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!

More updates and scooters

Well I've spruced up my reviews page to make it a little easier to navigate. I also put up a couple more funny photos of myself wearing some of my gear. I hope you like it.

I also wanted to bring up the subject of scooters. It's a love/hate relationship for most. It's too 'weak', 'girly', 'boring', etc. Until you have one, you really can't say anything. Yes, you may know how to ride your R1, Gixxer, or Beemer. But until you zip around the city on a cute 50cc or 125cc scooter, you don't realize how much fun it is. I would never be where I am today if it weren't for my little scarabeo that I rode for a year. I learned so much on that thing and it really prepared me for riding a motorcycle. Riding in San Francisco can be intimidating and even a little scary. I learned here, so it's all the same to me.

After riding a motorcycle for a while I yearn for a scooter again. Yes, I really do. But that doesn't mean I want to go back to a 50. I definitely could use a 100-125cc. These SF hills are painful. It's such a slowwwww start from the bottom of a hill. But once I get going, I can generally keep up. It would just be nice to have enough power to get out of the way if I needed to.

I'll be honest and say that no, I didn't wear my Daytona's nor my Olympia's. But, I did wear my Arai, Racers and Revit jacket (because it's cooold in SF summer right now). Daytona's would've been a little uncomfortable, given what I was riding (roomie's Kymco 50cc People Scooter). Instead, I did wear a pair of hiking boots that cover my ankles and have really good traction. I also wore jeans. Something that I realized while riding this little guy is that when you can't go very fast, it makes you ride fairly slow and conservative. I admit, when I'm on my bike I certainly feel more powerful and in control. But being on this scooter made me stay in the slow lane as much as possible and avoid the hills! I didn't want cars to tailgate me and I certainly didn't want to hold up traffic. I felt like I couldn't do anything or go anywhere if something were to happen suddenly. I also noticed that since I'm going slower, I have a little more time to react to different situations. When you're going slower, you have the extra 2-3 seconds that you won't have going twice as fast, right? If you're only 2 car lengths behind someone who has to slam on the brakes, but you're only going ~20 mph vs. 40mph, and weigh almost nothing, it's going to be a lot easier to react and respond.

I know that it's impossible to get people to wear real gear head to toe while on a 50cc scooter, but if you're on a 450+, in the city or in the freeway, you risk just as much as I do on my 749cc sportbike. At least I'm covered head to toe with armor and adequate protection to minimize the risks of getting seriously injured in an impact. You don't need to wear a one piece leather, but for pete's sake, wear a full face helmet and some gloves and stow your wingtips or peep toe heels under your seat so you can wear some real shoes for the ride home.

If you're on your 50cc, at the very minimum, you need that full face helmet, gloves too. There are many benefits to wearing a real jacket, not necessarily leather but how about textile? How about something with a little armor, cordura, and a liner to keep you warm? There are so many options under ~$200, if you're spending $3,000 on a new scooter I'm sure you can carve out a little more for a good jacket. At the very least, I urge you to COVER YOUR SKIN. Please wear some boots that cover your ankles, long pants that cover your legs, long sleeve jacket that cover your arms/wrists and a full face helmet. If you can't spend any money on gear then at least try to make the effort to cover your skin and offer it a little more protection against the pavement.

Believe it or not, you'll get quite a bit of respect from other motorcyclists who take their safety seriously. Some of you may think as well that you'll be laughed at or feel embarrassed. Well, yes, from the people who don't care about safety as they laugh at you in their shorts and tshirts. But not from those of us who choose to protect ourselves.

Many accidents (and serious injuries) occur at very slow speeds and you have no idea if some moron crossing the same intersection as you decides to run their red light and intrude on your right of way. The one thing you have zero control over is OTHER people. Ask any motorcyclist if they're scared of riding and they'll probably tell you no, that they're more afraid of everyone else.

MIA August!

I've been a little MIA this month. I'm trying to update my reviews page and write another review for my jacket. Having a real job now really puts a damper on my moto life. In the meantime, I wanted to share this cool article from the MSF:

CATHERINE BELL ADDRESSES MOTORCYCLE SAFETY
AT PENTAGON EVENT
https://online.msf-usa.org/perspectives/Article.aspx?aid=YMviZIND%2bDJ6E5dtikUgLw%3d%3d

For those of you who aren't familiar, Catherine Bell is an actress who was on JAG for 10 years and now Army Wives from Lifetime. I like seeing women and motorcycles portrayed in a positive way on tv, and I haven't had a chance to watch this series yet, but I think I'll be tuning in to see her on her SV.

Once I have my updates finished (hopefully this weekend!) I'll post my review of my R'evit Pearl jacket.

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:

www.alternativewireless.com

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.