Product Review: Motorcycle Headset for iPhone

Before reading this product review, you should skim over my post: Motorcycle MacGyvering pt. 1: iPhone Helmet Headset. As there are no other commercially available helmet headsets for the iPhone, at least that I've been able to find, that post will give you an idea of what I'm comparing to.

This is a review of bikeintercom.com's motorcycle helmet headset designed specifically for the iPhone. The headset arrived packaged in a plastic bag, basically as you see it in the photo to the left. The overall build quality seemed good, especially compared to my homemade version. The design is thoughtful, and easily adaptable to many different helmet styles.

The speakers and microphone come with velcro and 3m adhesive to mount them inside the helmet, and I found that it adhered to the helmet lining better than most adhesive velcroes I've used.

The headset includes a button, used to answer calls, play and pause music, and skip tracks on the iPhone, as well as a velcro strap to attach the button to the handlebars. This allows you to control the iPhone without removing your hands from the handlebars. The strap would work well on bikes with bare bars. However, the strap isn't long enough for bikes like mine, with plastic bodywork covering the bars. I found strapping it on to the left hand mirror stem worked well though. A piece of adhesive velcro placed somewhere within reach of your thumb would work also. The button is large and easy to find and manipulate, even with winter gloves on.

My first tests of the headset showed that the microphone worked well. Though it didn't eliminate all wind noise by any means, the person on the other end could understand me clearly and easily.

My first tests of the speakers, however, were not as successful. With them installed as intended, inside the ear pockets in my helmet, music sounded tinny and muffled, and phone conversations weren't even loud enough to understand at city traffic speeds, let alone on the interstate. To be fair, my helmet, an HJC SyMax, has deeper ear pockets than most, putting the speakers farther away from my ears then they were probably meant to be.

I did manage to work around this issue somewhat, by cutting two pieces of soft foam to the shape of the speakers and hot glueing it to the inside of the ear pockets. I then attached the speaker velcro to the foam, bringing the speakers in much closer to my ears. This helped quite a bit, especially with the sound quality for listening to music. The volume of the speakers, especially on a windy day, is still a little on the low side.

Though the speakers are less than perfect, I think one of the best parts of the products design is that the speakers attach to the rest of the headset with a regular 3.5mm headphone style jack. This means that you can easily swap out the included speakers with any helmet speakers you like. For the price of BikeIntercom.com's headset ($49.99) you could get the iPhone compatible headset and a higher quality set of helmet speakers and still come in under the price of many helmet headsets. I did notice that BikeIntercom.com carries three different levels of helmet speakers, the X Pro, the X2, and the X3. Based on the pictures on their website, it looks like the iPhone set-up comes with the X2s, which seem to be the bottom end of the three. It might be worth asking what that cost difference would be to upgrade to different speakers before ordering, though I haven't personally tested the others.

I think the iPhone Motorcycle Headset is a worthwhile product, though not perfect, and with the popularity of the iPhone, I'm surprised there aren't more companies making headsets compatible with it. The $49.99 price point comes in much lower than similar products, and other than the disappointing speakers, the bargain price doesn't seem to come at the expense of quality.

Just as a side note, BikeIntercom.com has several other products that are worth looking at as well, including a throat mic set-up, which is a technology that I've always thought would be ideal for motorcyclists, and and system with a microphone that mounts to the inside top of the helmet, and apparently picks up the vibrations in your skull when you speak.

If anyone else has any experience with this product, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Update: BikeIntercom.com has posted a video to their YouTube account explaining installation and operation of the iPhone headset:

Dan's Motorcycle

Just a quick one for now. I stumbled across a webpage tonight made by a longtime motorcycle mechanic named Dan. It's filled with all kinds of tips and tricks, as well as some pretty helpful (and well illustrated) instructions on the basics. (like soldering, the skill that I was trying to improve upon tonight). 

It's worth bookmarking as a reference point, if nothing else. Dan has been a motorcycle mechanic since 1967, and seems to have learned a lot of things the hard way, so you and I don't have to.

Talking on 2 Wheels

Since my article about the iPhone Helmet Headset, I've been talking with a lot of people about using a phone while riding, especially in regards to safety. In response to what seems to be a fairly heated debate, I'd like to make my own thoughts on the matter clear.

