After seeing The Rolling Hobo with these gloves last fall, I knew I had to buy my own. The Klim Forecast overglove is a bad weather overglove that you wear over your regular gloves. My everyday riding gloves for spring, summer, and milder fall weather are a pair of Held Sambia textile gloves with a kangaroo leather palm. I really like these for general use, and I have a size 10 (Large). The Klim Forecast gloves are a split-finger (a.k.a. lobster claw) design, made of a very high quality gore-tex material. Super light, waterproof, windproof and all the rest, with a grippy rubber palm. They are super easy to pack in your tank bag, back pack, or whatever luggage you have on your bike. I ordered a size XXL, and they fit quite easily over my size 10 (L) Held gloves.
I will learn to carry these new Klim gloves with me all the time: warm weather, cold weather, dry or wet. When the weather turns to shit, I'll be ready. These are an awesome piece of gear. Expensive as hell, but awesome. Sometimes, you just have to forget about the silly price tag and buy something because it's an awesome product.
I also bought this Klim Inversion jacket. It was marked down about 40% because an updated version was released a few months ago, and this is the old version. Not really a moto-jacket, but more of a casual jacket. I wear it all the time in Berlin's spring weather. Mornings have been a few degrees above freezing, and it warms up nicely during the day this time of year (not quite t-shirt weather yet) and I'm fine with a light shirt underneath. I ride my bicycle to work most days and if I start to feel warm, opening the air vents works very well.
Windstopper, 4-way stretchy fabric, under-arm ventilation zippers, front chest pockets also flow lots of air. Not waterproof, but definitely water resistant. I've worn it in some light rain/drizzle and the water just beads off. Not sure how it would fare in a major downpour.
Verdict: top quality jacket, super functional, looks and fits great. I'm 5'11" and 190 lbs, and the size L is a fantastic fit.
You don't often see dirt bikes with an automatic oiler, but since my bike spends most of its life in easy riding conditions, I've been thinking about one for a while. I've always been amazed at how many bikes I see with them here in Germany. Obviously the drawback to this on a dirt bike would be that riding in dusty conditions the chain would pick up lots of dirt.
Found it on sale for €79 (reg. €139). Installation was pretty straightforward. Don't need to be a mechanical genius to install this, rather, you just need to look at mounting options carefully for your particular bike.
Conclusion: I should have gotten one of these a long time ago. I plan to buy another one before the sale ends (so I can install it on the new Kawasaki Versys).
Just spent 3 days riding around Poland and pretty much used up the whole reservoir (will need to be filled soon). I covered about 1,100 Kms, mostly asphalt but probably 300 Kms of light offroad riding. During the first day I was fiddling around with the flow control setting. By the end of the first day, I had found just the right setting to get the right amount of oil.
Mounted the oil reservoir here.
the hose which feeds oil to the chain is run along the bottom of the swing arm,
and secured using the bolt that holds the chain guide. Bend the metal piece a little
to keep the needle pressing slightly against the sprocket.
Here you can see the oil hose coming from the right side of the bike
where the oil reservoir is mounted, in front of the mud guard and
on the inside of the swing arm. Seems to work well.
As much as I really like my new Shoei GT-Air, I still consider my favourite helmet to be my 4 year old Shoei Hornet DS (size L). The GT-Air is great for road use and the Hornet is better for offroad. And while the fit of the GT-Air is excellent, the Hornet fits my head even better. It's not as quiet, or as light, but it just fits my big melon like a glove.
I've worn the Hornet for a million miles and I love it. But I've also sweated in it... a lot. The foam liner material and cheek pads are pretty disgusting. I have removed and washed the all of the interior pieces several times, but even still -- this helmet is full of stink. The flip-up visor was also scuffed in a few places, so I recently replaced it also.
For $122 USD, I was able to pretty much refurbish the entire helmet. Looking back, I should have bought the PinLock shield, but I didn't know a PinLock model was available until it was too late.
clear face shield/visor (C-49) $50
cheek pads(35mm thick) $40
center pad liner (size L) $32
The packaging / part numbers for the
center pad liner, and cheek pads
The old cheek pad on the right is compressed, smelly,
and filled with disgusting bacteria.
