YamYam’s Away on Holiday

For two weeks.

 

I’ll see what motorcycle related stories I can drum up when I’m sitting on a blow up chair, bobbing about in a pool.

 

3am start tomorrow (in 3 hours….) so cheerios amigos

 

Gordon

Eric Buell says: “Forget it”

What a shame. What a shame.

(News via Scottishbiker)

Get it whilst you can then folks, as Buell are shutting shop with immediate effect, resulting in one of the greatest bikes ever to disappear from showrooms worldwide. The Lightning is fantastic, it’s my dream bike and I was fortunate to own one back in the day. It was great to ride, perfect handling, gorgeous sound, gorgeous looks and everyone stared when I drove past. I loved it through and through, with exception to the running costs…

It does however throw in to relief my desire to get another Buell. I think I will have to call my mechanic to see if he can maintain it for me, because if I do get another one, I won’t be taking it to HD to service it.

I am pretty bummed really. I always knew that one day I would have another Buell, but it seems like this day will never come now,  unless I grab one soon.

Harley-Davidson Glasgow has a XB9Sx for little over £5,500, so I might have to investigate insurance etc, then start the negotiations with my lovely Em, because if I roll up on a new XB without warning her first, my head will promptly roll in the opposite direction.

I would love to have another Buell. Love Love LOVE.

Hmmm

I think I need to call the missus…

Commute=Bums

Hey!

I’ve been commuting through to Glasgow the past couple of days, it’s a real drag. The weather has been getting progressively colder, wetter and darker. I’ve switched to my clear visor permenantly now and it’s a shame, the Summer is officially over…already.

Me and Blair washed out bikes at the weekend, Blair washing his to go in to winter storage, me washing it for the…3rd time this summer. It was MANKY. But the Bro’s got it sorted and it looked smashing. Wheels were gleaming, chain was slick and smooth.
I got up this morning, chucking it down and within 10 minutes my bike was as manky as it was before we washed it…it’s hard work this motorcycle lark.

Not to worry though, because in 2 weeks I am off to sunny Tenerife! Oh AYE!

Had a quick message from Leigh on the Kawasaki ER6 page saying I would be better suited to a scooter. It made me laugh, but maybe he’s right…could this be the end of all my worries!?

Watch out folks, YamYam’s going 2-stroke…

Keep coming back folks, it’s getting to the time of year when YY goes nuts with the post count!
Gordon

Review: Wolf Titanium Textile

I have had many chances to wear motorcycle gear, from my first ever setup of RST Synchro jeans and RST Electrik jacket to the effortless cool with a side-order of not practical with a Furygan Orona to the RST Paragon 365 textiles. In this time I have come to understand what it really means to have decent gear on your skin. Aye, you can plump for the cheap stuff and think “well with that £xxx I saved I can put it towards a set of Akrapovic cans and a mohican for my helmet.”

Or you can aim higher.

Now admittedly I have had issues with RST stuff in the past. Of course RST are siblings with Wolf, designed by the same house and brought to you in the same way. However, this time there’s something different.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the brand new Wolf Titanium Textile setup:

Oh. Aye.

Now, after all my troubles with the RST/Wolf family, why would you be interested in anything they have to say? Well let me tell you, I opened my ears and I soaked it up, because this offering in it’s black and red war paint is something special.

This jacket is a touring jacket, but it has a definitive difference to other touring jackets, and that is it’s cut. Now with the Paragon jacket, it was quite long, going pretty much to my arse in length and this is really the only cut you got. However with the Titanium Jacket, the cut is a shorty. A concious decision by the designer to cut out bumfle when you sit on the bike which means no pools of water sitting soaking through the fabric which means….DRY.

When you first put your arms through the sleeves you feel like you are part of this jacket. The slick Outlast fabric allowing easy access down the arms. I’ll come to Outlast in a minute.

You put the other arm in and you feel a really solid fit around your shoulders. Zipping the main zip up brings the whole experience to a new level, as the fabric tightens around your upper body as if someone is standing with a ratchet strap clicking it over until you go “aye, that’s it.”

A comfortable fit? Most definitely. But you say the jacket is tight right? Well what about movement. I mean, with the Furygan, it was a nice tight fit, but those blasted foam bits made moving about a pain in the arse.

Well the Titanium seems to know just where you want movement, and yet it retains that snug solidarity that you enjoyed as you zipped it up. The shoulders sit square on your body, even shoulder-paddy, but definitely not in a bad way. It makes you look square, masculine to the point that I actually started to fancy myself…

Small of the back pocket, doesn't really offer anything but a nice visual

Heading down the arms, you find 2 levels of adjustment on the biceps and the forearm for wind flap. Side adjustment is available here as well but I didn’t need it. The cuffs have a lovely velvet finish (a material called Clarino) on them which makes skin contact joyous. Velcro closure makes putting summer race gloves or my A-Stars Goretex gloves a breeze and very comfortable. The arms were shortened to stop the dreaded cuff encroachment in to glove scenario. So many times I have wanted to put my gloves over my jacket only to find that the cuffs sit so far down my arm that it’s uncomfortable wearing gloves outside the cuff. The Titanium is perfect length.

