January In Florida

Who was that masked man?

Last week I took a solo trip down to my Dad’s in the Daytona Beach area of Florida for a visit and help him with a few projects.  I’m not too fond of solo trips and really do miss having Donna sitting behind me.  A solo day ride is one thing but a solo trip is another thing entirely.  This would also be the R1200RT’s first long trip since we brought it back from Daytona Beach, FL back in October of 2014.

We live just north of Atlanta, GA which means going through or around Atlanta to get to Florida.  I commuted to Atlanta everyday day before I retired so I already had a plan.  That plan was to get on the road by 6:30 am to be just ahead of the bulk of the rush hour traffic.  It would also mean leaving in the dark which doesn’t bother me at all.  I’d rather start the day in the dark than end it in the dark when I’m tired.  You either get on the road early or wait and get on the road much later in the morning.  Well my plan was a disaster due to the lack of driving skills of others.  A multi-car accident on an entirely different highway caused major gridlock on Interstate 75 South!  Imagine looking down at the GPS to see that you’re travelling 7.9 mph, and that was fast for that morning.  It took me over an hour to travel a grand total of 18 miles, 15 of which were on the interstate!  I was normally able to leave for work just before 7:00 am and get to work by 8:00 am with what I call normal rush hour traffic.  An hour and 35 minutes into the ride I was getting to the exit I used to use from the interstate to get to my office!  But once I got inside I-285, Atlanta’s perimeter highway, it was pretty much a speed limit ride.  It was also pretty cold that morning too!  When I left the temperature was in the upper 20’s (F) and peaked at about 30° (F) for quite some time until around central Georgia, well south of Macon.  The cold caused another predicament too.  I was dressed for cold weather riding, not cold weather sitting.  After some time in traffic I was actually getting cold because I had also started to sweat.  I had to turn the temperature on the heated seat down but left the grips toasty warm.  As I approached southern Georgia the temperature started warming to near 50° (F) and slowly warmed a bit more.  I actually had the heated grips on until I was in northern Florida!  On the whole trip down the R1200RT continued to impress me.  I had the dynamic ESA set to one rider with luggage and the mode set to soft, being on the interstate.  To break the boredom of interstate highway travel it was good to have the Sirius/XM satellite radio.  Once I got to Jacksonville, FL I tuned it into Radio Margaritaville!

After a few days in Florida it was time to head for home.  When I left it was sunny and quickly warmed to about 74° (F) for a good while.  As I headed west on I-10 and then north on I-75 the temperature started to drop but it stayed sunny.  The day’s forecast had already told me that I’d be riding into rain the closer I got to home.  As I approached Macon I was still in the sunshine but could see gray skies ahead.  Once in Macon it started to rain on and off just enough to wet the windshield a few times.  As I pressed on approaching Atlanta the rain became more steady, but not heavy.  I switched the ride mode to “Rain” and continued on.  The new fairing and windshield design on the R1200RT does manage to keep a lot of the rain off you while you’re moving.  I’m still adjusting the new timing of the gas stops between the new R1200RT and our old K1200LT.  In fact the R1200RT has a half-gallon larger gas tank, gets better gas mileage and goes further between fill ups.  I stopped for gas south of Valdosta, GA to fill up and then did not stop again until I got off the highway near home, a full 265 miles later!  And even when I did stop, I still had more than a gallon of gas left.  This was with the cruise control seat at about 75 mph on the posted 70 mph stretch which was nearly most of the trip!  The R1200RT averaged over 53 mpg on that last tank!  Now along the way I was checking the trip computer (which can be displayed on the GPS screen) and it showed I’d get home with 65-70 miles of gas left (depending on the speed).  The closer I got to home I also started to suffer from “getthereitis” but I wasn’t tired.  But I will admit that I did find out what I had always heard about BMW seats being hard.  During those last 50 miles I could have sworn I was sitting on a cinder block!  Our previous motorcycle, the K1200LT already had a custom Rick Mayer seat on it when we bought it.  That stretch from Valdosta to home was good practice for an Iron Butt Saddle Sore 1000!  And it looks like a forecast of sunny and warm for this Saturday!

