Oh man, I did that pass on a gold wing late at night and about froze to death! And sleeping on picnic tables at a rest stop is stupid even at 22. Sometimes I am very surprised that I survived to be 25... Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
My Harley has no fairing and unless I am on a trip I leave the windshield off as well. I have done a few 500-600 mile days riding around central Texas. You guys keep mentioning age. I am in my mid 60's.
I did SF Bay Area to Lake Tahoe (200 miles) at night on a Sportster. It was early spring with lots of snow on both sides of the road in the Sierras. I had on blue jeans a wool shirt and a leather jacket.
I rode a rented Ducati Monster 1200 over 25+ passes in the Alps in the summer of 2018. That was harder than the 60,000 miles I have ridden my Yamaha FJR1300 in the US and Canada.
I wear so much stuff now it's ridiculous. Back in the day I thought leathers were only for racing. Now I wear a full face, gloves, armor jacket and pants with good boots. If I'm not wear all the stuff it feels like not putting my seatbelt on.
In this Klim suit I can go swimming and stay dry. Have worn it in monsoons and its great. Has so many vents that can be opened I have worn in in hot weather too. Very well designed. Their wet weather gloves are junk though. Take them off and get your hands wet and you'll never get them back on. Riding partner is retired motorcycle cop. On his department they rode rain or shine and he taught me a trick Wear standard gloves over rubber surgical cloves. Phenomenal. Stay warm in cold and dry in rain. Keep several sets in saddle bags now. I prefer light jacket and blue jeans in good weather. The suit has optional elbow, shoulder, hip, knee pads. I have the elbow pads because those always seem to get a pounding if I fall off. And that is the only Shoei helmet I will ever own. What a POS. Never should have gone away from Arai. Its retired now and back in an Arai. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I think all the gear is very personal and what fits well. I've gone through 3 helmets to end up with a Shoei I really like. Good trick on the gloves.
Well true. Different manufacturers and different models by the same manufacturer have different shell shapes and that often dictates choice. This was an RF1100 which was not a cheap helmet. The noise level with the face shield up was intolerable above 40mph. Lots of wind noise down too. And it never ventilated very well. My gripe with Arai and how I wound up with the Shoei apllies doubly to Simpson. Almost no one stocks their helmets. I try on 50 helmets and go back and forth for fit etc. Buying online like they want us to do just is a non starter.
I've got a 1200, it vents lousy but fits great. 10/10 on the noise for me. I'm not letting go of it until it expires. I couldn't agree more with the hassle of getting the fit right. It doesn't work for me trying to mail order helmets back and forth. Or pants or jackets for that matter. Really hard in a small market like Asheville where the dealers aren't going to stock $600 helmets.