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She did already. A hot dog stand I think is the next task. I did go looking for one today but I think they only come out here to serve the nightcrawlers. I could probably go find one now but I don’t like riding Fri/Sat nights around pubs/clubs. I’ll see if I can find one the next time a game is in town. There should be some around the stadiums I would think.

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Yes, that was me. In there to spend too much money on a set of pants (revit cayenne pro). Cost quite a bit more than online but I wanted to see them in the flesh first. And then I tried on an Arai Profile
At least I didn’t buy the F800GS I sat on

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Made the mistake of trying on an Arai Profile today. Dang, that thing felt good. Having already put a large dent on the cc in that store I managed to resist buying a $550+10% tax helmet. Will power was not so strong when I got home and found one online for $430 in a cool paint scheme. Oh well, Christmas is but once a year.

WZ, I also have a long oval shape and was planning on buying the Shark RSI also. If you get a chance you might want to try on the arai profile (then again you might not!). I think I saw somewhere (probably sportbiketrackgear sportbiketrackgear.com video) that the RSI is at the far end of the oval spectrum and the profile is one step closer to round.

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I have the BMG Thermosport Gloves. I was good with them until the temperature dropped to around 40′ or so. After an hour my fingers would be seriously cold. Last year I tried all kinds of inner layers but nothing worked. I also have a cheap outer 3 fingered rain glove and that helped a little but it is a pain to use. So this year before winter got here I ordered a set of bagster muffs (kind of like hippo hands). Took a bit of getting used to but I’ve not even noticed the cold this year. Also help out in the rain, keep your hands nice and dry.
Now it’s my feet that feel the cold now but I’m wearing a pair of boots that are not desinged for winter weather (sidi b2s) so I’ve just got myself a pair of neoprene socks for $10. I think that will sort that problem.

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Oh great…now I’ve just realized I can buy leather gear now I’ve gone the external goretex route. My credit card is squealing already.

Oh and I don’t ride if I think the conditions are dangerous. I only have a 1.5 mile commute in city streets by the waterfront. Almost never gets frosty down here. And if there is snow on the ground I will walk. So I’m a 365 day a year rider if those 365 days are fine My only die hard element is I don’t mind riding in the rain or at night. I’ve done both together plenty of times but never away from street lighting. I don’t fancy doing that with just your headlights to see by.

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After looking at a simple standalone Gore-Tex layer and seeing the price of them, I understand now why Aerostitch is the price it is. Have to say I would seriously consider buying it now. I did look long and hard at the Darien for a while. But I have been pleasantly surprised (more like amazed) that I have been plenty warm wearing just a thin goretex jacket over a summer mesh jacket. I’m still experimenting with the inner layers to get it perfect but I am 95% there.

I read several reports of people experiencing leaks with the Olympia. I did some googling on that after reading your comments on the user review on this site. Was a little off putting.

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Yup, this one has that too. It might be riding up on the pants or getting stuck on the back protector which reaches down to the tailbone. Not a big deal as it is not needed as much on a motorcycle as it is on a bicycle.

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This was actually yesterday (Christmas day) but that was a nice day also. We went 202 there and I-90 back. Not very exciting but the roads were kind of frosty (had reports of black ice on I-90 even at 2pm) so it was not a day for hitting the twisties. I was going to go out today but there was even more frost on the roads today than yesterday. I nearly fell at one point when I put my foot down and it slipped from under me. At that point I decided to call it quits and head home. Freaking weird given the temperature was 57′ degrees but anywhere in the shade was icy. Hopefully tomorrow there will be no frost and I can get out for a fun ride.

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Definitely worth it, but 50 miles of interstate in the rain sucked. 10am start meant the traffic was light on the way there but coming back at 4pm I got caught up in xmas shopping traffic, it was dark, wet and my jacket had given up all pretense of being waterproof after 6 hours in the rain and my visor continually fogged up. Was glad to get back home in one piece that night. But now I’ve got an excuse to go shopping for gear during the holidays

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Reasonably far. Just south of Tacoma in Roy. I think it was 53 miles each way for me.