The R1200RT prepared to head back home to Georgia.

Our K1200LT in the same spot nearly 5 years earlier.

Speed And Strength Motorcycle Shoe Review

I received a pair of Speed & Strength “Run With The Bulls” motorcycle shoes from Motorcycle House for review.  I’ve worn the original BMW Street Sneakers before so I was already used to something that was not a full boot.

When I took the shoes out of the box I immediately noticed that they were a sturdy pair of shoes.  They are definitely not regular tennis shoes.  They come up to just over the ankle.  Right away I found the sizing to be accurate as I normally wear an 8 ½ shoe and I had ordered a 9 (the shoes are only available in whole sizes).  My toes come just to the tip of the shoe, are not jammed in and have room to move a bit but the shoes are not lose.  I think an 8 would’ve been too small.  The shoes are black leather and cordura nylon with hard rubber soles.  The laces are exposed very little, using what Speed & Strength calls an “undercover lacing system”.  There’s also a velcro strap that covers the knot.  The undercover lacing system doesn’t hinder putting the shoe on or tightening the laces once you realize the lacing pattern.  There is a hard ankle protector on both the inboard and outboard side of the shoe over the ankle bone.  There is a hard rubber heel protector as well.  Both shoes have a rubber shift guard on them.  I’ve had boots before that only had a shift guard on the left foot and it looked a bit odd.  The shoes have flat soles just like tennis shoes so if you have foot pegs instead of floorboards (like I do) this is more comfortable, letting you move your foot more.  The soles are also harder and sturdier than tennis shoes.  The first time I wore them was on a 470 mile weekend trip in the Great Smoky Mountains and on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The shoes performed flawlessly and were very comfortable.  I had no issues or problems with using the gear shift or the rear brake.  An unexpected plus was their comfort in walking.  They were much more comfortable walking for a distance than my motorcycle boots are, and those have softer soles!  After dinner one night we went for a mile walk and while the soles were hard it was a comfortable walk on my feet.  It was much more comfortable than I expected it to be.  These were the only shoes I brought with me and this was intentional.  You could wear these as everyday shoes while you were out riding.  The only minor negative I found was one day I wore jeans instead of riding pants and the air at my ankles was something I wasn’t used to.  It wasn’t a bad thing, just something I wasn’t used to.  These shoes are not advertised as being waterproof.  I think they’d keep your feet dry for a short time in a shower but not much more.  If you’re riding something like an HD Ultra Classic or HD Road Glide Ultra that have the lowers on the engine guards then you’d be better off as your feet are more protected from the elements already.  I imagine it would be the same on Honda Gold Wing as it was on my BMW K1200LT too. I didn’t experience any wet weather while riding to test my theory.  I did though wear them when it did rain at night and then stepping back onto wooden decking and painted concrete I felt sure-footed.  That brings up another good point, with my foot out at a stop on loaded touring motorcycle riding 2-up the soles of the shoes did not slip even slightly.

Pros:

• Comfortable
• Accurate sizing
• Sturdy and well made
• Comfortable for walking
• A good value
• Laces are not exposed

Cons:

• No reflective material

Check out these shoes and other motorcycle apparel and accessories at Motorcycle House!

These shoes are great and great value to boot!  And yes, the pun was intended.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

A video review too!

Florida And Back

Last Sunday I headed down on a solo trip to Florida to visit my Dad in the Daytona Beach area.  It’s a trip that’s made a couple of times a year.  The route isn’t anything spectacular as the whole idea is to get there.  As you can imagine it’s all interstate highways to get there (although we have an alternate or two) going down I-75 to I-10, around Jacksonville on I-295 (believe me, you want to go around Jacksonville and not through) and then I-95 to my destination.  See, I told you it was an interesting route.  Departure is usually early in the morning letting me (or us) arrive in the afternoon.  This trip was a little different and I left late in the morning so I’d get there in the very early evening (when I’m solo I can travel much quicker and take shorter stops).