First of all, I've always been critical of people driving with a cell phone to their ear. It's statistically been made pretty obvious that it cuts into your reaction time and distracts you from the road. Using a hands free system helps, but due to the fact that the person on the other end of the line can't see or react to things that the driver can, the driver is still distracted. This rule applies to motorcyclists as well. If you're paying more attention to the voice in your helmet than the road in front of you, there's a pretty good chance you may miss something (or worse, hit something you probably should have missed). 

The problem I find with this argument is that it just seems a little too black and white to me. There's definitely a gray area to be considered here. Yes, I will answer my phone if it rings while I'm on the road, but that doesn't mean that I'm chit-chatting about last nights episode of American Idol. I'll answer to tell someone I'm on my way, or get a message about, say, picking up a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread on the way home, but if someone calls me just to chat, or to talk about anything more extensive than a minute long conversation, I always tell them that I'll call them back when I'm not on the road anymore. What I definitely won't do is make an outgoing call while riding. That would require focusing not just some of my attention, but my vision as well, on my phone, and that's a risk I'm not willing to take. 

As for those who feel that listening to music while riding is too much of a distraction, how many of you listen to the radio in your car? The DOT, as well as the MSF I believe, actually recommend wearing earplugs while riding to eliminate some of the wind noise. Music is not much different, as far as I'm concerned. 

I'd love to hear some other opinions on this one, so please don't hesitate to leave comments.

p.s. I know the guy in my stolen stock photo looks like a real tool. Try not to let that affect your opinion too much...

Just a Reminder

The Diabetes Solutions first annual poker run, that I mentioned back in February, is coming up, the Saturday after next. If you're in the area, don't forget to register at www.DSOK.net ASAP. The Run will be April 26th, starting at 9:00am at the Thunder Road House Cafe. I'll be there and I'd love to talk to some readers if you're coming, so don't be afraid to say hi.

Motorcycle MacGyvering pt. 1: iPhone Helmet Headset

This is the first of what I hope to be a series, about homemade gadgets, gizmos, and dohickeys, made in true Angus MacGyver style (i.e. making it up as I go along, with whatever happens to be on hand).

First of all, I want to talk about the iPhone. When I first heard about it, I thought it was God's (or at least Steve Jobs') gift to motorcyclists. I can listen to my music AND answer my phone while riding. If I'm lost, I can pull over and use Google Maps to find my way and I can use the internet to find road suggestions/restaurants/campsites/repair shops/almost anything else.

Anyway, since January when I got an iPhone all my own, I've been thoroughly enjoying all the aforementioned things. However, like all things, it's not perfect. The 3/4'' jack for the headset means that most cell phone headsets won't work. You can use bluetooth headsets, but it lacks the protocol for stereo via bluetooth, making listening to music mediocre at best. It does come with a decent set of white earbuds with a built in microphone, and I've been getting by with that so far. The earbuds don't fit my ears particularly well though, and they tend to come loose on the road. The microphone has a built in button to answer/reject calls, pause and play your music, and skip tracks. The mic and the button both work fairly well, but it dangles down almost at your throat, making talking into it while riding less than effective.

So, now that the problems are clear, how do we remedy them, preferably without spending any cash? The first step was to replace the earbuds with something that won't come loose and move around on me.

I found this video, explaining a simple way to replace the earbuds without losing the functionality of the mic. The earbuds don't come apart quite as easily as they do in the video. It required a small screwdriver to pry them apart, but other than that it went fairly smoothly.

The next step was to find some replacement speakers. I had a set of larger over-the-ear headphones sitting in the back of a drawer. If I remember right they cost about $20 when I bought them, several years ago. I attached them to the ends of my iPhone headset and checked to make sure they worked. Success! I also adhered some velcro to the backs of the speakers to attach them to the inside of the helmet. The velcro turned out to not really be necessary, but it doesn't hurt.

Now that I had the new speakers ready to go, all I had to do was attach them to my helmet. As it turns out, the speakers fit perfectly into the ear space in the cheek pads on my HJC SyMax. I'm not sure what the little straps are intended for, but they do a great job of holding the speakers in place. The velcro helps to add just a little more security to them, but I really don't think they'd go anywhere without it.

