Where you there?

Did you see us?

Did you Save Your Ass on the way home by purchasing an AIRHAWK before you left?

If you rode an AIRHAWK to Sturgis or rode one home, we want to know.  Send us pictures and experiences of  your adventures from Sturgis 2014.

Here are some of our favorite pics from the trip there and on the road.

We made it..

Amazing ride with an Amazing view!

Did you notice the Dinosaur.. We see a Great Bike!

So without further ado, here is the Asspad Tycoon’s 4 Steps for Route Planning, to make sure your motorcycle ride is a great one:

STEP 1. I use Google maps to work out a general route before I get into the detailed mapping.  This is an important phase in determining how much time the actual riding part is going to take.  If you haven’t used Google mapping, I suggest that you familiarize yourself with it by doing this short but very effective training course at mapping.withgoogle.com.

You start by clicking on the “Get Directions” link. Once you’ve done that, simply enter the start and destination and it automatically gives you the quickest route, miles, and the time that it will take to complete the route.  I never want to take the quickest route, because that means “Interstate”, and I hate riding the super slab unless I have to make serious time, or if I’ll be going through a boring stretch.  But this is a good starting point for developing your route – now you know how much time and how many miles it will take if using the interstate.  I go back roads, so I’ll be adding time to this initial assessment.

What I like most about Google Mapping is that it allows me to easily adjust my route by simply “grabbing” a part of the route and dragging it to a road that I’d prefer to use. After your “grab,” it instantly recalculates the route.  In the past I used Delorme and the Garmin mapping programs, but it wasn’t nearly as easy to make adjustments. Google has really gotten it down.  Plus, when you finalize your map on Google, you can save it to your Google account, which will enable you to access this map/route from any device as a backup in case your GPS goes down.  Remember – Mr. Murphy is your copilot!

STEP 2. Go to motorcycleroads.com or some type of road atlas that shows scenic routes and search for best scenic routes (or twisties) along the route that Google mapped out. I then integrate these sub-routes into my Google route.  Again, the Google program makes this very easy. All that you have to do is “grab” a route line and drag it to where you want it to move to.  Each time you make these changes, Google will recalculate time and distance.

STEP 3. Here is where experience comes in handy.  Now that you have the actual route determined, it’s time to break it down into daily routes.  Hopefully you’ve had the chance to do a daylong trip before and have an idea of how many hours in the saddle you can tolerate for a day.  Notice that I say hours instead of miles.  I know that if I have to, I can blast the interstate for 800-1000 miles per day – but this kind of riding is more of an endurance sport than it is a fun ride!  I also know that doing 500 miles on two-lane is a heck of a lot easier in the West than it is in the Northeast due to the fact that everything is a lot more spread out on the west side of the Mississippi.  Maintaining high rates of speed is simple in the West as passing slow vehicles doesn’t slow you down much, and you’re not going through a town every 10 minutes like you can do in the East.

Other areas that can take a lot more time are:

• National & State Parks
• Twisty roads that are the only roads around (going through cuts and passes)
• State roads going through big suburban areas.  (I try to hit freeways looping around these areas).

So think about where you’ll be riding and give consideration to the above factors, along with weather factors when determining how many miles a day you’ll be doing, and don’t forget to add time for eating, gassing, and sight seeing.  Divide the total miles by how many days you can ride and that will give you a good idea of how many miles you should map for each day.

Let’s say that given the circumstances and conditions of your route, you should be able to do 500-mile days the 1^st two days and then 250 on the third day to your final destination.  Starting from your beginning point, look at where 500 miles will land you.  Now you need to scout out lodging possibilities in this area – I search a radius of 100 miles from this point.  I normally don’t reserve anything because I ride with Mr. Murphy, so there are no guarantees on making my destination, but I will call a few hotels in the area to check if there are any conventions that have booked everything in the area.  On more than one occasion I have found myself riding late into the cold night, dodging deer and other road obstacles because the town that I planned on crashing in was booked solid.

An important note: Check the state DOT websites for road construction, closures and delays, then reroute accordingly.

A cool site to check weather along your route is Wundermap.  Just click on the icon of the car in the upper right hand part of the screen and it will ask you for the start and end of your trip.  Like Google, it will highlight your route, but will also give you all of the weather conditions along the way – very useful.

STEP 4.  Scan maps and keep them with you (yes, the paper kind).  Redundancy is king. You always need plan A, B, and C because Mr. Murphy (Murphy’s Law) will always be my co-pilot!

My next installment will be on gear and packing! Subscribe and stay tuned!

