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The purpose of this purchase was to pipe in high fidelity music into my motorcycle helmet without destroying my hearing.  I went with the concept of noise isolation versus helmet speakers + amplifiers.

I’m cheap.  Because I’m cheap, I bought a set of cheap earphones with Etymotic ER4 plugs (read about the experience here) because I wanted to test the theory of high quality noise isolation with the Earphone / Earplug combination.  The known good option is to go with custom molded earplugs with hearing aid quality speakers.  My problem was that when all is done, they are about $200.  And since I managed to lose my custom plugs within a year of ownership, that doesn’t excite me.

I decided to

The purpose of this purchase was to see if I could use noise isolation inside my motorcycle helmet to listen to music with clarity and not destroy my hearing. 

I got these off ebay for about $20 from an ebay store.  They are a ‘homemade’ combination of Koss The Plug earphones + Etymotic ER4 noise isolation plugs called Koss hybrids on ebay.  Separately, the Koss unit sells for $10 and the plugs are (I think) 3 pair for $8.  There is minimal rework involved because you just remove the stem from the OE Koss earplug and shove it inside the ER4.

The sound is actually decent.  I have a problem with the size and the function:

The size for my Shoei X-11 helmet is too

Ok, well maybe saying the Baxley Wheel Chock is better than GOD is an overstatement, but it is damn good product.

When I first looked at this wheel chock, all I could think was how OVER PRICED it was. The cost is $215 for the crinkle black finished version. If you would like a color then it’s another $10 for your wheel chock. There are zero deals on line, and one of the reasons it is reported to cost upwards of $180 wholesale. Our friends and Baxley Trailer Company are not doing you any favors, but after you use one it’s understandable.

So looking at this silly thing, I said: “it’s just not worth the money, my metal hoop type chock and

So I am finishing up my summer hibernation from motorcycle riding and getting ready to play Ricky road racer for the next few months.

In my quest for ever levels of greatness, I placed upon myself the task of replacing the drive system on my GSXR Race bike. Now don’t think this is an easy task, the process of chain replacement requires almost ZEN like dedication and focus. Before one can replace the chain, deep meditation on the replacement choice must be considered. Deep research on many racing message boards (WERA, AllStone, BSRacing, etc), it was decided that the DID 520ERV3 Gold chain was in order. There are many

If I have said it once, I’ll say it a thousnd times - earplugs have been the single greatest improvement to the riding experience.  Seriously.  By cramming a small piece of foam in each ear, I was able to reduce physical and mental fatigue for those all day rides.  Seriously.

I used to not wear earplugs until about 1998.  I’d like to think that I have good hearing still, but if so, it would likely be better.  Instead of using the tachometer for shift points, I used the lovely music that all inline four’s with aftermarket exhausts make to judge when to shift.  I feared earplugs would dull the experience and kill the melody.  I was wrong.  Ever since, I have been

Instead, I worked for much of it.

I was recently invited by a friend to take part in a small group ride to the east side of Arizona.  This would have been my first “endurance” ride.  The goal was to ride some 500 miles of twisties on Saturday by taking the stretch of the Devil’s Highway 191 (formerly Hwy 666) from Alipne to Morenci and back five times.  Each way is just under one hundred miles and I was really looking forward to it.

My problems were three-fold:

1. First was the bike.  I wanted to leave Friday mid-day yet only passed emissions Thursday night.  I had everything I needed to get pates, title, etc., but I just didn’t have the confidence that my almost
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If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try, try, try again.  At least that is what I had to do to take official ownership of MY ‘01 Aprilia Futura.  I actually received the bike back in mid-February of this year, but it failed emissions badly. 

I tried  couple other times without success.  I tried the local Aprilia dealer called North Valley Honda, and they could not work on the bike because the dealer servie tool was broken…twice.  Then I went across town to Arizona Superbike.  They sniffed it and found everything OK and said to try again without shutting off the bike.  At the Arizona MVD station (state owned and operated) you have to shit iff the bike

They say imitation is the finest form of flattery.  Maybe, but only if credit is given.  I am neither professional moto-journalist nor an overzealous ‘owner’ of the articles I / We write here.  But I have to admit that I’m pretty annoyed right now.

While its the labor of love, this stuff takes time, care, and thought to produce and knock out…at least from my little brain.  And while motorcycle blog aggregator sites exist based on RSS feeds, proper credit is given as to the origin of the article.  Well, I found a blog that has a bunch of our articles simply with the author’s name changed.

It’s the blog section of a commercial site called leatherup.com which sells imported leather products among

A few weeks ago, I spent some time in Mexico City, Mexico doing the work thing.  In total we deove about some 400km or so of Mexico City traffic during our stay.  If you think Los Angeles or Miami has crazy traffic jams, then stay away from Mexico City.

I am pretty sure its the most populated city in the world and the traffic shows it.  Everywhere throughout the day was possible of being in bumper to bumper…unless you were on the toll roads.  And yes it was VERY third world.

Laws are mere suggestions and there are “good cops” and “bad cops”.  The good ones will let you go.  The bad ones will let you go for a fee.  Armed police

I’ve always had a soft spot for Moto Guzzi. Their bikes always stand out in a crowd. They have that BMW quirkyness with Italian flair. They may have been a force to be reckoned with in racing many years ago, but today they mostly build mediocre street bikes. They are one of the oldest surviving manfacturers on the planet (founded 1921), just barely eclipsed by Harley Davidson for the seniority title. So the term “classic” truly applies.

The BEST Guzzi ever?

I’ve always admired the longitudinal V (twin) engine. It makes perfect sense for a motorcycle: narrow at the bottom for lean angle clearance, wider at the top for good air cooling and short front to back for good weight distribution.