After I snapped the cheek pads back in place, with the new speakers inside them, I attached a small piece of the hook side of the velcro to the back of the mic. The velcro holds it onto the liner inside the helmet. Keeping it up inside the helmet eliminated a lot of the wind noise, but it's still easy to access the button by reaching up inside from the bottom of the helmet with my left hand.

The final step was to use an awl to make a small hole in the padding running along the bottom of the helmet, in the back. I tucked the wire up inside the padding, and ran it out through the hole. It's not quite long enough to reach into my pants pocket, but as long as I keep my phone in the inner pocket on my jacket, it's long enough.

Once it was all together, I took a ride around the block and had someone call my phone to test it all out. The only part that's not perfect is the volume. I can hear it okay, but I'd like it to be just slightly louder. (Edit: After fiddling with the speakers a bit and moving them slightly farther forward, the volume issue is at least somewhat better. Just play with them a bit to fit your head.) The larger speakers are probably a little underpowered compared to the little earbuds they replaced, but they get the job done, and for the price (essentially nothing since I just used things from the junk drawer) they really can't be beat.

p.s The iPhone also allows me to take simple pictures like these without having to mess with my real camera gear, so expect to see a lot more photos for non ride report entries.

Update: See my review of a less homemade iPhone headset here.

Another Reason I Love Being on a Bike

I went to the annual medieval fair in Norman, OK last weekend. This is probably the first year in a decade that it hasn't been either pouring rain all weekend, or pouring rain for half the weekend, and nothing but swampy mud for the second half. Anyway, due to the unexpected nice weather, there seemed to be three times as many people attending this year. This, of course, meant that there were a lot more cars than parking spaces. People were patrolling the streets waiting for someone to pull out, lining up along neighborhood streets, and parking several blocks away. I, on the other hand, just pulled into this spot in the grass, along with several other bikes, right on the edge of the fair grounds. I was so pleased with myself that I snapped this picture with my phone before heading into the fair.

 Honestly, if we had to we probably could have fit four or five more bikes in there too. 

Day Trip, Lake Murray Loop

I took the opportunity a couple weeks ago to take a day and drive down highway 77 to Lake Murray. I had heard good things about the loop that circles the lake, and decided to give it a try. Highway 77 was a great road, running roughly parallel to I35, but twistier. I'd recommend it on it's own as a good day ride, even without the lake loop. 

77 cuts straight through downtown Wynnewood, Oklahoma. The mainstreet still has the original brick-paved surface. Coincidentally, this picture was taken right around the time I lost 77 completely and went about 20 miles out of the way of my originally planned route. It all worked out though. We ended up passing through a very nice nature preserve on our way back.

We filled up the tank in Ardmore, just before reaching the lake. I wish I had a picture of the station. There was a woman in a little booth, and some very "retro" pumps. After you fill up, you just go over to the booth and tell the woman how much you put in and pay her. She even rounded it down to the dollar. Compared to the pay before you pump method at most stations today, it seemed very foreign. 

When we got to the lake, we stopped in this little park area for a picnic lunch. Other than being a little windy, it was a perfect day for it. 

Tamales and corn make a great meal for camping or picnicking if you bring a small camp stove. It might not look great, but it's easy, you don't have to carry much, it's hearty enough to fill you up during a long day, and it's delicious. Just take a can of creamed corn and a can of tamales, combine them in a pot, heat and eat.

After lunch, we got back on the bike for the ride around the lake. It had warmed up a little, and was really a perfect day for it.

Lake Murray is positioned just south of Oklahoma's Arbuckle mountains (or  at least what we call mountains here in Oklahoma, but they're at least pretty) so it has some great rock formations.

Lake Murray State Park is the largest, and oldest, state park in Oklahoma. There are several interesting buildings on site, including a lighthouse that has been converted into a museum about the history of the park as well as the local wildlife.