I forget how hot south-central Georgia can be once you get south of Macon!  In southern Georgia I was motoring along in the center lane with the cruise control set just above 70 mph.  In the right lane there was an SUV pulling an open trailer and I was slowly gaining on them.  As I got closer I could see some children’s bicycles on the trailer along with what looked like some waterproof boxes.  And then I saw it.  There was a BMW R1200GSA travelling on down the road on the trailer!  I slowly pulled alongside and adjusted the cruise control to match his speed.  The driver saw me and energetically waved at me.  I waved back.  Then, I pointed to the motorcycle shaking my head and waving my finger in “no no” fashion like a parent would to a child.  He burst out laughing!  Then he shrugged his shoulders and pointed to his wife (I’m assuming) in the passenger seat, as if to say “It was her idea!”  I motioned again and she started laughing too.  It was kind of fun.  I had hoped I’d run into them at a gas stop or rest area so I could tell him something like “I was going to call 911 when I saw a BMW on a trailer because I thought it was stolen.” or “I knew Harley Davidson was coming out with 2 new models but I didn’t know they looked like an R1200GSA.”  In all fairness to this family they had Canadian license plates so it would’ve been a long family ride.  But, his wife does get major points for letting him bring the motorcycle along.

The rest of the trip went pretty much according to plan until I got to the Jacksonville area.  The skies ahead were darkening and I knew rain was coming.  I went ahead and stopped for my last gas stop on the way.  After gassing up I checked the weather radar and saw storms on a map that was only 2 minutes old.  But knowing the area and seeing the map I felt confident that by getting on I-295 very shortly and then heading south that I’d miss the storms.  Well Murphy’s Law took over.  It wasn’t long down the road when the bottom fell out with one of those good old-fashioned Florida summer thunderstorms. I was wearing a mesh jacket and my Tourmaster mesh pants.  Did you know that rain goes right through mesh gear just like wind does?  In no time I was soaked and there was no overpass around to duck under which to put rain gear on so I motored on.  The thunderstorm lasted only about 10 minutes and then I was riding on dry road again.  But I also found out that mesh riding gear also dries off really quick too.  I had 2 more bouts with the rain once I got on I-95.  After the second thundershower I just left the rain pants on and left the rain liner in the mesh jacket.  I did get pretty warm.  That last hour and half or so was the worst part of the trip and got me to my Dad’s much later than expected.

Once there it was the typical visiting my Dad.  I always knew that my Dad had originally enlisted in the Marine Corps at 15 years old during WWII and was sent home when it was discovered.  One rainy day over lunch on the water, and a beer in my Dad, I got the full story.  It was the summer of 1945 and he was 15 years old and falsified his age to join the Marines.  The Drill Instructors had been coming in since the beginning and telling them that if they were not old enough to be there to step forward.  The Boots (recruits) would even be pushed onto to bunks or onto the floor.  They were several weeks into Boot Camp and he figured they were on to him.  So when they said to step forward if you weren’t old enough, he did, along with a guy across the aisle too.  They were both ushered off and interviewed separately by the Drill Instructor.  My Dad said the Drill Instructor asked him what he wanted to do and what he thought should be done to him.  He said the demeanor was now different, apparently since he now knew he was speaking with a 15-year-old boy.  My Dad said they were halfway through with Boot Camp and he felt he had a duty to complete it.  He was sent out to rejoin his platoon and complete Boot Camp and wasn’t treated any different from anyone else.  He said that Parris Island was packed with Marines who had already completed Boot Camp and were continuing their training right there while they were living in “tent cities” while the Boots were in barracks.  One day the platoon was gathered and they were told that a “secret bomb” had been dropped on Japan, that the one bomb had leveled an entire city and it was hoped it would end the war.  It was years later when he learned that after Boot Camp that their training was for the invasion of the home island of Japan.  There were told only it would be the fiercest fighting ever faced by the Marines or the Army.  They continued to train.  Japan surrendered and they continued to train.  My Dad graduated Boot Camp and turned 16 years old at Parris Island.  It was October when he was summoned to the Company Commander.  He was told that a relative had written a letter, presumably to a Congressman or Senator that he was too young to enlist.  The war was now over and he was being given a General Discharge under “Honorable Circumstances” with the reason for the discharge being a Falsified Enlistment.  The Honorable Circumstances meant that he could re-enlist when he was old enough, which he later did.  That lunchtime conversation made the entire trip worth while.

