2Wheeltips

On March 5th, Sport Honda Powerhouse in Metuchen, NJ hosted its first Safety Day.  The whole day was dedicated to motorcycling safety issues and was co-sponsored by the NJ Gold Wing Road Riders Association and Rider Education of NJ.  Lots of people showed up and there were plenty of activities and seminars to take in.  Although I didn't get a chance to attend the seminars, etc., I saw lots of people assembled to learn about all types of safety issues.  Sport Honda has a great meeting room that is adjacent to their service area and while they were conducting seminars there, other visitors could wander around the showroom, take a look at all the Honda bikes and scooters that Sport Honda has available, grab something to eat and drink, and just enjoy the company of so many motorcyclists who not only enjoy riding, but enjoy riding SAFELY!  Kudos to Sport Honda for hosting their first motorcycle safety day….I am looking forward to safety day being an annual event!!

The 2wheeltips crew made it over to the Javits Center in NYC last month to check out the International Motorcycle Show. This is our 3rd time going and we always have a good time talking to the vendors and catching up with the latest motorcycle industry gossip. This year was no exception.  We had a great time talking to our friends from National Cycle, Arai helmets, Touch of Purple, West Virginia Tourism and a few others. It was a great show and we had a lot of fun. But we couldn't help but notice a few changes, most of them driven by the slow economy. These are:

Smaller Show
As we all know, the "powersports industry" (motorcycles, UTV's, ATV's, scooters, watercraft) has taken a serious hit due to the declining economy.  The NYC show is one of the largest and over the years we have noticed a steady decline in the size of the show.  Five or six years ago, the show was "standing room only", had hundreds of vendors and was on 2  levels. Now the show is on one level and many of the exhibitors decided not to participate or are no longer in business.  To many, a motorcycle is simply a luxury item they can no longer afford and many people have put off purchasing a bike or they are selling the one(s) they already have. We think the show numbers reflect this new reality.

Smaller Bikes
In prior years, most of the big manufacturers couldn't wait to unveal the latest and greatest bike with bigger engines, more features and even bigger price tags. How things have changed. This year, the spotlight was on smaller bikes. The most memorable were the Honda 250cc (you heard that right) sport bike, the dressed up Honda Shadow (750cc) with Cobra accessories and the Harley-Davidson (mid-priced) softtails. Since banks are not handing out motorcycle loans like halloween candy anymore, the manufacturers have caught on and are now making bikes that people can get financed.

Scooters
We did not see ANY scooter manufacturers at the show nor did we see any "green" vehicles. In previous years, there were at least two at the show. This segment of the industry has taken a serious hit and we personally know of a few scooter manufacturers that are out of business. The only exception was the BMW, but it's a concept scooter.....and is not available for sale.

New Products
Although the industry is changing, we did see some new products and vendors. SpeedpassingXV was there with a new EZPass holder that straps you your arm. NikkoMotoRacing introduced a new line of motorcycle helmets. BLINC introduced some new integrated bluetooth helmets and West Virginia Tourism gave an excellent presentation on motorcycle rallies and events available in their state.

As one of our friends from the industry stated, the industry is getting back to basics and is now focusing on the motorcyclist that has always been there. We will see how this goes in 2011.

We all know how much motorcycle gear costs. Once something gets labeled "for motorcycling", the price jumps 3-fold. For example, a pair of decent snowmobile gloves cost $35.00. A decent pair of winter motorcycle gloves will cost you over $100.00. Which pair do you think will keep your hands the warmest and have the most features?

Since I plan to do some polar bear rides this year, I decided to upgrade my riding boots. I looked around in the dealerships and and it seems they are all over $200.00! And they did not look or feel warm.

Determined not to spend that type of cash, I went down to the local department store to see what they have. I found the North Face McMurdo boot for half the cost. Long story short, these boots are extremely warm, waterproof, come up way over the ankle and cost half as much as the "motorcycle boots" I saw earlier. They have a women's version too.

If you are in the market for some decent winter "motorcycle boots", definitely check them out.

http://www.thenorthface.com/catalog/sc-gear/mens-mcmurdo-boot.html?parent_category_rn=&cm_vc=Search

One of our long time fans, Nick, writes for the Motorcycle Sport Touring Association. Nick and I spoke over the weekend and he is kind enough to let us link to his product reviews on all the nice bikes he gets to test out. Here is a link to his latest review of the Can-am Spyder. Ya know....the 3-wheel thingy you see in all of the motorcyle magazines.

http://www.sporttouring.us/content.php/425-Cruising-on-Three-Wheels-–-The-Can-Am-Spyder-RT-S-Roadster-Road-Test

 Last year, I bought the Gerbings G3 microwire gloves,  microwire heated liner and the dual temperature controller.