Other Resources: -The MotorcycleRoads.US page about the loop

-A bit about the history of the park

Spring, and Riding Season

Spring is almost here, and I'm declaring that it's officially riding season. As a year round rider, you wouldn't think that would mean much to me, but really, it's a great feeling to be able to pull the liner out of my jacket for the first time in months. Temperatures here are working their way into the mid 60's, and even the low 70's every once in a while. Aside from the fact that I won't have to feel quite so much like the michelin man when I get dressed to ride, that means that I get to start thinking about riding for more than just utilitarian purposes. I actually have a day ride in the works right now for next week, so expect an entry about that soon. 

Riding around today, I saw bikes everywhere. I even saw what I think was an old Honda Elite 80, probably a 20 year old scoot, being ridden two-up down a country road. Really, I'm not sure why I enjoy seeing other bikes on the road so often. It's not like, if I were driving a Honda Civic, I'd enjoy seeing all the other Civics out. There's just something about days when the riders are out in force... I guess it's nice to not be quite so unique every once in a while. 

Top 12 Motorcycle Myths

This will be a quick one. I just wanted to pass along an article I found regarding motorcycle myths, and the actual facts that make them myths. Most of them we've probably all heard before, but it's an interesting read all the same. Click the title link for the article.

1st Annual Diabetes Solutions Poker Run

Diabetes Solutions of Oklahoma is a not-for-profit organization based in Oklahoma City, aimed towards improving the lives of people with diabetes and reducing the incidence of diabetes and the complications of diabetes. It also happens to be an organization that I've been involved with for a long time. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was 9 years old. Only 2 months after being diagnosed, I went to my first session of diabetes summer camp, and it changed my life. Aside from the invaluable education I received that summer about the disease that was now a part of my life, I learned that I wasn't alone, and that it was possible for people with diabetes to live full and productive lives just like anyone else. Now, 14 years later, I still go to that camp every year, as a counselor for other children, many of whom are newly diagnosed and just as confused and frightened as I was. If it weren't for Diabetes Solutions, none of it would be possible. That's why I'd like to encourage everyone who's able to come out to the Thunder Road House Cafe on April 26 to support Diabetes Solutions of Oklahoma, not to mention have a good time and possibly win some money while you're at it. Click on the title link to go to the Diabetes Solutions website for more information and to register for the run. I'll be there, and I hope to see you there too.

Motocamping 101

I took my first motorcycle camping trip this weekend, to Devils Den State Park in Arkansas. Lessons's were learned (including just how far my bike will go on reserve) but there were no major catastrophes and everyone (and almost everything) made it home in one piece.

This was taken at our first rest stop. The bike handled remarkably well with all the added weight, though I could definitely feel it through the tighter turns, and ended up taking most them pretty slowly. She behaved herself just fine through the wider, sweeping curves though, and that's the kind of riding I enjoy most anyway.We stopped in Henryetta, Oklahoma for lunch, at The Pig Out Palace. It's a little pricey for a greasy spoon (a little over $10 a person for the all you can eat buffet) but the food's pretty good, and the service, as well as the customers, are always very friendly.
For dessert, they have a selection of 4 different kinds of cobbler. I highly recommend the blackberry, with a little softserve on top.
If you're ever not sure where to eat on the road, just look for the place with all the trucks parked outside. If anyone knows where to eat on the road, truckers do.
We took the interstate on the way there, due to time constraints, but once we got close to the park there were some pretty good roads.
When we finally arrived, my new luggage rack and top case (more on those in the series of entries I'm currently working on) made unloading go quickly. When we first started planning the trip, I couldn't figure out how to bring everything we would need without covering the pillion seat. Luckily for me, the Majesty has a deceptively large amount of underseat storage, and a little ingenuity and some angle iron will go a long way.

Saturday was filled with hiking, and cave exploring. Here, Erika contemplates life while staring into an infinite abyss, just before we climbed around in it.
There was actually quite a bit of climbing on Saturday, not just in infinite abysses. The hole I'm sitting in is caused by pockets of sandstone, which weathers much faster than the harder stone surrounding it.
On the way back, we took I-540 south to Oklahoma Highway 9, which runs roughly parralel to I-40, but farther south. It's a much more interesting ride than the interstate, and as it turns out, takes about the same amount of time.
The only casualty from the trip was my homemade saddlebags, which had never really been filled up before. It was nothing a few zip ties and a pocket knife couldn't fix though.

p.s. I'd suggest always keeping a few zip ties on board your bike, not to mention around the house. They're really just too useful not to have.
The final mileage came out to 525 exactly, with the way there being slightly longer than the way back. There's a good chance that it was because I missed the first exit to the park on the way there, but I'd rather just chalk it up to backroads being a better way to travel.