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I would add it’s important to go out and practice. After having this conversation I went out and practiced braking in the wet. Found out that it is very easy to lock up using just the back brake. Still easy but not so much when using just the front. Using both together I had to really work at locking up. Gave me confidence to squeeze harder knowing where the limit was. Also had fun timing the braking to end up in a puddle with leaves. Instant lockup! Also leaning over on wet leaves was a scary moment. Nice to practice these things though in safe environment (an empty MSF practice range).

ps. is it just me or is this thread getting too long for Firefox? Had to go back to IE to read the past few comments.

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Glad to have helped a little. I was in two minds about whether to take the Basic or the Intermediate class. I went for the basic mainly because the last (and only) time I have changed gears on a bike was on my BRC. I was worried though it would be a BRC on dirt. That would have sucked. It was not like that though and there was no way I was ready for the Intermediate class. The instructor said there was not a lot of difference between the two but you get shouted at a whole lot more on the Intermediate On the basic class they let you make mistakes as they want you to feel the difference between doing it wrong and doing it correctly. On the intermediate they get on your case if you are doing it wrong.

We did not do the slow-mo stuff shown in the video but we did do the slalom. You were supposed to steer the bike with just your knees but I sucked at that. Actually sucked at pretty much everything (as did we all). Would really need to get my own dirtbike and practice before taking the Intermediate class.

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Lots of emphasis on body position, sitting as far forward as you can. Then it was counter weighting in tight turns. Not much different from street riding but when your crotch is on the handlebars surprisingly difficult to do. Then it was riding in a tight circle, then a figure 8, then a figure 8 in formation with the other riders, crossing over in the middle, then riding over some humps in the ground Then we got to go over some obstacles, maybe a foot and a half high. Easy to do but pretty hard to do it right (the seat would come up and smack you in the ass if you did not get your body forward in time). Then it was off to the hill where we practiced a tight turn on a hill, turning your bike around on a hill after you get stuck, then riding parallel to the hill. The only spills of the day came on the hill.

Think that was about it. Over 5 hours in riding time, not as much “class” work as on the street courses. Two days later and I can still barely walk.

At the end of the class we got to practice on other bikes so I had a go on the KLX (the green one in the top right of the pic). This is proper dual sport, only a 250cc engine but physically large. I almost could not get my leg over the seat. Completely different experience from the little 125 I had been on. Very smooth clutch (the 125’s clutch was on/off and I had struggled with that all day, thought it was just me being a dumbass). But being so high made it weird. Did not push my luck sliding it in the turns as I did not want to fall at this stage of the day. The guy who had the 800GS tried to use it briefly but gave up cause it was so slippy. His tires were not as knobbly as the true dirt bikes and I am sure his tire pressures were too high. I could press in my tire with my thumb with ease.

Here is cheesy promo video but it gives you a taste of what they teach.

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I was being facetious with the not riding comment. Any hint of ice and I stay at home. There’s no way I would ride on those roads. Just too much chance of hitting the ground and even if you don’t have a disaster, it’s not exactly an enjoyable ride.

However I did get to ride across a 5 foot ice sheet last week. Temperatures were in the 20’s here but very dry so it still safe to go riding. Was having a blast on the twistiest, hairpin mountain road that just happens to be on my doorstep. Lots of trees at the side of the road and I came upon one bit where water had obviously flowed out from the undergrowth across the road. 5ft of sheer ice across the entire road. I kept the bike upright, prayed to the god of fools and decided to keep going. Made it safely across but it was a thrill. I’m hoping it’s dry here over the holidays so I can go back and make a video of that road. Should be good.

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That road looks clear…what’s stopping you?
In the North West I often get wet but rarely does the weather stop me from riding.

Oh by the way, to link to an image use [img width=660 src=”http://&#8230;..” /]but replace [ & ] with < & >
The width=660 is not necessary but makes the image fit nicely on this page.

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