Showing posts with label Schuberth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Schuberth. Show all posts

Tuesday 23 June 2015

Open Face Lid Dreams

My most comfortable helmet is the cheapest one I've bought.  That Hawk open faced helmet from Leatherup.ca is a simple device with barely any padding in it, yet I can wear it for hours without any pressure points.  It's a flip down, open faced lid with a built in sun visor, but it solidified for me my preferred helmet type - the open faced, modern helmet.  You can get out of the wind with the full face visor, or just use the sun visor and enjoy an unencumbered view of the road.

With the open faced thing in mind, here are my latest helmet dreams, but they ain't cheap (or easy to find in some cases):


ROOF HELMETS: Desmo

I've still got a huge crush on these French helmets that you can't get here.  I'm going to have to take a trip to the south of France just to pick one up.  The orange Desmo on the left has an A7 Corsair vibe to it that I dig.  It still looks like the perfect helmet: an open faced helmet that can transform into a fully safetied full face helmet when needed without having to carry around bits and pieces with you.

Price?  No idea, you can't buy them in North America and the former distributor hasn't been forthcoming with where to get the last ones in-country.  These guys have it for €469 ($649CA), but then there will be shipping and customs fees.  I'd be the only one I see on the road though.


SCHUBERTH:  M1

Schuberth just came out with a new version of their open faced helmet.  Once again, these aren't everywhere, but they are a heck of a lot easier to find than the Roof.

Compared to the French jeux de vivre in the Roof, you get some pretty German meh when it comes to style, though I bet its engineered to within an inch of its life. 

Price?  $680 from a trusted source, canadasmotorcycle.ca



NEXX HELMETS: X40 Vultron (!)

Wired did an article on these many moons ago.  Also a modular helmet, but rather than the Roof's elegant hinge, you end up with a handful of bits when you want to go open face.

It still has a neo-tech look to it that I like, though their webpage is a bit of a pig (my laptop is in overdrive trying to make sense of it).

Price?  Good question, NEXX Canada doesn't appear to offer the X40 for sale.  You can find them for sale in the UK for £249.99 ($484CA), but you also facing those shipping and customs costs.



SHARK: Soyouz

An open faced helmet that comes with all the bits and pieces to make a closed lid if you so wish. It also lets you live your Clint Eastwood Firefox dream.

The Soyouz is also made by a much better known and distributed manufacturer than some of the dodgier off-shore helmets I seem drawn to.

Price?  $299 in Canadian dollars with free shipping and no customs surprises from motorcyclesuperstore, a trusted source who go over the top to make sure you're happy with your order.  If they go on sale, I might not be able to help myself.

Thursday 21 August 2014

Track Day Dreams Part 2

For a first trackday using an intermediary like Pro 6 Cycle gives you the support you'd need to ensure your bike is prepped well (they have tires, mechanics and other bits and pieces on hand).  Pro 6 runs track days at Calabogie Motorsports Park in Eastern Ontario.  It happens to be on the other side of some of the best riding roads in Ontario, and on the way to my buddy's house in Osgoode.
A couple of hours at speed on the highway and I'm up past
Gravenhurst and turning toward the Haliburton Highlands!
For me the trip is a Southern Ontario grind out and up the 400 before turning east to face some of the nicest roads in Ontario.  Giving three hours for the highway part, I'd aim to meet up with Jason somewhere in the highlands and then we could ride the twisties to Calabogie.

Day one would get me into the Highlands.  Day two would be riding twisties.  Day three would be the track day at Calabogie and Day four would be the return ride home.

To prep for the track day I'd swap out coolant for distilled water at home before the trip and practice stripping the bike down (covering and disconnecting lights, removing mirrors).  I'd also strip the bike back as light as possible, removing the passenger pegs for single pegs, the toolkit, any extra attachments at all.

I'd get a big duffle to carry my gear for the track day (I'd carry rain gear and clothes in a separate, smaller bag).  The track duffle would have to be big enough to carry track leathers, tools, a bike stand and the parts needed to prep the bike.  The idea would be to get to the track and be able to open up the bag and prep the bike quickly and efficiently.

The trackday bag would open up trackdays around Ontario, and once I'd experienced how the pros at Pro 6 Cycle do it, I'd be able to prep better for future days.

I'm a ways away from this at the moment.  Here's a wish list of needed bits and pieces:



A Vicious Cycle
Firstgear-Torrent waterproof duffel = 40l... should carry everything needed for a trackday...

$84






motorcyclesuperstore.ca
Alpinestars S-MX-5 Boots




$264




motorcyclesuperstore.ca
Alpinestars GP PRO one piece leather suit
Size 50 - this one's a bit tricky.  I'm everything from a 2-4x (tall, long in the body, shorter in the leg and triangle shaped)
$857 (on sale!)

A full body suit is going to be a tricky proposition off the rack.  There are some custom options out there, but you're buying from the other side of the world and I imagine returning a poorly done suit would be next to impossible.  That TopGearLeather site offers custom race suits for less than the off the rack retail suits (~$600), but caveat emptor (they may be awesome, I don't know).




motorcyclesuperstore.ca
Alpinestars GP PLUS gloves


$190








motorcyclesuperstore.ca
Schuberth SR1 Stealth Helmet



$950






motorcyclesuperstore.ca
Vortex V3 rear bike stand


$90 (+$70 wheel kit)






So I'm looking at about $2600 worth of riding kit before I even start considering the bike, and I'd want to consider the bike.  I'd start with the current Ninja 650r and build up experience and certifications, but I'd eventually like to get into The Vintage Road Racing Association.  The dream would be race prepping a 1980s Honda Interceptor (strip lights and extras, whittle it down the bare minimum, race prep the engine), and race it!



Racing ain't cheap.  I'd be dangerous if I had a lot of money and free time on my hands.  Since the summer's almost over and I'm back to the classroom, I'm hoping to put together (Kijiji, ebay, whatever cheap alternative I can find) the bits I need to get myself on a track next year.

If I can't arrange the equipment, I might (make a big) ask for the Racer5 3-stage introduction program.  It's one hell of a birthday present, but if supported track days cost you about $250 a pop anyway, paying an extra hundred to rent someone else's bike and get close instruction seems like one hell of a deal.

LINKS
FOLLOWUP

I tried on the Joe Rocket race suit at Royal Distributing the other day.  It was a 46.  It fit at the shoulders and waist/legs, but it was too short in the body.  If I were proportioned properly I'd be about 5'11", but with this long body I'm 6'3", my inseam is only 32".  I'm hoping a 48 is a bit longer in the body, and would be a loose fit everywhere else.  I wish there were more local places I could go try race suits on.  If RD gets a 48 in, that might end my quest for a suit for now.