Helmets

I must freely admit that I'm something of a tightwad as a necessity. As much as I like shopping for motorcycle gear, the ridiculous cost of daycare for my little ones means I don't have much disposable income for indulging in it.

This means that when I buy a helmet that doesn't work out, it's a major problem. I usually wear an HJC Symax helmet, but that's not what I'm kvetching about today. No, I'm complaining about how fracking loud my KBC VR-1 helmet is when I compare it "back to back" with even my flip-up HJC Symax, a class of helmet that are notorious for wind noise.

To wit, I have a nice little MP3 player from Sandisk that I play with a decent set of JVC semi-dampening earplugs.

I usually wear the HJC Symax unless the weather is truly rotten. When it's raining even lightly, the HJC leaks down the inside of the visor. When I have the Sandisk player and JVCs turned up to 65-80%, I can clearly hear the audio at freeway speeds over the wind noise. Voices can be clearly picked out and tonal quality is reasonably clear for FM radio.

When I have the KBC VR-1 on, the difference is amazing. Even with the plugs screwed into my ears as far as I can get them, I can barely hear the audio over the wind, even when the volume is cranked up. I can hear the radio at those volume, but the wind noise is no deafening that I can't understand voices and the music is patchy. There's no tonal quality to speak of, and is remarkably like listening to a radio at the edge of the reception range, but with the volume on maximum. Very unpleasant to say the least.

Stupid Ricer Drivers

This one is quite nearly a carbon copy of what happened to me in 2002. Courtesy of the News-Review.

Motorcyclist suffers injuries in crash

October 25, 2007

A motorcyclist in downtown Salem suffered injuries Wednesday after being clipped by a car and thrown off his bike, police said.

The incident was reported just after 5 p.m. at Court and Commercial streets NE, said Salem Police Officer Jay Pinkerton.

The motorcycle, which was headed south on Commercial Street NE, was in the right lane when a 1987 blue Honda Civic backed out of a parking space and crossed four lanes of traffic without signaling, Pinkerton said.

The Civic clipped the side of the motorcycle, and the rider was thrown to the pavement, Pinkerton said.

The motorcyclist, a 31-year-old Keizer man, was taken to Salem Hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. He was wearing a helmet and protective gear, Pinkerton said.

The Civic's driver, Melinda Perez, 20, was cited for an unlawful lane change. In Oregon, drivers must signal for at least 100 feet before making a turn or lane change.

You get that? Backed out of a parking spot and quadruple lane-changed! Why the hell is this young woman not cited for reckless-driving? She sure as hell ought to have enough of a clue not to be pull a quad lane change without doing a very careful shoulder check.

And much like this motorcyclist, my accident ended up the same way. The gear (mostly) did its job and I was taken up to V-Mason to ensure the numbness in my leg was temporary impact nerve-damage and not something more serious.

A very interesting item is raised in the comments section of this article, and I recommend reading them. Apparently Oregon has an AMA-style "Justice for All" law going into effect on January 15! Hooray!

Courtesy & Following Distance

I've been in this particular situation a few times myself.

From the October 29th Columbian.com

Man remains in hospital after motorcycle collision

A Vancouver man was listed in satisfactory condition Sunday night at Southwest Washington Medical Center after his motorcycle collided with a car.

Bradley S. Thomas, 45, sustained broken ribs and ruptured his spleen after he was ejected from his 2007 Harley-Davidson while riding south on Interstate 5 just south of Ridgefield.

According to a Washington State Patrol memo, Thomas was cut off by a car in an adjacent lane and lost control of his motorcycle shortly before 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Not surprising at all really. Especially on high-speed freeways in Western and Central Washington. Most drivers simply do not understand how dangerous their multi-ton cars are. Indeed, from my own observations (and probably yours as well), most drivers do not seem to either 1) care about what happens behind their eyeballs when they're driving, or 2) understand they their vehicle actually has a back end.

I see it all the time on the way in to work each morning. Drivers cutting into the HOV lane 30-40 feet in front of oncoming traffic, but not taking the oncoming traffic's likely braking distance into account or at least not feeling the need to accelerate to flow speeds.

