Part of my day job involves building virtual and augmented reality sets for classrooms. I have built dozens of systems and have tried all sorts of different combinations of hardware, we even build software that uses this tech. I get virtual and augmented reality and I'm looking forward this fighter pilot technology finding its way into motorcycle helmets. I saw a tweet today that suggests it's already here in the Cross Helmet. 360° peripheral awareness is a great idea that will no doubt save lives, and having hands free navigational information is another valuable safety feature, but I have a questions about this revolutionary lid.
Most of the articles I've read about the Cross Helmet are by tech websites that have a hard time containing their enthusiasm about disrupting existing industries. They typically suggest that motorcycle helmets haven't changed in decades and that they are low tech, unimaginative things created by Luddites. It'll take the blinding talents of a technology company to interrupt those conservative curmudgeons in the helmet industry (sorry, sometimes the hyperbole around high-tech companies gets a bit tiresome). Helmets aren't supposed to be an infotainment system, they supposed to be a light-weight, effective protective item that operates in incredibly difficult circumstances. Helmet manufacturers have thrown everything imaginable at this problem, producing carbon fibre helmets and pushing materials engineering to the limit in creating the lightest, most protective lids possible. They've also applied modern aerodynamic analysis to their products, producing quieter, less buffeting protection than ever before. To call them uninspired and backwards simply isn't true.
The most concerning thing about the Cross Helmet isn't the wiz-bang technology in the thing, it's the thing itself. That is a massive lid. When was the last time you needed two hands to hold on to your helmet? This size is a function of all the technology crammed into it. A heads up display, rear facing camera, wireless connectivity, communications and the battery needed to power all that stuff weighs down the helmet and makes it big. The actual weight of it appears to be a mystery. Modern helmets weigh between one and two kilos, with the heaviest ones being mechanical flip top items with built in sun visors. I can't find a weight listed for the Cross Helmet anywhere, not even on their website.
... that's all you get for technical details.
I'm guessing, based on the size and tech in the thing that it'll come in at over twice the weight of what an average helmet does, which doesn't make it a very good helmet. On top of that, you're looking at a slab sided thing that looks like it'll catch cross winds like a sail. You might be able to see behind you and get navigational details, but you'll be stopping often because your neck can't take it any more. I get that the first prototype of a new design is going to have problems; this is the worst smart helmet you'll ever see because it's the first one. As the tech gets smaller and designs improve, a smart helmet becomes a much more attractive idea, but I'm disinclined to dive into a (very) expensive helmet that is more of a concept than a usable thing. Here is a list of some helmets currently on the market with their weights: Arai DT-X 1619 grams (and check out the many technical details shared) Roof Boxer Helmet 1650 grams (again with many technical details shared) Roof Boxer Carbon 1550 grams (the lightest transformable/mechanical helmet I can find) Nexx Carbon 1219 grams (the lightest helmet I can find) Shark Evoline 1960 grams (the heaviest helmet I could find) The lightest of them use every materials engineering trick in the book to produce helmets that meet stringent modern safety standards while also being comfortable, aerodynamic and long lasting. They are anything but an old-school product, Discovery Channel. The Roof Carbon is the lightest transformable / mechanical helmet on the market. It's 100 grams lighter than the standard Roof Boxer helmet - that's what you get with carbon, 100 grams. The helmet industry is playing a game of grams, aerodynamics and safety effectiveness in a state of the art way. If you put a 2000 gram limit on your smart helmet and required it to retain the aerodynamics and size of current lids, it would be in the vicinity of current helmets in terms of usefulness. I doubt it's possible to cram cameras, heads up displays, communications and batteries into a helmet using today's tech, but someday soon? Perhaps.
Under those awesome graphics are state of the art materials engineering resulting in unprecedented protection.
This time of year always feels like about as far from a ride as I'll get. It's in the minus twenties outside and it's been snowing for days straight. Time for some cost-no-object daydreaming... If I jumped on a plane late in the evening on Friday, December 22nd at the beginning of our holiday break, it's a long slog because there is no direct flight to Athens, but I would eventually get there on Saturday afternoon. A night in Athens and then I could begin a long ride in a warm climate across the north coast of the Mediterranean on Christmas Eve, passing through the heart of the Roman Empire on my way west to Lisbon for a flight in time to go back to work.