New vs. Old
Yuck!
All nice and new again.
Skull cap head liner
I have been shaving my head bald for about 20 years. Because of this, the bare skin of my scalp touches directly against the inside of the helmet, making a perfect environment for transferring germs and bacteria from my sweaty noggin to the helmet liner --.especially in hot weather. To minimize the filthy effect of sweating inside my helmet, I like to wear some sort of cloth layer between my head the the helmet liner -- usually some kind of bandanna, skull cap, hanker-chief or similar cloth. I've always been on the lookout for something specially-made for bald folks to wear under a helmet. After lots of online reading, I ended up at CrownWear.
I would definitely not recommend this shop. They make a shit product, and their customer service is even shittier than their shit product. After perusing their website for a while, I bought the Ultra-Thin Comfort Liner. In reading the description, it sounded exactly like what I've been searching for. I'm not looking to keep my head warm, rather, I want a thin but absorbent and moisture-wicking layer between my scalp and the helmet. They market this item as a helmet liner -- to be worn under a helmet. For this reason, I say it's a shit product. Not so much a reflection of the quality or craftsmanship, but it doesn't take a fucking genius to know that a liner designed to be worn under a helmet should NOT have thick, bulky sewn seams. Now I'm not a seamstress, but for a helmet liner, I would think that the seams --if it must have seams at all-- should be small, flat and not noticeable.
When it arrived in the mail, I was immediately disappointed: the thing is sewn together from 4 panels of thin fabric -- which is fine. The problem is that the seams where the 4 pieces are sewn together are very quite bulky and pronounced. This is going to be a problem if you wear this under a helmet!
I didn't even bother to try it on. Instead, I emailed the company immediately. Five days later, no response. I wasn't rude, I thought perhaps they sent me the wrong item. I emailed again, still being reasonably polite. No response. My third email may not have been so polite, but again it proved to be another waste of my time. They're not interested in responding because they have my money. Mind you, it's only $17 so it's not like I'll be declaring bankruptcy over this. I'll just keep looking. I just hate when a company advertises something that is a big fucking lie.
I did eventually try it under my helmet and the result was exactly as I expected: 4 deep grooves carved into my scalp. Fucking awesome! As a consolation, I tried wearing it inside-out. The grooves it pressed into my scalp were somewhat reduced -- but still completely unacceptable and uncomfortable.
Over the years, I have found that only Shoei helmets seem to fit my head properly. I've tried all the brands, all the styles, all the price ranges. This time, I did make a point of trying lots of the European brands that are not popular on the other side of the Atlantic, where I come from. None of them seem to fit my funny shaped head like a Shoei. I've owned a few other brands over the years but was never very happy with them.
I've been using two helmets lately. Both are a few years old, and both are due for replacement. My Shoei TZ-R was a very bargain, and it has lasted very well. In fact, it still looks awesome from the outside, and the original face shield is still in near perfect shape. The interior liner padding and cheek pads, however, well they're pretty worn and they smell pretty funky. I wash them regularly, but they are well past the "best before" date. And my Shoei Hornet DS? Same thing. The cost of refurbishing the inside of the helmet is rather pricey, and even after you spend the cash to do that, you've still got an old helmet.
So, I've been looking around, and I found a very good bargain on select models of the Shoei GT Air. It seems that a handful of the solid colour models are being phased out, and prices knocked down. Funny, because the GT Air line has only been around for 2 years.
Everywhere I looked, this helmet was €529. For the same helmet with flashy graphics, €579. That's a lot of coin. How much did I pay? Well, the giant Louis store just north of Tegel airport had solid colours on for €399 (red, yellow, or silver). To compare with Canadian/American prices, Revzilla has the identical plain silver GT Air for $549 USD right now.