Clarino cuffs. Gorgeous.

It's not really useful day to day (for me), but it still adds to the design

As you can see on the back view, you have stretchy panels on the backs of the arms and indeed the flanks of the back of the jacket. You’ll also notice the flap at the bottom, hinting at it’s touring credentials, although not really offering any kind of sensible storage. Perhaps documents or smaller items, but forget a set of gloves…well without upsetting the harmonious fit.

I love this reflective material and I love the design touch of the red outline.

Below the large WOLF logo which by the way is reflective. It’s this new type of invisible reflective stuff that looks sort of gunmetal grey, but as soon as you get light on it, it’s blazes in a white flash. Brilliant stuff…anyway below that is a popper which conceals a large cross shoulder vent. Never used this as I always wear my Kriega so no wind flow goes through it.

Metal badge oozes class. Not only that, but it re-inforces the feeling of wearing something special. It's like an insignia to make people aware that you mean business.

You’ll notice the gorgeously contoured neck profile, offering maximum draught exclusion without choking. Adjustment is available for pencil necks but again I never adjusted these. On the front you’ll see the red Wolf logo, smart as, and you’ll also see a wee tapered box shape, in some corduroy type fabric…you may notice a similarity between this and the Furygan chin patch I mentioned here…influenced? worth it? Aye. It’s these little flairs that make my day. So I say go for it. It’s not like it’s an identical steal either. It’s been enhanced, enlarged, improved and made out of a material better than the stuff you find on wet-suit pencil cases…. Wolf 1-0 Furygan.

The badges on the sides of the arms, made from metal and outlined with a Wolf emblazoned thick black line, make you feel like you are wearing something special. It oozes class and echoes the serious approach Wolf are taking to this product. It says “Aye, I mean business, and I intend to deal with you as soon as I have finished looking cool.” It’s an insignia to show that you are wearing a serious jacket. And I love it.

Cheeky chins? Perhaps...

Outlast.

Outcast?

In a sentence, Outlast is a fabric that regulates your body temperature to keep you at the perfect comfortable temperature no matter what is going on outside of you. In practice it does work, but it’s sometimes more noticeable than other times.

I have been riding along and I suddenly feel a surge of heat come from…from nowhere. From the air. It’s amazing really, and I really can’t describe it well enough to do it justice. But it is amazing stuff.

The tech of it is easily found on their website, but the way I understand it is this. When you are too hot, Outlast wicks the heat away from your skin and stores it within the fabric. When you get colder, Outlast gradually releases that heat back to you thus heating you up and the cycle is complete. The problem arrives when you don’t have direct contact with the material. I sometimes wear a long sleeved thermal top under my t-shirt and this limits the effect or perhaps the communication of the effect to the body. Anyway, when you feel this fabric with your hand, it doesn’t matter if it’s roasting inside or freezing, this fabric remains cold to the touch at all times. It’s a bizarre sensation but it just adds to the amazement.

Amazing technology in an amazing jacket.

An amazing piece of technology in this jacket and I am well chuffed that Wolf have had the vision to encorporate this in to their Titanium line. However, there is one pretty major area that, if not addressed properly, would instantly remove any and all good things about this jacket, and that is waterproofing. A pet hate of mine and something that I have dealt with since I first started riding.

Black bit warm, Grey bit COOOOOLLLLLLD. AMAZING!!!!

I’ve mentioned the great decision of the cut of the jacket to reduce bumfling and pooling of water. How does the rest of the jacket fair in the Scottish weather?

I have ridden in some of the worst weather imaginable. Side-ways rain, 50mph winds and ice. This jacket excels at keeping that shit out. Unfortunately there are a few material choices that have made the jacket and trousers susceptible to soaking water up and storing it, which is located on the shoulders and the shins. It’s called Clarino and I can see why the choice was made to use it on the jacket. It’s gorgeous. Soft, velvety and classy. But it soaks up water like nobodies business and it takes a day in a hot environment to dry it out again.

The jacket keeps water out brilliantly, with the only leaks being in rain that some cars would struggle with, so for this very reason, I will state that the Titanium jacket is as good as a Gore-Tex setup, because boys and girls, I have worn gore-tex in similar rain and it let water in. A plastic sheet would let water in on days like these…

Trousers.

