Only 19 Days Til Christmas

So here's an idea for a stocking stuffer.

Everyone needs something to maintain their riding boots. Nothing like wet, cold feet to ruin a ride. If your favorite motorcycle person commutes, travels, then warm, dry feet are always a good thing!

Nikwax makes a great selection of products for maintaining your boots, gloves and technical riding gear (as well as non motorcycle specific technical apparel). I use their Tech Wash to take care of my textile jackets and pants. 

Stay tuned for day 18 tomorrow!

Spectrum Ultra Sport Vests are Back!

Riding down the California Coast back in 2013 wearing my original Red Spectrum Ultra Sport Blitz Vest. Who knew reflective vests could be so cool?

This vest came out 3 years ago and for a short time offered a unique, hi viz vest with a cool factor that other vests had not yet reached. Unfortunately they went out of business but under a new owner, they are reviving the brand and trying to start production again through their Kickstarter here. This time, the prices are much lower with the same bright designs (simplified color options) and a special price if you buy in as a supporter. 

I plan on purchasing one for my husband, since he has yet to jump on board the hi viz boat. I really want him to wear one at night, as that's when I find my vest to be the most useful. Especially since he pretty much wears black without any reflectivity. 

Of course I have to back this project and pick up a Black and Gold Blitz Vest! I convinced the man to pick up a black and silver one as well. The Kickstarter is going through Tuesday, September 6th.

You can read my review here, then sign up to be one of the first ones to receive a new and improved Spectrum vest. 

InRoute, a way to navigate with your iPhone and Sena!

Finally, what I've been waiting for. A reason to replace my Garmin Zumo. Which may not happen immediately, but I foresee this as a really, really great tool.

I know, I just published my Garmin Zumo 390 review but now I found what I have been searching for! An iPhone app that lets me import the GPX file I need from Furkot and then it reads the turn by turn directions into my Sena SMH10R.

This iPhone app is called InRoute Route Planner. It's a free app but it comes with optional upgrades, which I'll gladly pay for. The free version allows for up to 24 locations in a particular map I think. It's $2.99/month or $24.99 for the year if you want up to 100 locations per map. So I went ahead and bought a year. Why not? 

If I can successfully use this app for all my turn by turn navigation, then adios Garmin! Fingers crossed, as we leave for Port Jervis in the morning on a quick overnight :)

Update August 2016

I've now been using the InRoute app exclusively for the past two months. It has definitely done its job and very well, I might add. 

There are two things that I've wanted my phone to do for me; navigate and then give me turn by turn directions through my Sena SMH10R Headset so I don't have to look down or check to see what the display is showing.  Although it has some minor issues to resolve, overall its the best navigation option I've ever used. 

Back in June my husband and I ventured north to Port Jervis, NY. We left early Sunday morning and then headed up to the border as far as we felt like going. Then we grabbed a hotel for the night once we got into New York. 

Opening GPX Files

The photo above is the ambitious ride route I laid out for us. You can download a copy of the GPX file here. :)  All you have to do is either create a route on a website such as Furkot.com, save it as a .GPX and then open it easily on your iPhone (there are others I'm sure, just use whatever site or software application you want to create the GPX). (Or, alternatively you can create a route on the fly right inside the app. We'll get to that part in a bit, so keep scrolling if you want that part.) 

I use iCloud Drive (in addition to Google Drive) so all I have to do is open my file. Once you create the GPX on your desktop, you could also just email it to yourself too. Once I've found my file, I just tell my phone how I want to view it. 

In this instance, I want it to "copy to InRoute". If I already have another route or map open, it'll ask me if I want to Restore Route. I Choose Restore. 

And then voila! I have my ride route. All I have to do is hit GO and we're off. My Sena starts talking to me and I'm ready to ride. 

Creating Routes on the Fly

However, sometimes you just need to make a quick route without a computer nearby. This is my favorite feature. I can instantly create a route, tweak it and then share it with my husband so he can also lead part way. It's as simple as putting your finger exactly where your destination is. As soon as you do, it asks you if that's going to be your Start, a Waypoint or your Destination. For this example, I choose Destination. 