This is a premium helmet with a clear face shield and an integrated Pinlock insert to prevent fogging. This fancy helmet also has built-in, spring-loaded, drop-down sun shades like a fighter pilot's helmet. Way cool.
OK, enough with the keyboard diarrhea, let's get to the point:
Pros:
By far, this is the quietest helmet I have ever worn. It's seriously quiet. Really. Can't emphasize this enough. Well done, Shoei.
The fit is excellent. But this is subjective. It fits my head, and that is key.
Ventilation is very good. Not awesome, but very good. There are two intake vents: chin and forehead. There is one exhaust vent at the top, rear of the helmet.
The Pinlock visor is awesome. No fogging at all. I did notice that when I wear my glasses (I don't always wear them as my vision isn't that bad) my glasses fogged up a little one particularly cool morning this week. Note that it was my glasses fogging, not the visor. I removed the chin skirt though, and no more foggy glasses! I may try the chin skirt again as the weather gets colder.
The Euro-version of this helmet uses Shoei's quick-release mini-ratchet locking clip mechanism to fasten the chin strap. It's pretty cool in that it's easy to fasten and unfasten. There's a con, though. See next section.
Cons:
The mini-ratchet locking clip mechanism seems to be positioned too far back -- what I mean is that it digs into my throat rather than hugging under my jaw/chin. It's like they mounted the anchor points too far back on the sides of the helmet, so that the buckle is sitting against my Adam's apple. I find I am leaving it adjusted rather loose just so that I can slide it forward to keep from choking me. I think I prefer the old fashioned, tried-and-true long strap with double D-rings. Maybe I'll get used to it eventually.
Aside from the comfort issue with the chin strap buckle, I really can't find any real fault with this new helmet.
If I wanted to really nitpick, I might say that the lip for raising the visor is a little small. Pretty minor annoyance. However, the visor itself is very, very good with excellent feel through the movement during opening and closing. Top quality visor all around.
I've shopped at rockymountainatv.com for a while now, and I've always had positive experiences with them. They have a great website, great selection of goodies, great prices, and great service. But they did something today that went above and beyond in providing exemplary customer service. I am very impressed, and thought I should take a moment to tell others what happened.
About 6 weeks ago, I was ordering a few little things for my bikes: chains, oil filters, etc. As I was adding a few things to my shopping cart, I noticed they had some rediculously low prices on motorcycle batteries. Of course, they were some kind of generic no-name brand, and I was very suspicious that these were probably junk batteries. What the hell, I figured... at $20 for a replacement battery for my WR250X, and $25 for my DR650, that's two bike batteries for $45. I figured even if they only last one season, they'd be worth it.
Well, when my stuff arrived, I immediately unpacked the new batteries and checked them on my voltmeter. Rather disappointed to find the first battery read about 9.1 volts. The other battery read 11.5 volts. A little better but not great. Over the next day or two, I fully charged both of them on my Battery Tender Junior.
Taking another voltage reading after charging was complete, one of them was reading 12.2 volts. Not great, as a good battery should read about 13.5V if it's fully charged. The second battery showed a reading of 13 volts after charging. hmmm.
Not expecting much, I installed battery #1 in my DR650. I wanted to give it a real world test, so once installed in the bike, I unplugged the spark plug wires. This would allow the battery to crank the engine over, but the engine won't start. I wanted to see how long it would take for the battery to crap out. I was not very impressed when it failed in about 9 or 10 seconds. Not much cranking power there.
The test on battery #2 was almost the same. I installed battery #2 in my WR250, disconnected the spark plug wire, and hit the starter button. The engine cranked over for about 10 seconds, then the battery gave out. Not very impressive, but what did I expect from a $20 battery?
Oh well, I just accepted the fact that I tossed $45 down the toilet for these 2 batteries. Lesson learned.
But after thinking about it for a while now, I decided it was my duty as a customer to let the good folks at RockyMountainATV know that these cheapo batteries are not worth their weight in salt. I didn't really expect them to do anything. At most, I figured they might offer to refund, or exchange the batteries, but I fully expected they would want me to ship them back. Of course, if I have to pay shipping fees, it wouldn't make it worth my while. I was fully prepared to just accept the fact I bought some junk, but it wasn't a ton of money. I had no hard feelings against RockyMountain. It's not their product.
