“So, what’s the best helmet to buy?

It’s almost a trick question; a study in ontology, metaphysics, and physics all rolled together. Still, the question wouldn’t come up so often if it were a layup. I’m either brave enough, or something else enough to bite. So here goes.

It’s not that there isn’t an answer. It’s that there are too many answers.

One obvious factor contributing to the confusion is the bewildering profusion of offerings: There are no fewer than 84 different brands of helmet for sale in the US that carry a Snell sticker. There are even more when you include helmets that are DOT certified only. Staggering. While you’ll never walk into a shop and see that many brands, it’s common to see half a dozen, and Internet stores typically carry twice that. This is an example where choice, normally a good thing, probably isn’t.

It doesn’t stop there. Motorcycles, and everything related to owning and riding them, are like any hobby or enthusiasm. And enthusiasts have opinions. It’s half the fun. In the case of motorcycles, the passions run especially hot, particularly around helmets where there are still a fair number of riders who conflate the use of mandated head protection with the entire Bill of Rights. So add endless amounts of opinionating and bloviating, particularly on Internet forums, as another source of confusion. As you would expect, some of the threads are actually very helpful. Many are just painful.

Finally, there is the issue of the science. There’s a fair amount of it due to the fact that there are multiple standards helmets must meet. But beyond general principles, there is a fair amount of disagreement between standard setters about what exactly a helmet is supposed to do in a crash. If your worldview begins and ends at your own border, maybe there are one or two standards worth noticing. If you prowl the Internet, or worse, if you buy magazines from across the big water (I’m referring now to those of us in the big PX buying UK mags; the inverse never happens), then you’ve got even more conflicting data to sort out.

Sooooooo, what to do?

Okay, with that hugely roundabout disclaimer, I’m going to wade in. So you can decide right now whether to read a word further, here’s my perspective:

I am 51 and in pretty good health and shape. I think I fully understand the risks and rewards of riding motorcycles. I live in a state that mandates helmet wearing. I value my physical well being enough that I put safety at the top of my list of values. I wear all-the-gear-all-the-time (ATGATT). I take classes every year. I read. I practice. I don’t drink and ride. I would wear a helmet regardless. So that’s my bias.

I own a Shoei, Arai, Suomy, and ZR-1. My first helmet was a Shoei. I bought the brand name. I mostly wear the Suomy for reasons I’ll go over in a minute. I am not an economic buyer: I don’t pay a lot of attention to what a helmet costs. When it came time to buy my son, wife, and daughter helmets, I bought them the best, as I understood that concept at the time, as well.

I have seen what happens to helmets first hand when they hit the pavement. My son destroyed a Shoei RF1000 while I was watching. The helmet did its job. He walked away. Had a bit of a concussion, but he’s fine now. And he went off at under 20 mph.

I make a living helping people structure and make difficult decisions. I bring the process, others bring the content. That’s what I’m doing here.

I am a research hound. So I offer no new science, but I can show you what’s out there.

To cut to the chase, here’s what you need to know . . .

1. If you know for a fact that you’re not going to crash and that no bugs, stones, or debris are going to hit you in the head or face, there is no need to wear a helmet. A doo-rag and a pair of sunglasses are probably just fine. If you also know the number for the winning lottery ticket, would you please call me?

2. The best helmet is the one on your head. If you’re still stuck in the completely pointless debate about why wearing helmets is a good idea, I have nothing that will help you. It’s your head. I have a strong libertarian streak in me, but the science is against you on this one. Wearing a helmet saves lives. Any helmet is better than no helmet.

3. Good helmets save more lives. There is a qualitative difference that shows up in comfort (which means many things) and the degree to which the helmet will protect your brain from damaging amounts of acceleration in a crash. Buy the best helmet you can.

4. The helmets that protect your head the best, meaning they transfer the least shock to your brain, are: AGV Ti-Tech, Fulmer AFD4, Suomy Spec 1R, Shark RSX, Schuberth S-1, Vemar VSR and ZR1. That covers the complete range of price points and styles. If you don’t like that list, buy an Arai, Shoei, Scorpion, or HJC. If you still don’t like that list, you probably shouldn’t be reading this anyway. I didn’t write it for gear geeks.

5. Contrary to popular misconception, helmets have little or no adverse impact on your ability to hear or see in traffic. See point 1.

6. The most important thing to look for in a helmet is quality (that means a lot of things). After that, it’s fit. If the helmet doesn’t fit you properly, it won’t do its job when the time comes.

