The joy and greatest challenge of touring is that you never know what you’re gonna’ get (no reference to a box of chocolates here). On one day it could be sunny and 72-degrees, and the next day it’ll be 30-degrees, wet and cold, the day after that it’ll be in the triple digits with face-melting humidity. For most of us, ...

Having hard-luggage on your motorcycle is luxurious enough. What could possibly make it better? Why luggage liners, of course. If you have hard bags and have never experienced the joy of bag liners, you are just not fully living! Bag liners allow you to pack your stuff in the hotel room or the house, then bring all your stuff out ...

Sport touring boots are fantastic for providing comfort, all day riding and all day walking comfort, but at a price. Most sport-touring motorcycle boots are lacking in protective features. Most have very little armor around the heel and have minimal ankle armor. In the past, riders had to choose between comfort and protection. Alpinestars SMX line changes things up a ...

The first time I picked up a Suomy Spec 1R helmet at a local track day I was impressed. The graphics were beautiful the helmet was light and when I slipped one on I was shocked at how well it fit my particular noggin. My best guess is that my head is somewhere between the oval and round shapes typically ...

Some say that Ducati is the most misunderstood motorcycle company in the world, and if that’s the case, then their quirky Multistrada would be the most misunderstood company’s most misunderstood bike. That’s a lot of misunderstanding, but it does explain why the bike designed for “many roads” has never been a big seller. The quirky bike doesn’t even fit in ...

We have to give credit to Alpinestars and their “Stella” line of ladies motorcycle gear. Most of the competition things in order to make ladies riding gear it needs to be baby blue, powder pink or hot pink with doilies and flowers all over the place. Not so with Alpinestars Stella line; simple black or white, simple logos – at ...

Icon is relatively new to the motorcycle gear world, arriving on the scene in about 2002 but touting gear “made for the street”. There is no question that their gear looks really good, and it doesn’t hurt their image that modeling their gear they use size 1 hotties with perfectly round rear-ends, and muscle bound hunks with broad shoulders and ...

Whenever you change the front end on a motorcycle (typically for higher-grade forks) there is always the problem of what to do about the gauges and a speedometer. With our track-only SV-650 (with alternative Kawasaki ZX636 forks) finding a working gauge for a reasonable price seemed like an impossibility – that is until we discovered Trail Tech. Trail Tech is a ...

This jacket touts that it is “designed, patterned and styled specifically for women” and truly this jacket fulfills its promise! At the beginning of my riding career, there simply was not any women’s gear to choose from and as a result, I was left with wearing the smallest men’s motorcycle gear I could find. With time, the industry has finally ...

We’ve probably all heard “if you have a $10 head, buy a $10 helmet” – I believe Bell Helmets even used that as their advertising campaign. But the Motorcycle Safety Foundation says that as long as helmet meets DOT standards it’s going to provide the same level of protection regardless of price point. So is there any reason to purchase ...