However, when I emailed them my story, they replied with an offer to give me a store credit for the full amount and they don't want me to ship the junk batteries back to them.
Wow. Is that great customer service, or what? Way more than I ever expected. Especially since I wasn't going to bother even telling them about the crappy batteries in the first place.
I do have confidence that the AntiGravity will be a solid product. Expensive, yes, but definitely a quality product based on all the reading I've done. I might have gone with an Earth-X brand LiFePo4 battery, but sadly, they don't carry that brand at RockyMountain.
For what it's worth, the junk batteries I bought were manufactured under the name brand Moto Power, and they are apparently AGM technology (Absorbed Glass Material), which is known to be a good replacement for tried and true liquid-filled lead acid batteries, similar to gel batteries. However, these particular batteries sold under this name brand are just pure crap, made from second rate materials. Probably factory rejects. They're cheap, and you get what you pay for.
This is them..... I bought a CTZ7S for my WR250X, and a CBTX9 for my DR650
It will cost me $5 each to dispose of these batteries (the have an environmental / recycling fee for old batteries at the scrap yard). But I'm very happy with the outcome.
I'll post an update when the new AntiGravity battery arrives.
Combined, the Giant Loop front and rear luggage bags I purchased worked very well during a grueling 6-day ride which included 900 miles of mountain passes. And when I added a 10L dry bag, I had plenty of storage for a week's worth of crap.
Thought I would write a quick note just to say how great GoPro's support is. A few months ago, I contacted them to say that the audio recording on my GoPro 960 video camera was showing intermittent problems: while recording, it would occasionally and without warning just stop recording the audio...video would keep recording -- it would just stop recording sound... or sometimes the audio would just turn to a scratchy, static sound. They asked me to provide a sample, so I uploaded a video on YouTube:
Listen to the audio scratchy audio before the 1:35 mark, and the normal sounding audio after 1:35
Anyway, GoPro asked me to ship the camera back to them, and they sent me a brand new replacement very quickly. I just forwarded them a copy of my electronic sales receipt (yes, it was still under the one year warranty). Awesome service. The new replacement has worked very well.
And just recently, I managed to break the plastic latch that locks the waterproof housing closed. Don't ask me how, but I broke it. It has always seemed to take a little encouragement to get the thing closed tightly. I've learned that you need to press the door tightly against the main part of the housing when you flip the locking latch mechanism, but a certain amount of pressure is still
required. So, I contacted them again and they asked me to supply a photo of the broken latch:
And once again, GoPro's service has come through. They are quick to reply to my inquiry, and have promised to send out a free replacement immediately. It's great service like this that makes me want to buy another GoPro.
Because I'm planning to use the RMZ wheel with my new RMZ front end, I will lose the OEM speedometer's functionality. This is because the RMZ is not a road-legal bike, and therefore, the front axle/hub has no speedometer drive gear, as is typically found on road-going bikes. So this meant going to an electronic / magnet type speedo solution. A big advantage to this is that most computerized options these days are far more accurate for measuring speed than the old mechanical speedo, plus these high-tech models include lots of extra features: tachometer, clock, engine temperature, shift indicator, and some other stuff. I don't believe it has a voltage gauge.
A friend of mine, who rides a Honda XR650L, bought a Vapor computer last summer and never got around to installing it. He also bought some accessories to go with it: two aluminium mounting dashboards, brackets, and stuff. He gave me a fantastic price of $75, plus the shipping to my door.
I've read all kinds of great things about GoPro's Hero cameras and I finally decided to get my own. In the short time I've had my Hero, I gotta say I'm a little disappointed. First, I'll explain a bit about the camera, then I'll get to my opinion.