“The Loop” in the Daytona Beach area.

A few days later I rode “The Loop”, a short ride that begins in Ormond Beach and goes along the Halifax River and then through two state parks.  Once in the parks you ride though some beautiful marsh land.  A portion of the ride is on the thin strip of land between the Halifax River and the Atlantic Ocean.  You’ll ride with very large and expensive homes on one side of the street and cinder block bungalows on the other.  As you right between those houses the road is covered by the branches of trees.  I suppose you could ride along the stretch of Highway A1A along the beach that parallels the river side, but you’ve already ridden along the beach to get there.  No beach riding on this ride.  Portions of the ride make you feel like you’re in a remote wilderness.  The ride gets its name from beginning and ending at the same intersection, hence “The Loop”.  Oh, and the trip wouldn’t have been complete without a trip to BMW Motorcycles of Daytona!

I had planned on leaving late in the morning on Friday as I had done to get there.  My hope was to come through Atlanta after rush hour.  My Dad then figured that it was Friday and if it rained in Atlanta I may not miss rush hour.  So it was decided that I should be on the road by 6:30 am.  I was on the road at 6:20 am.  And as luck would have it, I got stuck behind a large crash on I-75 approaching Atlanta.  I took me well over 30 minutes to travel 2 miles.  That extra time put me going right though Atlanta at the beginning of a Friday afternoon rush hour.  My Dad’s idea would have had me at home before rush hour even began.  Oh well.

I made it back home to Donna and the dogs.  Now we’ll be getting ready for trip that Donna and I will be taking next weekend to Maggie Valley, NC.  We don’t know yet if we’ll ride some on the Blue Ridge Parkway or if we’ll go to the Wheels Through Time motorcycle museum.

Pancakes On The Porch

Sean & Randy return with the jumper cables. Don’t they make a cute couple?

Yesterday, members of my Blue Knights Chapter were going to meet for what’s called “Pancakes on the porch” at Rider’s Hill in Dahlonega, GA.  A group of us were scheduled to meet in Woodstock and ride up there.  We prepared to leave and one of the motorcycles, a 2002 Harley Davidson Electra Glide Ultra Classic wouldn’t start.  Randy was quick to begin getting the seat off and trying to diagnose his issue.  Sean and I decided a push start might be in order.  Let me tell you, pushing a full dresser touring bike and its driver is a chore!  The bike almost started but we ran out of hill.  So more tinkering was in order.  The lights would light but it seemed there just wasn’t enough juice to turn the starter.  Someone spied an auto parts store just down the street and Randy got on the back of Sean’s Victory Cross Country Tour and they returned from the store with a set of motorcycle jumper cables!  Now it got even more interesting.  Sean started getting tools out to access the battery on the Victory which was down low, in front of the engine, behind some body work.  The other motorcycle, a Harley Davidson Road King also required tools to remove the seat and then get to the battery.  Now on Randy’s Ultra Classic I had just watched him remove his seat and get to his battery without using a single tool.  So I moved the K1200LT, raised the seat (by releasing it with a knob in the side case) and there was my battery!  Just like the Ultra Classic.  Well no joy, it wouldn’t jump-start.  Then the jokes started.  “Hey Chris, use your smartphone and Google “Harley won’t start”.  There shouldn’t be too many hits!”  But Sean had Randy try to start the bike while he hit the starter with a pair of pliers.  It cranked right up!  A stuck solenoid on the starter seemed to be the issue.  So it was off to Rider’s Hill.