AIRHAWK Tent at Sturgis!

If you weren’t able to make it to the Rally this year, watch for our posts on Facebook.

Like any day in the office, my desk started clean. Today though, my office is a bit more appealing than the usual wood slab with a keyboard and a couple of monitors. Today it’s black with a chrome center strip that houses a speedometer and is partially covered with a map pouch. The office window? A Klock Werks Flare framed by a well-polished set of KST Kustoms 16″ apes with a view of a huge chrome headlight housing. This will be a perfect day in the office.

It’s my third annual ride to the J&P Cycles Open House Rally in Anamosa, IA. Each year I take a different route; doing my best to avoid highways and freeways. For this year’s trip, I’ve decided to take the Great River Road from Brainerd, Minnesota to the border of Iowa. After I cross the border, I will let the GPS take over and choose the shortest route to Cedar Rapids – my home for the next three nights.

When I take these rides, I have an unusual set of rules for myself.

1. I refuel at the next gas station after the gauge hits ¼ tank.
2. I stop to eat breakfast at 9:00am, lunch at 1:00pm, and dinner at 5:00pm. Once I see those three times, I have to stop at the next place food is served (unless it’s a fast food place, because no one needs that!).
3. Once the clock hits 8:00, I stay at the next hotel or motel I see. I already had a reservation this time around, so this one didn’t really apply today.

These rules may seem a bit odd, but they fuel the journey! I have found some great little dives to eat at, and not-so-great dumps to spend the night in! It’s like an adventure on every trip.

The first half hour of my ride was over roads I had previously traveled. They were quite uneventful – which was good since the coffee had just begun to kick in. The route brought me through Little Falls and for the next several hours, I was on roads I had never ridden on. Just South of Little Falls, I passed through Lindberg State Park. What’s interesting is – driving through state parks by car sucks, but on a bike, the slower speed limits force you to look around and take in the beauty of your surroundings.

This led me through a dozen back country “drag strips” en route to St. Cloud, where signage became non-existent, and it was nearly impossible to follow the route. After backtracking and looking at every post that should have a sign for what seemed like an eternity, I finally decided it was best to stop, get out the iPad, and do a little research. NO I WASN’T LOST!!

It turns out – I was supposed to cross a bridge that had been gone for over a decade! I promise you I can skip water, but I wasn’t about to attempt this one!

Headed south I was led into a short little six mile construction zone. ‘Tis the season I guess, but six miles of gravel was how I avoided the freeway. It was no big deal – just another part of the adventure. This led me through Monticello, and would be my last sighting of the freeway and the only roads I’ve ever known for the next couple hours. I was pleasantly surprised as I followed the river through what was essentially “The Cities,” but felt more like I was in the middle of the country. The only difference I could see was that the road seemed considerably wider and the surface was in great condition. I really had no idea where I was, and that made this section of the route very interesting.

I usually wouldn’t admit this, but going through the Twin Cities was probably one of the highlights of the day! Living two and a half hours northwest of here, activities that made the news were the only sightings I have seen of Riverside Park, but getting to ride through it was quite eye opening. This is an area hit hard by the storms that blew through in the previous days. As I looked to the right, I saw streets filled with fallen trees and cleanup crews, but looking to the left life was normal. This is a park that goes on for miles along the shore of the Mississippi – holding a lock and dam, green grass, people playing with their pets, and some just laying in the sun reading books. It hits me here that only 700 feet of elevation and this thing dumps into the Gulf of Mexico.

Shortly after the park, the river actually makes a bend and heads North. This confused me because I actually was thinking I had gotten on the wrong side of the river and was going the wrong way! Once I remembered that the river actually flows north for a while the confusion subsided, and I was again amazed by all of the industry in this section of river. I actually have an interest in heading back that way when I have time to see what all goes on in an area that seems so far from home.

On the south side of Minneapolis, I met up with Steve Kroyer, a distributor sales rep in the area joining me for the remainder of the trip. Hastings, MN was the lunch and gas stop where we would say our final words to each other in Minnesota. Highway 61 was the main road for the leg through the entire southeast Minnesota section of The Great River Road. Cruising along railroad tracks, you would skirt Lake Pepin and the hilly southeast – one of the few parts on Minnesota where there is notable elevation.

