Review of the Viking Dirtman Enduro Saddlebag from Viking Bags

I don't have a dirt bike, so why would I want enduro bags? The first reason is that they are durable. Bags that are designed to hold up to trees and branches scraping against them should easily be able to withstand the elements experienced in street riding. The other reason is that they are compact. Let's face it, looks are important and as bags go, smaller usually looks better.

Since I mounted these bags to a street bike and they're meant for a dirt bike, I had to get a little creative instead of using the included instructions (if you also have a Ducati Monster 821 and want to know how I did it, please comment and I'll let you know). With this being said, I was able to secure them very well and they haven't moved at all in the weeks I've used them.

As I said previously, the bags look really good in my opinion. They do not take away from the overall look of my bike. This is important, because chances are that you're not going to keep bags on your motorcycle if they are ugly!

 

Two important things I always carry with me are a heated vest and rain suit (jacket, pants, and boot covers). The great thing is that these easily fit inside one bag, which is surprising since these bags appear to be too small for that. I use the other bag to carry my lunch to work, tools, hardware, etc.

Speaking of hardware, I'm currently building a deck on my house. Last weekend I discovered that I forgot carriage bolts, nuts, and washers. I figured that this would be a great test for the bags, so I rode my motorcycle to the hardware store. I'm not sure how much this hardware weighed, but it was definitely heavy! I loaded it all in one saddle bag and it held up perfectly.

The only critique I have to say about these bags is that the mounting straps go over the seat, which could be uncomfortable for a passenger. However, they are meant for dirt bikes, which rarely carry passengers, so this is understandable. I'd definitely recommend these for anyone!

 

The Passenger

 



For Father's Day, one of my gifts was a few hours to go for a motorcycle ride with my wife (as a passenger). As much as I enjoy riding with other bikes, there is something great about the rides my wife and I take alone. She is, by far the most skilled passenger I have ever ridden with. Yes, I said skill because becoming a good motorcycle passenger comes from learning through experience. I'd like to give some tips on this for all of those people who would like to ride on the back of a motorcycle.

First, you MUST trust the person you are riding with and his or her skills. Your life is essentially in the rider's hands l, so choose accordingly. If the rider has your trust, you will be more relaxed which will make a more enjoyable ride for the both of you.

Next, hold on to the rider firmly, but don't squeeze. Let them know your there and hold on tight enough that you feel safe. If you squeeze too tight, it'll make for a less comfortable ride for the both of you.

Last, move with the rider. If the rider leans left, lean with him or her. Don't fight to stay upright as this will not allow the rider to properly control the bike in corners, which is downright dangerous! This goes hand and hand with the point of trusting the rider.

If you get good enough at being a passenger, the rider should barely notice you are there (another reason to hold on firmly, just to remind the rider you ARE there). My wife is so good at it that I usually forget that she is on the back and ride as aggressive as I would alone. This was the case this weekend, but she likes to go as fast as I do, so there were no complaints.

I am a passenger
And I ride and I ride
I ride through the city's backside
I see the stars come out of the sky
Yeah, they're bright in a hollow sky
You know it looks so good tonight

 

From 'The Passenger' by Iggy Pop

Electric Noise

A while ago, I wrote this post that explained a possible link between the sound of a high performance car engine and testosterone level spikes in men. I provided my own anecdotal evidence of my similar (motorcycle engine instead of car engine sound) theory with my observation of a bunch of men and my one year old son gathered around my old Harley Davidson when I started it. Lately I've been thinking that these visceral experiences may go away in the next decade or two with the advancement of electric powered vehicles.

In the past, I was very against anything but a gasoline powered motorcycle. I was a proud advocate of "Loud pipes save lives" and "If it's too loud, you're too old." Now, I think that anything that keeps me riding on two wheels will make me happy. I was concerned about motorcycles losing performance with the change to electric motors, but I've read quite a few articles detailing the power some electric bikes have (see this Victory motorcycle with 170hp and 177 ft-lbs of torque!!!!).

With all this being said, I am still a sucker for the sound of a Harley, liter bike, two stroke dirt bike, etc. I feel I will never get over my love of the noise a motorcycle with a gasoline engine makes. However, I did read that electric car companies actually create sound that correlates with the vehicle's speed (kind of a whine), which is actually meant for pedestrian safety (no one wants a silent one-ton vehicle moving 70 mph across their path). Who knows, maybe our kids will marvel at the simulated noise that their brand new electric Harley Davidson makes in 30 years.

"I think there is something strangely musical about noise." - Trent Reznor

Motorcycle Buying & Selling Tips

 

When I began riding, I think I bought three or four bikes in my first couple of years. I bought used and kept on trading in. I never really understood my skill level and started with a 250cc bike that was way under my even novice class. It had no power, and I got very little enjoyment out of it. I went up to a used 500cc Triumph with a kick start. It was ok, loved the kick start, but still not where I wanted to go. I traded that in and moved to a used Harley Sportster. I found my sweet spot. To this very day, I only ride 1200cc Sportsters.

