New Helmet: Skidoo Modular 2 Megatron

Mostly due to Chris Luhman's excellent review of the Skidoo Snow helmet he'd bought last year, and his continued enjoyment of this helmet this year....I went ahead and ordered me a similar one.

I received it a bit over two weeks ago and got a good initial workout with it during my snow riding the next day.

Here's pictures, from the vendor website, of the helmet itself:  LINK

 Here's a series of shots, showing off the helmet in its 

several modular positions.  

 The facemask makes one feel like a fighter jet pilot.  You are

however, completely incomprehensible if you try speaking with it on.

 I was, initially, not that wild about the yellow color scheme but it's 

starting to grow on me.

 Double-walled visor down

The sun visor is actually part of the clear visor, so you can't ride

with the visor up and the sun shield down.  Then again, it's a snow helmet!
Still, being able to drop down the sun visor without engaging the main visor would be nice!

Initial impressions:  Very snug fit, some pressure on the lower cheek bones after an hour of wearing it but I pressed in some of the foam and it should be OK.  Two weeks later, the fit's fit is nice and snug, no pressure points anymore.

I am sure it'll be easier with time and wear, but raising the visor does take distinct effort, as does closing the modular portion of the helmet and locking it into place.  This is especially true when wearing the rubber face mask, you learn to ensure the outlets are lined up correctly and use the thumbs to push them in slightly to ensure a smooth lock down with the chin bar.

It takes a little practice but unlocking the front chin bar is easy enough.  The chin strap ratcheting mechanism is a dream to use!

Once the chin bar is down, you do feel it putting pressure on the face mask, I guess it helps seal it to your face but it is taking some getting used to.  I tried riding in the cold without the face mask and the helmet does pretty good actually.  

With my small nose, I was having some leakage in terms of warm breath up into my glasses which was causing some fogging on my glasses.  To ensure good seal, I always push down a bit on the face mask.  I also added a little bit of weather-stripping foam material around the nose area.  Now, I can ride in sub-freezing temperatures and both the visor and eyeglass lenses remain fog-free.


So, pretty happy with the new helmet so far.  One thing I do different from Chris L is that I didn't bother to replace the paper filter that seats within the mask, I just let the breath condensation drip out of the mask when I arrive at my destination before I put the helmet away.

A Sunset and a Moonrise with Yoshie

I'm always looking for good spots near home where one can pose a motorcycle and capture the many beautiful Colorado Sunsets and Sunrises.  Tonight, the moon phase was in the full stage and I hoped to capture it as well as moonrise was scheduled shortly after sunset.

The location is near the Ireland Way overpass that crosses over the E-470 super slab.  My loving wife Martha had spotted the location as it was on the way to the tutor which our youngest son Miles has started working with in terms of schoolwork.

I'd scouted the location in the morning to see if it would work as a "view of the front range" type of location:

 Using Mount Evans as the background, here's Yoshie

under a bright sunny sky

A view of another portion of the Front Range Mountains

from a nearby road.

I returned to the location of the first photo above and waited for the sun to set behind Yoshie:

About 25 minutes after the sun fully set into the western sky, I spotted the full moon rising on the eastern horizon.  It was a beautiful full moon but unfortunately, it was also so bright that it fooled my camera's light sensor and my pitiful attempts to compensate.  Still, the shots of Yoshie came out pretty good and I'll figure out eventually how to get more detail on the moon itself.

Classic example of "blooming" or overexposing the Moon

20:07hrs: Update:  Did a bit of googling, a little experimentation, figured out how to shoot the moon without "blooming it" by overexposing the picture.

A little editing with photoshop, and voila!  I am pleased with the Photoshop results but could have done better with the manipulation of the colors.  Still, it's progress.

 Which is better, the colorized Moon or the original version?

Delivering Santa

Monday night was the neighborhood Christmas party for the little ones to meet with Santa and let him know their Christmas wishes.

As Natasha, the Ural did before her, so did Yoshie get a chance to deliver Santa to the waiting kids gathered at the local elementary school.