7. There are many types of helmets: Flip-Up Helmets, Full Face Helmets, Off-Road Helmets,Open Face Helmets, Shorty Helmets. If your primary concern is protecting your head, there is only one choice: Full Face Helmets. Let me know the next racer you see wearing something other than a Full Face helmet.

8. If you’ve never bought a helmet before, the attributes you won’t think about are weight, ventilation, fogging, and aerodynamics. It turns out that these matter. The part you probably will think about is colors and graphics. These don’t matter except that brighter colors are more visible. Making yourself visible is good.
That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. The rest is just detail.

How to decide for yourself

Before we go any further, and by all means skip ahead if you want, a word or three about making YOUR OWN decision about what helmet to buy.

There isn’t a right answer. There is a right answer for you. You can make your decision any way you want. You can throw darts, pull names from a can, buy what your buddy uses, or let a sales person tell you what to buy. Up to you.

There is a way to make this decision in a high-quality way, even if you know nothing about helmets. To do that, make a grid. On one axis, put your values. On the other your choices.

Values are what you want. Make a list of no more than five. Consider these: Quality, price, fit, noise/quiet, weight, graphics. That’s six. Think about throwing one overboard or making a bigger table. Or try: shock, fit, noise, weight, and fogging.

Choices are what you can choose. In this case, that’s the actual helmets. Again, no more than five.

What you’re going to do is use a scale to grade each choice by each value. The scale can be A, B, C, D, or 1—10, or anything that pleases you. Head to the internet and do some research. Talk to people. Read some reviews. Then grade each helmet by each criteria. Do the math and pick the helmet that’s best for you.

There are lots of subtleties and wrinkles to this. For example, you can weight different values as more or less important. Do that if you need to, but for now, just make the grid. It will help a lot. (For more on decision-quality techniques, go to www.decision-quality.com)

Buy A Suomy, Shark, Shuberth, AGV, Vemar or ZR1

For those of you who don’t like to read, here’s the very short story. If you believe the considerable science that supports what follows, you should buy a helmet that transfers less shock to your head. In the US, here are your best choices (with some quick comments):

• Z1R ZRP-1 (Inexpensive, fits like a Shoei, doesn’t vent well, Made by HJC)
• Fulmer AFD4 (No personal experience with these)
• AGV Ti-Tech (Worn by Italian motorcycle gods)
• Schuberth S-1 (Very expensive, heavy, large, and quiet)
• Shark RSX (Very comfortable, vent well, noisyish, big chin bar)
• Vemar VSR (No personal experience with these)
• Suomy Spec 1R (Light weight, noisy, obnoxious graphics, vents superbly, fits tight, buy one size up)

That covers a full range of price points, features, and attributes. There may be other reasons to buy other helmets and other brands, but based solely on the single criteria of transferring the least shock to your head, those are the winners. As an aside, it’s worth noting that the AGV, Shark, Suomy, and Vemar are built with track riding in mind. In other words, the helmets built for the most extreme riding are built to a softer standard than what you’re wearing if you buy a Snell helmet.

Having said all that, not one of those helmets is among the U.S. market leaders. Although I’m not privy to actual share numbers, I have conducted polls of groups that are broadly representative of US-based, middle aged, non-cruiser riders. I’ve also talked to people who sell helmets for a living. Here’s the general consensus as to the general shape of the market:

• The market leaders at the top are Shoei and Arai.
• The market leaders for “price point” helmets are HJC and Scorpion.
• The most popular flip up helmets are Nolan, Shoei, and HJC.
• Everyone else is just everyone else.

There’s a bit of a reinforcing loop going on here. People but popular brands making them more popular. Beyond that, there is a certain undeniable logic in buying from large, well-funded companies that invest in research, design, materials, and manufacturing. This is true of any category or gear or equipment I can think of. It’s hard to argue with here.

So, if you just can’t abide my safety first argument, another strategy you could follow is “buy the market leader.” I actually don’t think that’s a bad idea. Shoei, Arai, HJC, and Scorpion are top quality companies that do their own research, development, and engineering. Bell has recently come out with a very fine looking helmet. Each of these companies take testing and certification seriously. They have good distribution and dealer relationships which means if there’s a problem, there’s someone to talk to. If you care, HJC is the largest in the world; Scorpion has a very large manufacturing facility right here in the big PX.

