It's riding season again and almost summer - what is missing or busted up in your moto closet? If you are looking to make some replacements this year, keep reading and let us make some suggestions.
In an effort to help new and experienced riders make better informed decisions when buying motorcycle gear, this year we decided to make a few videos which illustrate at a high level the answers to the gear questions that we get most frequently. If none of these vids speak directly to you or your type of riding, bear with us, the rest are coming, across a wide span of sub-genres.
For this first pass we tackled summer weather motorcycle gear that offered Maximum Airflow (Part 1), Upgraded Protection (Part 2) and Leather & Versatility (Part 3). Each one of the following videos homes in on a combination of motorcycle jacket, pants and gloves which will match, fit and protect for a wide range of budgets and styles.
We focused mostly on some of the gear that people see less frequently, REV'IT! and Dainese, but expect to see a few more videos which will cover some other popular brands and applications with our picks for standouts within those areas. There is a lot of textile and mesh in the coming presentations with a little flavor of leather in the last one.
Remember all of these items are currently being showcased within our 2010 Summer Gear Guide Section of Revzilla.com. You can also see the full videos and individual product videos there as well as on RevZillaTV on YouTube.
For a first pass at parts 1 through 3 we covered a good chunk but, as I said said earlier there is much more to come. Also with regard to womens' options, be sure to hit the full 2010 Summer Gear Guide Product Section on RevZilla.com to see the many women specific versions of the products that we just listed.
Stay tuned and ALL feedback is welcome. If you have anything you would like to see in outfit form, be sure to send us a line via RevZilla.com or on Facebook.
We have officially posted our Jobs Section of RevZilla.com. If you love bikes and live in the North East, check out the openings we currently have.
Check out how we view what we do and how you could be part of the team.
"We have an old-school mentality about customer loyalty and a new-school mentality about giving our customers real reasons to be loyal.
We want do'ers. We hire hustle. If genuinely aspiring to kick ass for a solid 40 a week is part of your DNA and motorcycles get you all hot and bothered, maybe you could have a career with us."
As many of you know, we like to geek out on video. We specialize in a lot of technical product and are willing to take the deep dive to detail product features and technologies. In the end we hope it provides some great information in an easily absorbent medium for folks who are doing their homework on buying new gear.
Every month it seems that we have a good chunk of new closeout motorcycle gear items which provide great value at a great price for our customers.
In the spirit of savings, we have recently been embracing our "low budget" roots and doing some Monthly Sales Videos (remember we started RevZilla.com many moons ago out of our apartment).
Take a peek at our "Pilgrims of April Savings" Video and let us know what you think. The sales are good, the video is intentionally bad. lol.
We started about a month ago with our Fresh Suit, Free Ride Program through Team Pro-Motion to help East Coast Customers buying new race suits get to the track on us. It to date has been very well received by our track riding community with the only gripe being that our West Coast Customer Base has felt left out....
As of today all you left coast riders can dry your eyes, we now have a West Coast track day partner in Keigwins at the Track! Keigwins services 6 tracks out West in California, Nevada and Utah.
Keigwins Track Locations: Buttonwillow Raceway – Buttonwillow, CA Infineon Raceway – Sonoma, CA Miller Motorsports Park - Tooele, UT Reno-Fernley Raceway – Fernley, NV Mazda Raceway - Laguna Seca - Moneterey, CA Thunderhill Raceway Park- Willows, CA
So for every qualifying suit over $799 we sell RevZilla will offer a one time $100 Bonus Track Credit for a 2010 Keigwins track Day.
We still have our East Coast Track Day and REV'IT! Glove Race Suit promotions in full swing as well.
You have seen Day 1 and Day 2 at this point which have all led up to the spectacular riding which was day 3.
Day 3 of the ride was by far the best day. I actually started the day mildly hungover (which you will see in the video) due to a great little cigar bar called Lincoln Street a block from our hotel.
Kickstands up at 9am from The Inn at Baron's Creek and we headed out to true Texas Hill Country by way of Vanderpool, Leakey, Medina and the list goes on.