I purchased my GoPro HD Hero 960 video camera from PointOfViewCameras online store. The 960 is a new model, essentially the same as the latest, greatest HD Hero 1080 model, but with a few features missing. This makes it about a hundred bucks cheaper. The video recording resolution is the main difference between them:
The expensive HD Hero 1080 can record in these modes:
1080p: 1920x1080 pixels, 30 fps, 12 Mbit/s data rate
960p: 1280x960 pixels, 30 fps, 10 Mbit/s data rate
720p: 1280x720 pixels, 30 fps, 7.5 Mbit/s data rate
720p: 1280x720 pixels, 60 fps, 15 Mbit/s data rate
while the cheaper HD Hero 960 records in these modes:
960p: 1280x960 pixels, 30 fps, 10 Mbit/s data rate
720p: 1280x720 pixels, 30 fps, 7.5 Mbit/s data rate
WVGA: 848x480 pixels, 60 fps, 8 Mbit/s data rate
When comparing the 1080 model alongside the 960, they share the same wide angle lens (170 degree viewing angle), the same rechargeable lithium-ion battery, the same 5 MegaPixel still photos, yada, yada, yada. The 1080 model also has support for some yet-to-be-released accessories from GoPro that will clamp onto the back of the camera via the battery access door, including an LCD panel to show you what your recording and to review photos and videos, and an auxiliary battery pack. Basically, the 960 won't support these non-existent accessories.
I paid $179 plus the standard 13% taxes for the camera, and that included free ground shipping, which took about a week from Vancouver to Ottawa. Also included was a bonus 4GB SD memory card. It came with the standard selection of mounts. See photo:
I'm rather disappointed with the mounts... that's one of the things people always rave about when it comes to GoPro cameras: the mounting options are supposed to be endless. Well, there maybe countless ways to mount the camera using the plastic parts supplied, but the mounts basically suck ass, in a really big way. They feel cheap and flimsy, you can't screw the little plastic knobs tight enough with your fingers to actually hold the camera securely (when mounted on the bike, my thumper's vibrations shake the damn camera all over the place, and if I loft the front tire in the air, the camera shakes violently upon landing).
With the sticky 3M two-way tape on the two supplied "adhesive mounts" you get only one chance. Stick them and leave them... they can't be moved again. I stuck the curved mount on the side of my gas tank but it vibrates all to Hell in that location. I would have stuck it on my helmet but I couldn't get it to fit the contour of my Shoei Hornet DS properly but I found the shape of my IMS gas tank to be quite close to the contour of the curved mount. So after having wasted the curved mount, I decided to think harder before wasting the flat adhesive mount and came up with this:
RAM mount for camcorder or camera.
I stuck the flat adhesive mount to a round camera RAM mount, and for added security, I ran a bead of silicone around the outside edge. I thought this mount would be the most secure... I clamped it onto the RAM ball mount I have on my handle bars (which I normally use for my Garmin Oregon GPS) but still, the damn camera vibrates all over the place. I'm not afraid of it falling off, it just annoys me to no end when I see the video shaking during play back.
I even spent another $20 on my order to get a GoPro's own handle bar / seat post clamp mount... This cheap piece of crap is probably only worth $2 but some how they sell it for $20. Again, it's cheap, flimsy plastic and it doesn't hold tight enough to handle the rough treatment it receives on the handlebars of a big thumper. A mountain bike maybe, but it can't take the vibes from my bike.
I have yet to try the head strap mount but I see no point. It's not meant to be worn over a motorcycle helmet so I really have no use for it.
I have looked at the chest mount strap but at $50 I'm not about to get suckered into that. I've thrown good money after bad on other things before and I've learned my lesson. Remember that saying: "quit while you're ahead."
On the positive side, the quality of the video is respectable. Not awesome, but not bad.
Here's a sample. The higher the engine revs, the worse the camera shows the vibrations. This is using the $20 GoPro handlebar mount.
