For $160, all the helmet you’ll ever need

By now, you’re used to seeing us wear crazy expensive motorcycle gear. Custom leather suits, Japanese race gauntlets, fancy jackets and nice boots. That’s because, using motorcycles as our main transportation and frequently doing stupid, stupid things on them, we need the best functionality and safety out there. Especially the safety. But, what if you could find all that safety and most of those features in a helmet that costs just $160? You can in this new Icon Alliance. :continue:

Wes Siler. May 21st, 2012 - Permalink - Comments (49)

CE-certified sneakers

These TCX X-Streets look like pretty normal high-tops, right? Well, they’re not. With reinforced heel and toe boxes, a sturdy sole and armor over both sides of the ankles, they’re a dedicated riding shoe that should give you some protection and good support in a package that won’t make you look like a retarded elf. :continue:

Wes Siler. May 10th, 2012 - Permalink - Comments (40)

Go Aerostich, go black

Near elbow down on The Snake. 3,000 miles on a Honda Goldwing. Alone in Death Valley on a 636lbs motorcycle. Through water, in town, in the cold, in the hot desert. “Looks like moderately armored Prada,” according to our buddy Alan. Now you too can dress like two-thirds of the HFL staff; Aerostich is adding a version of the Roadcrafter allegedly inspired by Sean’s custom suit to its catalog. The Aerostich Stealth Roadcrafter is black on black on black with a black logo. :continue:

Wes Siler. May 10th, 2012 - Permalink - Comments (84)

53 percent of drivers unaware of lane splitting, 7 percent try to block motorcycles

According to a survey conducted by the California Office of Traffic Safety, the majority of car drivers are unaware that lane splitting is a legal practice. A small minority, seven percent, admitted to researchers that they’d actively tried to prevent lane splitting. Despite that, the vast majority, 84.4 percent of riders, have never had an incident while splitting. :continue:

Wes Siler. May 7th, 2012 - Permalink - Comments (76)

The 3 changes they made to the AGV AX-8 Dual

We’ve expounded the virtues of the AGV AX-8 Dual at length, but here’s the short version: weight, price, vision, ventilation, looks, safety. Those factors together make it probably the most appealing helmet on the market right now. Want one? The old model is widely on sale for $200. Half off. Do this year’s upgrades make it worth spending more? Here’s the three changes. :continue:

Wes Siler. May 3rd, 2012 - Permalink - Comments (19)

Gear: Alpinestars 365 GoreTex gloves

If you ride in all weathers, you’ll be familiar with the motorcycle glove conundrum. Race gloves provide huge levels of protection and intuitive feel, but your hands will get frostbite if the ambient temp drops below 60. Winter gloves are occasionally capable of keeping your hands a tiny bit warmer, but they tend to lack impact protection and bulky insulation removes all feel. Is there a third way? That’s what these Alpinestars 365 GoreTex gloves set out to achieve, employing new laminated membrane technology and ditching the insulation to enhance feel, while adopting the knuckle protectors off the flagship Astars GP-Pros. :continue:

Wes Siler. May 2nd, 2012 - Permalink - Comments (46)

RideApart 3: Why quads are awesome

Four wheels like a car, but handlebars and a saddle like a motorcycle. With quad bikes, it’s almost like someone took the most awesome part of driving — drifting — and combined it with the most exciting thing about riding dirt bikes — jumping — to create a vehicle with a single purpose: hooning. We take off into the Hungry Valley OHV park of the Los Padres National Forest onboard Suzuki Z400s and a King Quad to try and get as dirty as possible.

Grant Ray. April 30th, 2012 - Permalink - Comments (78)

A back protector that grows and dirt gloves with scaphoid protection

Little known in the US, Knox has been leading motorcycle safety innovations from the UK for over a decade now. For 2012, this new Meta-Sys back protector promises to boost protection, comfort, convenience and area of coverage while the firm’s innovative Scaphoid Protection System and Boa lacing technology make their way to dirt bike gloves, items that typically offer barely any protection at all. :continue:

Wes Siler. April 25th, 2012 - Permalink - Comments (23)

Why real dirt bike boots prevent face scars

I’ve had these fantastic Sidis on my desk for a while now, but living in New York, don’t have access to any dirtbikes or any nearby dirt. That’s a pity, because the Crossfire SRS boots are made in Italy, allow your ankle to articulate, are famously comfortable and do an excellent job of protecting your bones. Too bad I wasn’t wearing them when I crashed a dirt bike a while back. Here’s what happened because I didn’t use proper footwear. :continue:

Nick Goddard. April 23rd, 2012 - Permalink - Comments (19)

Motorcycle boots you can wear in public

A lot of our friends here in LA wear proper racing boots under jeans in their day-to-day riding. The motivation is obvious, they’re serious riders who want the benefits serious boots have to offer — safety, control, feel — but they do so with one serious problem. Racing boots are fucking ugly. Enter Vitesse, a French company that aims to package all those benefits into boots that actually look good. :continue:

Wes Siler. April 17th, 2012 - Permalink - Comments (64)

Search Tags