Well....the dual temperature controller failed about 3 weeks after I got it.  I was on a ride on a very cold day and all of a sudden I got cold...very cold. I fussed around with the controller and still no heat. At the first stop, I checked everything out and long story short it was the controller. I took it back to the store and they happily swapped it out. I think I used it about 4 times before it died. 

Fast forward to this year and the darn thing crapped out again!! But this time it is stuck on high!! It's like riding around with a blow torch on your skin. I think I may have gotten 6 - 8 rides out of it before it started acting up. 

But this time I called Gerbings Heating Gear.....since their products have a lifetime warranty. And this is where it gets interesting. 

Well....I was told the warranty is if you send it your registration card and you are the original owner.  If you do not, then.....you are out of luck!  They will not replace it. You can pay for them to repair it at $35/hour or you can buy another one. Me? I never send in the cards because all it triggers is a bunch of junk mail. 

Not one to argue but I did ask.....if it has a lifetime warranty, why does it matter who purchased it?

Needless to say, I am not happy about this. Their stuff is not cheap and to have them fail back to back is not good. Just think if it would have happened on a 20 degree day and I was 2 hours from home?

Since this is the second one that died on me, I'm not looking to try it a third time.  Has this happened to anyone out there?   Anyone have any suggestions on a different controller?

 

I was coming home from pleasure ride the other day and as I came round a blind bend a bright new shiny Porsche overtook at warp 10.  What the moron behind the wheel didn't see was that I was following a police bike.  The next time I saw the Porsche it was parked in a layby with the policeman writing a ticket.
Who said there's never a policeman around when you need one?

I am writing this because I want to stress the importance of always wearing your gear. Had I not been wearing it, my injuries would be far worse. Here is what happened. I was very lucky.

I was on a ride about a week and 1/2 ago on Rt. 84 in Highland County VA with a few other people on the way back to Marlinton WV. We had done so many twisties that day and I was a little tired so my husband agreed to lead us back.  Two people were behind him, then me and then the sweep. We came upon a sharp curve. I know I downshifted before the curve and slowed down but my friend said he thought I may have come in a little too fast. I may have just misjudged. I just can't remember and they said I may never remember. I remember thinking that I had to lean a bit more to make the turn and I did that while twisting the throttle.  What happened with other riders is that they lean so far that the rear wheel lifts off the ground and there is no way to recover.  I remember thinking that I was going to fall, my butt hit the ground hard on the left side of the bike and the next thing I knew, I was in a gully with the bike leaning on it's right side and my right leg was trapped. A friend lifted the bike off me.

I knew I was in pain but adrenaline must have kicked in since I could walk. My right hand was hurting, my butt was hurting and my legs. When the adrenaline wore off, all of a sudden I was in tremendous pain and couldn't straighten up. I started to feel nauseous and dizzy. They laid me over my husbands bike and thankfully the ambulance came as I started to pass out. They said I was in shock and my blood pressure was extremely low and stayed that way for a long time. There was no cell service so two riders had initially went to find help. Once the state trooper and the sheriff arrived, they radioed for an ambulance. The hospital was 4 mountains away and they took me to Waynesboro.

I have a possible hairline fracture on my hand (x-ray didn't show it but my doctor at home is sending me to an orthopedist since it still is quite painful), a hematoma on my left gluteus maximus, and terrible bruising on my legs and elsewhere. The hospital had never seen a bruise that bad on someone's butt so I was the talk of the hospital. After showing the 4th person, I was no longer embarrassed. Luckily, my head didn't hit the ground.  Somehow I held it up and I also held on to the bike so I wasn't thrown off until the last moment.  That helped as well.  My jacket saved my arms from road rash and possible other injuries to my back.  My gloves saved my hads and I only had a few scraps were the gloves shredded on my finger.  My over the ankle boots saved me as well. 

I am thankful to have such wonderful friends both on the ride with me and at home. My friend drove down from NJ on Monday (he left at 5 AM), picked me up at the hotel at 12 noon, took me to get my bike an hour and a half away and then drove me home. I got home at 10:30 PM that night. It was a long an painful ride. My husband spent most of the day before renting a car and then going to Marlington to pick up our stuff and taking care of me since I was pretty much helpless.  He had to ride home and he was shaken up by the whole thing.

I also have to mention how great the State Trooper and the Sheriff were. They couldn't have been nicer and more helpful.   So many times you hear horrible things about the police but these two couldn't have been nicer.  There is a law in VA that they must issue you a reckless driving ticket for all single motorcycle accidents.  You then have to appear in person and normally they will down grade it.  The trooper said I seemed like a nice person and he didn't have the heart to give me a ticket and he would just hear it from his sargent.  I was shocked that he didn't give me the ticket.  So always remember to be nice to the men in blue. 

