Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater
Arg, feeling just a trifle frustrated today.
I stumbled randomly across MotoPort clothing today, particularly their Air Kevlar jacket. I was interested to see that they had an "independent report" on the abrasion resistance of different fabrics. I eagerly clicked the link, and found a poorly edited PDF with some reasonable looking claims. And down at the bottom, where I was expecting to see "Tests conducted by XYZ Lab" and some contact information, there was... nothing. No, no second page, either. This was a completely unattributed interpretation of a lab report.
My interest at this point was basically piqued, rather than enraged. I called, and spoke with someone (probably Wayne, the owner), and we ended up chatting for about 20 minutes. In the course of the conversation, he completely dissed the Aerostich I normally wear, along with nearly every article of textile motorcycle clothing other than MotoPort clothing. That's probably an unfair characterization, but that's what it felt like.
He also basically said that no one likes a one-piece suit, and that everyone who's gone from an Aerostich to his two-piece suit is so much happier. He cited a few reviews, one on Advrider.com, and one on WebBikeWorld.com. I read through them, and while I agree that the Motoport gear sounds like good stuff, it doesn't sound like an improvement for me.
The more I thought about this, the more frustrated I got. Particularly that one on WBW, which had me thinking, "ok, yes, poly- anything is plastic and could melt, but does that mean it will?" All the assumptions in these reviews got me really riled up.
Part of the reason I'm so riled, as I think about it, is that I've spent the last ~6 years thinking that Aerostich was the absolute pinnacle of motorcycle gear, and here sneaks up this other company quietly claiming that, actually, they are the pinnacle, and Aerostich is just a slickly marketed pretender. So, did I spend $800 on a suit for nothing? Was I duped into buying a pile of crap which will be as protective as tissue paper?
The answer is no. A resounding and definitive no. Self-delusion? Could be, but hear me out. Motoport's claims are based on lab tests. Fine, but do those lab tests have any bearing on reality? Ok, 500 denier Cordura (which is what most of the Aerostich suit is made from) has a 22 pound tear strength, on the test machine. Does that mean I'll ever see that in a real-world situation? No freakin' clue! Great, 1000 denier (the reinforced bits on the Aerostich) is "stronger than leather" according to both Motoport and Aerostich. Great. Do I need stronger than leather? No freakin' clue! Probably not. As I wrote in my sander test article, you can get super duper protection, but you don't really need it. All you need is enough protection to keep your skin off the pavement in one crash. Hooray, the Motoport gear is licensed for road racing in Europe. So? Am I road racing in Europe?
On top of all this frustration, I left work today, and hopped on the Z750s to head home. Traffic was frustrating. I was riding a bit differently, trying to keep the engine above 4000 RPM to test a gas mileage theory. Then it hit me: why am I freaking out about this bike's gas mileage? I shouldn't have to worry about it!
I loved the Ninja 250. It got reasonable to great gas mileage depending on how it was ridden. The Z gets down into the sidecar bike's range, which is really not acceptable. So I'm trying Stupid Riding Tricks to get the gas mileage up. Why? Why? It's better than the Le Mans for gas mileage (with about the same real-world performance), but that's like saying that a Hummer H2 guzzles less gas than a Hummer H1. Neither one is a good representative in a gas mileage contest.
Right now, I'm about that far from selling everything and buying a Ninja 250. I'm not going to, because I know this feeling will pass, but boy am I pissed off and frustrated right now.
I'm sick and tired of struggling over what's right, and what's the best thing. I had almost the perfect bike, and I sold it. I have a nearly perfect suit, and there's no reason I should get rid of it in favor of anything else.
Posted at 18:41 permanent link category: /motorcycle
Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater