I e-mailed Icon today about the cheek pad in my helmet that is not staying in place.  They told me that I needed to take it back to the original place of purchase and have them replace the pad or exchange the helmet under warranty.  So it looks like I will be making another trip to Holland MI.

Icon’s response time was about two hours.  That is a very good response time.

I’ll keep you posted as to how this plays out.

I just returned from my first real ride with the new helmet.  I like it.

The good points…

The Icon Airframe is smooth while traveling at highway speeds.  The visor snaps down tight against it seal providing a nice wind-proof fit.  I rode for about 10 miles at 70 mph down the freeway without wind noise problems or excessive forces while looking behind (blind spot).  The vents provide more than enough air for cooling.  I actually had to close down some of the vents because they were drying out my eyes.  The airfoil on the back of the helmet worked as advertised keeping the helmet in a nice riding position without buffeting. 

The bad points…

There are only two down points to this helmet so far.  First, the right cheek pad does not snap in as securely as I would like.  Some times as I’m taking the helmet off one of the two snaps will come loose.  I may call Icon and ask them about this.  I may just be a defect on this particular snap.  All other saps seem fine.

Second, the chin strap is a little short.  If it was longer it would be easier to secure.  Because it’s a little short the snap at the end gets in the way.  I suspect the strap issues will become easer with practice. 

Over all I like this helmet.  I’m sure I will find more things that could be improved upon so keep reading for those posts.

I was putting on my helmet the other day when I noticed the foam in the chin guard was coming loose.  I supposed it was time to replace this helmet.  It’s probably ten years old and helmets should be replaced every five years or so.  Five years is about how long it takes for hair oils and styling products to break down the foam liner of a helmet.

So what should I look for in a helmet?  I started with the safety criteria.  I read safety review after safety review.  Do I want a helmet that is SNELL rated or is DOT enough?  Should I be looking at standards from other countries?  In the end (for the crashes I’m most likely to have) any helmet with a DOT stamp is likely to be adequate.

The next thing I focused on was comfort.  This is where the process got really tedious.  What makes a helmet comfortable?  I made myself three classes of comfort.  First fit, second, aerodynamics and last, noise level when riding.

I tried on helmet after helmet.  After the first half dozen helmets I had to do some more research on what makes a helmet fit correctly.  I found most of the helmets I thought were most comfortable were not fitted properly.  I liked the roomy feel of helmets that were loose.  It turns out the fit of a helmet affects noise while riding and visibility too.  But how do you find one that is not to loose but not too tight?  I went back to the shops and started trying on all the helmets again to find the perfect fit, but never finding the right thing.  The key came when I found out I can replace the cheek pads in many helmets to customize the size.  Most pads compress during the initial break in period.  But if the pads are still to tight around the cheeks I can replace them with thinner pads.  This was great.  Now I could find a helmet that fit around the top and back of my head knowing I had options around the face. 

The second part of comfort was aerodynamics.  I wanted a helmet that did not buffet around while riding.  I have not had a lot of problems with this–except while riding at freeway speeds.  Here I often experience buffeting when turning my head or in some cross winds.  Almost every helmet manufacturer has a solution and they are all similar.  They put a small spoiler on the back of the helmet to adjust the slipstream and minimize helmet buffeting.

Last on the comfort criteria list was noise.  I wanted a helmet that is as quiet as is reasonable.  After some reading, I found that a lot of noise is related to poorly fitting helmets and visors that are not adjusted for a proper seal.  Vents are another source of noise.  I wanted a helmet with a good compromise between price and the fitting/adjustability of the parts.

In addition to comfort the final helmet selection criteria was graphics.  I wanted a helmet with graphics that were not offensive.  I’m not into the sculls and death that seem to be very prevalent in modern helmet graphics.  I’m also not sold on a solid color even though many say they are more visible. 

I finally settled on a helmet.  I purchased an Icon Airframe.  For the most part it fits well, but is a little tight around the cheeks.  If that does not loosen up in a few weeks I’ll purchase new cheek pads.  The aerodynamics of the helmet received good reviews and the fit and finish seemed to be tight.  I saved some money by getting it on sale, but I did not get my first choice of graphics.  Never-the-less I don’t dislike these graphics. 