Stay away from “cheap” helmets completely. There are reasons why they’re cheap.

If you’re still grind your teeth because I haven’t yet mentioned your favorite brand, I apologize. If you know that much to have that strong an opinion, you’re probably not reading this anyway.

What you really need to know about protecting your head

Before a couple of years ago, the average helmet buyer knew next to nothing about how to tell a good helmet from a bad helmet. Beyond looking for a Snell or DOT sticker on the back, most people bought on some combination of what the guy at the shop was pushing, what a buddy recommended, or what they saw written across the front of a favorite racer. In the US, back in the day, that meant Bell. More recently, that’s meant Shoei and Arai at the top end, and HJC, Scorpion, and a bunch of others at the lower end.

All of this happy ignorance got detonated when Motorcyclist Magazine threw a grenade at Snell and pretty much everyone building helmets to that standard. In my mind, the article and everything that followed (a follow up, plus rebuttal from Snell, and back and forth) is now required reading. Here’s the link.

If the term “required reading” somehow didn’t register, the gist of their findings, and they hired a top-flight lab to do the hard work of destroying helmets, boils down to a pretty simple set of thoughts . . .

1. Concussions are bad. They are even worse as you get older.
2. Concussions come from rapidly accelerating the head and then rapidly decelerating it. Where the skull goes, the soft jello-like thing inside called the brain follows. The brain crashing into the inside of your skull is actually the problem.
3. So anything that transfers less shock to the head in a crash is good. The lesser the better.

And as simple as that might sound, therein lies the controversy. Not the part about diminishing the shock. The part about the best way to do that. Here are the opening paragraphs from the motorcyclist magazine article. Hopefully you’ll decide to read it all the way through, and then come back.

There’s a fundamental debate raging in the motorcycle helmet industry. In a fiberglass-reinforced, expanded-polystyrene nutshell, it’s a debate about how strong and how stiff a helmet should be to provide the best possible protection.

Why the debate? Because if a helmet is too stiff it can be less able to prevent brain injury in the kinds of crashes you’re most likely to have. And if it’s too soft, it might not protect you in a violent, high-energy crash. What’s just right? Well, that’s why it’s called a debate. If you knew what your head was going to hit and how hard, you could choose the perfect helmet for that crash. But crashes are accidents. So you have to guess.

To understand how a helmet protects—or doesn’t protect—your brain, it helps to appreciate just how fragile that organ actually is. The consistency of the human brain is like warm Jello. It’s so gooey that when pathologists remove a brain from a cadaver, they have to use a kind of cheesecloth hammock to hold it together as it comes out of the skull.

Your brain basically floats inside your skull, within a bath of cervical-spinal fluid and a protective cocoon called the dura. But when your skull stops suddenly—as it does when it hits something hard—the brain keeps going, as Sir Isaac Newton predicted. Then it has its own collision with the inside of the skull. If that collision is too severe, the brain can sustain any number of injuries, from shearing of the brain tissue to bleeding in the brain, or between the brain and the dura, or between the dura and the skull. And after your brain is injured, even more damage can occur. When the brain is bashed or injured internally, bleeding and inflammation make it swell. When your brain swells inside the skull, there’s no place for that extra volume to go. So it presses harder against the inside of the skull and tries to squeeze through any opening, bulging out of your eye sockets and oozing down the base of the skull. As it squeezes, more damage is done to some very vital regions.

None of this is good.

To make buying a helmet in the U.S as confusing as possible, there are at least four standards a street motorcycle helmet can meet. The price of entry is the DOT standard, called FMVSS 218, that every street helmet sold here is legally required to pass. There is the European standard, called ECE 22-05, accepted by more than 50 countries. There’s the BSI 6658 Type A standard from Britain. And lastly the Snell M2000/M2005 standard, a voluntary, private standard used primarily in the U.S. So every helmet for street use here must meet the DOT standard, and might or might not meet one of the others. Just by looking at the published requirements for each standard, you would guess a DOT-only helmet would be designed to be the softest, with an ECE helmet very close, then a BSI helmet, and then a Snell helmet.

Dr. Hurt sees the Snell standard in pretty much the same light.

“What should the [G] limit on helmets be? Just as helmet designs should be rounder, smoother and safer, they should also be softer, softer, softer. Because people are wearing these so-called high-performance helmets and are getting diffused [brain] injuries … well, they’re screwed up for life. Taking 300 Gs is not a safe thing.

