The General Motorbikers Discussion Thread

Mini Gear Review

Mini Gear Review

Quick little gear roundup here.

First, the Cardo Scala Rider FM. I've had this a couple of years now and I don't think I've ever written it up.
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(Cardo unit is clipped to bottom edge of helmet.)

I have the older model without MP3/aux audio in capability and I have the optional long boom (not strictly necessary). Now that I've had it for a while, I can say that it works well and lasts with long term exposure including rain and other inclement weather. In my CL-SP I can have perfectly clear conversations with another party up to about 55mph with the chin vent open and 65-70 with the vent closed. I like mine a lot and recommend it as a solution for communications and entertainment while on longer rides; city riders like myself could find it useful for getting traffic reports while on the fly.

Next is the Fieldsheer Four Season riding pant.
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WebBikeWorld reviewed these a while back, and friends who bought them had raved about them - however I'd already had a set from a competitor that worked okay. Recently Motorcyclecloseouts.com had an even deeper discount on their closeout pricing for these and managed to dig up a few more sizes including mine so I purchased a set (as I have finally gotten tired of having summer overpants without a full-length leg zip). It tends to run true to size at the waist and a bit large elsewhere as well as long; however those issues aside it seems very well made. The venting and mesh works as advertised; I went for a 130 mile ride in 90-105F heat today and was quite comfortable - and unlike my prior set, these weighed a lot less, were much easier to don or remove and were actually comfortable (if a bit loose) off the bike. I like them and if you can find a set that fit you, they're a great bargain on the closeout racks at about $100 or less for a commuting or touring pant - at least in warm temperatures as I have yet to test them with the liner in and the vents blocked for cooler environments. However, you can spend a lot more than that on mesh-no-liner pants alone, so you really can't go wrong with this.

No connection except as a satisfied customer, etc., etc.
 
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Finally, this weekend I'll have the two-day offroad riding course i got for my birthday. The weather is pure shit at the moment, but it's supposed to clear up for the weekend (25?C and sunshine). I'm excited! :thumbsup:

And because on of the major motorcycle apparell stores started giving 30% discount on all gloves last week, I ordered myself a pair of Alpinestars Octane gloves, since I could really use a lighter pair for summer.
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It's June 1st which means it's three years to the day since I had my first motorcycle ride. It seems like only yesterday that I pulled out of our driveway and headed down the street feeling like I was going a million miles an hour when I was actually only doing 25. The whole day I've been thinking back to all the fun times I've had on the back of a bike and all the things I've seen that I never would have if it weren't for aimless motorcycle rides.

Fortunately the weather played nice today and I was able to go out for a little ride. Even after three years that spark is still there. I loves me some motorcycling. :cool:
 
^The Sook TL1000R is one of the best sounding bikes EVER!!!


edit. In the world!!!
 
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We only have the "S" version here, but I still like it a lot.
 
Photographs from World Superbike at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah. Yes, these are all mine.

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I found an old POS P&S so I took another vid. This one gives a better idea of what it's like riding in Tokyo, but the memory card is so small it only gave me 5 mins of recording time, so it isn't good, I was just testing to see what the quality was like. The very last bit was heading onto Rainbow bridge but that's when I ran out of memory.

 
Awesome! That's exactly the way it is riding around here. Well, except for the fact that your bike is actually capable of moving faster than the other vehicles around you unlike a certain little Honda of mine. :lol:
 
Yeah riding in the left (slow) lane is usually the fastest cos people are always parking or stopping there so cars avoid it but there's enough room for a bike. Just have to be ready for opening car doors, people stepping out from or pulling out from between parked cars, suddenly stopping taxis etc. I used to do a long commute everyday and it's fun when there's a few bikes around - it's like a competition to see who can pick the best route around and through the cars.
 
I finally got tired of headshake and it's a million billion degrees today, so I'm hauling my bike over to a shop to have them punch out the steering head bearings and replace them.

What finally got me to fix it was the handlebar camera footage from yesterday... I took my hands off the bars for a second with the throttle lock on to give someone my opinion of their driving skills and the headshake turned everything into a blur.