We got to the Hill and enjoyed the dinner plate sized pancakes with friends.  Randy’s Ultra Classic started up and he headed for home, not wanting to push his luck and to do some diagnostic work about his starter.  For many of us the ride to Rider’s Hill was the ride for the day.  Donna and I along with Sean and Christine on their Victory had already made plans to head to Camping World in Oakwood, GA to look at motorhomes and to have the hot dog and hamburger lunch they were offering.  It was a nice ride down there.  We had lunch and then looked in some really nasty used motorhomes!  I’m not kidding.  They could’ve at least cleaned them before offering them for sale.  But that aside, we then headed for home.  I heard from Donna, “You’re not going to put that jacket on are you?”  It was hot and I gave into her suggestion.  But now hindsight showed I was probably warmer WITHOUT the cloth, vented motorcycle jacket!  I pretty much expected that.  But the four of us did stop for ice cream on the way home so that made it a little better.

We pulled into the garage at the end of the day and noticed a few drops of liquid under my right foot peg.  Closer inspection showed it to brake fluid that was leaking.  So it looks like I’ve got a repair in my very near future.

Riding “The Gauntlet”

My Blue Knights Chapter had scheduled one of its weekday “Hooky Rides” for today and had planned to ride “The Gauntlet” in northern Georgia.  Well, we had only three of us show up for breakfast and to ride.  The Gauntlet is a 133 mile loop showcasing some of north Georgia’s great motorcycling roads.  We began the loop at the intersection of US HWY 19 and US HWY 129 at Turner’s Corner (the bottom of the attached image below, above Dahlonega, and rode it counter-clockwise).  If you’re skilled enough, you can get some wear on the sides of your tires too on this ride.  Two of us today are former motor officers from the Atlanta Police Department and the third is just a flat-out good rider.  Part of this ride literally has North Carolina on one side of the road and Georgia on the other!  For some reason this ride takes all day to complete.  We could’ve easily ridden up to Deal’s Gap and ridden The Tail of the Dragon and come back in the time it took to ride this 133 mile loop.  We had a cloudless blue sky and started with temperatures in the mid 60’s F and reaching 88° F in Dahlonega when we finished.  It really is a fun route to ride.  I wore my new Tourmaster Air Tracker mesh pants and they were great on this warm day.  I also wore my River Road Laughlin jacket, from Motorcycle House, all day, opening the vents in the jacket as it warmed.  The jacket got warm sitting in some traffic in Dahlonega and again in Woodstock on the way home but cooled off as expected once I got moving again.  At the end of the day the Magic Carpet got parked in the garage with 81,473 miles on her odometer.

The Gauntlet is marked in red.

A Review Of The River Road Laughlin Jacket

I’ve received a Laughlin jacket made by River Road from Motorcycle House in order to write a review of the jacket and Motorcycle House.

To be honest, I picked the Laughlin because it was a fabric jacket and was not leather and was available in a color other than black.  Many of the jackets were nearly identical to a name brand jacket that I already had or were black leather.  I was pleasantly surprised when this jacket arrived.  The jacket is a nice brown color and had the appearance of Carhartt jacket.  When I tried it on Donna even asked “Are you sure that’s a motorcycle jacket?”  She commented that from a distance the jacket even looked like it was suede.  Now on to the review.

