Desde La Tierra, Hasta La Tierra

At Horizons Unlimited in October, I met Erin before she and her husband left for their wild adventure from the Sierra Nevadas all the way down to Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of South America via motorcycles.

She needed help finding the perfect outfit to carry her through the chilly temperatures she was about to face. And an outfit that would fit into her $500 budget. 

Although something like the Legacy GTX jacket and pants would've been perfect, they were also way out of her price range (almost $1,000). She emailed me about some used Airglide pants but after telling me that she is always cold and wanted something that would definitely keep her warm, I googled a bit and found gently used Olympia Pro Max waterproof pants on good ole Craigslist for $100 in her size. She preferred to find something on the warmer side, than the cooler, so these would work well. Excellent! 

She and her husband then visited me at Scuderia West's fall open house and we found her the perfect jacket, the REVIT Indigo.  Priced at ~$330, it fit her perfectly and best of all, met her budget and riding needs. 

Piece of cake :)

Have a safe and fantastic trip you two! 

To follow their journey, visit and like their facebook page, DesdelaSierraHastaLaTierra.  

Motorcycle Gift Idea, Cool Moto Tees

 

I was down in Southern California recently and visited a new shop in downtown Ventura called the Iron and Resin Garage. I have to admit, it was like walking into a hipster motorcycle shop. 

But they did have some cool men's and women's tees so naturally I had to take one home (above right). Unfortunately their website  doesn't have any of the women's tops listed. Hopefully they'll add those to the site soon. This was the only women's moto top that I really liked, riding a moto myself. 

Of course, they have a ton of nifty men's tees for that moto man in your life. 

Iron and Resin Garage

Dirtbag Challenge 2012

The Dirtbag Challenge is a San Francisco favorite among the motorcycling community. You may have seen a chopper build off or two, but nothing quite like this. 

Although the website doesn't include details for 2012, the general rules are the same; $1,000 budget, no Harleys (*gasp*), 1 month build time and must be rideable (100 miles the day of, in fact). 

It's a unique showcase of creative and cool motorcycle minds coming together to worship motorcycles and do loads of burnouts. It wouldn't be a motorcycle event without burnouts, right? Here are some pics I obtained from a few friends and a link to Glen Coddington's photo album on UrbanMoto. 

Urban Moto Photos: UrbanMoto.com

Facebook Page: facebook.com/DirtbagChallenge

Website: dirtbagchallenge.com

Alpinestars Vika - First Impressions

  

Finally, it's here. Is it living up to all the hype? Kind of. 

The Vika by Alpinestars is a fashion leather with armor and a precurved fit. It's a little better than something you'd buy at the mall because it has the armor and a slightly better fit in riding position.

So far I'm neutral about it. It does fit well (although I had to wear a 44 for the jacket because my shoulders were too broad for 40, which I fit in the GP Plus) it's a little 'bunchy'. Not sure if that's because of the leather or because I'm not quite the tall, thin body type that this outfit was made for.

If you're long and lean on top I think this will fit you much better than me. I've only worn this with Betty, in a full upright riding position. It feels comfortable up here but I don't think it'll be as comfy on my SV650s, which is really forward leaning.

The pants seem short, even for my inseam (28.5"). Although, keep in mind you never need your riding pants to reach your full inseam, like you would casual pants. Otherwise, they'll be dragging on the ground when you walk.

It's a really light, thin leather so I wouldn't wear it on the freeway since it's barely keeping me warm at 60 degrees. I also would be weary if I crashed at high speed.

Full review coming after a 100+ more miles riding in it...