2Wheeltips

We recently came across a company called Gears Canada that makes really nice stuff for sport bike riders. Many in the industry do not think people "tour" or go on overnight trips on sport bikes. Nothing could be further from the truth.....and this company makes great stuff just for those who do.

Three products they sell come to mind. For those taking multi-day trips they have a roomy piece of luggage called the Navigator Tail Bag. For overnight trips they have what's called the Navigator Tour bag. They have other nice stuff for sport bikers such as heated vests and heated chaps! We will be doing product review videos on their products soon and will keep you posted.

Take a look around any motorcycle dealer, store or event and you will see tons of clothing for men but very few items for women. Even worse, the stuff you do see looks like warmed over men's clothing with pink or purple designs and a few plastic beads. No woman with any fashion sense would be caught dead in some of the stuff that is labeled "women's motorcycle clothing."

There are a few brands out there for women but the makers assume the women are passengers and not riders! In many cases the clothing is not sturdy and begins to fall apart after a few wearings. Women who ride their own bikes had to make a choice: wear men's clothing or wear the passenger quality stuff that will fall apart before the riding season ends.

Fortunately, some manufacturers are paying attention to the growing number of female riders and started making fashionable riding gear for women. One company that comes to mind is Scooter Girls. They make very fashionable motorcycle gear with all of the safety features, such as reflective panels and impact pads, that you would find in a men's jacket. Their stuff looks so good it could double as a regular coat! If you are into leather and don't want an ugly men's styled jacket, there is DeHall Designs. This company makes tons of women's jackets, some of which can be customized. Last I checked they were using fine Italian leather to make their gear.

So the next time you need some motorcycle gear, check out what these two companies have to offer before you buy men's styled clothing. You many be pleasantly surprised at what's out there for women.

Riding on days when it's cold in the morning and cool during the days can be a little uncomfortable if you are not properly dressed.

Most riders park their bikes when the temperature dips below 58 but you can continue to ride without  spending hundreds of dollars for a bulky winter riding suit.

An easy and inexpensive way to keep warm is  to buy silk liners. You can get silk socks, pants, shirts, gloves and caps that you can wear under your regular clothing. They are super thin and will trap enough heat to keep you warm on those chilly afternoon rides.

For colder days you may want to go with thermal liners. They do tend to be a bit more bulky but are much cheaper than a full blown riding suit.

You don't have to go out and buy liners from an expensive motorcycle store or catalog. They are available in your local department store and online and work just as well.

Once the temperature gets close to the 40's you will need to get a winter riding suit and perhaps heated grips. Not many ride when the temperature gets down in the 30's but if you plan on doing year round riding, a heated suit is a must.

No doubt you have seen advertisements for special motorcycle socks that keep your feet dry in the summer and nice and toasty when riding in cool weather. These "special socks" also come with a "special price" of $15.00 or more per pair. Construction workers, police and athletes also need dry warm feet and they don't pay anywhere near that much for socks.

Department store socks work fine for riding. For hot weather rides, get socks made for running. They will wick the moisture away from your feet. For cooler weather, get thicker socks or buy sock liners. No ankle socks; you need them long enough to give protection from the wind and flying debris.

One way to protect your legs from road hazards and from the wind on cool days is to wear chaps. Most will buy chaps as a fashion statement. They do look good, if properly fitted. Others will buy them after getting hit on the lower leg by a rock or some other flying debris. In either case, they are a good fashionable alternative to expensive riding pants and I've yet to see a motorcycle show that didn't have a chaps vendor.

Chaps come in various styles, materials and lengths. The most common type is the full leather chap that covers the entire leg. Although they look nice, they can be very hot in the summer. An alternative to the full chap is the half chap. These fit over your riding boots and provide protection from the ankle to the knee.  We've seen some made of ballistic nylon which give full chap protection without making the wearer too hot.

If you do decide to go the chaps route, make sure you get measured for a proper fit. Few things look worse than a bad pair of chaps.

