Motorbikes and riding suits

I have been very busy of late but quite fortunate. No complaints. I didn't think I'd get a new bike this year. I've got a new bike.

Such a clean garage.

I hate selling vehicles because I always take a bath on the sale price and I'm not a fan of dealing with knuckleheads. I sold my bike to my dad. Couldn't have been easier.

All cleaned up for the new owner.

I'm up to my ears in stuff to do at home and on the job. Hey, that's a much better problem than not having any work. So moving right along...

The Super Suit

So I told you I ordered the Aerostitch Roadcrafter one-piece riding suit. I was worried about the fit but I don't think it could fit any better without tailoring. My concern was that the 40L would be too large and I'd be in the same pickle as my last set of gear. No sweat. It fits well and there is some room under for layering. It's still on the tight side there so I'll have to be selective about my layering but I can wear my British Commando sweater under it. The wrists are a bit tight with that on. With some newer polypropylene long underwear and a fleece I'll still have some room.
I wore the suit twice now. The first time it was 42° with a light drizzle on the way in at 5:30 a.m. I was wearing a t-shirt, collared shirt, and jeans. Slightly chilly in the chest area. The gloves I chose that morning were just elkskin with no insulation. I got to work dry but my fingers were cold. On the way home at 5:00, it was raining pretty good but had warmed up to 52°. I forgot my glove covers so my hands got soaked. On the sides of the suit there are waterproof zippers with a velcro flap over the top to allow you access to your pants under the suit. I forgot to zip one and I could feel my hip getting wet on the ride home. I also got what is known as Aerostitch crotch. There is a flap down the front of the suit that stops about where your left leg starts. The zipper continues down to your ankle. It's one continuous zipper from neck to ankle. For some reason there is a tendency for water to get in right around that area and I had wet pants. Not too bad but I was going home, not the other way around. If I had gotten to work with a wet crotch I would have been upset. The next time I wore the suit it was a pretty good rain on the way in and a fucking downpour on the way home. No issues that time. I was dry as a bone. I brought along the rain covers and I also Sno-sealed my gloves and boots. My boots are waterproof anyhow but I have to wear metatarsal boots for work.

Wet on the outside

I think it's a matter of knowing the gear and knowing what to look out for. The big zipper is a bit tricky to get the hang of. I actually got one of the teeth at the top a little beat up but I didn't realize the zipper has a locking mechanism and you must use a zipper pull to move the zippers. The instructions explained that you should try the suit on and take it off a few times in front of a mirror to get the hang of the zipper and the in-out procedure. The procedure is counter-intuitive. That matters not however, because if you just do it the way they say it's surprisingly easy to get into. So for the most part, I'm happy. I will be riding more but the way the weather is I'm not going out of my way to ride until I get my gear dialed in. After the 52° and rainy...it snowed a day or two later. And then a day or two later it snowed again. And the next day it was 50° and sunny. It makes about as much sense as trying to figure out what time it is in any given part of the state.

The paperwork for the Viffer is sorted and I'm legal. I can ride it at will now. It will need some TLC and I plan to do a little this and that to her. The Old Man came by and rode the S-Wee on Saturday. He decided he couldn't live without it so he wrote me a check. Shit, that was easy. I told him I'd wash it because after the  gear tests in the rain the poor thing was filthy. It was nice today so I gave it a bath. Well, sort of a whore bath. My water sucks for washing cars and bikes. I got all the ickyness off the bottom and cleaned the wheels and just stayed away from the paint. Otherwise it would just be spot-central. Actually, this was the first time I used my hose since last year. When I filled up my bucket it looked like chocolate milk. One of these days I've got to get one of those garden hose water softeners.  (Maybe not for $150.00)

I've got the new scoot and I'm pretty well geared up to ride so now I just need to...ride.

Rock on.