MotoShirts.com, the online store I created to sell my T shirt designs is finally finished and open for business.

I created Motoshirts.com as an online, artisan T Shirt gallery, mixing my unique designs with some legendary motorcycle classics. Originally, I started selling my early designs on Cafe Press because it was easy and there were no upfront costs. But if you have ever ordered a shirt from them, you know that their quality is not great, especially the printing on dark shirts. My designs were not very well represented so I decided there had to be a better way. I felt that for the same price, I could produce a far superior product. That’s how this all started. I have many new designs and the necessary equipment to produce them myself-start to finish.  I only use the best materials and creating small quantities by hand allows for a very high quality product. I stand behind every item I sell 100%. So go check it out and let me know what you think…

Thanks Bill

Not in any particular order…here’s my top 5 favorite motorcycle roads in Central California ( HWY 1 has been purposely left out simply because it’s been thoroughly covered elsewhere ).

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G16 Carmel Valley Road
From Carmel to Greefield it’s aproximately 55 miles. The G16 starts out a little busy with all the Carmel Valley traffic but quickly turns into motorcycle nirvana as you get out of town and into farm country. This two lane road is in decent shape and delivers some spectacular scenery and some sweet twisties as you quickly leave the city and traffic behind and start to enjoy the tranquil beauty of this meandering country road. Don’t let your guard down completely because there can and will be a car or truck right when you least expect it; still this is a great road and deservedly one of the top 5 in Central California. As an added bonus, this is a great route from the 101 to get to Laguna Seca for the races!

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Foxen Canyon / Tepusquet
Foxen Canyon Road from Los Olivos to Santa Maria is a beautiful ride through the Santa Barbara wine country. There are a lot of wineries along this route and lots of wine touring folks so caution is necessary. But the scenery is gorgeous and the road offers up plenty of twisties and sweepers as you go through the rolling hills of the valley. There’s no real long off to the horizon straights which is nice; this is a fun filled ride. The road’s condition is good and depending on when you go (mid-week) there’s not much traffic; weekends during nice weather tends to bring out the wine tourers. The small town of Los Olivos where this road starts offers a nice place to grab a coffee, sandwich or a snack. You have the option of staying on Foxen Canyon the whole way to Santa Maria or cutting off on Tepusquet Rd for a short but highly advised detour. Tepusquet is an awesome diversion of twists, turns and bucolic beauty; it’s short but oh so sweet. If you take Tepusquet Rd, you will come out on SR 166 which will take you either North to Santa Maria or South to New Cuyama; either way will bring you some great landscapes, gentle sweeps and some long straights. You won’t be disappointed with this road.

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The AIRHAWK Seat Cushion

I thought it was time to review the AIRHAWK seat cushion. I’ve been using one now for almost 4 years and though I’ve had to patch it a couple of times, it’s still providing me comfort on every ride.

First, a little company background and theory on why it works; taken from the company website
“It’s only air, but it’s what we do with it that makes a world of difference…”
Shape Fitting Technology is a system of soft, flexible air cells interconnected by small channels that allow air to flow from one cell to another at a controlled rate. This is what sets ROHO Shape Fitting Technology apart from the others: the ability to protect the body from multiple forces – pressure, friction, shear, shock, and vibration – and maintain the same level of comfort and protection indefinitely.
ROHO products all have something in common – a valve that allows you to adjust the amount of air it holds. This valve lets you customize the product to your specifications and achieve your precise level of comfort. It is designed to perfectly match your shape and contour, redistributing your body weight to minimize pressure “hot spots.”
The pressure mapping photos below illustrate the difference between a conventional cushion and one using Shape Fitting Technology. Red and yellow areas in the first photo highlight pressure points. The second photo shows how the ROHO cushion redistributes the pressure over the entire surface area, allowing for better blood circulation and ultimately more comfort.

The manufacturing process

They use a neoprene rubber which apparently can’t be injection molded. So it’s a tedious process in which a mold is dipped into the liquid neoprene rubber repeatedly to build it up to the desired thickness, and then a combination of air curing and oven curing is used. The cells which basically look like a waffle on steroids are then attached to a backing, making sure each cell remains connected to its neighbors. This is done by hand. And according to ROHO it takes about 24 hours to complete each cushion!