And here's a sample of the camera secured to the
handlebars with my RAM mount
Conclusion: While the camera itself seems to be a reasonable piece of gear for under $200, it's not worth shit if I can't figure out a way to mount it securely to my motorcycle. I've basically come up with 3 possible solutions:
1) dream up a mount that uses a rubber vibration damper (some type of rubber mount where it bolts/clamps onto the bike);
2) mount the camera on myself somehow because my body doesn't vibrate as much as the bike (I'm trying to buy another curved adhesive mount to try again on my other helmet but I'm not going to by a big bag of mounts). However, I'm really not interested in wearing the camera on my body or on my helmet -- I bought it to mount on my motorcycle;
3) sell the damn thing on eBay and find another camera solution.
Oh, before anyone asks if I used that silicone swimmer's nose-plug thing-a-ma-jig in the mount base, yes, I did. That thing isn't designed to absorb all the vibrations, rather, it's meant to stop the camera from wobbling around loosely in its mount. The problem I've seen is an issue that stems from the massive engine vibrations that big, single-cylinder thumpers are known for. If my bike had a sewing-machine-smooth inline-4 engine, then my impression of this camera would probably be very different.
I recently picked up a decent handheld mapping GPS, an invaulable tool for trail riding. While I have a full-featured Garmin Nuvi 760 for the car, and have used it many times on the bike, it's really only useful for street navigation.
So, after much research and lots of online bargain hunting, I ended up with the Garmin Oregon 300 GPS. It comes pre-loaded with a basic worldwide basemap, and I've added Garmin's Topo Canada V4.0 map, cGPSMapper Southern Ontario Enhanced Basemap (free map from http://gpsmapsearch.com/ using this map). I also picked up a 16GB Kingston MicroSD memory card (overkill, yes, but it was only $25), and I even wasted 30 bucks for a subscription to Garmin's Bird'sEye Satellite Immagery web download service (not worth the cash, in my opinion).
Garmin Oregon 300
The Oregon 300's main features include touch screen (3" diagonal), high sensitivity WAAS-enabled GPS receiver (it's accurate to within about 10 feet), electronic compass, barometric altimeter, microSD memory card slot, wireless sharing of your data (waypoints, tracks, routes and geocaches) with other Oregon units. It's also waterproof, which is a very important feature.
I've not had any trouble using the touch screen while wearing my gloves, although it seems to respond a little better when I remove my gloves. So far, I'm really liking this GPS. I bought it at Walmart for $299 (Canada).
screenshot
I bought a RAM mount system from GPSCity through Amazon for $30. The only way to really mount this thing on the bike. Garmin sells a handlebar mount that attaches with zip ties, but it looked pretty crappy compared to this RAM solution.
To power this new GPS, I've been using low self-discharge Sony CycleEnergy hybrid Ni-MH AA batteries. I went to the Sony Store at the mall and bought a kit that includes a charger and four AA cells for $60 -- yikes! The charger has a "refresh" button that will drain the batteries fully first, and then charge them, if you so wish. The advantage offered by newer hybrid types is that they retain their charge for a much longer period when not in use. Older Ni-Mh batteries would lose ~ 1/2 their charge if they weren't used for 30 days. These particular Sony's perform very well when powering electronic devices. Although they don't have the same initial punch as some higher capacity 2700 mAh batteries, they do perform very well and actually last longer overall -- many high capacity rechargeable batteries provide more initial power, but only for a short time, meaning they start to run out of steam quicker. These Sony's provide a good balance of overall lasting power, and they claim to retain 90% of their capacity while in storage for a year. So far, my experience with these batteries is very positive. They have performed much better than many other rechargeables I have used before: I've tried the Energizer AA's and they suck, and Duracell rechargeables are OK, but not nearly as good.
I have some smaller AAA Sanyo Eneloops (also hybrid) and I would have bought some in AA size but I wasn't able to find them locally, I've also used the as these Sony's.
I have also used the mini-USB cable to power the GPS while on the bike using my 12V cigarette lighter plug USB adapter. It works well but I'm worried the extreme vibration from my big thumper might eventually loosen the USB port connnection on the GPS. Besides, these new Sony batteries are easily lasting a full 8-hour day of riding, and I keep a spare set fully charged in my pocket just in case.