I have to be back at it on Monday, January 8th. There is a direct flight from Lisbon, Portugal back to Toronto on the Saturday before. Could I get from Athens to Lisbon in thirteen days? It's about four thousand kilometers through Greece, Italy, France and Spain to Portugal. That works out to an average of just over three hundred kilometres per day which means plenty of time to stop and see things or a big day of riding followed by a day off. Because it's Europe there are always autostradas to make up time if needed. It appears Athens to Lisbon is a very doable two week ride. Here's a possible day by day breakdown with a couple of days off. All the maps are highway averse, looking for local roads and the time it takes to ride them. Should things get backed up, big highway miles could happen to make up lost time:
Here's a link to the spreadsheet with working links to maps.
There are a couple of longer days in there, but there are also two days off completely and some short, half days of riding. There is plenty of time to stop and soak things in en-route to our western return point.
My weapon of choice for this trip would be the new Triumph Tiger Explorer I'm crushing on, in matt cobalt blue. Tall Tigers fit me well and this one is perhaps the best one ever made. As a cross countries mover there is little that can beat it, and that new blue is a lovely thing. I think I'd do a burnt orange on the engine guards and pannier logos. I'd also redo the badges in matching orange. The new Tiger Explorer is 24 pounds lighter than the old one, gets better mileage and has a host of advanced features that make an already good long distance bike better. The big three that powers it would comfortably carry a passenger if I could convince anyone to do this with me. If we're touring two up I'd luggage it up and make sure we could carry everything with us, but if I was solo I think I could just get by with the panniers and leave the back end looking less luggage-y.
Outfitting it with luggage and a few odds and ends from the extensive options catalogue is always fun. I only got myself into four thousand dollars of trouble there:
In a perfect world I'd get my Tiger shipped from my garage in my England house to the Triumph Dealer in Athens where I'd pick it up on December 23rd. I'd drop it off at the Triumph dealer in Lisbon on January 6th and either convince my cousin to ride it back to the UK or get it shipped back.
I've got the kit needed to do this now, but having a look at the latest European gear, I think I'd spring for a new helmet to do this ride with. The Roof Carbon is a piece of industrial art that gives me the benefits of a closed face when I need it and an open face when I'm in need of some wind. The iridium face shield would make this thing look like something out of battle of the planets. Since it's a daydream, it ain't cheap. I'd fly business there and back, so flights are north of seven grand. Getting the bike delivered wouldn't be cheap, assuming it was waiting for me in Europe to begin with. But hey, if you can't daydream big, why daydream at all?
NOTES:
Sat Dec 23 to Sat Jan 6
13 full days + 1/2 a day on each end ~4000kms - 307kms / day
I'm a big fan of Roof Helmets. It's the best lid I've ever owned, and one of the only ones that offers me full face protection when I want it and the freedom to easily go open. I'll often start a ride open faced, flip it down to handle the wind when I'm out on the road at speed and then flip it open again when I slow down, even if it's just riding through a town. I saw my first Roof Helmet when Jo Sinnott wore one on her Wild Camping series through Europe. It took some maneuvering to get one to Canada, but it's been my go-to helmet since I landed one a couple of seasons ago. I keep a close eye on Roof these days. Their newly redesigned Desmo hemlets are on my wish list, and the new Carbon Boxxer is a work of industrial art. Roof is selling that new Carbon hard, but if you think it's your typical helmet commercial you've forgotten how French they are. See if you can keep up with the cultural dissonance, make sure to hang in to the end:
I'm wincing at the hooliganism at the beginning, but you start to have faith in the rider and end up letting them ride well outside of sensible because of your increasing faith in their skill. Then they suddenly get into tiff with a couple at a cafe, and things go from there. The reveal at the end? Brilliant! I don't think many Bikers for Trump alt-right Harley types will enjoy it, but I suspect that doesn't bother Roof too much. It worked on me.
