One Year In - Thoughts on My Sportster

Much like last week's gear review, a year of riding is also a good time to reflect a bit on my choice of steeds. After five thousand miles, I've kind of gotten a feel for what I like and don't like. Is it time to dump the starter bike for something else? Maybe a street bike or dual sport?

The day I picked her up.

The short answer is "No!" I won't be changing rides anytime soon, well, unless H-D announces the Milwaukee Eight engine coming to the Dyna chassis in 2018, that would change my mind right quick, but barring that, I'll be sticking with my Sporty for some time to come, possibly until Adventure Girl is old enough to have it passed on to her.

The thing is, when I picked out a bike, I wanted a good all around ride. Something that I could commute comfortably on, with room to pick up a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread on the way home if needed. I wanted something that would be able to handle an occasional road trip, let me ride two-up with my kids around town, and with enough power to put a smile on my face and pass traffic at South Dakota interstate speeds.

My Sporty does all of that. Sure, she's a little short-legged for long trips, but after a hundred miles or so, you kind of want to get off and stretch anyway. There are faster bikes, there are bikes that carve up corners better, but I'm not going to track days anyway, so those capabilities aren't very useful to me.

Now, there are a few things I plan on changing. The wind protection is a bit lacking for my six foot, one inch frame. My current solution proved itself out on my Iron Butt ride, however, it's definitely a function but ugly solution. I'd like to go to a batwing fairing, possibly over the winter.

Ugly, but effective. Like an A-10 Warthog.

It's a similar story for my handlebars, they're just a little too low and far away to be comfortable over distances. There's probably a set of mini-apes in my future.

Still, long distance comfort changes aside, the Sportster has proven a solid, reliable choice. Fuel economy is usually more than 10mpgs better than my Saturn, and maintenance has been limited to normal wear items.

There's enough power for me to throw it around a bit in sweeping highway on-ramps, and if I look a bit silly hanging half off a cruiser in the turn, well, I don't care, because I'm smiling and gunning the throttle the whole time! That's really the most important part. Every time I put my gear on, go outside, put the key in the ignition, flip the fuel injection switch and flick the start button, I get a big smile on my face. It doesn't matter whether I'm riding five miles, or five thousand, the moment I hear that "Doom, da-doom, da-doom, da-doom" sound booming from the tailpipe, I know I'm going to have a good time.

One Year In - Riding Gear Review

After celebrating a year riding by accomplishing one of my long-term goals, I figure it's time to take a good look at my gear. I ride ATGATT (All The Gear, All The Time) both for reasons of personal safety, and because I will require my kids to ride that way while they're under my roof, and I don't want to have any more "Do as I say, not as I do" arguments than I'm going to end up having anyway.

Let's start with my helmet.

Helmet: Harley-Davidson Branded HJC IS_MAX 2


Pretty much this one, only with the H-D logo on the forehead rather than HJC. It's not a super expensive helmet, but seems to work well. It's broken in to be pretty comfortable, enough so that I was perfectly fine having it perched on my head for all the riding I did for the Bun Burner 1500. The visor is pre-drilled for Pinlock, which is an absolute necessity for riding into the fall, and the integrated sun visor works well without interfering with my prescription glasses

I do wish the chin vents had a screen of some sort though. I've enjested a couple of bugs onto the inside of my visor that had to be dealt with by quickly flipping the visor up to clear them. Not my favorite kind of surprise!

Overall though, this helmet has been a good performer for me. It's reasonably quiet, and the modular design comes in handy when stuck in traffic or needing to take a drink of water on a long ride, without compromising my overall safety the way a half- or three-quarter helmet would. I should have bought it in white though. Black cooks my head in the summer

Jacket: Harley-Davidson FXRG Switchback Textile Riding Jacket

This thing is brilliant. Definitely my favorite bit of gear. It breaks down into four separate layers, with built in CE rated elbow and shoulder armor in the base mesh layer, plus a pocket for a back protector. I do wish the back protector came with the jacket, because it was a $65 extra item, and a bit of a squeeze to get into the pocket.

In the summer, the mesh layer gives pretty good protection, while allowing plenty of airflow to stay cool once you're moving. In the spring and fall, I gradually add/subtract layers as need. With the windshield on my motorcycle, this keeps me comfortable in 30 degree freeway riding, and becomes my winter coat when it's January and -15 degrees. When this jacket eventually fails, I'll buy another one. It's well worth the money.

Gloves: Alpinestars SP-2s
These are great summer gloves. Well vented, pre-curved for less hand fatigue on long rides, and I'm very confident in their protection level. My only issue is that ventilation gets severely excessive when the temperature drops below about 60 degrees. A good set of thermal liners helps, but I need to find another pair of gloves for approximately October - April.








Pants: Spidi Motorcycle Jeans & Strength & Tourmaster Pants
 My ride everywhere pants in the summer are Spidi Motorcycle Jeans. They're reinforced for better durability, and have CE rated armor in the knees and hips. They're well ventilated, but they get heavy when you're off the bike. Certainly better protection than just a regular pair of Wranglers, but not a lot of fun to wear when you're off the bike in the summer.

When colder weather hits, I throw a pair of overpants on. This makes commuting a lot easier, since I just keep my work pants on underneath rather than changing at work. They're also nice for freeway riding in cooler temperatures. I pull the hip and knee armor out of the overpants, leave them in my Spidi jeans, and am decently warm at high speeds.


Feet: Milwaukee Motorcycle Boots
They're boots. They do the job, they're reasonably durable, and they seem like they'll stay together pretty well. I really wish I'd bought a pair with a side zipper, which would have been much less of a pain in the ass put on and off all the time.