The young man (high school student) who'd volunteered to be Santa showed up at my driveway promptly at 6:30PM as I waited with Yoshie's engine warming up and the lights already blinking on the sidecar.

Santa

Ready to go!

I returned home after delivering Santa.  You should have seen the look on the little kids' faces as we pulled up to the school!  After about 45 minutes, Santa's business was done and I returned to pick him up.  The kids waved at both of us and we took off  into the night.  

Here's Yoshie, almost back to normal running condition.  

I think I'll leave Rudolf on the nose of the sidecar for a day or two.

A Snow Tire for Yoshie

My last couple of postings have dealt with my attempts to gain traction on the M/S rated pusher tire I'd recently mounted as the pusher tire on my V-Strom sidecar rig: Yoshie.

Traction had been achieved but mounting options and results of test rides had been mixed at first with a possible solution close at hand by the end of riding yesterday.  Still, it involved rope and chains and straps, which if you're into that sort of thing, would have been fine.  : )

I had an overnight maintenance change at the data center, and rode Yoshie in at 11PM last night.  The night was crisply cold at 9°F but no issues were encountered by me on the way to and from work.  The M/S tire did fine as the streets were pretty much clear, just wet-looking and probably icy in spots.

Yoshie at the Data Center 

I got home by 4:35 AM and promptly fell asleep.  I woke less than three hours later as I had an appointment with fellow Uralista Craig Heitman.  He once again was generously letting me borrow his tire changer equipment so that I could swap out the pusher tire with a dedicated snow tire.  Both tires are made by General Tires, a German company.  The snow tire has a slightly shorter profile than the M/S tire but the loss of .4" clearance would prove worth it.

I arrived at Craig's house before 9:00AM and by 10:30 we'd done the swap, done test riding around his neighborhood's snow choked roads and let me tell you, the difference was night and day!

Where my M/S tire had slipped and slid its way up a small inclined street near Craig's house, the snow tire just took it on and allowed me to steadily ride up the street as if the pusher tire had chains on it!  I then proceeded to plow into any area where snow had not been plowed, such as alongside sidewalks and Yoshie cruised through the loose tire with ease.  Truly amazing the difference I was experiencing with the snow tire!

After thanks Craig, I took my leave and went to the parking garage near work where I'd taken Yoshie before and failed to negotiate the inclined corridors leading up to the top level of the parking garage.  The top level is open to the sky you see and snow collects there nicely.

Yoshie just motored onto the 4-5 inches of snow on top of the parking garage, again like she was wearing chains on the pusher!  It was glorious.  I did manage to get her into some deeper snow and briefly stuck.  The pusher dug its way down to a layer of thick ice and from there I had no traction.  I pushed her off the ice patch and motored her into position for this picture:

A view of the Front Range Mountains

It was still early so I decided to get on the C-470 slab to see how the new tire felt.  I am happy to report it felt rock solid even at 80mph, at this is before I add the dynabeads for balance!  I made my way to the town of Morrison and the Red Rocks Park for pictures.

 Creation Valley

 The Red Rocks Amphitheater

 Creation Rock, you'll note the deep snow on the side of the road.

Almost got stuck, but placing my feet on the passenger pegs 

applied enough weight to the pusher to motor its way out!

 The tunnel through Lizard Head Rock

 Creation Rock Parking Lot

 Ship Rock, it forms the southern half of the amphitheater

 I believe these are Sinking Titanic and Sphinx Rocks

A view of the lightly snow-covered valley to the south

of Red Rocks Park.

Throughout my riding in Red Rocks Park, I didn't have any significant traction issues.  The loose snow in the gravel parking lots was child's play, and the patches of ice on the roadways were inconsequential for the most part.  I am loving the traction that the new snow tire is providing me.  Now I just have to figure out a way to get the front tire to "bite" more so I can do donuts in the snow.  : )

I made it home safely by 1:00PM, tired from little sleep but happy with the new tire.  The Elephant Ride in February of next year is now looking doable for Yoshie, I had been thinking she'd have to sit it out.

My thanks again to Craig for his help and use of tools and tire changer!