“We’ve got people that we’ve replicated helmet [impacts] on that took 250, 230 Gs [in their accidents]. And they’ve got a diffuse injury they’re not gonna get rid of. The helmet has a good whack on it, but so what? If they’d had a softer helmet they’d have been better off.”

Again, to cut to the chase, Snell helmets are judged to be too hard. And after much bitching and moaning, the Snell foundation apparently agrees as they are going to implement a new standard somewhere out in the distant future. It’s called M2010, and you can read the draft standard here if you like. Basically they’re caving in to the science.

For more about the BSI standard, go to Suomy’s site and read all about it. It’s worth the time.

But how do I pick? Fit.

Unless you know for certain exactly what helmet you want, you’re a fool to buy sight-unseen on the Internet. The only caveat is if you can do a buy and try. Even going by the sizing charts many companies publish, the fit is still a crapshoot. You simply have to try them on.

To sort out this part of the story, I wandered over to Seattle Cycle Center and talked with Doug Micone about what to look for in a helmet. SCC ha been around 25 years and Doug has been minding things there for five years. He’s sold hundreds and hundreds of helmets, mostly to middle-aged guys. Again, if you bore easily, I’ll cut to the chase. Here’s what he says you should look for:

• Quality
• Fit
• Weight
• Graphics
• Noise
• Ventilation

Here’s a snip from our conversation.

When you’re looking to carry a helmet, what do you look for?

Market share. Quality. If they’ve had problems in the past, we stay away.

When the newbie comes in, what do they ask for?

Safety mostly. Scooter people tend to what the least possible.

When and experienced guy comes in . . .

He wants an up-brand helmet.

If he’s an Arai guy, does he buy Arai?

Sometimes they swap. But they don’t step down. They’re not going to go from a Shoei to an HJC. They may go back and forth between Arai and Shoei.

When you recommend a helmet, what are you typically saying?

The fit. The biggest thing is the fit. A lot of people think a loose fitting helment is a good fitting helmet. That’s not a good thing. So that’s the first thing . . . make sure they have the right fit.

I’ve walked out with helmets that are very tight, and some are just tight . . .

A lot depends on the brand. The Shoei helmet uses a new padding that doesn’t break down. The fitting you walk out the door with is the fit you’ll get. With the Arai, it will pack out quite a bit.

After fit . . .

Fit, and then I think it’s weight. Guys that ride a lot tend to like the lighter helmet. Less fatigue. You enjoy the ride more.

For new guys, I recommend an inexpensive helmet. They don’t know how much they’ll enjoy. For a lot of new riders, we recommend HJC or Scorpion.

I’ve bought maybe five helmets in the last couple of years. What I notice now is noise, aerodynamics, how much air flows, the ability to control fogging on the screen . . . is there a quietest helmet?

I would probably say the Shoei . . . except the flip-ups. A lot depends on the jacket you’re wearing too. If you’re wearing a loose-fitting textile jacket . . . if you just push on it you can hear a difference in noise.
That would be the quietest . . .

Arai is pretty quiet, but not as. Shoei has a better mechanism and sealing for the shield. One of the noisiest is the Scorpion. People complain about it.

You mentioned the mechanism on the Shoei. It’s quite a flush fit on the side . . .

On the Arai they use these side plates, which can cause noise. Suomys are noisy but they vent well. That’s the trade-off. If they vent well, they can be noisy. It’s must more places for air to whistle.

So what’s best for keeping clear . . .

Suomy is best for venting. Keeping the shield clear: HJC and Scorpion. They use a fog-free lens. The Shoei does have a pinlock system you can buy that works really well. It will not fog. They have it for Shoei and HJC. Arai will come out with one next month.

Helmets are good. Here’s why.

I’ve put this towards the end because it’s the boring part. It’s the nitty gritty about why helmets matter. If you’re already drinking that brand of Kool-Aid, you can skip this part. If not and you find yourself easily swayed by facts, read on.

In the US, the first truly authoritative study of motorcycle crashes was conducted by researcher Harry Hurt, who investigated almost every aspect of 900 motorcycle accidents in the Los Angeles area. Additionally, Hurt and his staff analyzed 3,600 motorcycle traffic accident reports in the same geographic area.

An online summery lists 53 findings, all of which are worth reviewing. Here are the ones that relate to the topic of helmets.

1. Approximately three-fourths of these motorcycle accidents involved collision with another vehicle, which was most usually a passenger automobile. [That means breaking the first rule of motorcycling: Don’t hit anything hard. Rule two is: don’t get hit by anything hard.]

