Support Your Local Wrenches

A friend of mine recently moved back to our hometown after living elsewhere for the past decade. He was working as a motorcycle technician during this time and enjoyed his career, but ultimately wanted to move back home. He is slowly testing the waters to see how plausible his own small motorcycle repair shop will be. He is getting his name out in the motorcycle community as a guy that can help you out if you need it.

Recently a guy showed up with a squealing sound coming from his bike. My friend quickly diagnosed the issue, sprayed the drive belt, and the noise went away. He told this gentleman that there was really nothing wrong with the belt and the noise should be gone for quite a while. This service was done free of charge.

My point in telling this story is that we all should support our small bike shops because this is the type of stuff that you will almost always see. If you are courteous and polite, chances are you'll be getting one hell of a deal on your service and a good relationship with your mechanic. It would be damn near impossible to find a large dealership that would do any service free of charge.

 

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Review of Viking Cycle Overlord Textile Jacket

 

My fear with any armored textile jacket is always the same, it can make you look like a storm trooper in Star Wars! Honestly, with the outer shoulder armor on this jacket, it does kind of have that look, but it pulls it off! I can say I'm pretty happy with the overall look and let's be honest, that's what's really most important to almost anyone. We just expect riding jackets to protect us if we wipe out and hope we never have to find out.

As far as material and stitch quality goes, I have owned a few other textile jackets and this one matches all of them for less than half the price. It has the same amount of armor and it fits just as well. I followed the online measurements and the jacket fits just as it's noted.

My favorite features of the jacket are the adjustable waist and the pocket space. It has a big interior pocket that is supposed to be used for a tablet, but it also works great for a baseball cap. As a guy who wears a cap pretty often, it's always a struggle to find a good place for it while I'm riding.

My complaint about the jacket is the collar. I wish it fastened with a button instead of Velcro. I have a pretty big neck, so the collar doesn't close all the way, leaving a portion of the Velcro tag to scratch against my neck. I probably should've ordered a size larger, knowing that I have a bigger neck. My advice to those of you who have a large neck is to order a size bigger.

As far as what temperature this jacket works well in, I'd say it's comfortable anywhere from 65 to 85 degrees. Any cooler and I'd recommend at least a sweatshirt underneath. It's a great summer/early fall jacket.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this jacket, especially for the price. You won't find very many (if any) motorcycle jackets this inexpensive anywhere else.

Please also see the video review of this jacket. Ride safe!

See the Jacket here
https://www.motorcyclehouse.com/vikingcycle-over-lord-textile-motorcycle-jacket-for-men
More from motorcyclehouse.com
https://www.motorcyclehouse.com/motorcycle-jackets.htm
https://www.motorcyclehouse.com/motorcycle-jackets-for-men.htm

Close Call

Last week I had a very close call on my way to work. It was a bit of a relaxed work week because of the July 4th holiday, so I was about fifteen minutes later than usual leaving my house. I found out that there is a whole lot more traffic at this time. Before I pulled out of my yard, a group of three cars drove past. These cars were not going very fast, so I caught up very quickly.

We were on a long straight stretch of road and I could see no oncoming traffic, so I decided to pass all three cars at once. Just as I got into the blind spot of the center car, it pulled out to pass the lead one. Shit!!!! I swerved away from this car to the only place I could, the left shoulder of the road. This is a country road, so the shoulders are gravel and I was probably going over 70 miles per hour at the time, so I was trying my hardest to keep the bike from washing out. Just when I thought I had it steady, I looked up ahead and a mailbox was right in front of me. Double shit!!! I just tried to make myself as skinny as possible, so I could squeeze in between the passing car and mailbox (this all happened in a matter of seconds). Somehow I managed to clear all of this and let the car get ahead of me, so I could get back in the left lane. I passed both the lead car and the car that had driven me off the road.

The driver was a younger woman smoking a cigarette. I don't think she ever realized what had happened. In my younger, more aggressive days, I may have tried to kick her door or at least give her the middle finger, but calmer heads prevailed this time...I was just happy to be ok.

I've had quite a few close calls while riding and even one crash, but I can't remember a time I was more shaken up. So many things could've gone wrong, that I'm really lucky that it worked out. So, I'm sorry to say that I'm hanging it up. I'm going to sell my bike and give up motorcycling.

Nah!!! Just kidding! I would never do that. But I’d like to use this as a reminder to all you riders to be safe!

"Try not to die." - Betty White

A Riding Inspiration

 

 

The past weekend was probably the greatest weather for riding we've had so far this year (where I live anyway). I must've encountered hundreds of bikes of all makes and models...it was awesome! Was I out riding? Nope. I was doing the only thing that I enjoy more, spending quality time with my family. When my kids are older I hope that quality family time and motorcycling won't have to be exclusive, but with them only being 3 and 1, that’s how it is. I did get to sit in my yard with my son on Saturday staring at all the bikes go by my house and that was pretty awesome.

 

One of the bikes I ran across this weekend was the one pictured in this meme. I don't know about you, but I think it's pretty inspiring seeing this gentleman riding in spite of missing an arm. I guess I'd like to think that I'd have that same determination to ride if I was in a similar situation.

 

It is stuff like this that gets me motivated to get out and ride whenever I can, even if it's just to work and back. I've mentioned in a previous post (here) that we have to work at doing what we enjoy. This man is definitely living that statement. Is it weird that I’m saying this right after making an excuse for not riding? Shit! I’m contradicting myself again! Oh well, like I said, I was doing the only thing that I enjoy more than motorcycling.

 

“Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” - Francis of Assisi



The Wave

 

Do you wave when you see other bikes on the road? Everyone who's ever ridden a motorcycle knows that it's proper etiquette to wave to other motorcyclists. There're times that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to do so, such as a bike rally. If you waved to every biker at a rally, you'd never be able to put your left hand down. Also, when you have multiple lanes separating you, it's not in your best interest to focus on anything that's not right in front or on either side of you.

 

Back in my younger days (old man talk) I would only wave to someone if they waved to me first. I would always return a wave, but I'd never initiate one. Then, when the other rider wouldn't wave I'd think he/she was an asshole. If I was on my Ducati, I’d instantly think that the people on Harleys who didn’t wave were biased dickheads and when I rode my Harley, I’d think the same about foreign bike riders who didn’t wave. It didn't register to me that the other person could be waiting for me to wave and I could be the asshole.

 

Now I wave to every bike I meet. If they don't wave back, it's their loss. My advice to all bikers is to wave to any rider, no matter what motorcycle they’re on. Hell, even wave to scooters. We're all out in the open on two wheels, so we should acknowledge each other and quit being assholes, like I used to be.

 

"Whil Wheaton says - Don't be a dick." - Whil Wheaton