Girlie Motorcycle Blog

On Sunday, I slipped out for a quick mid-morning ride. By 10am the temperature had already risen into the 90′s where it stayed for the remainder of the day. As I rode along the merciless black tar of the Long Island Expressway, the heat radiated all around me. I don’t often wish I were just going right back home instead of riding on… but yesterday was one of those days. It was utterly miserable.

How hot is too hot?

At some point, you have to ask yourself if it is simply too hot to ride your motorcycle. It is an entirely personal question to which the answer is sometimes, yes.

Today when I got into my car after work, the outside temperature read 104°F and crept up to 106°F while moving on the Expressway. I blissfully drove along in the cool of the AC. It was simply too hot to ride.

If you Decide to Brave the Heat

Hydrate, hydrate and then hydrate some more. Skip the caffeine, soda and alcohol. Go for water or a sports drink.

A good option to keep your fluids at a healthy level is to ride with a Camelback and sip as you go. It’s important that you try to stave off any of the symptoms of dehydration before they occur.

WebMD’s Symptoms of Dehydration in Adults:

• Increased thirst
• Dry mouth and swollen tongue
• Weakness
• Dizziness
• Palpitations (feeling that the heart is jumping or pounding)
• Confusion
• Sluggishness, even fainting
• Inability to sweat
• Decreased urine output: Urine color may indicate dehydration. If urine is concentrated and deeply yellow or amber, you may be dehydrated.

Keep Cool with Evaporative Cooling

Wear a wet bandana or maybe Aerostich’s Evap-odana around your neck. There is also the option of using a cooling vest or the old-fashioned soaked t-shirt method.

Insulate your Body from the Sun and Heat

ATGATT helps with the heat too. Keep your skin fully covered and insulated.

Soundrider.com also notes that if the air temperature is below your regular body temperature, keep the vents open on your gear or opt for mesh garments. Once the temperature rises above your body temperature, close up vents to fight against the hot air. The moving hot air will heat up your cooler skin.

Use your Head

If you decide to ride in the high heat, listen to your body. If you feel a little woozy or maybe just a little “off”, do yourself a favor and pull off somewhere. Try to cool down by getting off the hot motorcycle and finding a shady spot, an air conditioned store or gas station and just chill out. By the time you feel the symptoms, dehydration could already be settling in.

Your Hot Weather Riding Tips? Do you have some hot weather motorcycle riding tips to keep to share? Put them in the comments, please!

How about you?

• What’s the hottest temperature you’ve ever ridden in?
• How hot is too hot for you?

The ’05 Speed Triple doesn’t have much room in the tail section. That means minimal opportunity to do much bolting or bracketing. Couple that with the exhaust cans that extend wide on the sides and you are really limited in your tail luggage options.

For the past few years, I’ve been using a Famsa 22 liter tail bag. It’s base is held to the pillion seat by rubberized straps. The Famsa is not waterproof and requires a rain fly. It has proven to be a terrific bag. I’ve been able to pack a good amount of stuff in that bag when we hit the road.

If it Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It

So why abandon my fabulous textile tailbag, you ask? Well… no real reason, really. Just because.

I fully confess that my purchase of the $32 Sears motorcycle trunk was an impulse buy.  I have often thought that having lockable, waterproof storage on the Triple would make the bike even more ideal for me. The dirt cheap Sears box pushed me one step closer to that dream.

The only hurdle that stood in my way over the years was coming up with an effective, sturdy and safe way to mount the box on the bike.

In Search of a Nice Rack

I’d like to introduce you to 2 words that hindered my top box lovin’: slim and pickins. There aren’t many aftermarket luggage box solutions for my model year.

SW-Motech does make a plate to mount a top box onto the ’05 Speed Triple. And it does indeed look like a lovely, elegant solution. But, I’ve balked at the idea of using it because (right or wrong) it just seems like the weight of the box and it’s contents would be so far back on the subframe. A post on Triumphrat detailing a broken subframe served to further feed my fear. So, I’ve just avoided going that route.

The SWMotech rack for 2008 and later Speed Triple models features a different design.

A Top Box Rack with Love in the Stitches

Having kind friends that can weld is a beautiful thing. My dear friend Quacka (of RE-5 fame) hooked me up with a luggage bracket made out of some square tubing that he just happened to have laying around the garage.

He popped the never used passenger pegs out and used their space as a mounting point. The second brace uses the bolt that holds the exhaust to the subframe. The weight of the box and mounting plate hovers more over the pillion seat as opposed to far behind it. 4 bolts and less than 5 minutes gets the rack on and off.

The box is not so far back that I’m (right or wrong) worried about it levering against the subframe. I figure if a person is able to sit in that space and rest their feet on the pegs, then my little little black box can too.  And I’m happy to report that I can easily swing my leg over the bike without kicking the box.

All in all – I’m a happy (and lucky!) girl. Now I just need to go somewhere!

Last week Swag over at BikerSwag.com asked, ‘May is recognized as Motorcycle Awareness Month. What plans do you have to help promote it?’

That’s a good question. I don’t know if my answer is a cop-out but I’m not doing anything differently than I always do, I suppose.