2. Approximately one-fourth of these motorcycle accidents were single vehicle accidents involving the motorcycle colliding with the roadway or some fixed object in the environment. [See the first rule of motorcycling; Roads and Fixed Objects are “hard.”]

6. In the multiple vehicle accidents, the driver of the other vehicle violated the motorcycle right-of-way and caused the accident in two-thirds of those accidents. [Remember Ben Rothlisberger? Drivers of cars just don’t see riders of bikes.]

15. The median pre-crash speed was 29.8 mph, and the median crash speed was 21.5 mph, and the one-in-a-thousand crash speed is approximately 86 mph. [Hold this thought. It’s important when it comes to understanding helmet standards.]

35. Likelihood of injury is extremely high in these motorcycle accidents-98% of the multiple vehicle collisions and 96% of the single vehicle accidents resulted in some kind of injury to the motorcycle rider; 45% resulted in more than a minor injury.

44. The most deadly injuries to the accident victims were injuries to the chest and head.

45. The use of the safety helmet is the single critical factor in the prevention of reduction of head injury; the safety helmet which complies with FMVSS 218 is a significantly effective injury countermeasure.

46. Safety helmet use caused no attenuation of critical traffic sounds, no limitation of precrash visual field, and no fatigue or loss of attention; no element of accident causation was related to helmet use.

48. Helmeted riders and passengers showed significantly lower head and neck injury for all types of injury, at all levels of injury severity.

49. The increased coverage of the full facial coverage helmet increases protection, and significantly reduces face injuries.

50. There is not liability for neck injury by wearing a safety helmet; helmeted riders had less neck injuries than unhelmeted riders. Only four minor injuries were attributable to helmet use, and in each case the helmet prevented possible critical or fatal head injury.

51. Sixty percent of the motorcyclists were not wearing safety helmets at the time of the accident. Of this group, 26% said they did not wear helmets because they were uncomfortable and inconvenient, and 53% simply had no expectation of accident involvement.

Don’t helmets make it hard to see and hear?

In a word, “no.”
Here’s the longer version from a study conducted for the NHTSA, by James McKniqht and A. Scott McKniqht at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation:

The Effects of Motorcycle Helmets Upon Seeing and Hearing

Motorcycle crash statistics indicate that helmets are about 29 percent effective in preventing crash fatalities. That is, on average, riders wearing a helmet have a 29 percent better chance of surviving a crash than riders without a helmet.

This study assessed the effects of motorcycle helmets upon seeing and hearing by having 50 riders operate over a test route, changing lanes in response to an audible signal under three helmet conditions: none, partial coverage, and full coverage. Half of the subjects were assessed for the degree of head rotation during lane changes, while the other half were assessed for hearing threshold (decibel level at which they first responded to the signal).

Results showed that subjects in the vision study increased the degree of head rotation in proportion to the vision restrictions imposed by the helmet, though not to the full extent of the restriction. Subjects in the hearing study evidenced no differences in hearing thresholds across the three helmet conditions. The authors conclude that the effects of helmets upon the ability to see and hear are, at most, far too small to compromise the safety benefits offered by head protection.

How would you describe your involvement with motorcycling now?

I currently operate Puget Sound Safety Inc. with my wife Chrisie. We founded it together in 1996. We are now one of the largest motorcycle schools in country. In 2007 year alone, we trained over 4000 riders. We are expecting grow another 50% for 2008.

As an aside, with this kind of growth we are constantly training new instructors. If you know anybody interested, have them call us. Becoming an instructor is a perfect way to improve personal skills and works really well to complement a mid-life motorcycle crisis. If you can show the wife (or whoever) that the sport will pay for its self, it’s easier to keep it going.

My philosophy about teaching is that “we ride motorcycles to have fun, so improving our riding should be fun too”. As far as courses I teach I am a chief Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic instructor, Washington Motorcycle Safety Program and Motorcycle Safety Foundation (WMSP & MSF) instructor, and a certified MSF DirtBike School Rider/Coach.

I am also the Chief instructor and curriculum developer for the Advanced Street Skills program that we host at Pacific Raceways a few times each year, and I have written and instruct a Motorcycle Care and Maintenance course taught at our school.

In addition to teaching I also guest speak at rallies and events offering clinics on riding techniques and suspension theory. I have been chatting with Dave Hough for some time and figure at some point I will put out a few books. For now I am fine with just writing articles for local and on-line motorcycle magazines.