Lane Splitting Legality

Out of all 50 states in the US, California is the only one that legalizes lane splitting for motorcycles. There are, however, some conditions.
-It's only allowed between inside lanes, no shoulder passing.
-It's only allowed when traffic is stopped or close to it.
-The motorcycle can not exceed 15 mph faster than traffic is moving.

NBC San Diego did a segment on Lane Splitting, and why California legalizes it. You can see the video by clicking the title link.

Thanks to the Why Bike Motorcycle Blog for the scoop on the clip.

Edit: Apparently, the speed limit rule no longer applies. According to James at Why Bike, the law now simply states that lane splitting must be done in "a safe and prudent manner". Thanks again to Why Bike for the correction.

Fraternity of Riders

Sorry, I know it's been way too long. My riding lately has been nothing but to and from work, which is nice, but not particularly prone to interesting writing. Anyway, the other day, while cruising north on I44, I noticed cars ahead of me braking and swerving slightly. I started to brake as well, when I saw the large red Harley cruiser on it's side in the left hand lane. It took me another moment, while still slowing to a stop, to notice the rider, getting up off the ground on the left shoulder, and the dog, not getting up from the left shoulder. As I approached the bike, I pulled on to the shoulder myself, and asked the rider if he was alright. It was pretty obvious that he had injured his left wrist and arm. I'm pretty sure they were broken. He asked me to help him remove his helmet, which I did. I then called 911, to report the accident.

A fire truck pulled up within a minute or two, while I tried to lift his bike and roll it on to the shoulder. As I was wedging myself under the bike to get some leverage on it, another rider pulled over to help me get the bike out of the road. By this point, the firemen had sat the accident victim down and were tending to his wounds. His left arm was twisted around, and he didn't seem to be able to lift his shoulder. He had some considerable road rash along his right side, particularly on the palm of his right hand. The helmet I removed earlier was scratched up pretty good, and probably saved his life. It was, however, the only protective gear he had on. I don't think his t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers did much for him at all.

After getting his bike onto the shoulder, it appeared that the firemen had everything under control, and I could hear an ambulance siren near by. The other rider and I decided to take our leave. The cars, however, now driving bumper to bumper because of all the sudden braking, had no intention of letting either of us back into the slow moving traffic. It took another rider to slow down and hold traffic at bay in order for us to merge back on. I gave him the standard two-fingered salute as I merged in to the gap he created.

The reason I wanted to share this story is to express the bond that exists between riders. When I called 911, I was surprised to find out that I was the first one to call. None of the cagers in front of me had bothered. No cars stopped to help either. They only swerved around the accident and drove on. It took riders to call 911, riders to clear the crashed harley out of the rode, and finally, it took riders to let us back on to the road. I'd like to think that, in a crisis situation, this desire to help would exist for all humans. The fact is, it doesn't. Riders help riders because they somehow feel connected to eachother, only because we all choose to ride. It could have been me on the side of the road, and I'd hope someone would pull over to help me as well. Unfortunatly, I wouldn't expect most cagers to stop. The nature of being in a cage means that you focus on your destination only, and disconnect yourself from everything in between, even when someone else may need your help.

