why it was cut so short. The TT-77 looks to be a little longer in the back in comparison with the TT-72, but don’t quote me on that. The waist and wrist adjusters are snaps rather than Velcro, allowing for only two different positions, and I’m apparently right in between both sizes. This jacket is very light so it tends to blow around at highway speeds. It can also exhibit a parachute effect when only wearing short cuff gloves. What, no matching pants?!

Re-gifted...(KBC TK-9, Joe Rocket GPX gloves)

2006-09-28T16:11:00.001-07:00

Ahh, the first motorcycle. It's an amazing feeling. Hearing the bike turn over for the first time and the smooth whine of the engine as it spins past 10,000 rpms. The wind brushing past your neck tickling your senses and blowing away all your worries, save for things like “is there gravel in this corner?” “will this guy ever change lanes or is his blinker purely for decoration?” and “if that blue-hair pulls out in front of me will I be able to stop in time?” Actually, motorcyclists have plenty of things to worry about. It’d probably be best if they didn’t have to worry about the fit or comfort of their gear, allowing them to focus on the ride ahead. This was not the case with my first two pieces of gear; A KBC TK-9 helmet and a pair of Joe Rocket GPX gloves. Admittedly they were both purchased from the previous owner of my F4I, so they were not ideal, but I was desperate to get out on the road (and fulfill the prerequisites for my MSF class).

KBC TK-9
This helmet was purchased with the gloves for a grand total of $100. You can divide that up however you like, but either way it was cheap. Helmets should probably never be purchased used because you don’t know whether or not it has been dropped or damaged, compromising the integrity of the helmet. I trusted the seller and he seemed like a nice enough guy. That, and I’m trying to cover up not knowing any better at the time. I also didn’t know that this helmet looked terrible when worn, because I hadn’t experienced anything else.

The Good: It kept the wind out of my face and was legal as per DOT and Snell standards. Visor changes are fairly easy and the snap for the chinstrap is easy to operate and keeps the slack out of the way. The helmet also has lots of vents with controls for all of them.

The Bad: The controls for most of the vents didn’t work. This could be a result of the previous owner’s abuse, or just bad craftsmanship, I don’t know. The controls for the top vents are incredibly flimsy feeling. The mouth vent was easy to operate but was apparently so worn down it would never stay closed. The visor fogged up constantly when not over parking lot speeds. The helmet is an odd shape. It looks like you’re adorning a bullet when you wear it. It’s pretty pointy up top, and comes down very low over the mouth as you can see in the picture. I also found out that there was a pretty massive recall on the helmet. Fortunately my particular helmet was manufactured just after the recall, but that didn’t make me feel too much better. The biggest problem for me was the fit. This is very important for a first helmet. My head is 58.4cm and the helmet is a medium 57-58cm. It fit more like a XXL. The cheek pads hardly applied pressure, the forehead was shaky at best and at free way speeds heavy gusts of winds would nearly yank the helmet off my head.

Note: This helmet was purchased used. My experience with the helmet does not reflect what this helmet would be like new.

Joe Rocket GPX gloves
The other gear purchased from the previous owner of my first bike, mostly to get me on the road as soon as possible, were some Joe Rocket GPX gloves. These gloves are a size XL and my hands are a size M. This immediately created problems. I will refrain from commenting on size and fit as any comments would be falsely influenced.

The Good: The gloves are very easy to put on. After initially adjusting the cuff Velcro for my jacket all that’s required to put them on when gearing up is to close the Velcro wrist strap, which is easily done. There’s hard knuckle armor on the top of the glove while soft pads for the smaller dot the fingers of the glove. There’s also a hard polymer piece of armor on the side of the palm that can barely be seen on the right side of the palm picture. The leather feels nice and is flexible enough to offer good feel of the controls. Also, notice the double stitching on most of the seems in the palm and thicker leather in areas that look to be “high impact.”

The Bad: The wrist strap is kind of skinny and the contact patch for the Velcro is pretty small. Seems like over time as Velcro tends to wear out this strap would become harder and harder to keep closed. The pads for individual knuckles are only soft foam rather than something hard. The thin leather in the palm offers good feeling of controls, but is thin.

Welcome!

2006-09-28T15:47:00.000-07:00

Hello. My name is Courtney Bodett and I'm wrapping up my senior year at Linfield College as a creative writing major with a motorcycling focus. Well, the latter may be what my passion is, but I do not receive any scholarly credits for it. Since the age of 3 I've been riding bicycles. I raced mountain bikes competitively until I got my license at which point my focus shifted over to motor sports. I became nearly obsessive about my 98 Acura Integra and loved the Internet communities based around it. It wasn’t until the end of my sophomore year at college that I got frustrated with the Integra. It was still fun, but it was taking far too much money to make fast. Being 6 out of the top 10 most stolen cars wasn’t helping my stress levels much either. I made the leap in to motorcycling the summer of 05 with the purchase of a used silver and black Honda CBR 600 F4i.

The F4I was a fantastic bike. Possibly a little much for a beginner, but I got through it without any accidents. I took the Motorcycle Safety Foundation course and geared up before logging 5000 miles in just a couple months. I found the motorcycle Internet forums to be even better than car forums. The people were generally nicer and more willing to be helpful. I learned a lot from the forums: Honda-tech.com, 600rr.net, cbrworld.net, rc51.com, and rc51.org are where I spend most of my Internet time.
The summer of 06 of sold the F4I and bought an 01 Honda RC51 for the same price. I love the bike and love v-twin power.

Over the past year and some change I’ve had quite a bit of gear. Gear is one of my favorite parts of motorcycling. I love the way it looks, I love the comfort it gives me when riding, and I love sharing my experiences with my gear with other people. I’m a storyteller by nature. I’m not however a professional racer, writer, or gear tester. The opinions expressed in this blog are simply that; opinions. My reviews are not to be considered an evaluative look at the safety of a particular piece of gear. My goal is to simply give you an end-user perspective on a piece of gear or motorcycle product that I own. This is something that I feel is lacking from many Internet motorcycle stores. Newenough.com does a great job of commenting on the stuff they sell, but they are trying to sell this stuff. I on the other hand am not trying to sell this stuff. I will try and be as unbiased as I can while also being informative. I apologize ahead of time for the pictures. Remember, I’m trying to be a writer, not a photographer ;-)