Proficient Motorcycling

David L. Hough. BowTie Press 2000, Paperback, 264 pages, $16.42

I have tinkered in the legal arena working as an expert witness but don’t have a lot of time for it. I have found it a challenging but often disappointing experience. I am always gung ho to support the motorcyclist but more times that not find that it is more the fault of the rider that the auto driver. This is one of the driving ideas behind the development of our exclusive Advanced Street Skills program.

The A.S.S. is designed to address many of those critical skills that I have found missing in accident-involved riders. Make no mistake, this is not the MSF Experienced Rider Course (now called Intermediate Rider Training). It is a full-blown, real-world speed clinic for street riders to master their judgment and cornering skills.

For 2009 we are working on a 2-day camp for riders looking into the Adventure bike scene. I try to be involved at the legislative level but have been limited by my schedule. Mostly I testify at hearings and hold memberships and support organizations like the American Motorcyclist Association and Washington Road Riders. I also seldom miss a meeting with the Washington Motorcycle Safety Advisory Committee, which is a DOL watchdog group and is open to the public to attend.

When did you first ride a motorcycle?

My first experience riding a motorcycle was in an orchard across from my high school. My brother rode me down on his 185 Yamaha dirt bike. He showed me each of the controls and what they did and sent me on my way. Lucky for me it was almost dark and so foggy I couldn’t see past the front fender so I had no idea how scared I should have been.

What was the first bike you owned?

The first bike I ever owned was a 1980 Suzuki GS550L, but since I never did get it to run and ride more than a few blocks at a time, I consider my 1975 Kawasaki KZ400 as my first rider. After doing an unintentional one-wheeled trip though an intersection, I wound up in a pile of bike and rider, I traded my car to my brother for the bike. I have been riding year-round ever since . . . from the time I was 16 years old.

How many bikes have you owned?

Not nearly enough. I have had 17 bikes that I have bought to ride, but over 40 including project bikes that I have built and sold.

How many bikes have you ridden?

I have no idea how many different bikes I have ridden; I very seldom turn down the opportunity to ride a different bike. The more bikes I ride, the better I understand the different characteristics and skills needs to master each.

What do you own now?

Right now I own a 2005 FJR1300A set up for distance riding, an Aprilia RSV Mille for sport riding and track days, A severely modified Ducati 900 Monster for those days I want to be a poser, and a Kawasaki KLX300s Dual-sport for trail riding. I am now in the market for a heavyweight Adventure bike.

How many miles do you expect to ride this year?

We won’t discuss how many miles I won’t get to ride. Ironically the more time I spend helping others master their riding the less I get to do myself. It looks like most of my riding this year will include attending rallies such as the national BMW rally and Sport-Bike North West as a guest speaker or doing product reviews. I am planning on attending a few new track schools this year. I try to find something new every year.

Helmet of choice?

Currently I wear a Shoei RF1000 on the street most of the time and a Scorpion in the dirt. Helmets are a very personal decision and in today’s market a rider’s choice is really determined by fit, price, and features. For me the Shoei has the right balance for me.

Riding gear (street) of choice?

I have an ample selection of street gear but my favorites are my AeroStitch synthetics and my French Furygan leather Jacket and pants. The Furygan leathers are quite exclusive in the U.S: the only importer in the US is right her in the Seattle area. They fit very well. It seems the European male is more slender at the waist than the average American. Lucky for me since garments cut for the “average” American male are always small in the shoulders and huge at the waist. My favorite footwear are my Bates leathers boots, which is a small company that makes them by hand right here in the good’ol US of A. They make a great product and have really good customer service.

Riding gear (track) of choice?

I wear a set of Frank Thomas one-piece leathers that I won in a drawing. They might not be my first choice if I was buying them but the price was perfect! I have done an abrasion test and they seem to hold up just fine. I am looking for a new set though and will get a new set and will most likely get a 1-piece Furygan or Dainese suit.

What bike would you recommend (and why)?

This is a question that is just to open… there are just too many variables so I think I will discuss bike categories and some of the bikes I like in each. First are the three most popular groups for the mid-life rider: Cruisers, Sport-standards, and Sport-tourers.