Once in Iowa, we followed the GPS’ shortest route, and Lansing, IA was the point where we were actually sent across the river to hook up with highway 35 in Wisconsin. According to the gas gauge and the clock, it was time to make a couple of stops! We refueled in Ferryville, WI and grabbed a bite to eat at Jake’s Sportsmans Bar and Grille. While parking the bikes on the side of the road and snapping a couple pictures, we met Neil and LaNette Sirucek (bikers always strike up conversation right?). The cool part is that I rode 12 hours to meet this couple that lives in Staples, MN, a little railroad town that is just 20 minutes from my house. What a neat coincidence!

From Jake’s we headed south to only have the route detoured because of a landslide as we would hear later. Most of the time you are frustrated by a detour, but on a bike, they aren’t always bad and in this case, it was FANTASTIC! We were sent up on the top of the ridge where we rode over a half hour overlooking the river valley on our way into Prairie Du Chien, where we would cross the river for the final time and head southwest.

If you haven’t ridden through the northwest corner of Iowa, I would highly recommend it. The view in every direction is that of those picture perfect American farmlands you’ve only seen on post cards and in commercials on TV. This describes the view for the nearly two hours it took to finish off the trip. We arrived to the hotel at 9:50pm, and yes, we rode into the sunset to finish off a perfect day in the office! And yes, this was the first hotel!

Fourteen and a half hours of being bugged in the office and I loved it!

BMW R1200 GS

I love this bike so much that I have decided to take her into ALL 49 continental states. It’s only fair right? I’ve ridden motorcycles in 47 of these great states, so why shouldn’t she? BTW, the two states that I have yet to ride in are Oregon and Alaska. Guess where the Ass Pad Tycoon is heading to next Saturday (July 13th)? I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off this quest then to ride out to Oregon for the 41st annual BMW MOA International Rally. I’ll be there showing (and hopefully selling) Airhawks for Bob’s BMW.

I’ve worked in the motorcycle industry for 17 years and part of my job is to develop and test new products, as well as test and evaluate what the competition is doing. I find the best way to do this is ride my bikes to all of the rallies that I will be working. I feel that it’s important to know a thing or two about long distance riding if I’m going to be at a rally talking with people about enhancing long distance comfort, right?

In riding to so many great rallies over the years I’ve learned a trick or two about planning and executing multi-day motorcycle trips, so I thought that this would be a good forum to share some these tricks with you. Since I am in the process of planning my trip to Oregon, I thought that my first installment should be about route planning and navigation tools. And trust me when I tell you that this advice has been refined over the years from many blunders and mishaps that are guaranteed when your copilot is Mr. Murphy (as in Murphy’s Law) – he is my constant companion and educator!

Look for my tips and tricks in my next blog post. Can’t wait to get started!

Maybe you’ve done a bit of research and thought of an anti-pressure comfort seating system for your bike. Maybe you’ve thought of an AIRHAWK. This summer, we’re giving you an opportunity to have the comfortable ride you deserve on an AIRHAWK® R without paying one red cent.

All you have to do is enter our As the Hawk Flies contest. The first step to enter is to like our Facebook page

and upload a picture of your motorcycle (and you, if you can) in front of the coolest sign you’ve encountered in your travels.

Go to the AIRHAWK Facebook page for more detail and to enter:

What are you waiting for? Give your ass the seat it deserves!

Between 1911 and its demise in 1940, Levis built many two- and four-stroke roadsters from its facility in Birmingham, England.  The 1920 Levis Popular 211cc, later abbreviated as the “Levis Pop”, featured a leather belt chain, bicycle-type rear brake and no transmission. (Photo and subject matter courtesy of the Moto Museum, St. Louis, Mo.)

As with all bikes of this period, there was no suspension for the rear frame of the bike, so the seat design was instrumental in contributing to a smooth ride.  This was done by incorporating springs and pivots into the seats subassembly.  This is basically a bicycle seat with a fairly dramatic curve to the rear of the seat, which forces the rider’s weight to the rear of the seat.  The two springs and pivoting mechanism activate only the rear portion of the seat – the front portion of the seat is fixed to the seatpost that is inserted into the seat tube.  When the bike hit a bump in the road, the force travelled up the seat tube and then to the front portion of the seat, which was stationary. The rear of the seat countered the upward force by going down and somewhat equalizing the force.

This design was much better than only having a fixed seat mounted onto the frame, but it did cause some stability issues.  With the rider’s center of mass situated well behind the seat tube, there was a lot of bouncing up and down every time the bike hit a bump.  This problem is addressed in the next bike that we’ll feature here. Stay tuned and see how this problem was resolved.

There have been countless reviews and press releases written by media professionals about the R1200 GSW, so I won’t bore you with the finite technical points. Just one man’s well-travelled experience!

