I was browsing through a rack of helmets at a local Honda dealer where I stumbled upon HJC’s FS-10.  Wow what a cool idea.  HJC placed a retractable tinted visor inside the main face shield.

The visor is operated by a slide on the top of the helmet.  To lower the visor you slide a tab along a rail that latches when the visor is fully lowered.  To retract you simply press a button adjacent to the slide and the visor automatically retracts.  What a cool idea.

There are two down sides to this helmet.  First, it does not come in a color to match my bike.  Second, this helmet is not Snell approved (DOT approved only).  After further research I’m not sure this is as big of a hang up as I had thought. 

I decided I should find out why this helmet was not Snell approved.  According to Snell’s website they have not had to opportunity to test the modular helmets.  The FS-10 is considered a modular helmet.  There for the FS-10 Helmet may indeed be as good as a Snell approved helmet. 

I really like this helmet.  I wish it came in a red color that matched my bike. 

KT and I just returned from a short, but nice, dinner ride.  Four bikes, six riders went to St. Joseph, Michigan.  Our destination was a Papa Vino’s Italian restaurant where we all enjoyed a nice dinner.  Less than thirty miles round trip. 

We had a nice diversity of motorcycles.  On the lead bike was my wife KT riding a Honda Nighthawk 250.  I followed on my Suzuki SV650. Brani and Sherrie followed me on a brand new bright green Kawasaki Ninja, a very nice looking bike.  Bringing up the tail was Ryan and Carrissa on a Yamaha SX1100.   

If all goes well this may become a summertime weekly tradition.

The other day I stopped in at Freedom Cycle, a local Harley Davidson dealer.  I went in thinking I would continue my quest for the perfect tank bag but got distracted with a sign on the wall:  “Busted Knuckles Garage.”  The sign reminded me of my first motorcycle.

I had (still have sitting in the garage) a 1979 Kawasaki KZ 650.  The carburetors on this bike are held on with rubber boots and clamps.  After loosening the clamps and a lot of pulling the boots finally broke free and slit off scraping my hand against the frame. 

Another crushing memory happened as I pulled into the driveway, lowered the kickstand and started to get off.  At the most awkward point the stand failed taking the bike over with my leg under it.  It is difficult to get a motorcycle off you and upright when you are pinned under it. 

I’m sure there were countless other smashes and scrapes over the three years I road the KZ.  Any time I’m around wrenches I seem to pinch, scrape or hit something.  

Feel free to leave your “Busted Knuckle” stories.

Yesterday I stopped in at the local Honda dealer to look at motorcycle accessories.  I stumbled upon a rack of tank bags.  I have been considering purchasing a tank bag so I took the opportunity to check the bags out.  It was very nice of the shop to have a sport bike and a table next to the rack of bags.

These tank bags were all made by First gear and all appeared to be well built.  The bag that first got my attention was the Monza Tank Bag/Backpack.  It is a medium sized magnetic or suction cupped tank bag.  The Monza features a removable base that could be used as a stand-alone map bag.  With the base removed the main portion of the bag doubles as a backpack.  Inside there is not a whole lot of organizational features.  It was mostly an open space.

The second bag of interest was the Silverstone Tank Bag II.  This bag was a little smaller than the Monza.  The mounting base was also removable leaving a backpack behind.  The base itself seemed to be less secure than the Monza’s when I placed it on a bike.  Being a smaller bag it may not matter.  The inside of the bag there is some organization for pens and such but it was not exceptionally great.

I think my problem with both of these bags is in what I would use a tank bag for.  I would want something that could replace my briefcase/computer bag.  It needs to have a place for a computer file folders and other accessories that a common commuter would take back and forth to work.  All of these tank bags seemed to be made for short overnight trips or to pack a lunch on a day ride.  I hope as motorcycles become more popular in mainstream commuting that accessory manufactures will make business friendly riding accessories.