Scooter Calculator

The "Between Two Rivers Scooter Club" has put together a web application, with information drawn from the US Energy Information Administration, to give you an idea of the impact riding instead of driving has on the Earth and the US economy. It's worth a look, if nothing else. Based on the vehicle I drove before becoming a 365 day biker, here are my stats:

Samuel, based on the above information, you burn 175.44 gallons of fuel in your Yamaha Majesty each year, and that amount of fuel costs you $359.65. In your other vehicles you burn 0.00 gallons of fuel, which cost you $0.00.
If you did not have your bike, you would be forced to put 10,000.00 miles on your other vehicle each year. This would cost you $1,025.00 in fuel charges each year. Having your bike saves you $665.35 in fuel costs each year.
Having and using your scooter also has in impact on the economy. According to the Energy Information Administration, the U.S.A. currently imports about 10 million barrels of oil each day. Each barrel of oil contains 42 gallons of crude. Each barrel produces about 21 gallons of gasoline, as well as other products.
If you did not use your bike, you would burn 500.00 gallons of fuel, but with your bike you only burn 175.44 gallons of gas each year. Therefore, using your bike conserves 324.56 gallons of gas each year. Translated into barrels of oil, that represents 15.46 barrels of oil that did not need to be refined for the gas you used.
If 655,180 people in this country rode a scooter like you, an entire days worth of oil imports into this country would not be required, resulting in more than $500 million dollars that the country would not need to devote towards foreign oil purchases.

Click the title link to try it for yourself.

Blue Skies Shining on Me

I just finished watching the documentary "Long Way Round" about Ewan Mcreggor and his friend riding around the world on motorcycles, and it put me in the mood to take a trip. Luckily for me, it was a balmy 58 degrees today. Erika and I took the oppertunity to take a ride down S.H. 9 to Lake Thunderbird for the afternoon.
The ride was nice, though a little on the windy side, as you can tell by the photo to the left. It seems like the wind has more effect on me with a passenger, or maybe it's just harder to compensate with the extra weight. I'm not sure. It was still a pleasant ride though. We visited a few boat ramps and docks, took some pictures, and really just enjoyed the stint of nice weather. Unfortunately, Erika deemed it too cold for swimming. The weather is supposed to be in the fifties and sixties for at least the next week, so I'm hoping to fit in a drive down highway 77 to Stillwater sometime next weekend. I'd really like to take a longer trip somewhere soon, perferrably an overnight, but I don't want to go alone, and I can't think of anyway to pack the tent and other camping gear without covering the pillion seat. I guess I'll just have to keep trying to talk Erika into buying herself a bike suitable for highway speeds. Until than, there are plenty of docks and lakes and whatever else to drive to within an hour or two of here.


p.s. I apologize profusely for the cheesy title...

Gearing up for the cold

On the few motorcycle forums I keep up with, I've noticed a lot of people talking about the cold, and more specifically, how to ride in it without turning into a popsicle. Today here in Oklahoma, the thermostat was reading in the teens. It's rare for it to get quite that cold, but it happens, and having a motorcycle as my only means of transportation has given me some insight into dealing with it. What follows is what I wear when the weather's at it's coldest.

Layer 1
The first layer consists of thermal underwear or tights. On the really cold days (or the ones when I'm feeling particularly wussy) I've actually worn a pair of tights over a pair of thermals. I also wear a thermal top or longsleeve cotton t-shirt and a pair of normal cotton/polyester socks.
Layer 2

Over the thermals, I'd normally wear a long or short sleeve cotton t-shirt, a pair of jeans or cargo pants, and a pair of wool socks. There are few things that make me more uncomfortable than cold feet. Most of what goes on after this layer will probably get removed whenever I'm not on the bike.


Layer 3

The third layer has, in my opinion, two of the most important elements in staying warm. The first is a pair of windproof vinyl pants. These came from wal-mart. They were only about $9.00 if I remember correctly. They have an elastic waist and zippers on the ankles so I can pull them on and off over my boots. I like to keep a pair of these rolled up in my trunk in case of rain as well. The top part of this layer is key to my entire cold weather survival. It's an electrically heated vest that plugs into the bike. Companies like Gerbing make heated vests, as well as jacket liners, gloves, pants, and other items for roughly $100-$200. Mine is homemade, and cost me about $20 (granted, I already had the fleece vest). The vest is not only useful in keeping my abdomen warm. When your body gets cold, it's natural instincts are to restrict circulation to the extremities (like the hands and feet) in order to keep the essential organs warm. Unfortunately, this causes the hands and feet to get colder. The heated vest serves to keep my chest and essential organs warm enough, so the body can focus on warming the hands and feet.