We’ll start with the good: more power. It’s not just that this bike has more power than its predecessor. It’s the way that it’s spread out across the power band.  It starts low and pulls very hard throughout the RPM range up to around 9,000 RPM. It feels as if the torque delivery comes on a little later in the range than the old Boxer, and it is a little freer revving as well.  It does this without getting too far away from the feel that we’ve come to expect from the classic Boxer engine (BTW, this is my 4^th Boxer powered bike), it just improves the throttle response and adds more horsepower.  My only real complaint about previous Boxer motors was that the power delivery was quite deceptive. Often times you wouldn’t really feel the power as much as you’d like.  When riding with others, you would know that it’s a very quick motor that works very well in the tight stuff, but it just never really felt fast.  This new Boxer changes that – it sounds and feels much faster.

Another big improvement is the suspension.  The electronically adjustable suspension delivers as promised (and promoted).  It’s far and away the best OE suspension that I have ever experienced.  Wouldn’t it be great if all of our riding was on tight and twisty canyon/mountain roads that were as smooth as silk?  Keep dreaming.  Unfortunately, in order to reach these roads, some of us have to travel long distances on less than desirable roads that can be described with almost any adjective other than “silky.”  Travelling these roads with your suspension set tight for the twisties will have you begging for the ride to be over before you ever get to the good stuff.  Not a problem with the GS.

Just hit the handlebar mounted control button until you see the “Road” selection, then select the “soft” choice for long periods of interstate with those harsh expansion joints at the bridges and you don’t even notice them anymore.  Seriously, this thing is a dream when you’re forced to mix it up on the long stretches of interstate with the big semi rigs.  I’m talking about the road surfaces that have been ravaged by countless thousands of semis with little or no repair work.  This bike just soaks it all up without any complaints at all.  When you exit the interstate, hit the button to put it in the “Normal” mode and it firms up a bit – good for all around riding conditions.  When you finally reach the sweet twisties; hit the button again into the “Hard” mode and you’re ready flog.  It’s that simple, and it really does work.

Since this is a Dual Sport bike, there are suspension modes for the dirt as well.  But there’s more – there are also electronic controls for throttle response and traction control!  When you select “Enduro” mode it tones down the throttle response and engages more traction control – but you really don’t notice it until you need it.  When in “Enduro Pro” the action is a bit more lively – more rooster tailability, brakes less linked, better throttle response.  It works!

Now on to the handling part.  My previous Boxers were the R1100 RT, R1100 S, and the R1200 R.  I’ll be honest, this thing really felt weird to me at first; too tall, bars too wide, tires not right, seating position too upright, etc..  After about 30 miles of riding it around town, it all began to feel perfect!  Some of the reviews that I have read complain about the steering being too light; I disagree.  It is a lot lighter feeling around town and at lower speeds (which is good), but when you start ripping through the curves it seems to tighten up without being too firm.  Pick your line and hit it hard, this GS will stay right on track until you decide to change it.  Inline adjustments don’t make the bike unsettled at all.

I haven’t had the pleasure of taking this bike out for a spirited ride with my buddies in the twisties, but I can absolutely assure you that they will be shocked at how fast this thing is.  Brakes, suspension, steering, ergos…. It’s all good.

My job as a travelling Ass Pad Tycoon requires many long days in the saddle, and the APT needs as much comfort as he can get.  I’m not getting any younger, so every little improvement helps!  Number one on long distance comfort improvement is the electronic cruise control!!!!!  Those purists who scoff at the notion of cruise control on a GS probably haven’t ridden an 800 plus mile day with this great feature.  Not only is it great for the wrist, but for the head as well.  Let me explain.  A guy like me has a propensity to always be going well over the posted speed (seriously, I can’t help it, it’s just what feels natural to me).  Because of this, I’m constantly uptight about getting tickets (probably because I DO get them).  So I love taking breaks by locking the cruise in a few MPH above the posted speed and just totally chill for periods – at the end of the day you arrive at your destination just a bit more relaxed.

As a maker of comfort seating products, I’m sad to say that BMW has really done their homework on the seat for the new GS.  My problem with most of the BMW seats has been with the forward tilt that they exhibit.  I am constantly pushing myself back to give the “boys” some breathing room if you know what I mean.  The new seat allows you to adjust the nose and the rear of the seat independent of each other.  I have the front on the high setting, and the rear on low, and it’s about perfect.  The foam density is still a bit softer than I prefer, but it’s no longer the torture rack that it used to be.  The pillion is also adjustable for and aft; so I have it all the way back to give me more room up front.

