Tag: Biking

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Helmet issues part 2

shark_rsiWell, I went south for the long Memorial Day weekend to meet some friends at my place in southern Indiana and to ride the curves in Indiana and Kentucky.   And on this trip, I wore the HJC FS-15 helmet I had purchased in March.   About 2-3 hours into the trip, I had a sore spot in the middle of my forehead that was uncomfortable and becoming very painful.   Clearly the helmet wasn’t fitting properly.     By slightly loosening the chin strap and shifting the position of the helmet, I made it to the cabin.   I pulled the liner out of the way and began to perform surgery on the foam to try and get a better fit.   Suffice it to say that I was unsuccessful.   The next three days varied from uncomfortable to downright painful and I will probably not wear that helmet again.   It hurt that badly.   I did some more research into helmet shapes and found that there are two basic shapes – round and long oval.   Not exterior shapes, but interior shapes.   Most Asian people fit into the round shape and most Americans fit the long oval shape better.   I also found out that HJC primarily make round-shaped helmets and clearly I need a long oval shape for the helmet to be comfortable for me.

By looking for long-oval shaped helmets, I foound that Shark makes a very high quality helmet in the model RSi.   They make other helmets in round and round-oval shapes too, but I was pretty sure that I needed an RSi model.   I measured and began looking at various retailers to see what was available.   I found an RSi on closeout at motorcyclecloseoouts.com for more than $200 off the original retail price and I ordered it.   It arrived in just a few days and as aoon as I put it one I knew this was the right shape for me.   It fit perfectly, no pressure points at all, anywhere.   Since I work from home, I left it on for a while and it was still very comfortable.   The quality is excellent and the visor removal/replacement is very simple.   It is also a very lightweight helmet, and no comparison with the modular helmets in this regard.   At last – a comfortable helmet that didn’t break the bank.

The downside – sliding my glasses on after donning the helmet is proving to be a challenge.   I can sometimes do it, but usually not the first time.   I need to find a way to cut a “glasses groove” in the upper part of the cheekpad to help out.   I don’t know how to do that just yet, but I’ll figure it out.   I can live with that issue for now, because the other issues I had are completely solved.

Light weight, the protection of a full-face helmet, and proper fit.   3 out of 4 is pretty good and I’ll fix the glasses thing soon enough.   Then, I’ll be 4 out of 4.

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Helmet issues

Well, I’ve decided to switch to a full-face helmet.   The modular (flip-up) helmets are convenient, but I’m not convinced that the convenience outweighs the safety factor of a full-face helmet.   The other issue is a weighty one – the weights of modular helmets are climbing and that doesn’t make sense to me.   Materials for constructing helmets are lighter and stronger this year than last, and yet the weights continue to climb – high enough that I won’t buy another one until the weight comes down.   I had planned to look at HJC helmets at the bike show in Chicago, but didn’t find any to try on.   So, I used the backup plan of a tape measure and a web browser.   I ordered an FS-15 helmet in the size their fitment chart indicated, and it arrived fairly quickly.   It fit OK, not great, but since I can’t go for a ride now (it’s still February in the midwest) an actual ride report will have to wait.

The quality of the helmet was very good.   The paint and graphics are very well done, and the helmet liner is comfortable.   it is fairy easy to slip my glasses on after donning the helmet.   The only issue with the helmet is not actually an issue with this helmet, it is an issue with any full-face helmet.   Convenience.   With the modular helmet, I could flip it up when stopped at a light in town, or to take a drink from the butler cup while riding the Goldwing.   I guess the tradeoff for convenience is lighter weight and better protection.   So for now, I will forgo convenience – but I hope the manufacturers figure out a way to make the modular helmets lighter and more importantly, to submit modular-style helmets to the testing labs to demonstrate their ability to protect the wearer.

Protecting the wearer is really what their all about, right?

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Time for another trailer…

After our trip to Colorado, and the fun of shipping clothes to the hotel, I began to consider a trailer to pull behind the Goldwing.   We   could take clothes with us, raingear, jacket liners, and pick up groceries.   When it’s really hot and you’d like to take your jacket off, you need a place to put it. Holding it on your lap doesn’t work for a long ride and if the saddlebags and trunk are full you’re out of luck. Enter the trailer. You have room for the jacket and your helmets when you stop for a meal. I’ve never had a helmet stolen, but that doesn’t mean I will not have one stolen in the future. That would be a real problem on a long trip. Locking your jackets, gloves, and helmets in the trailer is a real plus. Once you get to your destination, lock the trailer around a light pole or take it in the garage and you’re ready for day-rides.