Getting the right amount of air

This is perhaps the trickiest part of the whole deal. But once you figure it out it’s really a piece of cake. What you want to avoid is over inflation because this will make you feel like your sitting on a large ziplock filled with Jello, not good unless you’re into that kind of thing. On the other extreme, under inflated; and well it’s like sitting on the same uncomfortable seat you have always had. So here’s the trick: fill it up by blowing into the small filler valve (unscrew tip to open, screw back to close. See pic) Then sit on the bike, preferably on the center stand so you can get both feet off the ground in a normal riding position. Now slowly open the valve releasing air until there’s only about ¼” – ½” gap of air between your butt and the seat. This may take a few tries but once you’ve got it, you are good to go. Mine never seems to need any adjusting due to loss of air or anything like that, with the exception of the two leaks I’ve gotten over the last 4 years.Fortunately each pad comes with a repair kit and it’s about as easy as patching a bicycle tube; actually much easier because there’s no wheel or tire to remove just the fabric cover.

Fabric cover

I’m not hip to exactly what the fabric is but it’s soft, quick drying and has held up extremely well. There’s a couple of straps attached that make it pretty easy to put on or take off and this leads me to another bonus of these pads. You can switch it between bikes. In fact I took mine with me on a 2 week ride in New Zealand where I rented a BMW 800GS from South Pacific Motorcycle Tours (more about my New Zealand trip here) I was told the 800GS didn’t have the most comfortable seat in the world but with my AIRHAWK it was sweet!

AIRHAWK 2

Since I got my AIRHAWK back in 2007 they have come out with a new more affordable series the AIRHAWK 2 and according to their website, this is the difference:

What’s the Difference?

The launch of AIRHAWK 2 has caused the question “What’s the difference?” to come up many times when people are reviewing our product. While the original AIRHAWK and the new AIRHAWK 2 are similar, there are some difference. These difference are outlined in the chart below.

Summary

The AIRHAWK isn’t for everyone; I’ve had friends that just didn’t like the feel. Some say they felt disconnected from the bike, but I love it and really appreciate the comfort it adds, especially on those longer rides. To me it feels totally natural. Maybe because I’ve ridden with it for over 4 years now but even when it was new I adapted quite easily to it and the level of comfort it provided. I would highly recommend this product and though the initial investment seems high, the overall CPR (cost per ride) is really quite minimal.

Thanks for reading, and as always leave your comments below.

Manufacturers website: airhawk.net

It’s been awhile but I’ve felt the need recently to feed the addiction, the addiction to create. So I decided to do some digital stuff working in Photoshop I took some images I had taken in New York and Death Valley and created these.( I know the locations are polar opposites but I wanted to experiment with the dichotomy ).

New York, NY

Death Valley

This is an amazing compilation of some vintage auto racing crashes. All I can say is WOW the world was a different place back then!

Killed Myself When I Was Young from The Jalopy Journal on Vimeo.

What could be more important on a moto camping trip then a good cup of hot coffee first thing in the morning? Well, o.k. possibly a cold brew at the end of the day, but I digress. Up until now, I’ve been using a small personal sized gold screen drip thingy I found at Starbucks years ago. It worked but was less than ideal: you had to balance the thing on top of your mug, and if the grind wasn’t just right, it took forever to get the water to drip through it. So before my last ride to Death Valley, I was in the local outdoor store perusing the kitchen section looking for ways to improve on my epicurean cooking while on the road (haha). I picked up a small backpacker’s cutting board for $2.00 and a new ”GSI Personal Java Press”. This thing works great: not only does it make a great cup of joe, it also saves space by having a coffee cup nested inside of it. Both the main container “the press” and the cup are insulated with a thin neoprene-like sleeve that actually works quite well at keeping things warm. The whole set up is very easy to assemble, clean and disassemble; and the making of the coffee couldn’t be easier. I’m highly recommending this addition to anyone who loves a good cup of hot coffee as well as an efficient, well designed piece of equipment. And here’s the best part, it’s MSRP is only $19.95. Oh and by the way, I have not received any compensation on any of the products I’ve reviewed.