Wind protection is also greatly improved on the new GS.  And the best part is that you can adjust the height of the windscreen with your left hand while going down the road – it’s hard to dial in the proper height without the wind, right?  In general, the ergos are perfect for most riding scenarios – lots of leg room, slight forward tilt without too much pressure on the wrists, yet still comfortable while riding on the dirt in the standing position.

Now for the minor negatives.  My main complaint is with the 6^th gear. When I’m going 75 MPH, it runs at about 4,500 RPM.  It would be nice if it was kept under four grand. This would make those really long days on the interstate a bit more pleasant.

Another issue is with the blinkers.  I guess that I was one of the few who actually liked the quirky BMW way of blinking; but my problem is not with BMW going to the left side only control – it’s that they forgot to make them self cancelling.  It will occasionally cancel itself, but I still can’t figure out what makes them cancel when they do – usually they just continue to blink as I’m motoring down the road.

These are minor issues that I will get used to and I’ll forget that they were ever issues.  The people at BMW have just ensured that they will remain the kings of the heavy weight dual sport segment for many years to come.  This will be my go to bike for all occasions for many years to come, as it really does everything quite well.  If you haven’t ridden one yet, go do it now. Just make sure that you bring your checkbook because you’re going to want to ride this baby home.

Greetings,

About your product. Several friends had told me about your product in probably about 2009. There were 4 of us preparing to ride “The Motorcycle Cannonball” on our late model iron. I ordered up 4 of these things. They went on two 15 Harleys and a 15 Excelsior, with the senior member of our contingent electing to ride with his sheep skin watch-a-callit. Well we thought we were the cat’s ass. I had ridden several thousand miles on my 1915 Harley with “The Airhawk.” Holy Mackeral, what a very effective product.

I think the worst part of our journey was after a very long day, right at 300 miles. That may not sound like much to some, but, when the newest bike allowed is 1915, the weather was 90 degrees, the humidity was 90% and we rode into Hot Springs without getting monkey butt. What a product.

Incidently, 3 of the 4 of our team made all 3294 miles, with the 4th missing 90 miles with a magneto failure on one day… not bad for 95 year old iron.

The sad news is that the “Old Bastard,” “Rickter”, didn’t use one. We ended up in a 10 way tie and Rickter won the tie breaker because he was the oldest rider. That really sucked, because it shot me down to 8th. “Stork,” using an Airhawk , pulled off a 3rd on his 15 Excelsior and “Gold Tooth” missing 90 miles was an exceptional accomplishment on old iron.

Now let me tell you about the real pisser.We get to Kitty Hawk, thinking we’re the cat’s ass, with our tush cushes, but noooooooo, Cris Simmons is sponsored by you guys. Annnnnnnnd, the van is equipped with them too. You sexist bastards. Hell, poor old “Goldtooth” has hemerrhoids (is that spelled right?) so bad he couldn’t have made it without the Airhawk. Hell, he couldn’t even load his roll chart.

Now here is my suggestion. I have included the above forementioned individuals in this e-mail. In order to prevent a reverse discrimination lawsuit, I think that a viable solution would be to equip all of our motocycles with Airhawks.

Sincerely,

“Reddog”

We hereby formally consider your request, Reddog!

My lust for the GS started many many years ago, but it was never anything more than a fantasy –  a dream that someday I would load her up and set out for untold adventures in foreign lands. Last March, I rented one and took it on a three-day binge up the Pacific Coast Highway, then over to Lake Tahoe and Reno, before descending Sierra’s backside to Las Vegas and an I-15 finale through the Ivanpah Valley to Los Angeles.  The hook had been firmly set!

Fast forward to the Intermot show in Cologne, Germany where BMW formally launched the LC Boxer.  After handling this sweetheart of a ride for the week, I made the call to my guy Honz at Gateway BMW in St. Louis and asked him if he had a list going — he said he does now.

I now have 500 miles on my new rig – between my travel and dismal weather, it’s taken longer than I’d imagined to log this many miles.  I’ve ridden in rain, snow, wind, and finally a nice day yesterday; so now it’s safe to say that I’ve covered all the bases for a proper ride evaluation.

I will have plenty more to say about the GS, but for now, I will just say this — the GS flat out rocks!  More power, higher revving, more torque, better comfort, suspension and handling.  I guess I could just stop here, because each of these superlatives need their own explanation, but I won’t. Like all bikes, there are a couple of things about this rig that could use some improvement… but I’ll leave that for my next post.

From the road,

Steve