Jon Campbell on Google+ shared updated colours on the Aerostich line of motorcycle clothing. I've always loved the look of Aerostich kit. Unfortunately, a Roadcrafter suit costs more than most of the motorcycles I've purchased. One of these days I'll get the coin together and spring for an Aerostich one piece suit. By all accounts it'll be the last time I need to. They have lots of custom options so I should be able to find a long in the body, regular inseam that fits me properly. With colour choices aplenty, making an original looking suit that fits is an ongoing pastime. ***
Keeping with the orange kit theme, I'm also wishing for a go with the updated Desmo RO32 transformable helmet. Quieter, more comfortable and more spacious, it's my go-to Desmo helmet evolved. Short of buying one from overseas untried, I'm stuck. If we end up in France this summer, a trip to Roof might be in the cards through. ***
With the Tiger's winter maintenance done, I'm hoping to return focus to the Concours ZG1000 Fury streetfighter I've got half finished. On the to-do list is getting a rear light and indicators. I'd ordered them through Amazon but the dodgy Chinese company that makes them never evidently sent it, though they charged me for it. The Amazon marketplace seems to be increasingly filled with overseas companies that have a very slow delivery time, assuming they ship at all. It'd be nice to get this running smoothly by the summer for some blistering solo rides where I finally get to find out what those new Michelin tires feel like. In a perfect world I'd enjoy the summer on it, ride it to the Distinguished Gentleman's Ride in Toronto next September where someone offers to buy it for what it cost me to make it. I could then role that over into next winter's project. ***
A couple of road trips this summer would be nice. I've had a trip around Lake Superiorin mind for a while now. It's about 2000kms around from Manitoulin Island and back again, and another couple of hundred kilometres and a ferry ride home. Launching from Little Current at the north end of Manitoulin, I'd go the Ontario side first just to avoid the misery that is the border crossing into Michigan at The Sault. After sitting at that for almost two hours last year, I'll go backwards around Superior just to avoid it. Doing 350km/days on average, we'd get around Superior in about six days. If we wanted a day off, we could push for a couple of days to get a day of rest. A day up to Manitoulin and a day back at the end means eight days on the road.
A trip down the Appalachians to see the full solar eclipse this summer is also on the short list. Doing this one for ten days means we'd have a couple of days to explore areas on the way down and on the way back instead of making miles every day. From just over the border in New York state all the way down to Tennessee, this is motorcycle nirvana with mile after mile of twisting mountain roads. ***
Racer5 is running their introduction to track riding again this year. A May long weekend getting familiar with the racing dynamics of a motorcycle would be pretty wicked. By the end of the course I'd be qualified to race. The next step would be getting myself into the VRRA for some vintage racing.
*** I never get bored of imagining throwing a few grand down on some motorcycle racing gear. My two pairs of Alpinestar boots have been excellent, so I'd probably base a lot of the racing gear on what they offer. I'd read reviews of the Handroid Knox racing gloves and they sound totally next level. An Arai helmet has always been a long term, top end motorcycle helmet wishlist item, and they have a nice Isle of Man special out this year. ***
A track-day specialist bike would also be nice to have tucked away, only to be trailered to the track for hard work. This '99 CBR600 F4 is well cared for and going for about three grand. I'd strip it down to bare essentials and put a carbon single seat cowling on the back. After wearing out the tires on it, I'd go to racing tires and continue to evolve the bike into a track specialist. *** Guy Martin did a race in his Ford Transit van last year where he averaged well over 100mph for an extended length of time. I wouldn't spend much time in one the other side of 100mph, but having a van would sure be handy. From transporting my own bikes out of the snow for a cheap ride in the winter, to taking the race bike to the track, having a bike transport system would be mega. With taxes, a new one nicely spec-ed out is just north of fifty thousand of your finest Canadian dollars. *** Some top shelf gear, getting race ready and having the custom Kawasaki on the road... if I came into cash in 2017, that's what I'd be spending it on.
