IMS San Mateo 2009

 

This year's IMS in San Mateo was kicked off by a fantastic local edition of the SideStandUp podcast in the heart of San Francisco, at BMW Motorcycles on 6th and Bryant Street. In case you missed it, catch up here (Episode 120)! Carla and I had a great time chatting with Jennifer of Werkstatt, Crystal of Scuderia West and Larry of BMW SF.

Big thanks to Larry for hosting us.   The facility is beautiful, if you haven't yet visited them downtown. A customer lounge with a flat screen tv, wifi and espresso.  That's so San Francisco, isn't it? As soon as I walked in, a CHP officer was sitting in the lounge, waiting for his Beemer to be finished.  I asked him if he likes the new Beemer or the old Harley and he just sat back and laughed.   Apparently that was a silly question.

This year's IMS at San Mateo was a little smaller than everyone expected. Although a few manufacturers are missing, I met some fantastic vendors that didn't disappoint.   First off, I met the folks at Teiz Motorsports. They're making affordable one piece textile and leather suits.  They've recently started doing custom orders in women's sizing,  which I was happy to see.  You do need to custom order this option, but it seems like a good value given the price point ($219-$500) for the base suit.

If you're a woman and you're looking for one piece suits, it's pretty difficult to find anything except an Aerostitch.  I'm a fan of choice and the Teiz seems like a good option. So here's a quick summary of what might be available if you're a woman riding a motorcycle and need a one piece:

1. REV'IT Infinity Suit $1299.99 Although the smallest size is a men's small, if you're roughly a women's size US 10 and up, you may find this will fit you.  Take a minute to watch the revzilla video review of this suit. It's freaking amazing. Before you pick your jaw back up off the floor, at least watch the video and see Why it costs so much.   A lot of R&D went into the design and construction of this suit. If I were large enough to fit a small, I would so get one. *sigh*

2. AlpineStars 360R Drysuit $599.95 I'm not sure how a men's small would fit for a woman, but based on the video that Revzilla posted, I think you'd have to be at least a size 12 or up to fit this suit. *sigh*

3.  Aerostitch Roadcrafter $797.00 (base) Good ole' Aerostitch. It's been 'The" one piece for the motorcycling community for the past 10-20 years? Especially since you can order a 34 Short, it should fit a woman as small as me. Actually, I'm 99% sure it would fit me.  My friend ordered a 2 piece Darien and she's also my size.  It fit her quite well.  Wasn't as fitted close to the body as some jackets, but it did fit her quite nice. She did a custom order and was quite happy with it.

4.  Olympia Phantom $459.99 The Phantom is comparable to the Aerostitch, waterproof in the shell and has a full length removable liner.  I think a small men's wouldn't fit any woman under a size 12 or 14. There's only one size for inseam, so if you're lucky enough to be tall and a size 14, this should be a decent option for you. The cut is fairly generous across the shoulders, arms and chest, so if you're busy too, even better!

5.  Teiz Motorsports Lombard Suit $319.00 Teiz has introduced smaller women's sizing, down to a size 34. I've asked for some clarification from the Cofounder and hope to report back in January with more details about the company and their products.  Although they've been called an Aerostitch knockoff, for less than $400, it's hard to beat.  They're a real company with a genuine interest in the safety and protection of riders. There are tons of companies that live abroad and 'manufacture gear' for less than $100. I've been contacted by companies like that and have refused to even consider looking at their products.   You can custom order their suits as well. I saw them at the San Mateo IMS, they will probably stop in at the Chicago IMS since they're based in the MidWest.

If you know of any other companies making one piece suits that fit women really well, please let me know!

Another company that I ran into was Adventure Motorcycle Gear.  I met briefly with one of the owners of the website, but unfortunately had no time to try anything on. I'm hoping to see them again in Long Beach and will report back.  In the meantime, their winter offerings are here:

http://www.adventuremotogear.com/rukka-riding-clothing-c-22.html

They're quite popular in Europe, I hope to review some of their gear in January.

SideStandUp Aug.4, Gloves

This month's SSU topic was all about Gloves! One can never have enough pairs of gloves, in my opinion. How important are your hands? your wrists? Maybe you're an architect, a software engineer, a construction worker, a lawyer, a teacher, or a fabricator. No matter what you do for a living, I imagine using both of your hands is crucial to the success of your occupation.

So why shouldn't full fingered, leather gloves be important while riding your motorcycle? If you think about how long a good pair of gloves can last (sometimes 5-10 years, if you buy the right pair), they are well worth every penny. It can be hard to justify $100-$200 or even $300 for a pair of gloves. My wonderful friend Brian (you rule!) who works with me at Scuderia, gently reminds customers that if you take the average number of days a year that you ride (say 5 days a week x 52 weeks= 260) and divide it by how much you spend on one pair of gloves (say $100 for a decent pair of gloves with protection), that equals $2.60/day!

And more than likely, a good pair of gloves will last you at least 2-3 years. If you want your gloves to last 5-10 years, then you definitely need to spend at least a couple hundred dollars. So how do you find that perfect pair? Well first, narrow down your options by figuring out what kind of glove you're looking for:

• Summer: Perforated, ventilated
• Winter: Waterproof, insulated
• Year Round: Street, track, touring

In San Francisco and the rest of the Bay Area, these are the kinds of gloves that work here, given the year round fantastic weather that we have (except in San Francisco in July and August, when it's 60 degrees, windy and foggy):

Yes, these are ALL women's gloves! I would highly recommend the basic gloves for those of you riding scooters as well. The Olympias are probably the most popular scooter gloves that are sold at Scuderia.

Basic: (less than $70, all leather, full fingered, 3 season gloves, not waterproof, minimal armor)

Better: (more armor, stronger gauntlet, higher quality leather, $100 and up)

The Phantom goes down to a Size 6, which is pretty small for a race glove. So if you have really small hands and need a fantastic glove, you'll love the Phantoms.

Finally, when you're shopping for gloves, you'll want to assess fit in the following ways:

• Are they snug enough so that when they stretch they will still fit?
• Leather gloves will stretch so try to buy the snuggest size you can.
• How do they feel when working the throttle, clutch and front brake? Do you feel any extra 'bunching' of material along the palms, fingers?
• Remember that you'll never make a closed fist while riding, so assessing fit while opening your hands all the way and making a closed fist doesn't matter. You'll never fully extend your fingers straight out either, so remember that fit around the throttle is most important.
• When your hand is wrapped around the throttle, are your fingertips pushing up against the inside seam? Or do they just touch the inside? If they're just touching, that's normal. You just don't want added pressure onto the seam.
• Can you fit the gauntlet over your jacket? Or will your sleeves go over the gauntlet? Keep in mind that putting your gauntlet over your sleeve will keep you warmer and prevent air from going up the sleeves.

For me, my hands are the second most important part of my body when I gear up. I hope they are for you too!

Another segment on SideStandup, Tues. 7/7/2009

5:10pm Pacific / 8:10pm Eastern.

I'm going to give my review of the REV'IT Ignition Jacket. As some of you may know, this jacket is made for men *and* women.

So if you're a small, petite girl who needs a fitted, protective motorcycle jacket, you'll want to tune in. Or if you're a tall guy with a long torso, long arms and a narrow waist, you'll want to tune in too!
Either way, just listen!!

http://www.sidestandup.com