New Gear Time

My wife has decided she's tired of looking at my grungy leaky old Aerostich jacket. It's getting more than a little tired now and at nearly 5 years and 50,000 miles, well, it's had a good life. I've commuted more days wearing that jacket that I care to count, and much of it was well before I started the long-distance commuting too.

While my wife wasn't prepared for the sticker shock inherent in a new Aerostich, but she's a little more amenable to the Firstgear Denali. While I've owned a Hi-Viz Yellow Roadcrafter for 4 years, I think I'm going to go a little more low profile this time around. And with the much lower price of the Denali (since it's imported and not US-made), it's fairly likely that I'll be able to get a pair of riding pants to go with the jacket.

Firstgear Denali, at NewEnough.com:


Speaking of riding pants, my Joe Rocket Blaster pants are getting long in the tooth too. I've had them for 6 months longer but probably 10,000 less miles than the Aerostich. They've held up well structurally but the polyester pocket linings are gone and the plastic fly zipper is about ready to pack it in too.

The Firstgear HT II pants look like they'll fit in the bill, and for the first time since 2002 I'll own pants that are wind- and water-resistant. My JR Blaster pants have been very good at what they are, and that's well-ventilated leathers with lycra stretch panels. But Water-resistant and wind-proof are definitely not adjective you could use to describe them.

Here's a photo of the HT II pants:


The other nice feature is that for the first time in years I will have full-length zippers of my leg protection. My blaster plants only went up to the upper part of my calf.

Mountain Loop Highway to Reopen!

Hooray!!! Mountain Loop Highway will finally reopen tomorrow after being closed for 4 years due to flood damage in the autumn of 2003.

This is another one of those roads that I've desperately wanted to go ride for years but I haven't been able to accomplish due to the closure of the road north of Barlow Pass.

Courtesy of the Seattle PI

Drivers will again be able to circle the scenic western extension of the Cascade Range between Granite Falls and Darrington beginning Friday with the reopening of the Mountain Loop Scenic Highway.

I'm really excited about this reopening. Since I have some use-it-or-lose-it vacation time coming up in a week-plus, I might try to squeeze this road in before the snow sets in up in the Cascade foothills.

Driving Foul

The weather's closing in again, and winter's begun. There's many signs of the changing season of which the most obvious is the rain and more subtle ones such as the State Patrol's motor officers starting to wave back to other motorcyclists again.

One thing (other than the rain) that is not at all welcome is the winter season driving skills, or lack thereof.

Drivers in the Seattle area (and perhaps elsewhere) have a maddening habit of ignoring traffic conditions in their own lane and matching the speed of traffic in neighboring lanes. Most especially, this occurs with drivers in the commuter lanes which are frequently able to travel at a higher velocity due to lower vehicle counts. These drivers allow traffic to pull away while they fail to adapt to the changing environment and effectively serve as a 1-vehicle rolling roadblock to traffic behind them.

As they're usually only 8'-12' (2m-3m) behind and one lane to the side of the traffic that they're "following", there's no opportunity to pass these unobservant and frequently overwhelmed drivers. Of course.

Personally, I'm think it's time to once again push for some lane-splitting legislation.

Bannock County Hit & Run Followup

It appears that we stand a good chance of justice being done in the Bannock County felony hit & run case that killed a Los Angeles county deputy who was on vacation in the Idaho area.

Courtesy of ABC's Pocatello/Idaho Falls affiliate KIFI Channel 8:

The 22-year-old Pocatello man who allegedly hit and killed a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy and his wife last month waived his preliminary hearing Wednesday morning in court.

Jason R. Meyer appeared in front of Judge David Evans in Bannock County court Wednesday with his attorney Aaron Thompson and waived his preliminary hearing. Meyer is facing two counts of vehicular manslaughter and one count of leaving the scene of an accident after allegedly hitting the couple on their motorcycle on Pocatello Creek Road September 15th. Meyer's attorney did have Judge Evans grant a stipulation to have Meyer receive counseling while he's in jail. Meyer will now appear in district court next Monday. He remains in the Bannock County Jail on a $300,000 bond.

