Promised Helmet Pics

Here they are!

Pin Striping done by Pete "Hot Dog" Finlan.

A little something to know

I was reading a Full Throttle magazine I had picked up at OC Road House, and read an interesting article in there about DOT helmets vs. Snell helmets vs. skid lids/brain buckets/novelty helmets. They dropped a 30 lb brick on a full face helmet (DOT and Snell approved), a half or shortie helmet (DOT approved) and a novelty helmet (Satan approved). The first two helmets had a slight indent where the brick had hit, but held up otherwise. The novelty was crushed.

The article went on to point out that Snell only approved solid, full face helmets (they have yet to approve modular helmets), while the minimum thickness to receive a DOT approval was 1 1/2 inches of solid foam. The soft padding doesn't count, only the hard stuff. It also said that it is illegal to sell or purchase a novelty helmet with the intent of it being worn on a motorcycle. Even in states that don't have helmet laws, it is still illegal to wear a skid lid while riding.

I just thought that was interesting.


Edited to add:

Rider was nice enough to add the following link in my comments. It is from Motorcyclist Magazine, June '05 Issue:
http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/gearbox/motorcycle_helmet_review/
Very informative and in depth. If you don't know how your helmet was tested, I recommend reading it. More $ doesn't equal more safety.

"Vacation, had to get away..."

Sorry for the lack of new content on here. My apologies. I went on vacation to SLC, UT and left all the cares of computers behind, except to order a gift online for Father's Day and to get directions from Google Maps. But that was it!

So now I am back to the daily grind. While I am pleased to see gas prices dropped almost $.20 while I was gone (from $3.42 to $3.22), I do miss the gas priced I saw in UT. The cheapest was at the Maverick for $2.71. I kid you not! (For those of you in the area, please confirm this). However, the lowest octane you can get in UT is 85 while the lowest in CA (at least in my area) is 87. The next highest octane in UT is 88 (wtf?) and then 91 I believe, while CA goes to 87 then 91. I just don't get it. I believe it has to do with a higher altitude and therefore thinner air and therefore something to do with the engine combustion, blah blah blah...

So while I was able to enjoy cheaper gas, I was stuck driving my Dad's Tank around, and boy does that thing go through gas! The 'Tank' is my and my sisters nick name for my Dad's truck. It is a 1 ton Ford F350 4 door extended bed truck. And it's gray (hence the name 'Tank'). I use to drive this thing back in my High School days. (And just to add salt to some peoples wounds, that was only 5 years ago. Neener, neener, neener!)

I kid. One thing that I was not use to in UT was the helmet laws (or lack there of). A helmet is required if you are under 21, but after that it is up to you. I am not going to get into a whole big discussion on helmet laws, but to me it was weird to see people cruisin' and speedin' around with no helmet on. Nuf said.

On a more positive note, I did see quite a few solo female riders! Kudos to you all! During my 10 day visit, I had to have seen 4 or 5 women out cruisin' about. It made me miss my bike even more.

So that is where I have been and some of what I have been up to. For a more in depth read of my vacation (more wedding, less motorcycle) visit www.angipants.blogdrive.com.

Ride Happy!

Helmet fun

I put this on my full face. From http://inbloomstickers.com/. You like-y?