Cruisers still hold a tremendous market share and certainly fit many riders with what they want to do. These are best suited for short rides, putting around town, and hanging out. It’s hard for me to go on too much about this category since it has never really fit my riding style. If I had to ride a cruiser, I’d go for something like a V-Max for the motor, the HD Night Train for the look, or the Victory Vegas to be a little different. I personally prefer a bike with better handling, more comfort, and that is more suitable for everyday use.

Sport-standards and Sport-tours are very similar in this function. Both generally have good, but not groundbreaking performance, decent suspension, good range, and are good for everyday use. Both do well and everything but not great and anything. As I like to think of it, I could ride may Aprilia or Ducati on a long trip (and have), but you would hear a lot of expletives in my helmet on the looong boring straights. Riding those bikes, I also find myself taking a little longer to sit up straight when I stop for full then I’d like. You also won’t be able to get the smile off my face when we hit the corners.

On the other hand, I could pick a big touring bike like a Gold Wing or BMW LT and I will be in the lap of luxury on those same straights but be begging for something else when we hit the corners. For me that is what makes the Sport-Tours and Sport-Standard perfect.

My current Sport-Touring bike is the Yamaha FJR (best bang for the buck) and offers a great motor, big fuel tank, cheap insurance and reasonable comfort. Other bikes like the BMW RT, Honda ST1300, or Kawasaki C14 are also great. You just have to decide what fits you best. My Sport-Standard it a Ducati Monster which I have taken to both borders (Canada and Mexico).

The Sport-Standard it a good way to get one machine that can do it all. Bikes like the Ducati Monster, Kawasaki Z1000, Honda 919 or 599 are all good for this purpose. Other good choices are the Honda VFR or Triumph Sprint. The new BMW F800ST looks promising but it is still unproven. If you are into sport riding (track dedicated bikes are a whole different subject) I have grown very fond of riding twins. I have had or ridden, ZX’s, CBR’s, GSXR’s, SV’s, Ducati’s, and my latest bike an Aprilia RSV.

Of all the bikes my three favorites were the SV650s, Ducati Monster, and my Aprilia. It’s not that these bikes are superior to the others (the GSXR1000 was a monster!) I just find myself smiling more when I ride them. The twins give great feedback from the motor. This feedback lets me ride at lower speeds (a relative term) while still enjoying myself. I was seldom able to ride the GSXR without have temptations to do really dumb things… so I sold it. I also really like the sound and feel of the twins; they remind me of the old muscle cars.

Adventure bikes are a growing segment and offer many of the benefits of the Sport-Tourers, trading only a little off-road prowess in exchange for good on-road performance. The owners of these bikes almost never have anything to say negatively. The only problem is that many of them you have to approach with your eyes closed. I guess it may be acquired taste. I expect I will own one within the next year so I will have a better prospective at that time. Right now I have to decide between the ultimate road warrior (BMW GS) or the deal of the decade the KLR. The V-Strom has an excellent reputation but is too road biased for what I want to do. I want to get dirty!

Brets- Top 10 list (subject to change daily)

• FJR1300A- the ultimate sport tourer
• ST1300- the ultimate tourer
• Ducati Monster- the perfect poser
• Suzuki SV650- the biggest smile
• Suzuki DL650- the happiest owners
• KLR650- the deal of the decade (now in its 3rd decade)
• Ducati 848- lighter and more nimble than it’s bigger brother and still over 130hp
• BMW R1200GS- The ultimate, price is no option, do everything bike
• DR400SM- the ultimate around-town bike
• VFR800- Gentleman’s express

Re-entry list

Suzuki SV650, DL650, DR400SM

Kawaski 650 ninja, KLR650, EX250 ninja

Honda 599, VFR800. CBR600F4i

Yamaha FZ6, WR250. Supermoto

BMW 650GS. F800

Ducati Monster (anything up to through the 800)

Aprilia Shiver

Triumph Bonneville America, T100 Scrambler

What’s the coolest thing you’ve done on/with a motorcycle?

I rode my Ducati on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln while providing motorcycle training to crew as they sailed to their homeport here in Washington.

If you could pick one place you’d recommend as a riding destination / experience, what/where would that be?

Locally, I would recommend Highway 2 or Randle to Windy ridge on the east side of Mt St. Helens. Stay away from the weekends if you can help it since that is when the riders that get confused about where the racetrack is are out riding.

If someone handed you a blank check and said “go buy a motorcycle you’d enjoy riding (not just collecting), what would you pick?

If money was not a consideration and I could only own one bike I think I would have to try out a BMW R1200GS.

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