But I really really really don't want to take the turnpike there. And this map much like other maps might assume you do. No Thank You. Maybe I want to visit the infamous stretch of road where I lowsided last year to see if they patched up the entire roadway or not. So I place my finger at on the road and it drops a pin. I select Waypoint.  

Now, we have a decent route!

But let's just say that I want to make another stop along the way, just for fun. 

Crap. Now things are in the wrong order. No problem :) Click on the little 2Way Sign in the upper left corner. 

Now you have this handy option to Optimize Waypoint Order. SO handy. You can also rearrange points manually here too. If you select a particular point you can then delete it. 

Now that I've rearranged the order, I have a proper route. 

Then when it comes to sharing this route with the man, I just text it to him like any other image or file on my iPhone. 

The only downsides of the app that we've discovered are:

1. It uses the Apple Maps Engine. For some reason, and I'm not quite sure why, it won't interrupt my intercom conversation with my husband to give me the directions. I have to toggle back to my phone to hear it. I'm ok with this for now, because it's a small sacrifice to have a much better app interface such as this. Google Maps and Waze don't do this, so it's definitely possible and most likely a feature they have to program into the app (something about APIs to tell the phone that it's an incoming phone call, not just music - per my mobile app developer expert husband). 
2. The Northeast is full of roads and highways with multiple names. Look at this one for instance. You can see that Route 143 is also known as "Ontelaunee Trail". It might tell me one or the other, so I have to trust it when it tells me to turn somewhere. It doesn't always do this, but often enough that I try not to worry as much if I'm turning at the right point. 

A couple of fun features is that it offers temperature, humidity and a few other details along your route, super handy. 

Those are the main features that I use on the app. I'm sure I'll discover more as I use it further. 

Other than those two details, I don't foresee going back to the Zumo anytime soon. The only thing I still might need is a waterproof case which is easy to come by.

In order to have my phone easily accessible on the bike I purchased this Ram Universal X-Grip cellphone holder. All I had to do was take off the Garmin Mount from the Ram Arm and swap it for the X-Grip. 

How a Custom Suspension Changed my Ride

My bike (Goldie, 2012 Triumph Street Triple R) originally came with a stock rear shock. 

Benny, with the original Ohlins Shock that was gifted to me by the best husband, ever. 

Then my beloved husband bought me a used Ohlins Shock from a friend of ours, which I had installed earlier this year. Neither of us realized how stiff this shock was. It came from a Triumph Daytona, and it was set up for racing, not street riding.

What that meant was that it was extremely stiff. SO stiff, even my friend who's 6', 200lbs remarked how stiff it felt when he sat on it. It's definitely a bad sign when your weight isn't enough to compress the rear shock on your motorcycle.

It should ALWAYS sag a little bit beneath your weight. If it isn't, you need to get it looked at asap.

Or if you're looking at buying a particular bike, you need to consider how the suspension is set and hopefully you've had a chance to sit on it to see if the suspension is remotely close to your weight/profile. 

Ohlins Shock 1.0, installed on Goldie before the magical Rebuild

This shock was SO stiff, that it literally bruised my tailbone. For several weeks, it felt like I bruised my tailbone hard. I know for a fact that I didn't fall down on it, and I hadn't been sitting in hard chairs. Apparently, students can get bruised tailbones from sitting all day in classroom desks. I definitely wasn't doing that, and working at Revzilla keeps me on my feet pretty much all day. 

The only thing I could tell for sure is that I rode my bike with the stiffer shock recently and it definitely was kicking my ass, literally. I felt every.single.bump. I was saying Ow! inside my helmet over every bump in the road. And if you're from Philly then you know how especially painful the roads can be. 

Photo/ Phillymag.com

In April, I was excited when my friend Shawn told me that Ohlins would be at NJMP for MotoAmerica racing, and someone could rebuild my shock and make it actually fit ME!!