This is pleasing to see.

I've seen far too many of these cases simply disappear into the Washington court system with its liberal judges who'd rather that we as motorcyclists would simply go away. The journalists in Washington are even worse in that while assumption of guilt is never something the newsies should push, it's usually pushed in the direction of the victim in order to paint motorcyclists as being scofflaws.

Injustice Files -- More on Hillsboro's Killer Waitress

We have an update and a bit of goodness for motorcyclists, courtesy of Oregonlive.com and the Hillsboro Argus newspaper.

Police say it appeared Stein had the right-of-way. Garcia told police she did not see the motorcycle. Rouches said the Washington County Crash Analysis Recreation Team is investigating possible charges of careless driving, which could lead to a 30-day suspension of Garcia's drivers license and defensive driving classes.

At least Ms. Garcia is going to face the possibility of being off the road for a little while. While it certainly does very little to assuage the grief and the loss felt by Mr. Stein's friends and family, perhaps the exposure brought about by this case can help to remind a few more cagers that just because we aren't 20 feet long and 2,000 lbs doesn't mean we aren't accorded the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities they enjoy.

To those who knew Mr. Stein, our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Injustice Files -- Hillsboro Waitress Kills Motorcyclist

Another Motorcyclist Dead. Another scofflaw cager gets a free ticket out of jail.

Courtesy of Salem-News.com

(HILLSBORO, Ore.) - Hillsboro Police and Fire Departments were called to a motorcycle crash this morning just before noon. The crash claimed the life of the 18-year old rider. It happened on 185th Avenue just north of Walker Rd. in Hillsboro.

Car involved in fatal crash
Police say the motorcycle, driven by an 18-year old male was traveling north on 185th at approx 35 miles an hour.

It is reported that the car, a 2000 Ford Taurus sedan silver in color driven by 24-year old Kerri Lynn Garcia of Hillsboro, was turning left from the Applebee's parking lot on the east side of 185th onto southbound 185th Avenue.

The motorcycle collided with the left rear door of the Ford and the motorcyclist was thrown from the motorcycle. Investigators say the motorcycle had right of way, and the driver of the Ford states that she did not see him.

The motorcyclist sustained serious injury and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Hillsboro Police say preliminary tests indicate that no drugs or alcohol were involved and no citations were issued, however this case remains under investigation by Hillsboro Police and the Washington County CART team.

All the salient points are in bold.

Looks to me like this young lady didn't even look to the left before dropping the hammer and pulling out in front of this unfortunate motorcyclist. And as we all know, but for the Grace of God, there we'd be. And if the cops won't do anything about these moron cagers, we will be.

Foggy Freeze

Well, not quite.

The weather's sure been freaky. Sunday hit 65F and this morning it was pea soup fog with temps in the low 40s. I, for one, had that lovely new heated liner cranked up about half way.

The cagers of course were doing what they do best. Being schmucks. Pottering along at 50-55 and getting passed on the right until you get out from around them and then they find the floor with the pedal. No surprise there, eh?

And perhaps just once before I shuffle off this mortal coil, I'd like to see a commute where the cagers aren't weaving from side to side in their lanes like drunken sailors. Nah, that'll never happen either.

Not much news to report here either other than that some noob-rider with a funeral ride down in Oregon managed to smear themselves and their bikes all over I-5 and snarled traffic up for miles. Just one more reason why I absolutely refuse to ride with a group of more than 3 people unless I know each rider personally and am assured that all have at least 5 years riding experience.

Lessons in Overtaking

Here in the States they call it Passing. In Britain, they call it overtaking. In any case, as we all know, it's something that must be done with care and with knowledge of one's limits.

Below is a sobering reminder of what can happen if we bite off a bit more than we can chew. Courtesy of KOMO.

SHANIKO, Ore. -- A Redmond, Wash. man died in a motorcycle crash on Friday on Highway 97, about one mile north of Shaniko in north central Oregon, according to the Oregon State Police.