It was some of the most scenic and fun riding I have ever done with beautiful landscapes and passes as well as livestock which seemed to continually get way too close to the road.
The weather was about 50 in the morning and probably topped out close to 80 in the afternoon.
I swapped out my FirstGear Kenya for the River Road Vise Leather Jacket. I was really glad that I did, it ended up being my favorite jacket that I wore on the trip. Really nice weight and fit to it and I particularly liked the rolled collar. The Vise also had a zip out thermal liner which did not make it past lunch. Just a well designed jacket overall.
Earlier in the day, actually before lunch we hit the Lone Star Vintage Motorcycle Museum in Vanderpool TX. That was a great bike rally in the middle of nowhere. Really neat relics inside and really beautiful rides in the parking lot. The Ducati Club of Houston was there as well in full force.
This is me with Al, Steve, Ken, Dave and Kyle on the Museum Floor. After that we cruised to Leakey for Lunch.
Also knowing that we were going to hit more solidly warm weather I actually took out the thermal lining of my River Road Taos Pants and swapped the liner with a pair of Kevlar Jeans as an under layer. At a point in the afternoon I dropped the Taos Pants and went with the Kevlar Jeans. I am very much a proponent of ATGATT and felt a bit naked, but in the Texas mid-afternoon sun it was a much warranted approach.
Day three was pretty wild for our group as well. We rode up upon 2 unfortunate HD's which had been run into the guard rail through no fault of their own which really stunk. It actually turned into a 2 mile + long back up which you can see on the video and the pic below.
Also poor Butch from ITP Wheels lent his Ultra Glide to Al from Mustang Seats and Al managed to pick up a nail... on Butch's Bike! We all felt for Butch as he scrambled across West Texas to the nearest HD dealer who would have a replacement tire.... by truck. (frown face)
I took the most pictures of any day on day three. As previously stated day three's 240 miles were 100% the best riding miles of the trip. You can see the pictures on our Day 3 Flickr Gallery located here.
We eventually looped back to Fredricksberg to the Inn at Baron's Creek to rest up for our 4th and final day if riding.
Don't miss the pics or the video. Also there is a good breakdown of the gears performance in the video for this go around.
Day 4 is hightailing 300 miles back to Dallas and then the trip home... more to come.
Day two began as kickstands went up at 9am. We departed Decatur and headed SW 300 miles to Fredricksberg. We hit a small amount of slab on the trip but for the most part is was windy roads off the beaten path as we traversed the countryside.... pinned in 6th gear... at 95 mph. Hilarious.
It was cold Friday and I was counting my blessings that I had a thermal liner in both my Firstgear Kenya Jacket as well as my River Road Taos Pants. The day started at 40 degrees and probably inched its way just North of 65 in the mid afternoon. I dropped my liners after lunch and it was just right. I rode day 2 in the same gear as day one.
The title of the video for day 2 is "Where are we again?" because we just kept hitting little towns and intersections that seemed to just pop up. I mostly was along for the ride, blindly following the leader closer to the depths of Texas motorcycle oblivion.... ok I admit it... I'm embellishing...
We also kept running into this one mixed bag of trikes which I could only call the "Wild Boys" due to the ridiculous nature of their rides.
God bless Texas. They do what they want. And they do it bigger than we do at home.
The other funny part of day 2 was at the Wagon Wheel Restaurant in Goldthwaite. Aside from being charged an extra .75 cents per Sausage from the buffet and a waitstaff that watched us like hawks - the best was when I was in the buffet line and this exchange took place:
Buffet Server Lady - "Do you want gravy your chicken fried steak?"
Me - "What kind of gravy do you have?"
Buffet Server Lady - "White."
Me - "Oh, what flavor is that?"
Buffet Server Lady - "White."
(pause)
Buffet Server Lady - "You're not from Texas, are you?"
Me - "What gave it away?"
I posted a gallery of pics from day one and two combined in my last post. You can find the Day 1 Ride post and video here and a link to the Flickr Gallery Here.