Layer 4
The boots are the only other part of my gear that I don't remove when I reach my destination. I put them in this layer because I like to tuck the bottoms of the vinyl pants inside them to keep wind from rushing up my legs. I also wear some type of insulated jacket, like a hoodie. On my hands, I wear a pair of 100% synthetic glove liners that wick moisture away from my hands and serve as an extra layer of insulation under my gloves. On my head, I wear a balaclava made of neoprene with a fleece lining. I bought it at a ski shop for about $40 but you could probably find something similar at a sporting goods store for a better price. It's windproof and covers my neck and nose, which is nice because nobody likes a runny nose under a helmet.

Layer 5

Layer 5 is as much for crash protection as it is for cold protection. I never go anywhere without my leather jacket (yeah I know, no armor. I'm poor and it's high on the list of things I want to buy) or my helmet. Full face helmets are much better in the cold than 3/4's or anything else, for obvious reasons. I also wear a pair of ski gloves over the glove liners. I know there are motorcycle intended gloves that would probably work better, but like I said above, I'm poor, and I have to work with what I've got. I've tried a lot of different glove combinations to keep my hands warm, and my current solution still isn't quite as warm as I'd like it to be. The gloves I wear are windproof, and have much thicker insulation on the back of the hand and tops of the fingers than they do on the palms and pads of the fingers so they don't feel too bulky while riding. They're also naturally slightly curved to grip the handlebars, but my hands do tend to go a little numb in temperatures below freezing. One of these days I'm going to invest in some heated grips.

Layer 6

The final layer is just a windproof, waterproof parka. I only wear this if it's raining or if it's really unusually cold, but it's always in my trunk in case I need it. It doesn't actually have much insulating value, if any, but it's windproof qualities help keep the leather jacket from getting too cold.


Now I know what you're thinking, and yes, under all those layers I do feel a bit like a spaceman. It does keep me warm though, and everything I'm wearing is easy to find, and reasonably inexpensive. The key, I think, is to keep the wind off of you, and wear layers. The layers, obviously can be added and removed depending how cold it actually is.

Danger! Danger!

Emergencies. They're never much fun, but they happen, and the best thing we can do to make them less hazardous is to be prepared. With that thought in mind, I've spent the evening preparing an emergency kit to keep in my bike. This is intended to help you out if you find yourself stranded, as well as give some tools to help any other people in distress you may happen to come upon.

Granted, I'm making this up as I go along, but I thought I'd share the contents so far with you, and let you in on my thought process. Anyway, here goes:

1. First Aid Kit- This is a fairly basic one. It's got bandaids, some antibotic ointment, a few sterile gauze patches. There's a good chance that I'll upgrade it one day, particularly if and when I start taking longer trips, but we'll save that for another entry.

2. Space blanket- There are few things that can make your life much harder than cold. Not only is it uncomfortable, but it can make simple tasks a lot harder pretty quickly. Basically, the $1.50 you'll probably spend on one of these will be well worth it if you ever need to use it.

3. Extra Batteries- These go in the flashlight that we'll get to later.

4. Tape- Seriously, what can't you do with tape. Duct tape would be just as useful here, if not more so, but it doesn't fit in my little case, so electrical tape it is.

5. Multi-tool- If anything in this kit reaches "never leave home without it" status, it's this. I won't get into the specific uses of the multi-tool, but trust me, they're almost limitless. I've even used the outer shell of this thing as a blunt object to hit nails in before. It wasn't the easiest way, but it got the job done at the time.

6. Extra Flashlight- I keep a LED headlamp in the bike at all times as well, and that's the one I'll use in most situations, but lights have a tendency to break at the most inconvenient times possible, and it never hurts to have a backup. This one and the headlamp use the same batteries, so they can serve as backups for eachother, and the extra set can go wherever it's needed.

7. Utility Knife- Honestly, this one's probably not a necessity. The multi-tool will cover most of the same jobs this one will. I think that, in many situations, a utility knife is just the best tool for the job, and it's small enough that it doesn't hurt to have it around.

8. Emergency Information- This is in case something happens that prevents you from being able to communicate with whoever happens to come along. Mine is typed up, and kept in a plastic baggy to protect it from moisture. I've made a pdf document that you can fill out with your information if you'd like. You can find it here.