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OK so I made a resolution for 2011. “I’m going to do at least one overnight motorcycle trip per month this year“. January was Pinnacles National Monument, February was Death Valley and March is Carrizo Plains. Even though Carrizo Plains is essentially right in my backyard I had never really explored it. At most I had ridden in a couple of miles on Soda Lake road.  So it was about time to really check it out. My days off are mid-week so finding other riders to go isn’t always easy but it wasn’t difficult to coax my buddy Skip to come along on the ride. After perusing the Dual Sporting Carrizo Plains website which has a lot of good info including links, maps and road descriptions. I printed a map and headed out. I met Skip in Ojai and we took off up SR33 and headed North. We topped off our tanks in Maricopa which is about 70 miles from Ojai and entered the monument from Elkhorn Grade Rd just outside of Maricopa. The road quickly turns to dirt and the fun begins. The road was in really good shape and the wildflowers were just starting to bloom. After riding though the plains for the afternoon and checking out the two campgrounds Selby and KCL we ended up at KCL. The scenery was beautiful and the roads were great! I am highly recommending checking out the Carrizo Plains. (Check the temps though I bet the summers are pretty damn hot there.) Map here

Did a quick 3 day trip to Death Valley a couple of days ago with friend and fellow GS rider Richard Gomes . The weather was great except for a small wind storm our first night at Furnace Creek that left the inside of our tents looking like a sand box. But the roads were great and the days were warm about 60 °. We intended to do Titus Canyon and the Racetrack but we just didn’t have enough time for the Racetrack (it’s pretty much a full day to the Racetrack and back from Furnace Creek). Well have to do that the next time. We did manage to get in Titus Cyn, Ubehebe Crater and Zabriskie Point and saw miles of beautiful landscape along the way. Here’s a quick video and map.

Death Valley 2011 at EveryTrail
EveryTrail – Find the best Hiking in California

BMW City Pants
This review is on the original BMW City pants although the new City 2 pants are essentially the same except for some slight styling changes.

The City pants are made from a highly abrasion-resistant combination of cotton and Cordura® and are a summer-weight motorcycling pant. (although not as cool as the BMW Airflow pants I reviewed here earlier) The  cotton Cordura®  fabric gives the pants a relatively soft-feel and they fit almost like a pair of jeans. They are some of the most comfortable motorcycle pants I’ve owned. They also look great, like regular pair of cargo pants, unlike some armored pants that can look like some sort of transformer space suit.

The pants are designed to be worn alone (i.e., not as over-pants) and they have a soft mesh lining sewn inside, which is made from a material rather like taffeta.  This keeps the heavier outer fabric away from the rider’s skin and offers some comfort and provides space for a bit of air to circulate against the rider’s skin. On cool mornings, I put a pair of thermals underneath for a little added warmth and this works quite well.

The City pants are made in the simple unisex XS to XXXL sizes unlike most of their pants which are in numeric sizes. I have a 34 inch waist and the large fits me well. The City pants also come with integrated belt loops and belt made of nylon webbing. The original City pants have a fastec type buckle where as the City pant 2 now has a double-ring buckle with the rings made of plastic. They have a metal hook at the waist, which I think is better than the single snap used on most other pants. The fly features a nylon YKK locking zipper. They also have a connecting zipper at the waist for attaching to a BMW jacket.

The front hand pockets in the City pants are one of the slight style changes that were made between the 2 versions, basically they’re at more of an angle on the front of the City 2 pants.  They close with locking zippers and large zipper pulls that are easy to find and use. The left pant leg on the original City pants has an unlined cargo pocket along the outside of the thigh.  It closes with a flap using hook-and-loop fastener whereas the City 2 has a zippered “hidden” pocket. The right pant leg on both has an additional zippered pocket, “hidden” on the City 2. I personally like the cargo pocket for its ease of access / use.

The City pant leg cuffs have a 25 cm zipper on the outside with a fabric dart underneath.  The cuffs are adjustable by repositioning the hook-and-loop fabric on the outside and they can be made narrow enough to fit into a pair of boots, or wide enough to fit over the boots.

The City pants have a full set of the BMW removable NP protectors at knees and hips with maximum impact-absorbing properties (developed by BMW Motorrad, with EN 1621 certification).  The knee padding is pre-shaped and becomes quite flexible as it warms up. It wraps nicely around the sides of your knees much more so then most motorcycles pants. The padding can be adjusted up or down slightly by repositioning the hook-and-loop tape that holds it in its pocket.

All in all, the BMW City pants are super comfortable with excellent styling that fits a rider’s shape (not baggy and non-fitted like most). Like most BMW gear, this product is very well made. At $255, they are not cheap but not ridiculously priced either. They have quickly become my go to pants for days when it’s not blistering hot or cold and wet. I highly recommend them.