Also always  make sure to wear your gear no matter how warm it is.   It may just save you.

I got up this morning with the desire to ride, and take just a short trip down US 12 from Ann Arbor, MI to Cement, MI near US127. On the way, I saw where there was the auto racing activities near the Michigan International Speedway. The cones in the road had been set up to take care of the heavy traffic. I made a U-turn and decided to go in a different directions which would take me to M52 towards Chelsea on to Stockbridge, MI. On the way i encounter a detour which was ok. Once I made it throught Stockbridge, I got on 36 head towards Pinckney and I saw a sign "Hell" and the arrow pointed to the right. I got off the bike and took several photo with the bike next to the sign. I when down the road and there I was in Hell. I had been there before several times. I was in Hell. It was not hot, and I began to take photos. I heard a friendly voice say, "Do you want me to take a photo of you next to your bike?" I turned around and said, "Ya." This gentlemen took my photo and we began to talk and to my supprised he was the owner of Hell. Now, just think, I met the owner of Hell, and who do you think that is? I was not shaking in my boots, and as we talked, we discovered that we had participated together on a couple of programs. (Humm, am I really saying that I worked with the owner of Hell on a couple of projects). Well, the owner invited me to one of his stores to have some ice cream. I was delighted to say, that I ate ice cream in Hell and it was a free gift from the owner of Hell. (Was this a trick, is there anything cold in Hell---I heard all my life that Hell was hot and the Devil was the most likeable being that you can ever meet). I was afraid to say, "No." Well we went to the ice cream shop and "he" told me to get whatever I wanted (I did not know if I was getting fatten up for the big supprise). In the store, I saw a skeleton laying in a coffin, I saw spiders, black cats, and skeleton at the entrance of the door. I took photos of each and smile and began to think of several frighten movies that I have seen in the past. I asked for a double dip vanilla and blue berry cheese cake and it tasted great. I had an excellent conversation with the owner. "He" shared with me all the activites of the place. A golf course that is made so that people with disabilities can play; a Chapel so that people can say they got married in Hell; or had the wedding from Hell; fundrasing activities for Veterans, and just yesterday they had an event for "Gold-Star Mothers" (mothers who have lost a son or daugther in the war), and had about 400 bikers to participate. I took some more photos and had a great time. I got on the bike, and before, I left the owner gave me a "free get out of Hell" card. I rode off and Hell was at my backdoor. I wish I could add photos to this, however, I must say that Hell is not bad. The owner even said, "It even gets cold in Hell." Well to all the readers, I was in Hell, MI. If you are ever in lower MI near Ann Arbor, Dexter, Jackson, Lansing, area, please take the trip. You can say that you have really been to Hell and back and lived to talk about it. You will have an outstanding time and really enjoy yourself. It is a biker friendly place--the place is just friendly---just like the owner.

I was reading my local news online a couple of days ago, when a headline grabbed my attention:

"1 Dead After Crash on Route 18 in East Brunswick"
http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20100712/NEWS/100712019/1004/NEWS0102

Somehow, without the headline saying it, I knew a motorcycle was involved.  Sadly, I was correct.  Sadder yet, the motorcyclist died in the accident; the passenger on the bike was taken to the hospital and was in stable condition at the time.  Apparently, the 19 year old driver of the automobile that was involved was not injured.

I know nothing about this accident (other than what little was written up in the local paper) and I know none of the people involved.  But motorcycle accidents send chills down my spine whenever they occur, and especially when they occur on local roads that I travel all the time.  Perhaps many of you will agree with me when I say that it seems like we are often a bit too interested in the gory details of motor vehicle accidents.  Yet, hopefully, we can learn something from even the most tragic of accidents.  I looked at the photos that were taken of the accident (and there was controversy about the newspaper even posting some of them, especially the ones that show what appears to be covering over the body of the biker) in an attempt to understand better what had happened and I am baffled.  Was the biker making a right turn onto Route 18 from the side street?  Did the vehicles collide while merging into the same lane?  Was someone driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs?  Was one of the operators distracted?  I don't have an answer.  What I do know is that, regardless of the roads that we ride on, the moment we let down our guard is the moment that we will be in big trouble.  Defensive motorcycling is necessary on all roads at all times....because our lives depend upon it.

Take a look at the photos after this accident to see if you can learn anything from them:



















And, for those of you who might live in my area, and who just might have been witness to what happened on Sunday evening, this is what I found on the road today:

Here is a newspaper article I came across recently about helmet standards. It is from the NY Times and covers the safety of the buckets we all put on our heads. What do you think ?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/automobiles/27SNELL.html?_r=1