Sneak peek
I just went to Macworld last week and the last thing I expected to see was a motorcycle!
Axio is a cool manufacturer who makes backpacks and gear for motorcyclists. They're coming out with a new version of this magnetic tank bag that will eventually have backpack straps. The bag is on a Yamaha R6 (Yo!), but the new version will be a more neutral shaped bag to fit other bikes. You can actually lay your laptop inside, underneath the velcro strap. It's padded so your laptop won't be sitting directly on the tank. I was told that they've also done a lot of testing while riding with a laptop as well and no damage should occur as a result of having it in your tankbag. I'll get more details as soon as I can, as I plan to conduct an interview with one of their sales reps about all their gear.
Stay Tuned!
Pants and AntiFog
1. Pants.
Wait, what was I going to say? My brain only works for like 30 seconds when I come up with an idea, and then it disappears forever, never to be seen again. That's why I can't seem to blog more frequently. This time I had time to text myself these 2 words. Now if I could just remember what pants were. Oh yes!! Sizing.
So I was dutifully working last Saturday afternoon at Scuderia West. And a female customer came in to try out the Olympia Promax overpants. An excellent option for cold weather and/or every day riding. We tried her in a size 4 / Euro 42 (Olympia sizes in US women), which was a little bit too tight for her in riding position. Then we tried her in a size 6. For some reason, the 6 was fitting more like an 8 or 10, fitting really really generous in the waist. The length seemed normal, as a 6 would be but the waist just seemed really wide. I decided to try them on myself and found that they were definitely cut wrong. For most overpants, you may want to try on one size up from what you'd normally wear in jeans or slacks. If you have no idea what size you are, generally a xtra small/small is 0-2-4, medium is 6-8-10, large is 12 and up. Of course, this can vary from manufacturer, which is super annoying, I know. But that's why I'm here to help.
Since there wasn't another 6 off the rack for her to try, I brought her mine. They fit her perfectly and more snug in the waist, but not too tight. We ended up sending back the funny 6's to Olympia, since they definitely weren't cut right. She ended up ordering a size 6 for herself as well. Hopefully they'll fit her as perfectly as mine did.
The moral of the story is that sometimes you can't trust the sizing, or the pants off the rack. If you think something is wrong, or aren't sure if what you're wearing is the right size, try on a size up and down. If the store has a good special order policy, order another pair and see how it fits, it may fit differently or the same. You just never know!
2. Anti Fog for Arai Helmets
Apparently Arai has finally come out with a pinlock system for their helmets. This is the one thing that I don't like about my helmet. It just fogs up like crazy. First, you need to buy the "Arai Clear Pinlock Shield for Astral, Quantum, RX7, Profile, Vector Helmets". Then you need to order the Arai Antifog insert. I'm still waiting for the insert to come in, so I can test this thing out!
New Toy and Ladies' Night
So my husband and I are planning a 2 week vacation to Vancouver, stopping in Portland and Seattle, and other little cities on the way. We decided to prep for this ride by purchasing the BlueAnt Interphone (bluetooth) headset system.
- PRODUCT FEATURES
- Wireless headset for your Bluetooth enabled cell phone at a range of up to 33 feet (10 metres)
- Bike-to-bike Intercom* for rider and passenger or two separate bikes up to 490 feet (150 metres)
- World class Digital Signal Processor (DSP) for noise and echo reduction
- Excellent performance at speeds of up to 80mph (130 Km/h)
- Microphone incorporates anti-noise and anti-wind feature
- All weather, water resistant including heavy rain
- Large multi-function button for easy use with gloves on
- Automatic volume adjustment depending on speed induced environmental noise
- Configurable with Bluetooth Headset compatible GPS devices
- Easily mounts to all full faced and open faced helmets
- 2 clip mounts included - Clamp mount and Adhesive
- Voice answer, voice dialing; redial
- Up to 10 hours talk time when connected to your cell phone
- Up to 5 hours talk time when using the Intercom* feature
- Up to 700 hours standby
- 2 year replacement warranty
- Where to Buy:
We bought it from NewEgg.com but it appears that they aren't selling these anymore, the last time I checked. I just installed and set it up to work with my iphone and so far so good! Apparently we'll be able to connect our iphones and talk to eachother while riding. I think this will be especially useful if I need to stop for a bathroom break or what not.
We also purchased their Portable Handsfree Car Kit as well. I hate fumbling for my earphones and I can't stand walking around with a bluetooth headset thing on my ear. I haven't used it just yet, but we've read great things about this product.
Last night was also the Scuderia's Ladies Event and it was really great to see women come together just to talk about riding! How often do you get to hang out with a bunch of cool women who ride and talk as much as you want about motorcycles? I'm guessing not very often. I also had the opportunity to help a few women find some overpants as well. I also had the pleasure of meeting Carla King, an author who's written a book about her adventures riding around the US on a Russian sidecar motorcycle. We're hoping to have her back as a guest speaker at the next event hosted at Scuderia.