The trousers of this ensemble are similar in look to the jacket but have two pockets on the thighs, like cargo jean pocket things. I use them for my wallet on the right and keys on the left, they are waterproof and a good size. The trousers have Clarino on the shins as mentioned before and a zip that runs up the back of your leg ( to just before the back of your knee) instead of the side. This keeps the water from entering the zip and makes putting boots on a breeze. You can also refrain from zipping them all the way down to get a good flair on the go…

I can’t post pictures as I have a pre-production set and are not suitable for internets. But believe me when I say – These jeans are comfy as feck and are as comfortable, warm and nice looking as the jacket. A great setup.

SOOOOO

To conclude then.

I am relieved. I am amazed. I am in awe. I am happy.

Wolf have made a set of motorcycle gear that would make even the most picky of us whimper with joy. The Titanium gear is some of the smartest gear I have ever seen. I may be biased in the sense that I wear it every day and have done for over a year, but as I stated at the outset, I have tested a lot of different types of gear from many manufacturers. These beat every other manufacturer hands down for looks.

• The fit is sublime. The touring cut does it’s job and reduces bumfle to the point of there is none…
• The design flairs are perfectly executed.
• The durability is second to none, a real bug-bear with me but thankfully RST/Wolf have upped their game with respects to manufacturing quality control.
• The utility of the gear, the placement of adjustment and pockets, vents and access points are all well thought out and perfectly placed for ease of use, daily.
• The waterproofing is completely successful.
• The Outlast is mind-boggling.
• The use of materials is gorgeous. Hard wearing materials for the important bits. Sexy materials for the flairs. Metal for the badges.
• Zips are solid.
• Velcro is heavy duty, no fluffing or stitch tearing.
• Front fastening is zip, velcro and poppers. A total overkill but it’s bullet proof. I would rather have 3 methods of defence over 2 or 1, even if they did the same job.
• Armour is all standard stuff, but secured extremely well to reduce movement over time.

In a word then, how do I rate the Wolf Titanium gear?

Love.

Review: TCX Airtech Gore-Tex Boots

One month off. A whole month of non-yamyam action. That’s bad.

Let’s rock.

I give you, The TCX Airtech Goretex boot

So after a while of waiting and various calls to J&S, I got the TCX Airtech Gore Tex boots through in the mail. Upon initial inspection I noted to myself that these were nowhere near the effortless cool of my beloved Puma Desmo GTX.

The boot felt stiff in the hand and the rubber was really…rubbery. It reminded me of something that perhaps a fireman would wear, or  a fisherman… After a few moments of visual disappointment, I unzipped those suckers and stuck em on my feet, after all it’s more about what they feel like…right?

There's only so much rubber you can take...

After struggling to get the massive velcro patch off the boot, I slipped my foot in to a very vacant feeling interior. Vacant in the sense that the boot didn’t really fit my foot, it more hovered around it. There was a lot of space for my foot to move horizontally, waving a stick in a cave…what…oh. The boot also felt really hard, rigid and not very pleasant. Nevertheless, I soldiered on and zipped them up…oh dear.

Initial feeling was “oh, that’s not really good” as the interior fabric that’s fashioned around the lip of the boot scraped against my leg. I unzipped it again thinking I had messed it up but sure enough, at the top of the boot was a ragged edge that was rough to the touch. I am not enjoying this experience.

Walking back in forward in my kitchen I was completely turned off by what my feet were saying to me. Absolutely no movement in the shin area forcing an awkward cowboy stride and moon-landing plant of the feet, albiet with a “SLAP”.

As you can see, I took photos on my wet patio table. After doing this, I put them on in my kitchen and immediately my grip was lost, due to some moisture being left on the sole. This was not a good indication of the available grip for say, when you put your foot down at the lights when there just happens to be some diesel spilt on the wet road…

Bugs eye toe cap...mmmm. Not.

There is a natural “That’s enough” point in a products design. With the Puma Desmo it wasn’t ever crossed, I wanted more of it and would have lapped it up with a squint face.

With the TCX Airtech GTX, the point at which “that’s enough” was reached happened as soon as the box was opened and eyes were rested upon the  feast of rubber and mesh.

It may be slightly harsh to say it, but I will say it. On a web shop with the Airtech at a 45° angle and the right lighting this boot looks pretty good. In reality, this boot should never have left the design office. It’s an over stiff, non-user-friendly lump of hard rubber and mesh that makes you partially vomit in to your mouth, and then, after you have wiped the barf off the floor, you try the boots on and you suddenly have the urge to scoop your eyes out with a spoon, only after you have picked yourself up from slipping on the slightly damp floor.

A boo-boo if ever I saw one, and a real shame. I never wore these on the bike. I made the pose of being on my bike, using my kitchen bar-stool as a make shift peg and I immediately knew this was a no-go. And to top off all this lovin’, you then have that annoying rubbing on your leg from the really really reeheeheeeelly (too much Scrubs) bad craftsmanship and materials choice.

Bad one.

Sorry TCX, you’ve blown it.