Special Women's Event @ Scuderia! Food! Prizes!

THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2008
6pm-8pm

And women of course! This night is just for the ladies. I don't know how many of you are lucky enough to be surrounded with women who ride, but if you're like me, it's not often! We're going to talk about everything moto, including riding, maintenance and gear. If you've never been to Scuderia, this is a great time to visit and check out all the great women's gear we have.

See you then!

Updated website pages

I added the Olympia review to my reviews page and fixed some other details on other reviews there as well. I also made a few updated comments to some of them too. I'm still working on my Revit review. Check back this weekend!

Review: Olympia Pants

Olympia Pro Pants

So far, I am loving these pants. They fit me perfectly and are better than the FirstGear Overpants I had before. Even though I'm a shortie with a 28" inseam, these aren't too long. I'm wearing a size 6 in this picture. I've found them to be as comfortable as my FG's, if not more comfy. I thought with the textile being thicker and more dense that it would be really uncomfortable riding, but I haven't found that to be the case. My favorite features of these pants are:

Big pockets in front.

Reflective piping along the sides of the lower leg.

Hip to toe zippers (easy on and off. woo woo!).

Velcro adjustments at the ankle.

Removable quilted liner.

Velcro flaps over the zippers.

I really wish they would've added more reflective piping up the leg, instead of stopping at the knee. I also wish they had cargo pockets in the front like the men's pants do! Why do men get the cool features? Also, I do think that back pockets are useless when riding, and 2 big cargo pockets in the front would've been far more functional. Do you ever reach into the back pocket while riding?

You can see below that there's an 8" connecting zipper so you can wear these with many other brands of pants (including R'evit). It also comes with the 'top teeth' of the zipper so you can have it sewn into any jacket that doesn't have a matching zipper.

The hip and knee armor is fully changeable. You only get CE rated knee armor, but not hips. I've swapped out my knee armor for Dainese women's knee armor, since I'm using T-Pro in my leathers, I decided to use the Dainese armor in these instead. They're much more comfortable. The velcro armor pocket at the knees are adjustable up and down 2-3 inches in each direction as well. You can put in CE armor at the hips as well, although the pockets are a funny shape so you'd have to find armor that will fit the pockets.

When you're trying these on, be sure to sit on your bike (if you can) or another bike, or just assume a seated position. Keep in mind that these pants (like all gear) are designed to be most comfortable and fitted properly in riding position. So you want the armor to be in the right place and not move from over your knee. Your kneecap should be securely up against/in the deep 'pocket' of the armor while in riding position. You don't want the armor to shift should you crash, so that's why it needs to be snugly covering your knees. And, that's why gear is supposed to fit snug. You also want them to be a tad bit long so when you sit you have some room for the pants to rise up a bit at the thighs/waist. I'm not normally a fan of a high waisted pant, but in this case, they really work to keep the pants from riding too low in the back.

If you aren't used to so much velcro, the on and off will take some getting used to. It's definitely stronger velcro, which is good because we don't want it ripping apart if you're sliding. After a week or so of wearing them you'll get used to taking them on and off, and it should only take a few minutes to get fully dressed once you're used to the routine.

If you're tall and have trouble finding pants that fit you, these will fit. I've had women who are close to 5'10" try these on without any problems. They have added a couple inches at the bottom of their pants to make sure taller folks are covered.

Overall, I'd highly recommend these pants (which I already do!) to anyone looking for a pair of waterproof women's textile overpants, especially for commuters.

Long Time No Ride

Well it's been almost 3 weeks since I've been out riding. I know, I know! How could I?

The first 2 weeks were due to an inner ear infection which pretty much made me feel so lightheaded that I felt drunk all the time. Not that I was stumbling around, falling on the floor or tripping over myself constantly, but just enough to feel off balance, and not 'all there'. It made me feel miserable enough to know that I shouldn't be operating heavy machinery, tractors, cranes, cars, etc., let alone my 2 wheel beast. I found it hard to be motivated or inspired to write about anything moto related, and I found it just damn hard to concentrate for very long.

Now that that's overwith, I need to get back and focus on tshirts, videos, more reviews and writing.

Now that the warm weather is upon us, I'm sure you're asking yourself how much do you really need to wear? Especially if you aren't lucky to live in SF where it's pretty much cool year round, so summer gear really isn't an issue. It's a lot easier to bundle up than it is to strip down (when it comes to riding), isn't it? Well, it is for me. I find it much easier to layer like crazy, then peel away when I need to. But when it's 100 degrees out, all you can think is "Crap, it's hot. I really don't want to put all this sh*t on." Truthfully, I've thought it myself this week. It's probably the 2nd week of real summer weather we've had all year. It was close to 90 today, and riding in that kind of weather really doesn't appeal to me. But, if I had to, believe me, I would've worn everything, from head to toe.

ATGATT. In case you aren't familiar with this acronym, it's "All The Gear All The Time."

I'll admit, I'll cheat sometimes and not wear my overpants, but otherwise I always wear my Daytona's, jacket, gloves and helmet.

For me, the mere thought of my flesh on HOT pavement really sounds painful. Especially sliding on it. When it's super hot, I actually enjoy wearing my leather jacket because the inner lining doesn't stick to me as much as my R'evit. And it's perforated, which really helps. The other thing I've found is that not wearing long pants can result in a nasty burn from the engine or exhaust.

I don't know how you squids do it! I mean, the engine gets so freaking hot near my shins, with that and the heat I couldn't handle both. Oh, and how do you keep your palms from getting sweaty without wearing gloves? I've tried it once (way way way back when I was riding a scooter), and I swear my hands were sweating buckets. I may be sweating on the inside of my gloves, but at least I can properly grip my throttle and control my breaking. Remember that another reason to wear gear is that it actually helps you ride better and with more control.

If you're a noob, throttle control is one of the most important techniques that you need to focus on and really start to refine. How can you do that when your hand is all sweaty and you can't squeeze that brake lever all the way with the fine, steady progressive pressure to come to that complete stop without locking up the front wheel?

Ok, so what do you do when it's 100 degrees out? Well, I guess you have to ask yourself how hot you're willing to get? There is so much out there, if you look hard enough you can find high quality textiles for summer without sacrificing safety. Many people refuse to wear anything but leather, and I absolutely love that. On the other hand, if you live somewhere that's 100 degrees with humidity, what are you going to do? Not ride? I'm sure some of you are struggling with this decision. For me, personally, I don't think I could do it. I've ridden in 90 degree dry heat, but I don't think I could do humidity.

Whatever decisions you make for yourself, remember that safety should always come first.