I ordered the jacket in an XL and the jacket is true to size and maybe even a little larger as it is not snug and has a looser fit but can be adjusted somewhat by the tab at the waist.  It is a waist length jacket.  It is a polyester/nylon blend jacket that has the appearance of cotton or canvas.  It definitely does not have the nylon or carbolex look.  The Laughlin has reflective piping on the front and the back.  There are a total of NINE pockets on this jacket!  There are 2 snap pockets on the chest, the 2 zipper chest vents are also pockets, 2 zippered handwarmer style pockets, on the inside of the jacket there is a zippered map style pocket and the liner has a cell phone style pocket and large Velcro pocket.  If you remove the insulated liner, the cell phone pocket and Velcro pocket are also on the mesh lining of the jacket itself.  The waist can be tightened by tabs with snaps on them.  The sleeves zip to the wrist and can also be cinched tighter by snaps.  The collar can be snapped down so that it does not flap in the wind, but can also be zipped all they way to cover your neck and keep it warm.  I rode about 100 miles wearing the jacket yesterday.  It was 46º F and sunny when I started.  I had a long-sleeved t-shirt on and was quite comfortable.  Although I could feel some cold air seeping in at the waist I merely tightened the snaps when I stopped to meet my riding partner for the day.  I also had the neck zipped all the way up covering my neck and it was soft and comfortable and more importantly did not interfere with my helmet.  Throughout the morning and into the afternoon I was very comfortable.  But as normal, if it were to be colder I would’ve been wearing more than a long sleeve t-shirt.  While we crested some mountains in north Georgia the temperature dipped back to 45º.  As the afternoon warmed up into the mid 60’s I stopped to remove the liner.  I also opened up the vents and felt good air flow around my torso using the front should vents and the rear exhaust vents.  This is an armored motorcycle jacket having CE Approved armor in the elbows and shoulders and a foam protection pad for the back.  All of the armor is removable.  The armor is not noticeable perhaps making this jacket appeal to even a broader spectrum of riders.  I rode about 100 miles with the jacket yesterday.  This jacket is so comfortable that it will quite likely be my “go to” jacket next winter for casual wear.  I really like this jacket a lot if you can’t tell.

You’ll see my review of Motorcycle House along with the jacket’s pros and cons below the pictures of the jacket and the video.  You have to review the retailer too don’t you?  Especially when that’s what they want!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Jacket Pros:

• Warm and comfortable in cooler temperatures.  With liner removed and vents opened jacket moves air around body.
• Collar will snap down or zip up to cover neck.
• When off the motorcycle it does not look like a motorcycle jacket.
• It has a lot of pockets.
• Cell phone pocket will even accommodate a smart phone in an Otterbox case.
• True to size fitting.
• CE Approved armor in elbows and shoulders with foam padding for the spine.
• The armor is not highly visible.
• Reflective piping.
• Water repellent.

Jacket Cons:

• Back vents can be hard to reach while wearing jacket.

Motorcycle House

It was a bit odd when the marketing representative from Motorcycle House contacted me about this.  They supplied the choices to pick from after we started firming things up.  Most were jackets of the “cruiser” variety or something I already had.  I then selected the River Road Laughlin.  I’ll admit there were some bumps in the road that made me wonder things.  It was took over a week to ship and they said it was due to weather.  I then realized the area had an earthquake about 2 days after they said they’d ship.  They are located near San Bernardino, CA and the jacket was sent to them from a warehouse in Illinois.  But to their credit, they stayed in near constant contact through email.  Once they shipped from California it made it here in under 4 full business days (shipped late on Wednesday and arrived on a Monday).  They also provided me tracking numbers from the warehouse to them and then from them to me.  The jacket did arrive a day earlier than UPS had estimated.  When you go to the web site you’ll often quickly get a chat window from customer service asking if they can help you.  If you click on the chat link for them, they quickly respond.  I did notice that they nearly always had their own brand of article in stock but currently (as this can change) nearly all Tourmaster or Cortech items will show as out of stock.  They did deliver to me as a demo within what I would consider a reasonable time.  I was always able to get in touch with someone, even when being anonymous using their support link while browsing.  I’d give them a chance if you’re looking for motorcycle gear or even saddlebags.  Yes they even sell saddle bags!  They made me wonder at first but I can be cynical, but in reality they came through as promised.  Motorcycle House is just trying to get their name out there and spread around.  They’re at motorcyclehouse.com if you want to take a look.