So I scrambled to take off the rear shock and get it over to the racetrack so a wonderful man named Ken could work his magic and modify it. 

I have to give Ken a Huge THANK YOU for squeezing me in to his very busy racing schedule that afternoon. Thanks Ken!!! So go check out his Instagram feed and give him a follow.

Ken uses his magic fingers to adjust valves to perfection!

What appears to be a box full of keychains is really the secret to suspension magic. But that's all I know. 

After all was said and done, and my wallet was emptied (because all that work doesn't come free!) I have a new-to-me rear shock. 

Just to compare, take a look at the before (blue) and after (red). It doesn't look like much, but the spring is much shorter, and the clearance is totally different. And also, the little bits inside the gold canister are different now and totally reworked for me. I'm not sure what that means mechanically, but all I know is that the new-to-me shock provides a completely different riding experience (Ohlins only had a used spring, so that's why it's a little smudged. But whatever, I didn't care!).

So what exactly does all this mean for me and Goldie? Well, for one thing, my bike actually responds to my weight. When I sit on her, my weight actually compresses the spring, I can feel the bike smush a little beneath my weight!  If I feel like it, I can actually modify the compression and rebound on the fly. I'm terrible at explaining this, so I highly recommend reading this article which gives a great overview of rear and front suspensions and what can happen if it's too soft or firm. 

“Your bike suspension is designed primarily to absorb the imperfections in the roads, and ensure that tyres keep contact with the roads. Most bikes suspension are based on a spring like you would find in a pen, mattress or trampoline but much stronger. To stop the spring from bouncing the tyre like a yoyo; the rate the spring moves up and down is controlled by “dampers”. ”

— GoStar-Racing.com

When I would go over bumps, it felt like the bike wasn't absorbing the shock at all, instead my butt would take the brunt of it. Anytime I'd go over even a tiny bump I would squeeze my knees against the tank and raise my butt off the seat a bit (pavement, not dirt). Now I find myself doing that far, far less frequently than before. 

Corners

When my husband and I went to West Virginia last week, it was a game changer for me. Goldie had always been an amazing ride, even with the stock suspension. But now I felt a noticeable difference in slow and fast corners. 

In the tighter, slower turns I no longer felt like the rear wheel was going to slide out from under me because it wasn't gaining the right traction (which can be dangerous in corners). It feels firm, solid in every corner, as if the bike were attached to rails (traction!) and I was gliding through the corner without any wobble/bumpy feedback when rolling on the throttle (which I love to do once I'm in the corner). At higher speeds (freeway) I can feel the suspension working overtime to go over all the small bumps in the road. It's like I know I'm going over them but my body isn't feeling them as much.

my ass 

But most of all, my ass! It doesn't hurt anymore. And most importantly, my confidence has gone up. I'm still recovering from my accident last year so I still think of oil/fuel being spilled in every corner that I'm up against. Even if it's just water, in my mind I immediately think that it's something slippery. Having a stable, smooth rear suspension has helped me trust not my bike, but myself too. 

a little lower? 

Now that my rear suspension actually responds to my weight, I've found that the seat height has adjusted about 0.5" lower, possibly more. I just don't know how to measure that. But I can definitely tell because for the first time I was able to flat my right foot (although I still had to slide my butt off the seat a bit).

I'm so used to riding with the bike the way it was before, taller. Although I'm by no means flat footing both (which I would never want anyhow), now I find parking a little easier if there's a slight slope. I'm still wearing my tall insoles, but now I wonder if I can try the Dainese boots I've been wanting. Since they fit so tight on me, I'd have zero space for my insoles. Hmmmm. 

now what?

Now the only thing left to do is take it to a suspension guru to have the bike set up correctly so the front is balanced with the rear. Next year I might try to take on the front forks and see if they need to be changed, but so far I'm liking it the way it is. 

Happy Riding, and don't forget to check that suspension!

Some women want diamonds, pearls, and other useless junk. But this one needs a revalved Ohlins!!