Here is what the d30 website has to say about the material:

(dee-three-oh) is a specially engineered material made with intelligent molecules. They flow with you as you move but on shock lock together to absorb the impact energy.

This new technology has already been incorporated into motorcycle gloves (see Racer Gloves at www.racergloves.com) and a downhill slalom suit (see Spyder at www.spyder.com) to name a few.

One product, due out in this winter, that may be of particular interest to bikers is from a company called Sessions. They will be incorporating the d30 technology into their layering apparel. Details from the d30 website include the following:

Sessions have become the first to incorporate d3o into their range of first layers. This groundbreaking move has resulted in Sessions’ Thermatics d3o Crew and Pant being awarded the SnowPress Innovation Award 2007.

The men’s range of Thermatics first layer garments have d3o placed in the direct contact areas such as the elbows and knees to provide lightweight, flexible protection.

Thermatics d3o Crew: Wicking thermal knit; d3o protective elbow inserts; Thumbholes; Articulated body; Drop tail hem

Thermatics d3o Pant: Wicking thermal knit; d3o protective knee inserts; No side seams for reduced chaffing; Articulated body; Gusset fly with peek hole; Logo elastic waistband

Keep your eyes open for new developments with regards to the d30 technology and watch for more specific motorcycling applications to come.

And take a look at Charlie6′s post on this over at Redleg’s Rides, which you can find here.

Enjoy!

d30

Racer Gloves

Spyder

I want this when it comes out this Winter! [via Redleg's Rides]

Technorati Tags: motorcycle

Motorcyclist Argues for Different Safety Approach

Following another motorcycling fatality, a motorcyclist argues that calls for more regulations are unfounded. He says that the key to safety is thinking. And he has set up a website to help other motorcyclists to think better.

London, UK (PRWEB) September 12, 2007 — A motorcyclist today weighed into the debate about motorcycling safety.

This follows a motorcycling fatality in Milton Keynes, England. In the background is a row between a motorcyclist group, British Motorcyclist Federation, and a road safety charity, Road Peace, about motorcycle safety.

John Blake, the author of motorcyclemeditation.com who commutes a hundred miles every day on a motorcycle, says, “Regulations will not make any difference. Nor will improvements in motorcycle engineering. Nor will reductions in power. What matters is motorcyclist behaviour. And behind that is how motorcyclists think about their riding.”

John Blake set up motorcyclemeditation.com as a record of daily riding experience. He says, “Safe motorcycling cannot be reduced to tips and techniques. It is more a question of mindset.”

He adds, “But you need to apply the thinking in actual motorcycling situations, not just in the abstract. That is why the website is really a collection of stories. It conveys the live situation on a motorcycle, and communicates real life dangers. This lets motorcyclists be forewarned and forearmed.”

Asked why he set up motorcyclemeditation.com, John Blake says, “A trick question on motorcycle courses is, where is the most important piece of safety equipment on a motorcycle? Answer, between the ears. Yet when I tried to find out how to think, all the motorcycle websites were about machinery or racing. I decided to share the thinking that goes into my daily motorcycle commute. And in fact, the thinking turns out to be quite wide ranging, with motorcycle issues woven into other thinking, just the way it happens on a motorcycle.”

Motorcyclemeditation.com has no commercial links and no vested interests to promote. Its sole purpose is to communicate the thrill and challenge of safe motorcycling.

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Probably something that all riders should read.

Enjoy!

Motorcyclist Argues for Different Safety Approach [via PRWeb]

Motorcyclemeditation.com

Technorati Tags: motorcycle

Meet Your Newest Riding Partner, the Biker+ID

This guy won’t slow you down or ask for gas money, is comfortable, extremely durable, and looks good! This practical piece of riding gear not only looks good, but could easily save your life. “BIKER+IDâ„¢ can prevent serious delays in medical treatment or the contacting of loved ones in case of an accident or seizure

Orlando, FL (PRWEB) August 27, 2007 — This guy won’t slow you down or ask for gas money, is comfortable, extremely durable, and looks good! This practical piece of riding gear not only looks good, but could easily save your life.

The BIKER+ID â„¢ is a biker themed wristband made of woven nylon with a brushed stainless steel ID plate that is imprinted with up to 6 lines of important information (blood type, contact phone numbers, allergies, doctor, etc,) that can help emergency personnel save lives. The bands are available in five different colors and designs in two widths, for women or men. And the BIKER+IDâ„¢ isn’t just a piece of riding gear- it’s peace of mind. The BIKER+IDâ„¢ is perfect for any rider regardless of size or sex.