Funny how something as irrelevant as your hair can become a big problem.  Hair that is longer than crew cut length can sometimes make its way into your eyes while riding, even if you wear a full face helmet. You should consider wearing something like a riding scarf or bandanna whenever you ride, to keep your hair where it belongs.

In cool weather, wearing a scarf or cap under your helmet can keep your head warm.   So, if you are riding in cooler weather, you might want to consider having a thin, stretchy cap to wear.  There are many products available on the market that can be used to keep your hair in place; find the solution that best suits your comfort and needs.  Just keep in mind these tips:

    •    When shopping for a head scarf, etc., you need to consider that your current helmet just may no longer be as comfortable as it was without the scarf.  It is funny how something as thin as a headscarf made out of nylon, for example, can take up enough room to make you need a different size helmet.  Shop around to find one that works with your helmet.

    •    Make sure it fits right and will not shift around or slip down over your eyes.

I'd been on holiday with the family and hadn't ridden my bike for two weeks.  Withdrawal symptoms were setting in and it was a beautiful sunny Sunday so I decided to go for a ride.

I'd been out for most of the morning and into the afternoon when I came into a local town (Basingstoke for those of you who know the area) and saw a bike parked on a roundabout exit.  I thought he might be a guide so I took that exit.  Sure enough, on the next roundabout another bike was parked on an exit.  I took that exit and, in this way, followed the bikes out of town.  Eventually I discovered wher they were all going, a Blue festival in a pub just off the A339 in Hampshire.  I wanted to stay for some music but had to get back so I took the next right and thought I'd get back to town along the back roads.  I'd gone a couple of miles along the road and slowed down to take a blind corner.  It was a 30mph road and when I hit the corner I was doing about 20 - 25mph.  I got round the corner and saw a car on my side of the road comming towards me.  I swerved to avoid the car and braked to slow down even more but my front wheel hit a patch of gravel on the side of the road.  As soon as that happened the front end just slid out from under me.  The bike ended up in a ditch and I slid down the road on my face.  The moron in the car didn't even have the decency to stop and see if he'd killed me.  Result: bike written off and I strained my neck and back.  I'm now looking for a new bike and refovering from my injuries so I'll be out on the road again soon(ish).  If I'd been wearing an open face helmet at the time I would now be in hospital while the surgeons tried to rebuild my face.  I'll never wear an open face helmet, ever.

Wondering what to wear when riding?  Do you want to look cool on your bike?  Sexy?  Great!  But “cool” and “sexy” won’t save your life if you have an accident!  The rule of thumb is this:  protection should be your primary concern.  There is plenty of great motorcycle gear available that looks good and has built-in protection.  This is what you should wear every time you go out on your bike:

A DOT/SNELL certified helmet
Anything less than this is not going to provide  protection if you have an accident.  It is your head and your brain that you are protecting!

A riding jacket
Good quality riding jackets have built in armor to absorb impact shock in the event of an accident.  There are some very good-looking riding jackets available and you don’t have to spend a fortune to get one that offers protection and good looks. They come in leather, denim or synthetic materials and come in many styles and colors.

Heavy duty jeans and/or riding pants
Heavy duty jeans are the least protection you should have from your waist to your ankles.  Better than heavy duty jeans are special riding pants that, like a riding jacket, offer built-in armor to absorb impact shock in the event of an accident.

Full finger gloves
Good riding gloves will cover your hands completely and some have padding for comfort during long rides. Gloves protect your hands from road debris and from injury in the case of an accident.

Riding boots
A good, sturdy pair of riding boots should have a low heel, slip resistant sole and cover your ankle. They also need to be comfortable enough to walk in, too.   Don’t forget a good pair of comfortable socks. Good socks can make a good boot feel even more comfortable!

Here are things to avoid when riding your bike:

• Clothing that bares any part of your body. Sure you might look sexy with your bare arms or midriff showing as you fly down the road.  But, if you ever have an accident while wearing next to nothing you will pay for it dearly.  Road burn is painful and you may ultimately need skin grafts  to surgically repair parts of your body that came in direct contact with the road (or other) surface.