9. Fuses- These could go in the toolkit, which I'll cover in another entry, but either way, you should have some. I had the signaling system fuse go out just a little while after I got my bike, due to an error I made in installing an accessory outlet. Let's just say I don't reccomend riding like that. They're small, inexpensive, and easy to change out. Better to fix the problem than drive with it.

10. Case- the one I used is actually a belly bag that I cut the straps off of for use somewhere else.

They're are a few other things that I'd like to add eventually, for example, a lighter. I just don't happen to have one right now. I'll update if I think of anything else as well. Does anyone else out there carry an emergency kit? If so, what do you keep in it?

MotorcycleRoads.US

This will be a quick one, but I just stumbled upon a website called MotorcycleRoads.US that's basically a catalog of US roads, mostly rural highways, listed by state, and categorized as scenic, sweeping curves, twisties, or unpaved. They draw their information from several different mapping programs, as well as rider reccomendations, and road information includes maps, links to local resources, lists of connecting roads, and rider comments. It looked to me like it could definitely be a useful resource for trip planning, so I thought I'd throw it out there. You can access it by going to http://www.motorcycleroads.us/index.html or by clicking the title link. Enjoy.

Winter Wonderland

The weather report for this weekend is .5-2 inches of ice. Here in Oklahoma, this doesn't happen very often, and the world pretty much shuts down when it does. Luckily, the majesty has it's big brother and sister (my roommates cars) to cuddle up with and stay warm.

I, on the other hand, spent the evening freezing my butt off taking pictures of our newly freezer burned street.


These are definitely not good two-wheel conditions. Admittedly, I'll drive in rain and wind, sometimes against my own self interest, but when It's like this out, I stay home. ( I know, some of you are saying I'm a weakling and that little dusting of ice is nothing... but this is Oklahoma, and here that only happens once or twice a year, so we have very little tolerance, or practice, for driving on it. Cars aren't out right now either. )

Beau Bear, on the other hand, can't get enough of the weather. I imagine the big fur coat helps some. Maybe we should all start wearing fur coats on our bikes. I wonder how they'd do for abrasion protection, or aerodynamics...








p.s. It was 55 degrees yesterday. Welcome to Oklahoma.

Wanderlust

Wanderlust (Middle High German: wandern, to wander, and Lust, desire) is a German loanword. It is commonly defined as a strong desire to travel, or by having an itch to get out and see the world [1]. Some consider it to be a simple linguistic compound of wander and lust.



It's an interesting thing. Reading all of my fellow scooterists blogs don't help either. See, here in the real world, i'm definitely no world traveler. I go to work. I come home. That's the majority of it. But in my head, I'm going cross country with my whole life piled up and bungeed in place on the backseat of my bike (I'm still trying to figure out how I could safely carry my guitar). My friend Zach, though not a two-wheeler, is definitely a wanderer. He just recently finished a 4 month stint in Australia, came back for almost a month, then on a whim went off to South Korea for the next 13 months, this time with a work visa to teach English. I mention him because I've definitely been guilty of a little envy lately. I've always seen myself as the type to travel without really having a destination in mind. I do it all day in my mind. Unfortunately, here in reality, every trip I've ever been on has been carefully planned, calculated, and scheduled, in true family vacation fashion, and with 4 wheels firmly planted under my feet.

Even when I had my little Vino125, I would imagine how far it could go. I'd look at maps, drawing out in my mind the web of tiny little back roads that could carry me to who knows where. Now that I have the majesty, my range seems only limited by coast lines (which are all a pretty good stretch from Oklahoma) and how much I can manage to carry. So, why haven't I been discovering every little nook and cranny of this state, every time I had a couple days to myself? Why am I not sleeping in my tent as much as in my bed? The truth is... I don't really know. I guess my bark is just worse than my bite. I talk about my list of nifty little backpacker gadgets that I'd like to take on the road with me. I talk about places I haven't seen lately that I'd like to return to, and it's a rare day when you don't hear me say something along the lines of "when I start touring...". So what's keeping me here? What's preventing my wanderlust from becoming wander-satisfaction? That's what I'd like to figure out...