My favorite helmet company has come out with a new evolution of their unique helmet. Lots of companies make a lifting visor helmet but what they don't tell you is that your swinging chin guard doesn't pass any safety standards; most of those modular motorcycle helmets only pass open face testing (as though there were no chin guard at all). The Roof passes stringent safety tests as both an open AND closed face helmet making it a rarity in convertible lids.
I've been the happy owner of a Desmo for over a year now and it has surpassed expectations. It's much better than any other helmet I've tried at handling turbulence in a straight-line and especially when you turn your head (it barely registers side winds at all). It's as quiet as most closed faced helmets but can also be opened up when not travelling at high speed. The visor lets you go from open face to jet to fully closed a second, one handed. Roof has updated the Desmo to the RO32 Desmo with a variety of updates and improvements. If I can find a retailer I'm in for the upgrade.
It's just past 8am on day one of the ride. Even this early in the morning it's already in the mid-twenties and the sun is relentless. The padding I thought I'd try in my helmet was a bad idea, and by the time I reach Creemore I'm working on a full scale headache. Thirty seconds after we stop the Roof lid is back to normal and it works like a champ for the rest of the trip. Motorcycle gear is an ongoing process of fine tuning, especially when you mess around with something that already works.
This trip grew out of a friend's cross country anniversary ride with his wife on his new-to-him Goldwing. We were originally going to drop down to the ferry on Manitoulin Island for the ride home after day one, but the ferry is booked solid during the day so I started looking at another way home. Having never been to Northern Michigan, it seemed like a good idea to wrap around Lake Huron. It's just over 1500kms of wilderness riding with few people in between.
The goodbye in Creemore went long as we'd been accompanied by friends out that far, so we got back on the road just as the sun was going fully nuclear. Day One was the longest of our trip, five hundred kilometres around Georgian Bay up to the small town of Massey, Ontario. A gas and lunch stop in Perry Sound followed by a couple of road side stops along the way made the heat bearable with lots of consuming of liquids at each stop. You know it's hot when you're sweating freely at highway speeds.
Mohawk Motel: clean, cheap & odd!
We rolled into the Mohawk Motel in Massey just past 4pm. The grass was brown and crisp, just like us. The motel was basic but clean with air conditioning. Everyone cold showered and relaxed for a while before we wandered out into town only to discover that the only restaurant was closed early due to it being hot. We were told to walk down the street to a variety store that also doubled as the local fast food joint. Forty five minutes of waiting in forty degree heat later I'd paid forty bucks for a cheeseburger, fries and a couple of slices of pizza. We staggered back to the hotel and called it a day. The next morning Massey totally redeemed itself with a fantastic breakfast at the Back Home Bistro. As we finished up the eggs and bacon, rain moved in. It was still in the mid-twenties, but humid and wet. We rode into heavier and heavier rain as we traveled west over the top of Georgian Bay. A brief stop in Blind River to check on my stoic pillion had us bump into a couple doing a similar route to our Huron circumnavigation; it wasn't the last time we'd meet them. The rain came and went before finally relenting as we rode into Sault Ste. Marie. We parted ways after a surprisingly excellent and cost effective lunch at Pino's Supermarket where you can get a brick oven baked pizza and amazing sausage on a bun for next to nothing.
Jeff & MA were on their way to Wawa up on Lake Superior, while Max and I were headed over to the border crossing into Northern Michigan. After a day and half together we'd made good time, covered a lot of ground in all sorts of weather and everyone still had smiles on their faces (a good Italian lunch helped there). After a quick goodbye we saddled up and headed over to the bridge only to bump into the couple from Blind River again. We followed them up onto the bridge to discover a massive line up. Inching a fully loaded two-up bike five feet at a time up the side of a suspension bridge is about as much fun as it gets. Fortunately we had a great view of the river beneath us. Sault Ste Marie is one of those places that reminds you just how big the great lakes are. In the hour plus we were inching our way over that bridge I tried to imagine the tons and tons of water that rushed beneath us out of Superior and into Huron, it feels very powerful and boggles the mind. A highlight of the interminable wait was getting to the peak of the bridge. From that point up until the customs gates we were going downhill, so the bikes stayed off and in neutral as we glided forward, inches at a time. As I said to our doppelgangers, 'at least it isn't yesterday!' That bridge on a forty degree sunny day would be unhealthy. My magic power kicked in at the split into lines for each gate. Which ever one I pick will immediately stop, and of course it did. The couple ahead of us were down the interstate a good fifteen minutes ahead of us while we sat there pondering karma, or just plain old bad luck.