Hadn't really realized it'd gotten that bad. :p
 
hansvonaxion said:
I found an old POS P&S so I took another vid. This one gives a better idea of what it's like riding in Tokyo, but the memory card is so small it only gave me 5 mins of recording time, so it isn't good, I was just testing to see what the quality was like. The very last bit was heading onto Rainbow bridge but that's when I ran out of memory.
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How could you edit out the glorious sound of that engine!?! Philistine! :lol:
 
Rode in the rain for the first time yesterday. Fun! Gotta love summer showers that creep on you even when it's sunny out.
 
I think one you've been forced to ride in snowy/icey conditions, rain is just as easy to ride in as a summers day. To those that have ridden on ice, HOW many times did YOU deficate in your leathers?
 
Today's 85 degrees and my never having ridden a bike got me wondering...how hot does it get in leathers and a helmet? Do the air vents really do a significant amount to keep you cool, or is it just balls hot?
 
Redliner said:
How could you edit out the glorious sound of that engine!?! Philistine! :lol:
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Because there was no engine sound. Just pure wind noise.
(and I wanted to cover up the missed gears, poor changes etc ;) )

If I didn't have to sell the bike then I'd look into getting a camera with anti shake and external mic input.

SpitfireMK461 said:
Today's 85 degrees and my never having ridden a bike got me wondering...how hot does it get in leathers and a helmet? Do the air vents really do a significant amount to keep you cool, or is it just balls hot?
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I've never ridden in full leathers, but when I rode through the Australian desert I found it "cooler" to ride with a (white) leather jacket on. Bare skin gets hot in the sun. The jacket I have now has zippers under the arms to let air through and that works well at speed, like the vents on the helmet, they work best at speed after you've been sweating for a while.

But basically it's hot - you're sitting on an engine with an exhaust running between your legs.
 
To all you guys who ride bikes and do, have, considered the thought, or will white line in the state of California (where it is legal)...

Give a god damned courtesy wave when people give you room. I'm looking at you riders of Euro/Jap crotch rockets! You guys seem to be the worst offenders. It's a common god damned courtesy and not much to ask. Hell you can even give me the middle finger, like one guy on a Harley did, but at least acknowledge the fact that we did you a favor by giving you room and not forcing you to stop and get stuck like the rest of us people who chose not to look like fags in more leather than Rob Halford need space to store more than what a bike can hold.

Also, don't be doing this shit in lanes where people have to constantly merge, i.e. not next to the merging lane for traffic entering the freeway. If you get cut off cause your being a douche and lining next to the on ramp, don't go bashing on peoples trunks because you can't get passed and they need to merge, we aren't expecting you to be there, and many probably aren't even looking or because of the aforementioned above paragraph have chosen to piss you off the only way we really can.

For those of you splitting it between the fast lane/HOV lanes and giving a courtesy wave, continue on, I will gladly move over for you guys... so basically anyone on a cruiser as you guys seem to be the only ones doing it.

/lets see how long it takes for me to get neg repped for this one.
count so far... 2
 
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About four minutes. Learn to ride a bike and then come back and say that 'it's easy and you should wave'.

Also: http://forums.finalgear.com/general...s-discussion-thread-26892/page-32/#post746668

SpitfireMK461 said:
Today's 85 degrees and my never having ridden a bike got me wondering...how hot does it get in leathers and a helmet? Do the air vents really do a significant amount to keep you cool, or is it just balls hot?
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To add to what Hans said: Not all of us wear leathers in the hot summer time. Many of us switch to textiles (if we ever switch out to leathers, that is) as you can get mesh textiles that are 80% as effective at protection or better while allowing free flow of air and ventilation. I can ride in up to 110F heat and still be relatively comfortable in my armored mesh jacket and overpants.

The real problem is when you're stopped or at slow speeds. You have no air flow and the heat from the bike (especially if you have an air cooled bike, where the heat just radiates off, generally onto your legs) can be oppressive. That's the real issue, IMHO. I've recorded 160F heat a couple of times on hot days in Texas when I've had to sit still for long periods. (Which is why I'm helping get the lane-sharing law through - so bikers don't have to sit and overheat.)
 
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thedguy said:
To all you guys who ride bikes and do, have, considered the thought, or will white line in the state of California (where it is legal)...
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What exactly is white lining? Is that like lane splitting but down the outside of the outside lane?

It isn't really easy to wave on a bike, the best we can usually manage is to raise fingers but that probably wouldn't be visible from behind. Basically you should just ignore bikes, I mean keep your eye out, but if a rider is lane splitting their safety is their own responsibility.
 
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