Bought some new riding apparel just in time for last weekend's Calabogie Boogie. I've always heard plenty of good things about the quality of Klim gear, and AtomicMoto seems to have a good reputation of selling only products that are worth buying. So, I went to their website and ordered 3 items: the 2009 Klim Chinook pants on sale for $87 (reg. $120), and the Revolt Jersey for $40, and Mojave gloves for $18. Because the order was over $100, it qualified for free shipping within the US (yes, I drove down to Ogdensburg yet again to pickup my stuff).
My experience with theAtomicMoto.com website was terrific and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. And the quality of this Klim stuff is top notch, for sure. I'm extremely impressed with the pants. They really stand out as being exceptional quality. I've seen pants of considerably inferior quality sell for more than I paid for these. The gloves? Well, they're gloves. The jersey? Again, it's a jersey, but it's exactly as they described: it's not as breathable as the Baja jersey they sell, but that's why I chose it: I want it for fall weather riding. Good fit and good quality.
2009 Klim Chinook pants were on sale for $87 (reg. $120)
Before embarking on my 8-day roadtrip with Sean around Georgian Bay, I decided that a Bluetooth intercom communication system might be a useful gadget. Sean already had his last year's model Cardo Scala Rider Q2 headset. After doing much research and reading online, I determined that the latest and greatest Scala Rider "G4" would be the way to go. And instead of buying a single unit, I should just bite the bullet and purchase a pair (the "Powerset" kit) so I can use it with my son.
The new G4 model is very similar to last year's Q2 model, however, Cardo claims the effective range has been increased from 500 metres with the old Q2 units, to 1.6 Kms with the new G4 system. The new G4 also has a built-in FM tuner and supposedly better quality speakers. The documentation said that the new units are backward-compatible with the old ones, and we managed to pair our two units together in about minute -- after consulting the owner's manual, it was quite easy.
Being able to talk to each other while riding was really great -- having never experienced it before, it's hard to describe -- it's just one of those things a person cannot understand until they can do it themselves. From this point onward, going on a motorcycle trip without it couldn't be the same. How did I ever manage without it? Full-duplex, crytsal-clear, voice activated communication -- just like talking on the telephone. Who'da thunk it? It's amazing.
And when I wasn't talking with Sean, I was able to connect to my iPhone via Bluetooth, and use voice commands to listen to music, or to initiate/receive telephone calls using voice commands (ex: just speak the command "play -> AC-DC -> Highway to Hell," or "Dial -> Smith, John -> work number"). The shit just works, and it works over Bluetooth -- no wires! For shits and giggles I called Brad -- a buddy from work -- as I cruised along the highway at 130 Km/hr and he remarked that sound quality was excellent.
I even wore my ear plugs during our entire trip (as I always do) and I was able to hear no problem. The G4 units automatically adjust the volume for you - it's that easy. If you don't have a Bluetooth communication system, then you need to get one. It's a no-brainer.
In this photo you can see that I have the antenna flipped up:
not required unless you really want to get the most range out
Off-road riding with sport bike boots is just asking for trouble. So I'll put away my old Alpinestars SM-X boots for this new pair of Gaerne GX-1 motocross boots. These are Gaerne's "entry level" MX boot, but compared to all the other entry level boots I looked at, these are way out in front.
I wanted a well-made boot, not some cheap crappy plasticky imitation leather boot glued together in a Chinese sweatshop. I expected to pay in the $200-$400 range for a decent pair of boots. After doing lots of research and shopping around at various online stores, I finally decided these Gaerne's were for me.
Gaerne is a top quality Italian brand, and the GX-1 is a great bargain with an MSRP of $200 USD. The problem is trying to find them locally, or for that matter, anywhere in Canada -- I couldn't. So I did a little shopping around online and I found a retailer on eBay selling them for $159 +$13 shipping. Wow. These are everything I was looking for in a good boot, and they're dirt cheap at that price. A great boot for a great price.