• Sandals, sneakers or regular shoes. Sandals, sneakers and regular shoes provide limited protection from road debris and almost none if you are in an accident.

It can be quite warm under all of that protective gear, but once you are riding at highway speed, it is amazing how comfortable you can feel with all that gear on, even on a hot summer day. Our rule of thumb is this:  if it is too hot for you to ride with your protective gear on, then it is too hot to ride.

Helmets are required to be DOT certified.  In addition to DOT certification, some helmets also carry SNELL certification.  What is the difference?  Basically, keep this in mind:  all SNELL certified helmet are DOT certified, but not all DOT certified helmets are SNELL certified. 

Both DOT (Department of Transportation) and SNELL (SNELL Memorial Foundation) have their own standards used to test helmets.   The Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 218 is the one that DOT uses and it dates back to 1974; the SNELL Memorial Foundation uses a standard that is updated every five years.  Some of the other basic similarities and differences between DOT and SNELL certification are:

DOT and SNELL assess each helmet by placing it on a head form that is equipped with sensors. The helmeted head form is then dropped from a specific height onto a steel anvil, and the severity of the impact is recorded.

Both standards drop the head forms on flat and hemispherically shaped anvils in order to simulate different types of impacts. However, SNELL also uses an edged anvil that specifically tests the integrity of the helmet's shell.

While both DOT and SNELL drop their helmets to simulate crash impact, SNELL drops the helmets from greater heights, simulating more severe crash impact and require the helmets to withstand greater impact and more force than the DOT standard.

SNELL certification requires a manufacturer to submit 5 helmets of a particular design, for testing; 4 of the 5 helmets are tested and the last helmet is saved as a sample.  DOT relies on the manufacturer of the helmet to do self-certification.  Periodically, the government will conduct spot audits on the helmet manufacturer.  In 2001, when performing a spot audit on 40 helmets, DOT found a 20% failure rate among some of the helmets.  Once found and reported, it was up to the manufacturers to bring their helmets into compliance.

Although their testing process is very similar, SNELL requires their certified helmets to withstand a greater impact and absorb more force than the DOT standards.

In order for a company to claim that their product is SNELL approved, they have to submit five helmets for testing. Four of those helmets are tested and one is saved as a sample product. If the helmet design passes the tests, the manufacturer enters into a contract with SNELL. This contract allows SNELL Memorial Foundation to buy helmets from the manufacturer and test them on a continual basis in order to ensure quality.

The bottom line:  if you want the safest helmet for your money (and your head!), choose a helmet that has the SNELL certification on it; it will meet or exceed DOT helmet standards.

Many states have mandatory helmet laws, requiring you to wear a helmet while riding.  Although there are those who protest the mandatory helmet laws, you need to be selfish and think only about yourself:  if you go down, even if it is a minor incident, and you hit your head, the helmet is the only thing between you, the ground, and serious injury.  Surely, you don’t need a mandatory helmet law to get you into the very good habit of always  wearing a helmet when you ride; it’s your life and your head...enough said!

If you find that a helmet is not comfortable, try another one.  Shop for a helmet at a store where you can try on various sizes made by different manufacturers and where there is a salesperson who is knowledgeable about fitting helmets.  You may find that the size and shape of your head is best suited to the helmets of one particular manufacturer.  If a helmet is too large or too small, it is the wrong helmet! Once you find the right helmet, you will know it; it will become so comfortable to wear that you will wonder how you could ever consider riding without one.  Half and 3/4 helmets do not offer near the protection that full-face helmets do.  Your helmet serves functions other than just protecting you from head injury; it protects you from bugs, road debris, etc.  At highway speed, even a bug hitting you in the face or eyes can cause serious injury!   You can also purchase additional visors for your helmet that provide UV filtration and shading if you are riding in bright sunlight and you don’t want to wear sunglasses.  These visors are simple to swap out and you may want to consider having several of them for different riding conditions. Remember that, if you start out on a trip during the day and are using a shaded visor, you will have to bring along a clear visor for any riding that you do after the sun goes down. In some states law enforcement will pull you over for riding with shaded visors after dark.