Troopers said Neil J. Carlson, 57, was traveling south on the highway when he tried to pass a long line of traffic in a passing zone. Carlson could not pass all the cars in time and was still trying to get ahead of a commercial truck and a semi trailer when the passing zone ended.

An oncoming vehicle, while trying to avoid Carlson, swerved in front of the commercial truck and lost control. Carlson slid onto the shoulder, down an embankment and into a fence near the highway.

This fellow has a home not far from where I work, and he was probably out on his "last trip of the season". Having been out on a trip this past August, I understand how being hundreds of miles from home can increase the tension of a trip.

My condolences to his family and friends.

AMA Cell Phone Driver Announcement

I was digging around on Google today and found a press release from the American Motorcyclist Association. Yeah, I know, I rant quite a bit about the people yapping on their phones for miles on end while commuting home, but I figured I subject you to this anyway.

American Motorcyclist Association Releases New Distracted Driving PSA

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Business Wire EON) October 5, 2007 -- "Distracted driving" is a hazard to everyone on the road, as you can see in the latest Public Service Announcement from Nationwide Insurance and the American Motorcyclist Association.

In the following interview, Ed Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations, discusses the dangers associated with distracted driving, how we can all share the road safely and what the AMA is doing to reduce the number of motorcyclist fatalities on our nation’s roadways.

1.) "Distracted Drivers" is the focus of a new public service announcement from The American Motorcyclist Association and Nationwide Insurance. Why that topic?

EM: As you know, Nationwide’s recent “Life on the Go” survey found that roads are full of distracted motorists, with 73 percent of survey respondents admitting they use their cell phone while driving. And, one in five admits to texting while driving. Motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians are all vulnerable to distracted drivers.

More and more evidence is pointing to distracted drivers as the cause of motorcycle crashes involving another vehicle. For many years we have known that nearly 70% of crashes involving a motorcycle and another vehicle were caused by the driver of the other vehicle. We wanted to take this opportunity to remind drivers to put down their phones, lattes, newspapers and make-up and pay more attention to the road.

I might have posted about this earlier this year with incorrect information, but starting at New Year's Day 2008, it will be illegal to send text messages while driving and in June of 2008 it will be illegal to make or take cell phone calls while driving unless using a hands free unit.

Interestingly enough, the walkie-talkie "push to talk" features are not forbidden.

Also included in the press release is a link to the AMA Public Service Announcement (www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPGazsBjxF4)

Wired for Sound

Up until late Spring, I had a lovely little Nokia 6133 phone that did most of what I wanted. It wasn't quite a good as the Motorola Razr that I had before, but it took care of the primary job assigned to it. Namely, it handled phone calls fairly well.

It also had two other nice features that I've found myself missing lately: 1) It had a stereo headset & microphone with a volume control rocker switch and 2) an FM radio. Very nice kit, really, and it allowed me to answer phone calls while riding and not have to wait until I was pulled over before digging the phone out (which of course by then it would've rolled to voicemail.) But that's a topic for another day.

Today's case is the music aspect. I very much enjoyed the ability to listen to traffic radio while on the way home in the afternoons. I didn't need any MP3 player stuff, really, I just wanted to listen to the radio. The Nokia did that very well, in a package that was fairly rugged. Hard to complain about really, it did it so well. The little button that answers the phone even switched between presets while the radio was running.

Well, that phone died an ignoble death in June in the middle of a nasty rainstorm in the mountains, and the power button never worked after that. Never worked, in that it cycled on/off/on continuously and there was nothing to be done about it.

So, the other day after being harrassed by a co-worker mercilessly to get into the 21st century, I finally bought a small(2GB) Sansa mp3 player with FM stereo. It was dirt-cheap and refurbished from Buy.com, so it was actually under $50.

It seems to do the job fairly well on its first live run, as the volume is adequate to hear the music on the motorcycle. When set to 85% and using my decent JVC HA-FX33 ear-speakers, the music is quite audible but not overpowering.

I still have to figure out the ergonomic aspect of it though, as sticking it in the tankbag isn't work so well with the narrow buttons.