• Encourage Minimizing Risk: ATGATT
  I try to minimize my own personal risk and encourage others to do the same by extolling the benefits of wearing ATGATT – All the Gear, All the Time. I’m not walking around like a Jehovah’s Witness selling my gospel door to door or anything, but I do put my feelings out there.

  When people ask why I’m wearing “all that” or of I’m hot, (when I’m done rolling my eyes ) I usually relay some sort of message regarding my clothing’s value. If just one person decides that maybe riding around in a t-shirt isn’t such a hot idea or maybe investing in a pair of riding boots is money well spent, then I feel like I’ve done something.

• Encourage Education: Learn the Right Way – Take a Class
  When someone mentions to me that they or a loved one are interested in riding, I always suggest that they take an MSF or similar course. I’m sure their wives, husbands, uncles are all great riders just like they say they are but… I feel it’s best to learn from someone you don’t have a relationship with and to make sure you get a well-rounded education. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation curriculum will prepare you with concepts for operating your motorcycle safely. It’s a great foundation for learning.

  Education isn’t only for Noobs!
  There are many refresher or experienced rider courses you can take to brush up on your skills.  There is always something to learn.

• Encourage Others to Help Themselves: Be your own Safety Advocate
  Don’t wait for someone else to help you. Help yourself!
  • Ride like you’re invisible
  • Don’t Ride Tired
  • Don’t Drink and Ride
  • Check your Speed – You can still have fun without being a menace
  • Check your equipment – Make sure your bike is in safe working order
  • Don’t ride in a car’s blind spot
  • Remember that you aren’t invincible, you’re a fragile human being
  • New rider? Leave the passenger at home for a while. You don’t know what you’re doing yet
  • Watch for Turning Vehicles- Don’t become a statistic!

  Have any other safety tips to share? Let’s hear ‘em!

So? What are you doing for Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month?

Links and Information

• Motorcycle Safety Foundation
• BikerSwag.com
• Boston.com Article: Motorcycles are everywhere, but who made the bumper sticker

When I began looking for offroad boots I primarily zeroed in on the brand Sidi because of my experience with their street boots. I’ve grown to really appreciate their longevity and quality so it seemed like a logical choice. The more I began to read, the more I got sucked in to what can only be described as the motorcycle version of F-Me boots; the Sidi Crossfire TA. That was until I saw the price…

How Much?! I Feel Faint.

Over and over, 3 hideous digits popped up on every website I visited, burning in to my retinas like molten lava. 4. 5. 0.  Four hundred and fifty dollars?! Were these people out of their damned minds? What kind of insane person spends that kind of money on a pair of boots?

I did try to exercise some discipline and looked for alternatives. (<–I’m lying) I scoured the web over the course of a week looking through link after link trying to see if there was a deal to be had on the lust-worthy Crossfires. There were none.

What Should I Do?

Kenny – bless him -  was my sounding board for this lunacy. He’s often the voice of reason and he’s learned to adeptly handle my nonsense with the evasive footwork of a boxer in the ring.

I pleaded my case to myself noting that its usually best to just pay up front and get what you really want. Otherwise you end up spending more by buying twice.  I reasoned that I would be making an investment in my personal safety. I don’t know why I even bothered to play that game. I knew the moment I laid eyes on them that I would buy them. With a slight pang of guilt I clicked the ‘checkout’ button.

Sure, some women go weak in the knees at the mere sight of the red soles of a pair of Louboutin pumps and normally I would too, but when I opened that big black Sidi box it was like Christmas day. There they were, the most beautiful motorcycle boots ever. I quickly pulled them out of the box, unbuckled them and plunged my feet into them. I think I might have squealed. But only a little.

Safety First

What’s that? Did you just say that I’m superficial? That I just keep talking about the way they look? Pfft. Fine.

Yes, they’re really protective. As a matter of fact I believe they probably saved me from an ankle injury last weekend while I kept throwing myself down on the ground. They have fabulously expandable calves, a buckle system that you really only need to set up once, hinged bracing on the ankles, replaceable parts, armor for days that skyscrapers all the way up my shin, yadda yadda yadda…

What can I say? I’m a girl and I love shoes. Beautiful motorcycle boots are like nirvana for me. My new Sidi Crossfire boots are so sexy, I think I want to make out with them.

Wearing them to work with a dress… too much?

Last week I ordered a medium sized motorcycle luggage trunk from Sears. It arrived on Saturday.

Storage capacity on the medium trunk is listed as 31liters. It is big enough to put my dirt helmet in, close and lock it. When traveling, I currently use a Famsa 22 liter Art 710 tailbag on my Speed Triple, so once I get this box securely mounted, it should provide me with some extra, waterproof, lockable space. ::knocks wood::

The Maltese Cross emblem is pretty hokey. That is going to be covered up or removed.

I don’t recall ordering the gloss black version of the box and the receipt says flat black but, that’s okay, I guess. I kinda like the gloss. Maybe it will make me feel like a sassy Italian bird jetsetting around Milan on a candy-colored Vespa.

Next up – some creative mounting. I’m going to need help from one of my garage savvy friends in sorting out a good mounting bracket for the Speed Triple.

• Sears Motorcycle Trunk
• JC Whitney Motorcycle Trunk
• Givi Motorcycle Trunks