Once finally freed into Michigan we headed south into the tail end of some very violent
thunderstorms. The mist became rain, and then strong winds came up out of west. It was an hour of tacking against the wind down i75 to St. Ignace and The Breaker's Resort. We got in about 4pm drenched and weary after a long day in the rain broken up by the better part of two hours crossing the border in five foot increments. Java Joes provided a first class milkshake and coffee before we headed over to check in. They weren't ready for us, but housekeeping did back flips to get us into the room ASAP.
We enjoyed the hot tub and pool, but Breakers is a family resort, kind of like Disney World but with a great lake instead of mice. If you like screaming, unmanaged children and drunk, indifferent parents on smartphones, this place is for you. Max and I vacated the pool in a flurry of OCD after a kid pretended to be vomiting water out over and over again. Dinner was takeout pizza from Java Joes, and it was exceptional. With everything scattered around the room in a vain attempt to dry it out, we crashed on the beds and watched Seth Macfarlane cartoons as the fog rolled in outside. After two days and the better part of a thousand kilometres on the road, we were both pretty knackered. We woke up early in backwards world to blue skies and the sun rising out of Lake Huron (the sun goes to sleep in Huron where we're from). A savoury breakfast of heavily processed meat pucks and bad coffee with large Americans eating all they could while watching Trump speeches on FoxTV (we are far from home my son), had us ready to hit the road. I wiped down the trusty Tiger and we loaded up for a day that was more about exploring than making distance (though it eventually turned into both - you're always making distance if you're trying to get around a great lake). After a quick fill up and a slow ride around St. Ignace's lovely harbour, we got onto the interstate and headed for the Mackinac Bridge, it was spectacular:
The Mackinac Bridge is worth the ride!
We took our border-buddies' advice and headed over to the Tunnel of Trees. This put us on the shore of yet another Great Lake (Lake Michigan). The micro-climate on the west shore of Michigan's northern peninsula produces fast growth. As you ride onto that side of the peninsula everything is super green and the trees get Pandora big. The M-119 is a twisty little blacktop that runs through those forests along the shore. It's barely two lanes wide with no curbs or runoff. You need to keep your eyes on the narrow lane, but you're never moving that quickly. Surrounded by a sea of green, you quickly get into a meditative mood. The Tiger can be whisper quiet when it wants to be, and we purred through that green cathedral in near silence.
You can't help but get that look on your face on the M-119.
We ended up getting redirected off the tunnel road due to construction and never found our way back. We eventually got to Petoskey, which I was interested in seeing because it was where Earnest Hemingway used to spend his summers as a child. It's box stores and hotels bent under the weight of lots of tourists nowadays. If Hemingway were to return, I'm not sure much of it would ring a bell. Out of the heat in a McDonalds at lunch we ran into our doppelgangers again. They suggested an alternate route out of Petoskey and we wished each other a safe trip once again. A short time later one of the retirees working there walked up to chat about bikes, he had a big old Harley in the lot and couldn't identify the Tiger. When I told him it was a Triumph he got the same happy, nostalgic expression that a lot of people did when I told them what we were riding. There is a lot of good will and nostalgia around the marquee in the States. On the road again we struck east across the peninsula aiming for Alpena on the Huron coast, but between the heat, increasing traffic and the strong westerly winds, we were both losing the will to get there. We turned south on 65 and wound our way through Huron National Forest, stopping for an ice cream in Glennie. The lovely young lady who served us told of her hours spent horseback riding the day before, then three local farmers came in for a cone and were curious about the Triumph. It was all very nice. When we left she came out to her car that had a big 'Vote Trump' bumper sticker on it. I found it hard to reconcile how nice Americans were with the insane politics they practice.