If I were to purchase one of these bags I would probably pick the Monza.  It has more useable room and the ability to pull it apart and use the mounting piece as a stand alone map pocket was cool.  For now I will keep looking to see if I can find the bag that is right for me.

That was the headline on web BikeWorld’s page today.  ABS is one thing that I believe would make riding a motorcycle significantly safer.  Often riders are not well trained or well practiced in how to use the front and rear breaks together.  Riders often in a panic situation lock up the rear wheel and skid out of control.  With a combined ABS system the rider could panic applying either the front or rear break and still have control of the bike.  ABS would also be useful on wet slick roads where the conditions are not as predictable.  I am looking forward to the day when this becomes standard on motorcycles much as it is on cars.

After a long hard day of working outside around the house in 90 degree weather there is nothing better than riding my motorcycle into the sunset.  When we left my visor was nice and clear.  After an hour riding at twilight I was looking through smeared bug guts.  Along the way we encountered the most peculiar light.  R.G., my riding buddy, and I were sitting in a left turn lane waiting for the arrow.  The stoplight was cycling faster than a normal light and every rotation around it skipped our turn land and the green for the lanes 90 degrees to the right of us.  Being a fairly deserted intersection people cautiously began running the red light and after about six cycles we did the same.   It is amazing what you see while riding.

I’m on vacation in Virginia.  Unfortunately it was not practical to bring my bike.  It is a little like torture, every road winds around and looks like so much fun. 

While shopping with my wife I stumbled upon a Harley Davidson dealer/apparel shop.  Naturally that was more interesting than looking at shoes so I stopped in.  I have not visited enough Harley shops to know if these observations are universal but here are some things I noted. 

1)    The shop was located in a mall.  I have never seen any other type of motorcycle shop in a mall. 

2)    The people were friendly and liked to talk about riding adventures much like every motorcycle shop I have ever been in.  What was interesting was how brand loyal the dealers and riders were to their Harleys.  I don’t seem to get the same feeling when talking to riders or sellers of Metric bikes.

3)    People working in this particular dealership all seemed to have tattoos and enjoyed talking with customers about them.  I have never heard that type of conversation at a metric bike dealer, but this may have to due with the fact that I don’t have any tattoos.  Most of conversations I have heard or had in metric bike shops are comparing bike to bike or the best places to ride.

4)    The merchandise other than motorcycles in the Harley shop was based upon the Harley logo not around motorcycle riding.  I looked at a “riding” jacket that was nothing more than a light windbreaker with very thin lining on the back and elbows.  The last Suzuki dealer I was in carried Icon and River Road jackets, Castle gloves, and many other bits of riding apparel designed to protect the rider.

It was fun looking at the bikes in the Harley shop–A whole lot better than looking at shoes.  Harley puts allot into their designs, but I found the culture of the bike shop and image of the company more interesting than anything else in the shop.

Last year I purchased a River Road riding jacket that I got a good deal on.  It is a basic jacket that I don’t particularly like.  It has a zip out liner that is waterproof and acts like a windbreaker but is no good when it’s cold.  When I take the liner out it has a mesh layer that I’m afraid I’m going to snag on something.  There are several pockets but I find they are always in the wrong spots and hard to get to.

Ok now the good.  The outside of the jacket is fairly rugged and seems to be holding up well.  It is fairly comfortable when riding.  However the best part of this jacket is when it is hot the wind flows right through it.  It was almost 90 degrees today and while moving it was perfect. 

If you are considering a jacket I would not suggest this one.  I think you can do better for not much more money.  

Have you ever had someone compliment you on the look of your bike?  Today was such a nice day I rode my motorcycle to work today.  I had two people complement me on how “sharp” my bike looked.  As much as I would like to take credit for these complements they really need to go to the designers at Suzuki.  The first time I saw an SV650 I thought that it was striking.  

My wife Katy took this picture.  Feel free to download it and share it with friends.