It's Here!

Woo-hoo! That was quick! Superb service from BikeBiz - can't recommend them enough! It even arrived with a little handwritten note saying thanks for shopping with them, and they hope I enjoy the gear! How nice is that!


Love the retro, Italian-coloured packaging! Everything was wrapped up in bubble wrap and air cushions, and the mug even had extra bubble wrap around the outside of it's box as well. I certainly wasn't waiting till I got home to open it all up - just ignore the messy office desk and apple!


And with the tinted visor fitted:


I love it already! Fits perfectly, looks cool, nice and light - everything I wanted. Now I'll have an excuse to ride to work tomorrow!

New Toy on Order

After months of uming-and-ahhing about it, I've finally ordered my new helmet. Should be here early next week. It's a Nolan N41 in matt black - I decided to go something a bit different this time. I've ordered a tinted visor to go with it, and because they offer discounted shipping if the order's over $300, a Yamaha coffee mug to just nudge me over that magic mark. I'm looking forward to getting it - the few places that do stock the N41 only sell the N41 "classic" in white or gloss black. I really wanted the matt black, even if it was a little more expensive. The obvious option was to buy a cheaper gloss black one and take to it with a matt black spray can, but I don't trust my abilities with matt paint that much! It's more than I wanted to spend, but Nolan is a good brand, so it should last a long time.

I tried an N41 on in Moorooka Yamaha's showroom last time I was in Bris, and the Medium size seemed to fit well (I'm a Large in the Arai), so that's what I've ordered here. I don't like ordering helmets or other safety gear online - as a rule I want to try on the exact article I'll be buying, to make sure the fit is perfect. Plus, if I'm going to take up a dealership's (and usually also a salesman's) time, and browse through their selection, then I like to support them with a sale, even if I can get it cheaper online. Part of that's purely selfish though - if everyone bought online, then the dealerships would stop stocking helmets, and then I'd have nowhere to go to try them on and make sure they fit. So it's a bit self-serving as well. However, with only a few dealerships actually stocking the N41's (none up here), and, as mentioned above, none of those stocking the colour I wanted, we had to take a punt.

The old Arai was still perfectly fine on the outside, but the inner lining had disintegrated. It's probably 5-6 years old now, and the recommendation is to replace a helmet at the 5 year mark, even if it's still in perfect condition. The reason being that over time and use, the foam that actually protects your head degrades, hardens and is compacted. The end result is a helmet that doesn't fit as tightly, and that doesn't afford as much protection in a crash. I'm still a bit annoyed that I didn't spend the extra $100 originally and get the version with the removable liner. In that case, I could just replace the liner itself now and keep on using it. But for the crash-worthiness reasons mentioned above, it's probably better that I'm not tempted.

Of course, Jess' solution to the problem of needing a new helmet was to sell the bike. A perfectly rational response, given how much use it gets. However, now I've gone and done this, I may as well pay the rego and insurance on it that's currently due. That should neatly take up what little money we do have at the moment!

Leather jacket

So, yeah. Despite not riding the bike more than once a month at the moment, I bought myself a new leather jacket. Jess is overjoyed.

I like it, anyway. When I was down in Bris in early August, I happened to be walking past Team Moto near Jamie's place just as they were getting ready to close for the afternoon. After wandering around the bikes, I headed inside just to see what they had on offer. And what would you know - they had products displayed in such a way as to catch my eye and remove money from my wallet!

This particular jacket is a Joe Rocket, and was originally priced at (apparently) $599. Being a Joe Rocket, I'd believe that. I'd also believe that it was originally a bit more than that again, actually. These were on special for $350, and you know how I do love a bargain.

At any rate, I managed not to buy one right then and there, and spent the next 2 weeks cursing that decision. So, when we were back in Bris, I made a point of heading over there especially to pick one up. Luckily they still had a couple left. The silver & black jacket was a size too big, but the only ones that fit me snugly were a bright red, which I wasn't too fussed on. Beggars can't be choosers, and I was happy to get one at all at that price.

The main reason I wanted one is because of this:


There are zip-off side panels that run from the cuff up the inside of your arm, then back down to the waist of the jacket. Zip them off, and there's airflow mesh exposed underneath. So when it's hot (IE, all the time up here), you can simply zip the side panels off and enjoy fresh cooling air. You would have to be trying VERY hard to land on any exposed bits of mesh during a crash though, which is great.

I had to ride the bike in for a service the other day, and wore the jacket. It was absolutely freezing! It was also raining at the time, but we'll leave the discussion about the sensibilities of riding to work in the rain, in an air-flow mesh jacket to another time, OK? So I have high expectations for this jacket, and hope to get a lot of use out of it. I'll probably still use my mesh RallyX jacket through summer, since NOTHING beats the airflow you get with it, but for anything cooler, this will now be my main riding jacket.

I had been looking for a leather jacket with good ventilation for some time, but no one seems to make such a thing. One of the bike shops here had a couple of jackets made with perforated leather front and back, but once they sold out they didn't get any more stock. I almost bought one when I first saw them, but at $500 they were just too expensive. However, since they disappeared, this is the first jacket I've found that was predominantly leather, yet had good ventilation as well.

Now, to find a decent matt-black open face helmet that won't break the bank... :)