Old Detroit charm - built back in the day when the motor city was a world traveller destination, the Bay Valley Resort reminds of the golden years.
When we finally turned onto 23 heading back out to the interstate I gave a barbaric yawp in my helmet, as it felt like we'd never get there. The final blast down the interstate in 60km/hr cross winds was performed using shear will power. We staggered in to the Bay Valley Resort after nine hours and over 450kms on the road in strong winds and relentless heat. Bay Valley Resort was a real treat. Cheaper than Breakers, but better in every way. If you like modern hotels, this isn't for you, but if you like character, Bay Valley has oodles. The doors are made out of wood (!), and the entire resort is situated in the middle of a golf course. It's much more adult orientated, but it had all the accoutrements my son loves. The pool is an indoor/outdoor design with a river between them, and the spa was a hard hitting jet affair with strong bubbles perfect for loosening up sore muscles after a long day in the wind. The whole thing was set into patterned concrete. The on-site restaurant was swathed in dark wood and was both classy and dated, I loved it! The food was chef prepared but priced very reasonably. We fell asleep feeling well cared for in the silence of a golf course at night - no sounds of screaming children anywhere. We woke up the next morning and hit the pool one last time. Max wasn't keen to mount up for yet another day on the road. Day one had been a high mileage sweat box, day 2 a rainy, windy ride with an interminable border wait, and day 3 was a high mileage meander across the peninsula in heat and high winds. We were both tired, and having to get my pillion in motion made it even heavier. After a late breakfast we finally got on the road just before 11am and I made a command decision to take the Interstate rather than head over to the coast on another back road ride. No wind and less heat made our interstate jaunt through poor, old Flint, Michigan a relatively painless affair. Flint feels like a ghost town at the best of times, but this year it felt abandoned. We stopped at a rest stop on the i69 on the way to the Canadian border when Max got a leg cramp, but otherwise high-tailed it home.
Distracted Stratford drivers put that look on my face.
It took all of five minutes to line up and cross the border back into Sarnia. Heading into The States was misery, coming home was a dream. We stopped in Sarnia for lunch and then hit the bricks for the final ride home. We thundered up the 402 on the long legged Tiger before angling off toward Stratford on back roads. After over sixteen hundred kilometres of riding, much of it through wilderness, it was the ride through Stratford and its dithering, well dressed theatre patrons that was the most dangerous. We were cut off and almost run over by people less worried about killing us than they were making their curtain call. It was the only moment on the trip that I was tempted to chase someone down in order to thump them.
Back in the stable after a flawless 1600+kms ride, what a champ!
We finally pulled into the driveway just before 6pm, sore but elated. The ride had its challenges, but the memories made were keepers. The road into Sault Ste. Marie is lovely and surprisingly mountainous. The Mackinac Bridge is a must-do experience, and riding down the tunnel of trees is like attending the best church ever. Java Joes makes a good food stop and Bay Valley Resort is a forgotten gem worth staying at if you're in the area. All in all it was a great adventure, albeit a trying one. Sometimes, usually when it's least comfortable, I wonder why I'm doing this to myself, but the memories sort out the discomfort from the awesome, and the awesome always wins.
Riding the Tunnel of Trees road in northern Michigan http://www.motorcycleroads.com/75/309/Michigan/Tunnel-of-Trees-Road.html#sthash.BxFBBpqw.dpbs - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA
Part of my day job involves building virtual and augmented reality sets for classrooms. I have built dozens of systems and have tried all sorts of different combinations of hardware, we even build software that uses this tech. I get virtual and augmented reality and I'm looking forward this fighter pilot technology finding its way into motorcycle helmets.
The lightest of them use every materials engineering trick in the book to produce helmets that meet stringent modern safety standards while also being comfortable, aerodynamic and long lasting. They are anything but an old-school product, Discovery Channel.