Although I never lost money on the trades and had the money to upgrade, I could have saved myself aggravation by researching and knowing where I wanted to go from the start. My early bikes were purchased pre-internet, so I had to rely on magazines and friends knowledge to figure out exactly what I wanted.
 

Today, with literally thousands of places to find motorcycle information, you should be able to avoid the hopscotch game playing I did early on.

Let’s look at some techniques for both buying and selling motorcycles.
 

BUYING

Stay within your budget, owning a motorcycle should be a joy. If you dread looking in the mailbox once a month for a payment statement that is much higher than you wanted, you are defeating the whole reason you wanted to become a biker.

Make sure the financing terms meet your expectation. A base payment of $99 per month sounds great but are there any hidden charges on top of that?

As I mentioned, finding the right bike to buy is your choice whether it is new or used. Just make sure you try to make the right decision from the start and not go through a few bikes before you feel comfortable.

I started with a 250cc. I would recommend starting with 500cc. They are not much harder to handle than a 250, but the power increase is substantial. However, if you feel safer in a 250 due to your skills, there’s no shame in that. It is likely, that you’ll want to upgrade as soon as you feel more comfortable on your bike though.

 

For a standard riding position, which is the most comfortable, a cruiser is a good choice. For a more aggressive riding position and harder lean angles, a sport bike would be your choice.

 

 

Don’t get stuck to a sport bike, if the lean over seating position and the zippy handling are not comfortable for you. One the other hand, if you are an adrenaline junkie, stay away from a cruiser. They are, as the name states, for enjoyable “cruising.”

 

 

If you go to a dealership, trust the knowledge of the sales force. Pound for pound, they have a much greater knowledge of their products then a car salesperson does.

 

While you can trust a dealer’s knowledge, their sole purpose in being at work is to sell bikes to make a living. They will naturally try to “upsell” you to a more costly bike. Watch out for the temptation if the up sale is a bike you can’t afford or too difficult to handle.

 

Bring your helmet along and take a test drive. This is an option that many potential buyers ignore or not aware they can do. Riding believes! What if you don’t like the way it rides? What if you can’t fully touch the ground at a light? You won’t know these things unless you test ride the bike before you buy it. 

SELLING

Whether you sell your bike through a private sale or trade it in at a dealer, there are some pretty simple rules of thumb.

Make sure from the first day you owned your bike that you keep all the paperwork in a safe place. This includes the title, maintenance service reports, receipts for aftermarket customization and the original sales receipt.

Clean and polish your bike to give it the best possible sales appeal. You should do this on a regular basis anyway, but especially when you’re trying to sell your bike.

 

 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If your bike is heavily customized, it may not appeal to everyone else’s taste. You may want to remove some accessories and resell those separately on Ebay, Amazon, or a motorcycle parts exchange site. A lot of bikers are looking for “stock” bikes because they want to be able to customize it to their own liking and removing everything you’ve customized will get you closer to stock.

 

 

Make sure your bike is mechanically sound with fresh oil, filters and a fully charged battery. You’d be surprised how many times I went to check out a bike I was interested in buying but it wouldn’t start because the battery was dead, I left and never went back. You don’t want that to happen to anyone who’s interested in buying your bike.

 

Look online at valuation sites to see what your bike is worth. Don’t fool yourself! If you bike is not mint and in just good condition, so be it. Well-informed buyers also look for condition and value before they make a purchase and they already have that in mind before meeting you. Dealers give less than private sales, but there’s a lot fewer hassles involved if you are selling yourself, like having strangers come to your house, and waiting forever until a final check is produced.

 

So what are your thoughts? Any tips you have for those buying or selling their bikes? I learned some of these things the hard way, what have you learned?

Moto Diversity

Did everyone get out and ride this Memorial Day weekend? I had a very enjoyable ride with a diverse bunch of motorcycles and it instantly made me think of a point I always make; ride with anyone, no matter what kind of bike they have.

There were 2 Ducati Monsters, a Harley Davidson FXR, and a Kawasaki KLR. You can't get much different than that! We rode on some pretty twisty roads and everyone went at their own pace, not feeling pressured by the other riders. It was about as perfect a ride as you could hope for.

A thing that really impressed me was the riding ability of the guy on the KLR. You wouldn't expect a guy on an adventure tourer with knobby tires to keep up with any kind of street bike in the corners, but I looked in my rear view mirror and there he was. He stayed right on my tail. This guy spent the majority of last year touring Canada and Mexico on this bike, so he definitely has some riding experience and it showed. 

I sound like a broken record, but it is always great to ride with people who enjoy a different style of riding than you. In the end it can only make you a better rider.

"Different roads sometimes lead to the same castle." - George R.R. Martin