If you are ever in the southwest part of Michigan (St. Joseph area) looking for a good ride I recommend riding up the Blue Star Highway.  Last Friday KT, Ryan, Sherrie, Brani and I did this.

Our ride started in St. Joseph, Michigan where we headed north on M-63.  As soon as you cross the drawbridge to leave St. Joseph M-63 becomes a nicely paved 4-lane highway.  It follows the eastern edge of Lake Michigan through lots of small lake towns and villages.  Along the way we passed state parks, antique shops and lots of small places to eat.  There are also several golf courses if you care to strap your clubs to you bike. 

I recommend ending this ride before you get into Holland, MI.  The highway continues becoming very busy stop and go city traffic near Holland.  Or you can stop to enjoy yourself in Holland mostly known for its annual tulip festival.  We continued on trough Holland and turned east to Grand Rapids.  Our destination was Shawmut Hills, one of the largest motorcycle shops in the area, but the fun part of the ride ended in Holland.

Returning home we took the expressway.  This makes for a much faster but far less enjoyable trip.

River Road makes a Tank Bag System that looks to be as close to ideal as I have seen.  There are three well-designed pieces to this system.  First is the magnetic base that has a built in waterproof map pouch for use independent of the bag sections.  Second is a large bag that zips onto the magnetic base and contains a set of backpack straps for off bike transportation.  The last piece is a smaller bag that can zip on top of the large bag or directly onto the magnetic base. 

I like how flexible this bag seems to be.  With all of the different combinations it has the right size setup for almost any need (within reason).  I was not able to spend as much time in person with this bag as I would have liked but it seemed to have a good inside layout.  Places for small documents, pens, pencils and other office type tools.  And the big thing–it is big enough for my laptop.  Something bag manufactures often forget when designing bags.

Reviews of this bag seemed to be positive.  Most people said this bag was a lot of bag for $150.  Build quality seems to be adequate, holds up well and the magnetic base was plenty strong to hold the large size bag.  Reviewers commented that the zippers are larger than zippers on most tank bags making it easer to reconfigure and detach at will.

The down side of this bag is its size when fully stuffed.  I read a review of this bag by a 6’ 1” tall person who was having a hard time seeing over the bag.  He had it mounted on the tank of his SV650.  I’m 5’ 8” so I don’t think I would get much use out of this bag fully stuffed on my SV650. 

All that being said I think this is probably the most useful tank bag for general commuting and overnight road trips I’ve seen.

Last weekend, while sitting around talking bikes with the family, my aunt was surprised to learn that KT had and rode her own motorcycle.  It reminded me of a salesman at a bike shop we encountered last fall.

One afternoon I dragged KT along to look at motorcycles.  We were looking at a Yamaha FZ6 or similar when a salesman came up and started asking questions.  One of the first questions he asked when seeing KT and I together was “are you looking for a bike you can ride together?”  I replied “no” and continued to study the motorcycle I was looking at.  He turns to KT and starts making small talk with “you just don’t like to ride?”  Wow there is a generalization.  It was fun to see his expression when he found out that KT had her own motorcycle and preferred to drive.

Today I cam across this license plate holder that expresses the mental attitude adjustment the salesman received when his stereotype was wrong.  I’m glad that KT rides her own bike.  Having your own machine is always more fun.  And fun is what riding is all about.  The next question is: will KT put the plate frame on her bike?

I was working on a project in the garage and had all the motorcycles out on the driveway.  KT took this picture and thought I should post it on my blog.  I’m not sure that this bunch of bikes is worthy of being called a collection.

On the right is my first motorcycle, a 1979 Kawasaki KZ650.  It’s a nice bike but this particular one needs some work.  I put a lot of work into it when I got it but I prefer riding to tinkering.

In the middle is KT’s 1991 Honda Nighthawk 250.  This is her first bike.  She likes it because it is lightweight and easy to handle.  It also runs well.  As she becomes a more experienced rider I’ll have the turn signal lights fixed.

The last bike on the left is my current ride.  I picked it up in February.  It’s a 2007 Suzuki SV650.  It rides nice and is a lot of fun around the curves.

I’m not sure I need three bikes.  I may sell or trade the KZ650.  I’m thinking a dirt bike or maybe an enduro would be a fun addition.