Gear / Parts

As with every motorcycling discipline, touring has its own apparel demands. Shoei responds to a touring rider's need for a convertible helmet with the Multitech, a flip up helmet that offers three options. With the chinbar up, the helmet becomes an open-face for easy conversations with your traveling companions. With the chin locked down, it provides the rider with the protection of a full-coverage helmet, along with a third option of flipping up just the face shield.

When you see Valentino Rossi tearing across the tracks of the MotoGP circuit, he's wearing an AGV TiTech helmet. That's a pretty good endorsement, and I'm sure AGV pays a king's ransom for #46 to wear their wares. The nice thing about trickle-down, is that we can buy (prices range from $500 to $680, depending on the graphics) and wear a helmet that is built to the standards of a MotoGP champion.

For two of our recent off-road tests--2007 Yamaha WRs (April/May 2007 issue) and 2008 Kawasaki KLR650 (in our August/September 2007 issue)--we were outfitted with Shift Racing off-road apparel.

Hermès brings the message.

I've found a lot of textile jackets, especially with body armor built inm can be heavy and bulky. However, the Olympia Moto Sports Airglide 2 jacket breaks that mold. It provides the warmth, functionality and built-in safety features common on most jackets, but with a style and comfort I haven't found elsewhere. Constructed of rugged DuPont Cordura with ballistic nylon mesh panels, this jacket offers maximum airflow for hot summer cooling coupled with (hopefully unnecessary!) abrasion resistance for safety.

A motorcycle helmet really has three jobs: 1. Protect your head in a crash. 2. Keep road debris off your face. 3. Look cool!  And, of course, it has to be comfortable while performing those three jobs. The Shoei X-Eleven motorcycle helmet does all that for me.

From dusk to dawn.

Wireless Motorcycling

For many, riding a motorcycle is all about flying solo. On the odd occasion, however, one might need to phone ahead for dinner reservations or receive an important business call. Utilizing Bluetooth technology, Cardo Wireless has created the Scala-Rider, a hands-free communication device designed specifically with motorcyclists in mind, making it unnecessary to interrupt your ride to pull over on a dangerous shoulder.