Mary#17

I've been looking at those and we will definately use something like that until they are older. Thanks for the link. I might have to take a look at that. Mary

How many of you have ridden with younger children on the back of your bike? What age are or were they? Did you use any type of restraint? Thanks. Mary

We just used our Sena's for a 6+ hour ride and they worked great. We are both really pleased with the rider to rider and the range. Love having communicators!!!!! Mary

Good to know. Thanks for the update!

Where out east? I haven't been East of 77 in a couple years but so many of the roads were in such bad shape that it didn't warrant the time. If they have been repaved, that would be a different story. mary

Sharp! The red frame, red wheels and white bodywork is very nice. Congrats! Mary

Yes, 356, 278, 691 and 685 are new or newer pavement. All in really good shape. Lots of deer this time around too so keep your eyes open on the side of the roads for Bambi!

June 21 and 22 374 - decent amount of gravel in turns so be aware. North side had more Kreashbaum - gravel as well but still fun 56 - mostly in good shape (between south bloomington and Athens) 356 - pretty decent. A couple spots of gravel but not bad 278 - pretty clean for the most part especially around the parks 691 - pretty clean 685 - mostly clean Stay safe and enjoy!

Were you at the ST owner's club event this past weekend? We met some guys at Lake Hope Cabins on Friday and saw about 60 ST's. Mary

The CBR500's are pretty nice. I wish they had those when I first started out. I think it would be a nice first bike. I started on KZ305 and outgrew it in like 2 weeks. We then bought a pretty beat up Hurricane 600 and fixed it all up. New paint,plastic. The works. And yes, I dropped it. Stuff happens. I cried. We fixed it. Life went on. Good luck with the bike purchase and have fun together. My husband and I love our rides together. It keeps us sane and probably married. We just had a date night - I mean ride on Friday and Saturday in Hocking Hills and really had a blast. Mary

Congrats!!!

Hello! Mary

Interesting little blurb on the Snell rating. Hopefully all manufacturers move to the ECE rating as standardization in this case is probably a very good thing. Thanks for sharing. Mary

Get a corbin. Sometimes you can find them used or when someone is parting their bike out before a sale. Had them on all my CBR's and it made a world of difference. Mary

Or just get a Hondamatic and be done with all this shifting nonsense......................... Mary

Welcome to the site! Mary

BTW. I agree that 93 kind of sucks. The traffic was really awful the last time we were on it. I'd take an alternate even with lesser road quality just because it was so annoying. Mary

Check this thread out. We tried getting to some of these last years and it just started pouring so we cut the trip short but many of these roads looked really promising. http://ohioriders.net/index.php?/topic/93751-roads-south-of-56/ As far as Hocking area. Chapel Ridge is fun but it can be dirty and there is a section that can bite you if you aren't paying attention. Big Pine Road is fun. Kreashbaum was repaved 2 years back and was still looking great last year. 278 south of Nelsonville is fun. 356 off of 56 is fun. 691 north of 56 had lots of new pavement and is a really nice road. Have fun, stay safe! Mary

When I was racing, clutchless upshifts were the norm but you were always on the gas. You can do it on the street but typically in commuter settings or traffic, it would probably be a bad idea. Sounds like you might need to work on your technique. Mary

Agree. Any helmet with any sort of ventilation will have wind noise. I've NEVER owned a cheap helmet and they all have some wind noise. The wind noise can also cause fatigue. I don't always wear my plugs but if I'm going to be on the bike a decent amount of time or doing alot of highway time, I put them in and they are really nice. Broke down last year and bought custom fitted plugs at the bike show. Wish I had done it sooner. Mary

Price point on the GT-Air is higher than the RF1100. I actually don't think that it is uncomfortable. All new helmets should be uncomfortable to some extent until they break in - the break in period for this one just seemed longer to me. I actually thought it felt pretty good last night. I've owned RF1100s and Corsair V's and this helmet is inline with those in terms of being quiet. I had just expected it to be quieter because of the chin curtain so that probably has more to do with my expectations being out of line rather than the helmet not performing. I recommend the helmet highly. It's a quality product - just wanted people to be aware that the design (shape?) seems a little different than some of my other helmets. Mary

I don't know. I've always had Shoei and Arai. I have a neutral head so I can fit it most helmets. According to their size charts, they are similar but I don't know about the shape. GT Air XS 6 5/8 - 6 3/4 53 - 54 20 7/8 - 21 1/4 SS size chart XS 6 1/2 - 6 5/8 20 7/8" - 21 1/4"

We just got our Sena SMH10's after returning the Scala's. Sound quality is excellent. In fact, it could get too loud. Clear without static or breaks. They seem to pair easily and the two buttons are much easier to navigate. The bluetooth with the Iphone 4s worked well on my husband's but we couldn't get mine to work. Didn't feel like messing with it anymore as we were going for a ride. For some reason, my husband could hear my bike exhaust and wind noise but I couldn't really hear any outside noise from him so I might need to adjust my mic?? We tried splitting up to see how much distance we could get from them and it was pretty short lived but I think the straight line distance might be more. We were going in different directions entirely. The unit beeps while trying to search out the other pair but immediately paired back up when we got closer to each other at our meeting point. So far, I like the Sena more than the Scala Pro Multiset that I had tried earlier but this was a short ride so I'll update when we take a longer trip. Mary

Shoei GT-Air Helmet Overall, I really like the helmet. Quality and finish is as expected with Shoei helmets. I had read in some other reviews that the helmet is technically heavier (slightly) than say the RF-1100 due to the built in visor but I find the helmet to feel extremely light. It also seems very aerodynamic and I’m not getting the wind buffer movement that I get sometimes at higher speeds. Here are some thoughts: The entry into the helmet is very tight. There is a chin curtain that really seals the bottom of the helmet. With this, I had thought the helmet would be super quiet. It’s not. It’s not louder than my other Arai’s or Shoei’s but it’s not quieter either. The fit of this helmet is different than my other helmets. I’ve always worn an XS in all of my previous helmets and that is what I ordered this time around. It does fit and it is the right size for me but the break in has been much longer and more uncomfortable than what I have had in the past. I think the addition of the visor changes the inside shape slightly and gives you slightly different pressure points than my other helmets – specifically the temples. Now that I’ve used it a few times, it’s starting to feel pretty good but I have to admit I was a bit worried that I had purchased the wrong size. I’m still debating about changing cheek pads but I’ll give that a bit more time since they are thicker. I still don’t know how I feel about the visor. It’s a really nice feature to have when you are stuck riding toward the evening and can just flip up the visor for the clear shield but I don’t think the visor itself is dark enough and I am a bit annoyed with the gap at the bottom. I am used to very dark shields so I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this. I contacted Shoei and they have told me that they do not make a dark shield for this helmet but I’m hoping that maybe another shield in the line up might fit or I might get a clear one tinted and buy another spare clear. The visor is really nice for hot weather riding as you can lift your shield for air and still get eye protection. I’ve installed a Sena SMH10 intercom system into the helmet and the speakers fit nicely into the recess. My husband says he can hear a lot of wind noise and exhaust noise so I may need to adjust the mic. I think that covers it. Let me know if you have any specific questions. Mary

Glad you are ok. That's awful though! Mary