Another big plus it that you can assemble a good tool kit to take with you. The motorcycle tool kit is woefully inadequate for anything except a starting point to build a decent tool kit. The truth is that a decent tool kit doesn’t necessarily take up a lot of space, and putting it together with good quality tools means that it will give you a chance to make a repair on the road. Not that I expect to need many roadside repairs – that’s the reason the trailer will be pulled behind a Goldwing.

Now to find one. There are a number of models available, in a huge range of prices. You can take a Harbor Freight frame and put a cartop carrier on it and voila – a trailer. You can spend upwards on $8,000 and buy a Tailwind. I’ve read a lot about this and I think the Aluma trailer made in Iowa would be the best bang for the buck. New, the Aluma trailers are around $1600 and they have a five-year warranty. Most trailers hold their value quite well, so there isn’t always a big savings by buying a used trailer. Usually, the savings from buying used comes from the accessories the previous owner has added, and sometimes you can get a better price at the end of the season.

UPDATE October 17, 2008: I found and made a deal for an Aluma trailer, but the problem is that it’s in Virginia and I’m not.   I could take the truck out there and get it, but I’m going to see if there’s another way.   Maybe I can arrange shipping, or maybe someone else is heading west and could get it part way to Illinois.   Time to do some checking around.

UPDATE October 27, 2008: A gentleman named Jason on the GL1800 forums responded to my question and would be willing to bring the trailer from Virginia to Louisville, Kentucky.   That’s a lot closer than going all the way to Virginia, so I accepted his kind offer.   It’s a really nice feeling to know that there are people willing to help someone they’ve not met – it kind of restores your faith in humanity.   Now to finalize all the arrangements.

UPDATE October 31, 2008: I met Jason and his brother in Louisville and brought the trailer home in my pickup.   It’s still amazing to me that buying a trailer sight unseen from someone I’ve never met, having someone else I’ve never met take a day of their time to help transport it, and have everything go perfectly.   My faith in humanity is restored.   Now, I need to help someone else just because I can.   Maybe this is a trend we can all follow   – and we’d all be the better for it.

Humble thanks, guys.

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My journey to the darkside, episode 2

…is ongoing but has it’s share of pitfalls. The Kumho 205-60VR16 was the proper diameter to correct the speedometer, but was just a little too big in diameter when 2-up with an insufficient preload setting. The tire rubbed on the amplifier box (which is molded into the inner rear fender on the ’06 and up wings) and rubbed a hole it it. Not OK. Even though the speedometer was correct, which is a nice bonus, the potential damage to expensive electronics from water incursion is not worth the risk.

Plan B – I ordered and installed a ContiProContact SSR 195/55VR16 tire. This tire, for all intents and purposes, matches a factory MC tire for diameter and width. Installing it was simple and even without weights I have been unable to detect an out-of-balance condition. Knowing that an even-slightly-out-of-balance rear tire can cause the infamous “wobble”, I ran up to 60mph and took my hands off the handlebars and let the bike coast down. Not a hint of a wobble at any speed. To the collective dismay of the naysayers, there was no fiery crash caused by running a car tire on a motorcycle. This tire will be on the bike for a long time – probably twice as long as a new MC tire, if other’s experience is any indication.

UPDATE – September 30 – I got back from my trip to ride the mountains in north Georgia, east Tennessee, west North and South Carolina and the Conti was flawless. Not a slip during the trip, and I did remove some metal from the footpegs. On the Cherahola Skyway, we were in the clouds at about 2000 feet on up to 5300 feet, with the resulting poor visibility and wet pavement. Not a slip from the Conti – it just held the road like a good tire should. When we stopped for gas, the rider behind me told me that the tire tread was almost flat on the road the entire time. When I tell you that we were wasting no time, believe it. Our group rode almost 500 miles through the mountains in about 12 hours of riding. If you’ve ridden in those mountains you know that is not a slow pace.