I rated and broke down my thoughts and impressions of the gear each day at the end of the videos. If you are interested in any of the gear I rode be sure to check the video out. It was a solid 390 miles in the gear after day 2 concluded.
Day three was Hill Country for about 230 miles around Fredrickberg and I rocked some new gear. Stay tuned.
Last Thursday I flew from Philly to Dallas and picked up a Harley Street Glide from Eagle Rider. I went to Texas to spend some time with some industry friends, road test some gear and actually try to relax. When I am in Philly, the relaxing part just doesn't happen. Ask my wife or Matt and Nick.
I am titling the trip "None of my ex's live in Texas" for no other reason than I think it's amusing.
So I went to Texas to be productive and to unplug for a few days. I also had the priveledge of being blown away by what Texas Hill Country had to offer. It was also pretty novel to do the entire ~900 miles on a Harley Davidson Street Glide with Reinhart pipes and a stereo in the front fairing. Rocking that 800lb "sled" on the twisties ourside of Fredricksberg was quite a departure from the Ducti S2R that I am used to riding in Philly. It was nice actually and quite comfortable. I also learned that when you add a Merle Haggard soundtrack to any motorcycle riding with cattle as part of the scenery, the ride becomes that much more majestic overall.
I will admit though, we beat those bikes hard. There was a good chunk of the total trip miles ridden pinned in 6th gear for extended periods of time. My bike topped out at 115mph. :-)
Whenever I get to fly out for "meetings by bike", it is always a great excuse to road test gear that I have not ridden for extended periods of time yet.
I have the first days pictures up right now ans will be posting the rest within the week. There are some great shots of what the countryside looks like out there. Check the Ride Gallery Here.
Motorcycle Gear- Here is a list of the gear I chose for the trip, which I will be reviewing via the videos we will release over the next couple of days.
Motorcycle Helmet - Shark Evoline Modular Helmet - Matte Black - Harley or no Harley, I ride with full face protection. I like the style and the functionality of the Evoline and although its heavier than a typical full-face being a modular helmet, I wanted to to this trip with the ability to ride open-faced if I choose.
Firstgear Kenya Jacket - I wanted to go with three options for this trip, a mix of leather and textile. On the textile side for day 1 and 2, I went with a black FirstGear Kenya Jacket which is waist length has a waterproof outer, removable thermal liner and venting. Textile always means versatility in my book. Black was a compromise on thie Texas trip. I may be a little warm, but I am on a Custom HD.
River Road Vise Leather Jacket- Staying with the HD style for day 3, this trip would be a great opportunity to test out one of the flagship jackets from River Road. Full leather matte black exterior with a full removable thermal liner. I saw the nicest weather in this coat with temps ranging from 50-80.t
Speed and Strength Under the Radar Jacket - Basic black textile, S&S styled with armor, vents and a removable vest liner. I wore this jacket on day 4 in cooler temperatures.
Motorcycle Pants - River Road Taos Textile Pants - For Texas and distance I am thinking textile for a comfort and breathability perspective - but I am not willing to sacrifice on protection. I went with the River Road Taos Pants because they had some removable liner options as well as built in hard armor and venting. They are also black and I liked the style. I do have a pair of Kevlar Jeans that I may ride for a day just to contrast, but 500 miles with no knee armor makes me nervous.
Motorcycle Gloves - River Road Firestone Gloves for cooler temps and the River Road Mojave 2.0 Gloves Perforated for Warmer Temps. Basic sub-50 dollar options that are touted as comfortable, protective and a good value. Time to put them to the test.
Motorcycle Boots - River Road Highway Boot - High top lace up black work boot style. Basic with a zipper entry on each boot. Padding around the high ankle for comfort and support. I wore these guys over all 4 days.
Overall I was pretty happy with the gear I chose and I was very much surprised with the range of temperatures that I saw. In all I did about 871 miles over the 3.5 day span. I took a lot of video and will be breaking each day down with highlights as well as reviews for the gear after each day.
Be sure to catch the videos for the "score card" for each piece of gear. Stay tunes for more.....