BIKER+IDâ„¢ can prevent serious delays in medical treatment or the contacting of loved ones in case of an accident or seizure. The BIKER+IDâ„¢ isn’t just another identification bracelet either! The BIKER+IDâ„¢ is made ‘by riders for riders’, who know that accidents happen, and that accurate and easily accessible information is critical for every rider.
“The motivation for the BIKER+IDâ„¢ was to quiet my wife’s fears,” says Carl Hanlon, designer of BIKER+IDâ„¢ and owner of Guilty Customs. Hanlon says that, “she was afraid that I’d end up in the hospital as a ‘John Doe’ and no one would know who to call or what allergies I had. So this was a natural solution.”

Each year, over 450,000 people are taken to hospitals unconscious and without Identification. And with the latest statistic from NHTSA showing over 88,000 motorcyclists in 2006 were injured in traffic accidents, it makes sense to have the BIKER+IDâ„¢ available for medical personnel to help save your life.

“BIKER+IDâ„¢ can prevent serious delays in medical treatment or the contacting of loved ones in case of an accident or seizure. The BIKER+IDâ„¢ isn’t just another identification bracelet either! The BIKER+IDâ„¢ is made ‘by riders for riders’, who know that accidents happen, and that accurate and easily accessible information is critical for every rider.” he said.

Guilty Customs, LLC (www.guiltycustoms.com) is a motorcycle manufacturer that is quickly establishing itself in the custom chopper industry by bringing to the discerning consumer, innovative and “rider friendly” custom motorcycles and parts that are affordable.

The BIKER+IDâ„¢ can be ordered by visiting www.thebikerid.com. Dealer Inquiries are welcome by contacting info @guiltycustoms.com. Retail $19.50 (Free shipping).

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Meet Your Newest Riding Partner, the Biker+ID [via PRWeb]

Technorati Tags: motorcycle

Beginning in September, you will have the option to go to the BMW Performance Center in South Carolina for your motorcycle training. You will also have the option of completing an on-road or off-road course. Or even a combination of the two.

Here is some of what BMW has to say about the offerings:

Here’s how it works: choose whatever discipline you prefer, road or off-road, and take a one day class. Or choose both road and off-road and do them both in a two day on and off-road class. Our off-road program is patterned after the curriculum at the BMW Enduro Park In Hechlingen, Germany, and involves a variety of drills and exercises, ranging from basic bike set up and body position, throttle and clutch control, to braking and cornering. After that, riders will then hit the trail with a BMW-certified instructor.

If off-road isn’t your thing, you can go for the on-road instruction, which stresses the same sort of control and finesse, only on the pavement. The on-road course also involves some dual-sport drills which will help every street rider handle the section of gravel or unpaved road that inevitably occurs on a ride.

The techniques and maneuvers that students learn during these classes are invaluable, and will make everyone a more safer, skilled, and competent rider. After these classes, there will be no road you cannot conquer as you will possess knowledge and abilities that can be put to use everywhere you ride, whether it’s on the trail, the race track, or just racing around town.

And here is one of the best parts of the program, in my opinion, for those who may not yet own a BMW motorcycle.

If you don’t have a BMW motorcycle, it’s no problem; you can just rent one at the Performance Center.

Sounds like a great opportunity to try out a BMW bike or two and get some quality training at the same time!

Here are the links to a couple of pdf files from BMW for the courses.

On-Road PDF

Off-Road PDF

Remember, you can never have enough training on your motorcycle in an effort to stay safe.

Enjoy!

BMW Motorcycle Rider Training at the BMW Performance Center [via BMW Motorcycles]

Technorati Tags: motorcycle

Over at Piglet Paper, Lisa continues her posting about her annual trip across Texas. This post deals specifically with her trying to get through Houston and somehow retain her senses. You can find the post here.

Lisa had to deal with an approximate 15 miles of shear aggravation as road construction in Houston caused four lanes to merge into one in the largest city in Texas causing a severe bottleneck.

One good result from the mess was her discovering a pretty useful resource for riders in Texas. See the excerpt below.