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My journey to the darkside…

…is not yet complete – on the Goldwing, of course. For those of you not familiar with the meaning of the phrase, in the Goldwing community it refers to riders that are using a car tire on the rear wheel rather than the more conventional motorcycle tire. The Goldwing rear wheel is a 6″ wide, 16″ diameter tubeless wheel that is just begging for a car tire to be mounted.

Why, you ask? Well, there are many reasons. Here’s just a few

  1. Available in Run Flat
  2. Longer lasting
  3. Doesn’t delaminate
  4. Doesn’t explode
  5. Quieter
  6. Better traction in dry conditions
  7. Better traction in wet conditions
  8. Better traction in snow/slush
  9. Better performance on dirt/gravel
  10. Smoother ride
  11. Higher load capacity
  12. Capable of performing with lower PSI
  13. Runs at lower tire temperature
  14. Costs less
  15. Better balanced (fewer weights required, if any at all

That’s quite a list, isn’t it? Pay special attention to the advantages I highlighted. If the motorcycle tire manufacturers decided to build a tire that addressed these issues they would sell as many as they could make. But, economics enters into the picture. The market for motorcycle tires is a small fraction of the market for automotive tires. Given today’s litigious society, I suspect that a revolution in motorcycle tires for touring bikes is not going to happen anytime soon.

I purchased a spare rear wheel for my Goldwing and mounted a Kumho 205-60HR16 non-run-flat tire on it. I swapped it for the wheel with the Bridgestone cycle tire on it. The first difference I noted is that the bike is slightly taller, as the Kumho tire is a larger diamater tire. I expected this and the choice of a larger tire was intentional. The Goldwing (all motorcycles, as a practical matter) have a built-in speedometer error of 6-10%. When the speedometer says 60mph, a gps will show your true speed at 54mph. Of course, the odometer is off as well, so mpg calculations are based on “shorter” miles. The larger diamater tire corrects the speedometer to within a tenth of a mile per hour. Now, when the speedometer says 60, your speed is 60 mph – just as it should be.

While I’m on the topic, virtually all speedometers are incorrect. It’s just that most drivers aren’t aware of how far off they actually are. With the increased use of portable gps devices that display groundspeed to within a tenth of a mile per hour, more drivers are starting to realize the problem. Why do you think that built-in gps devices don’t display groundspeed? One reason is that drivers would demand that the manufacturers fix the broken speedometers. Consider what this does to warranty work. If the speedometer/odometer is off by 10%, your brand-new 50,000 mile warranty expires in 45,000 actual miles.

Consider what this error does to mpg calculations too. More people are paying attention to mpg these days and if the auto/truck/cycle manufacturers can have you calculate a higher mpg than you’re actually getting, they win. I’m not trying to say that correcting the speedometer/odometer error is a magic pill that will fix all mpg-related problems, but at least you’ll know what mpg you are really getting, not some number that’s based on a “short” mile and really doesn’t mean anything.

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Time for a trailer…

Not to live in, mind you. A trailer to transport motorcycles is the kind I’m talking about here. I’m pretty comfortable wrenching on bikes, but sometimes you don’t have the super-duper-expensive special tool that you will need only once. And to be honest, sometimes you don’t have the knowledge to do a job properly or you can do it but adjustments will take several attempts and an expert mechanic can do the job to spec the first time.

In that case, you need a way to transport a bike without riding it. Yes, you can strap a bike into the back of a pickup, but mine has a cap and the bike won’t fit without taking the cap off. Then you have the problem of loading a bike into the bed that is three feet or more off the ground. Not fun and more than a little nerve-wracking.

I had seen ads for a Kendon trailer. They make models for one or two bikes, the two bike model made the most sense to me. The big advantage of this particular trailer model is that IT FOLDS UP. You fold it up and then you can STAND IT UP vertically in the garage. There are casters under it so you can roll it out of the way. It doesn’t have to sit outside with a tarp over it, killing the grass, and making a nice shelter for all kinds of critters. It stands up in front of my truck in the garage, out of the weather and clean. It has a small ramp to make loading/unloading easier. The tongue is short to make it short enough to stand up in normal garages, but that makes it difficult to back up. The trailer pulls very well and I’ve had only one bike on it at a time, so if it was going to weave I would have seen it. This is a really-good-to-have accessory and when you need a trailer there really isn’t any substitute.

I bought some tie-downs, 2 sets of 4 straps with neoprene covers for the rachets. I got them from PowerTye and the price was better directly from them.