Your Sport Touring Motorbike Fix
Waiting in the eye of a hurricane work week, on that day off that just screams “boss gonna needja”, a motorcycle dry bag sits idle. It’s hidden well enough to forget about, but with the right amount of adrenaline … you won’t.
In it lies everything necessary for a great motorcycle trip.
Morning arrives. The alarm goes off. Your smartphone gets itchin’ to spell out “Do Not Answer!” while some musAc version of Darth Vader’s theme bellows from it’s tin can speaker.
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It’s a bit more than that. A retractable motorcycle helmet lock recently stole my “KISS” (keep it simple, stupid) prize for some duration, offering enough cable length to secure my ATGATT riding jacket as well. Smaller than a bar of soap, the product I’m growing savvy to gets easily overlooked for all of the right reasons.
Years back, my first helmet cost me just shy of a hundred bucks. While today I’m not hemorrhaging disposable dollars for whatever Schuberth aims to rake, I do enjoy the quiet, comfortable protection offered by higher shelf brands like Shoei and Arai. With bigger price tags than entry-level noggin’ cradles, I prefer said investment not walk off in someone else’s hands.
That’s why I ordered something that can secure all of my riding gear to the bike at once. I figure it’s better to tick multiple boxes with one purchase where possible. Many go the “lock helmet to motorcycle seat” route (D-ring to mechanism). I’m now able to secure my riding attire using a motorcycle helmet lock that, well … wasn’t intended for motorcycle helmets.
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Riding motorcycles is pretty much the most fun and interesting thing you can do while wearing waterproof pants, and it’s even better with other people. For both group riders and ride leaders, nothing beats grinning and babbling like idiots with like-minded motorcyclists after railing a particularly tasty tangle of twisties.
But a sublime shared riding experience doesn’t just happen.
I don’t want to get all zen here, but it takes a conscious, continuous effort to create an environment or culture that maximizes and balances enjoyment and safety. You need the proper doses of velocity and lean angle without harshing the mellow with stuff like groupthink, bad vibes, and impromptu dirt sampling.
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Most people attending the Progressive International Motorcycle Show bee-line toward the new bikes they’ve been reading about and drooling over all winter. We can finally see the real deal, not just a 2D image on a computer screen or in a magazine. We can finally jump on it, grab some brake, check the ergonomics and petition the vendors with all the pertinent questions.
A lot of IMS attendees scan for bike manufacturer’s booths upon entering the show. Not me, I put my excitement in check and head straight toward the back of the room. Most everything in the back is an afterthought. That’s the space all the farkle vendors and bedazzlers occupy.
I like to make my way up and down these aisles while I still have some patience. There are some good equipment vendors scattered about. It’s paid off previously in discovering the amazing Uclear helmet speakers and procuring an amazing deal on a Sena S-20. There are also some serious vendors worth spending time with like Total Control and No-Mar Tire Changers.
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If you’re reading this, you’re probably a user of pneumatic tires, the kind commonly found on motorcycles, cars, and bicycles. Since most tires lose a few molecules of whatever comprises air, you’ll need to inject a few more back in every once in a while. The CYCPLUS A2 portable air compressor does precisely that, more effectively than its competition.
As a motorcyclist, you probably know that maintaining recommended air pressure in your tires is pretty important if you want to equally maintain that stellar safe-driving record. I always carry some device meant to keep my tires topped off. When I rode my old Honda, a 1980 CB750 Custom, I kept a CO2 canister handy. Then I kept a Slime air compressor on my ’93 Nighthawk 750 which required the installation of a 12-volt cigarette lighter type outlet.
My current ride is a “brand-new” 2014 CB1100. A cigarette lighter is about the last farkle I want on my modern motorcycle. I decided to decorate my handlebars with a dual USB port instead; modern, sleek, and tech-savvy. While I can charge my helmet coms and smart phone at the same time, that will probably be a rare occurrence.
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Nothing beats taking to the open road on a powerful motorcycle. If you are one of the 8 million+ registered motorcycle owners in the US, you know you need to be prepared for anything. While most of these mishaps aren’t of a serious nature, they can become challenging if you don’t have the correct multi tool with you.
Motorcyclists have limited storage space. That makes it difficult to carry sometimes required tools. Thanks to a variety of multi tools available today, you can easily carry all of the tools you need.
That way, you’re ready to tackle any minor repair or other sticky situations with ease.
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New and transitioning motorcyclists might ask themselves “which motorcycle type is best for me?” … a question that can both inspire and intimidate anyone in the market for a two-wheeled purchase. New riders are rarely familiar with what’s out there while seasoned enthusiasts collect a towering array of prospects to contend with. Many different types of motorcycles could be the right tool for the job but modern-marketing-word-salad has blurred the well defined lines of yesteryear.
A while back, we eased our staunch opinion on what constitutes a sport touring bike to include our ADV cousins. The overall point of that article is to explain a 50/50 split between ride and rider. That’s 50% of the genre stemming from a given bike’s ST designation (or lack thereof) and the remaining 50% falling on whoever’s at the helm (assertive, spirited riders).
To define motorcycle type in a more generalized, kingdom-inclusive fashion, it’s better that we combine that 50/50 math into a singular “bike/rider” figure before knocking it down a notch, let’s say to 49% of the total equation. The remaining 51% belongs to posture, or to throw more ten-dollar vocabulary into the mix … ERGONOMICALISMICATIONS. I mean, um (ahem) ergonomics.
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Not many riders “hope” they’ll get to ride their motorcycle in the rain. Well, that is of course unless your goal is to review motorcycle rain gear. So I guess in that regard, today is my lucky day.
It rained some yesterday. It’s raining BIG now. My typical impatience with riding opportunities got the gears turning, so I decided it was time I write about my one piece motorcycle rain suit.
Long distance motorcycle tours can be quite the pleasurable vacation and with that, remote locations become twisty destinations. When inclement weather fronts appear to be seeking us out, we need to know which motorcycle rain gear is up to the task. For this reason, we’re focused on a great one piece motorcycle rain suit, namely the Bilt Tornado series.
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When it comes to sport touring motorcycle boots, Tourmaster is the brand to buy. There. Now it’s said. There’s no reason to continue reading. I mean, dropping a statement like that about riding boots will surely convince riders anywhere to make the purchase, unless dedicated to some other brand (‘Sup, Sidi).
… but if we disengage from all things marketing and instead look at logical reasons to purchase any pair of motorcycle boots, the prerequisites for what makes them worth buying become more complex under the guise of sport touring.
For this reason, I’m focused on mid-shelf priced, top-shelf quality boots offered by Tourmaster. Why? Because motorcycle boots are consumable (not to be confused with “ingestible”).
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Before we dive into the sensory flooding that any Kentucky motorcycle tour might offer, consider that somewhere around Louisville there are a couple hundred people who still see Jennifer Lawrence as that goofy blonde horse chick they knew back in high school. There might also be a few who remember Hunter S. Thompson as that really weird kid over on Ransdell Avenue. “I wonder if that idiot ever ended up in prison …”
What I’m getting at here is that the “girl next door” effect is real. It’s easy to overlook the movie star or genius in your backyard, which is why I only figured out this year that I live about two hours away from some of the finest pavement on the planet (Kentucky motorcycle roads).
Pull up Cincinnati, Ohio on Google Maps. Now, scroll a bit south into the bulge of Kentucky just across the Ohio River. Scroll a bit further, beyond the suburban sprawl. Turn on the terrain layer and marvel at the deliciously wrinkled landscape.
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