On a more serious note, though, and not wanting to just whine, here’s a resource that might actually help in the ride planning stages anywhere in Texas. I would presume other states have something similar. Check out www.dot.state.tx.us. Under the “Travel” section, click on “Road Conditions”. You can check any road in Texas for construction, closures, damage, flood, etc. Really, it is well done, because they offer you several different search criteria to narrow your results to exactly what you need. You can look up a road condition in a specific area or you can look up a specific road. Like any good search criteria, the less you tell it the broader your search results and vice versa. They also offer a toll-free number you can call if you don’t have a PDA phone on the road with you.

If you haven’t visited Piglet Paper, give it a look and be sure to read the rest of Lisa’s post.

Enjoy!

Paying Dues [Lisa via PigletPaper.com]

Road Conditions [via Texas Department of Public Safety]

Technorati Tags: motorcycle

As stated in the review, here is a summary of the SHIFT Jeans.

Summary: Very comfortable; slightly heavier than normal denim; stylish and with Kevlar lining. Also include stretch panels at the crotch and rear waist.

And just in case you want to check them out directly, you will need to go here.

Now remember that link, as I had the same challenges in finding SHIFT on the web like Bill did and which you can read about here.

I think SHIFT has a few tricks yet to learn though about establishing a market presence. Try using the search term “shift motorcycle clothing” in your favorite search engine to find the SHIFT website and you’ll end up pretty frustrated.

Their website can eventually be found, with some too-hard detective works, but it’s well hidden and, like too many corporate websites nowadays, looks like it was created by some marketing fools who not only know nothing about websites, they also don’t understand the type of information that potential customers require. And when you do find the site, it takes too much time and effort to figure out that the only way to get actual information on the products they’re trying to sell is by clicking through to their retail site and then initiating a purchase.

And you wonder why SHIFT isn’t a household name yet?

All in all, the new SHIFT Lodown Motorcycle Jeans seem to have some promise as do their Torque Street Jeans, which you can find on the SHIFT web site.

Enjoy and be safe!

SHIFT Lodown Motorcycle Jeans [Bill C. via webBikeWorld]

SHIFT Racing, Inc.

Technorati Tags: motorcycle

The post goes into great detail about what to do, and not to do, when you find yourself in a front tire skid situation. Which, as is stated, most people are not equipped to overcome and the results are usually not good.

However, rearset also offers up some practice activities for you so that you may train yourself to handle this type of situation, should it occur to you.

As noted in the post, be careful! And realize that even just practicing this maneuver at a low, low speed could cause you to crash and sustain serious injury. So do so at your own risk.

But, it is a great post and if you spend some time with it, you just might save your own life some day.

Enjoy and practice safely!

Sliding front: emergency maneuvers [rearset via Motorcyclist At Large]

Technorati Tags: motorcycle

I know that I learned so much from both classes. In fact, when I decided that I would consider getting a bike, I made a promise to myself that I would complete the beginning course and get my license prior to even looking for a bike. Boy am I glad I did that!

I am a firm believer that everyone could benefit from taking the course(s). And apparently she is also.

Give it a look.

Enjoy and be safe!

MotorcycleTraining [Lisa via PigletPaper.com]

Technorati Tags: motorcycle

His list contains many of those ‘tried and true’ ways to increase our chances of a safe ride that we (bikers) can never hear enough times.

A sampling of his list follows.

(1) Do not ride your motorcycle until you take a certified Motorcycle Rider Safety Course.

(2) If you are an experienced rider, or you have purchased a new motorcycle, take an advanced Motorcycle Rider Safety Course. Remember you do not really know your motorcycle until you have ridden it at least 1000 miles.

(3) No matter how experienced you think you may be on your motorcycle, practice makes perfect. You must careful all of the time.

I really believe that if all bikers adhered to the first two on his list, motorcycle related accidents would decrease by more than 1/2. But that is just my opinion.

In any event, check out his full post and do YOUR part to keep YOURSELF safe.

Enjoy!

This Summer Riding Season is turning out to be a Real Meat Grinder! [Greg via Biker Law Blog]

Photograph by Michael Lichter

Technorati Tags: motorcycle

The review is extremely thorough and may even give you some things to think about when purchasing a helmet.

Reviewer, Rick K., goes so far to say that of the 70+ helmets that have been reviewed at webBikeWorld, the Schuberth R1 is the quietest.

Enjoy!

Schuberth R1 [Rick K. via webBikeWorld]

Technorati Tags: motorcycle