Review Of Tourmaster Tracker Air Pants

Earlier this week I had received my pair of Tourmaster Tracker Air Pants.  The pants have mesh panels in them to allow for air flow when it’s warm.  I got ride over 200 miles while wearing them today.  I saw reviews on several websites that the pants were “true to size” or even big.  When I took the pants out of the box, they seemed huge!  I tried them on and they seemed a bit big and made me think for a while that I should’ve ordered the L instead of the XL.  You see, I already have a pair of Tourmaster Quest pants in L and they seem snug but are cut more like jeans.  Tourmaster L says 34-36 and XL says 36-38.  I can comfortably wear name brand blue jeans with a 38″ inch waste and can squeeze in a pair of 36 so I thought I’d be okay.  These pants are also much darker in color than is shown on the Tourmaster and other web sites.

The Tracker Air Pants come with the nylon wind liner already in them.  The liner is easily removed with Velcro tabs.  I first tried the pants on with the wind liner in them and could already tell that I don’t like it.  Unless you are VERY careful putting the pants on, you will pull the liner off the Velcro tabs.  Then the wind liner looked like it was longer than the pants themselves and stuck out from the bottom of the legs.  It really doesn’t bother me though because I wanted the pants for warm weather wear as I already have cool weather pants.  The pants have legs that zip off so you can make them into shorts.  I did zip the legs off and on and it was easy to do.  Again though, I didn’t buy them to wear as shorts so doing that is something I will probably never do again.  The only armor in these pants is the CE rated armor in the knees.  The knee armor is not adjustable like it is in other Tourmaster pants, it only has the one position.  I think if I had ordered the L the armor would be too high while sitting on the motorcycle.  The pants have no back pockets.  The only pockets are the 2 zippered front pockets and the cargo pockets on each leg.  But the cargo pockets appear to be waterproof (Tourmaster does NOT advertise these pants as having a rain liner to keep you dry).  The side zipper on the legs goes all the way to the knee and the cuffs are secured by Velcro.  The zipper is covered by a Velcro secured flap which I think is unneccessary.  Unless you’re going to put the pants on or take them off while wearing boots you shouldn’t even need to use the leg zippers.  There are no belt loops on these pants and you adjust them using the Velcro strap on each side.

Now for the good part….wearing while riding.

I wore them today on a 200+ mile ride with temperatures in the mid 70’s F and a partly cloudy sky.  As soon as you start moving you can feel the air moving through the pants.  The mesh panels are on the shins, thighs and the backs of the legs.  Right away you feel the shins and I’m being a full fairing.  As your speed increases you can feel the air on your thighs.  I never did notice any breeze on my calves but interestingly could feel it on the back of my thighs.  Getting on and off the motorcycle was easy and comfortable, probably due to the stretch panel in the crotch.  I felt no binding or tight spots.  The legs did not flap in the breeze.  Are they cooler than jeans?  You bet they are!  Even when stopped in traffic they were quite comfortable.  The knee armor seemed a bit high but I was able to move around and adjust it before riding off.  I found no defects and they are well made.  Even though they are mesh, you can’t see skin through the material due to the thinner mesh lining like Tourmaster and Cortech use in their jackets.  I do think they are a very worthwhile purchase if you ride in warmer climates as they are cooler than jeans and offer more protection than jeans.

Pros

• Well made
• Comfortable
• Cool
• Knee armor
• Cargo pockets appear to be waterproof
• Allow good air flow
• Cuffs are adjustable
• Reflective piping down entire length of leg
• Reflective piping matches pants and is invisible until light find it in the dark
• Don’t ride up while riding
• Don’t flap in breeze
• Cooler than jeans
• More protection than jeans
• You may be able to wear over a pair of jeans

Cons

• Wind liner comes loose
• Wind liner appears to be an after thought
• No belt loops for wearing a belt
• Knee armor is not adjustable
• No hip armor
• Seem to run large
• No back pockets