Brian: In this episode, we're meticulously maintaining and furiously fixing, and Kentucky draws nigh. We get philosophical and ride with good vibes in our superhero gear, and we learn about short boots from an expert in short. Is that mysterious enough for you? Opening announcements, news, corrections, and banter.

Robin: Random song of the minute. This round, the song is Sarniez, or Sarnie, or Sarnayez, or I don't know. But it's by the newly infamous Augène du Pratouine Check it out Great song to write to Absolutely

Brian: Hope you like mosquitoes.

Robin: Yeah News! First one up, Arizona turns illegal lane splitting into reckless driving while preserving limited lane filtering. This comes from azfamily.com. Arizona's new law makes moving between traffic lanes a reckless driving offense with possible license surrender and a suspension of up to 90 days for a first conviction. A repeat within 24 months can bring at least 20 days in jail and a one-year licensed suspension. Filtering between fully stopped cars remains legal only on roads posted at 45 miles per hour or less with at least two adjacent lanes and a rider's speed no higher than 15 miles per hour.

Brian: Where are you supposed to put the lawyer that has to ride with you to tell you, okay, go, go, go. No, no, no, no, don't do it here.

Robin: It'll take time for this to actually pick up because the fact remains that no matter who you are, if you see a motorcyclist pass you between, they filter up, you think, oh, I was winning. And now they've cheated and now they're winning and it's like, it's not a race. They are actually making a space for a vehicle available that would not otherwise be available by filtering.

Brian: I'll also say that if you're in a situation where lane filtering might look like a good move in Arizona, you're doing it wrong. You're in the wrong place. You have screwed up somewhere. Get out of there. Head to the mountains.

Robin: What's this guy here? MSR?

Brian: MSR. Malcolm Smith Racing releases a new Explorer with an X Explorer Explorer, line of adventure gear at Rocky Mountain ATV Motorcycles so they're almost a house brand I'm not sure there's a relationship there I'm not sure what it is but, A long time ago, like 10 years ago, MSR released a very nice line of ADV gear. I had some, and I really enjoyed it. It was very high quality for the money. I had to sell it when I lost a whole ton of weight. But it was really good stuff for the price. And I think this seems like a similar idea and with some upgrades. They've got D3O armor. The specs are really good. $430 for the jacket, $360 for the britches. It seems high, but it's about half or less of what Climb wants for stuff that fills a similar demand. The whole range of sizes, they actually have tall sizes, which a lot of people will like. A lot of great details.

Robin: That's an understatement, man. This thing is pocket-tastic, all of it is. They got like 40 pockets on everything.

Brian: Oh, yeah, yeah. You're like Batman with all the pockets and belts and so forth. Yeah, it's part of the adventure style. But anyway, it looks like good gear at a great price.

Robin: Okay, well, the next one, opposite the above, a protective base layer lets riders wear ordinary clothes without giving up AA-rated abrasion coverage. So, this comes from Motorcycle.com. Pando Motos, $333 Shell UH-03 is a close-fitting CE-level AA-armored shirt with level-1 shoulder and elbow armor designed for hot weather or under a casual jacket. The review praised its cooling and versatility, but the back protector costs extra and the chest fabric showed some pilling. Does hidden armor make riders more likely to stay protected? Or does a proper jacket still win on weather pockets and repeated touring use? I'm going to say, whatever, pick the right tool for the job. This is cool. If you're riding local and you want to look like you're being a hooligan, like you're doing it wrong, you can do it right while looking like you're doing it wrong.

Brian: Yeah, back in the day, Bone, B-O-H-N, armor, and they may still be around, I don't know, but it was the same idea. Basically, you get underwear with armor in it and then put whatever you want over the top. If it gets more people wearing some sort of protection, great. Is it going to be like a full-blown protection with all the weather protection? No. All right, Zero, the electric motorcycle maker, Zero, plans DC fast charging for new bikes. And this is interesting a retrofit path back to 2022 models.

Robin: That's what grabbed me about it right there. Yeah.

Brian: So Zero says a CCS fast charging modules planned for 2027 street and dual sport bikes are, And this is being engineered as an accessory for compatible 2022 and newer models. The unmet promise of electric vehicles in general has been modularity. The target is a 20 to 80% charge in under 30 minutes on bikes with batteries up to 17.3 kilowatt hours. And of course, pricing and final compatibility are still pending. So Zero's current high-end Level 2 setup can cover the same charging in under 45 minutes. So the bigger gain may be access to common car chargers rather than to raw speed. Plus, you're not in the way of a car for as long.

Robin: I mean, five-minute and ten-minute chargers are coming. They're on the way, but it's just not for the batteries that were built at that time. So the adaptability is good, you know?

Brian: Yeah, so like a half-hour stop, that's doable. I've hung around in many a gas station for half an hour while everybody chats and smokes and pees and drinks Pepsi and so forth. So it'll be interesting to see what this actually ends up costing and, you know, and how that changes the game for current owners, for new owners of Zero Motorcycles. I love seeing it, though.

Robin: Yeah. Now, last one up, a $349 motorcycle dash bundles, CarPlay, dual cameras, TPMS, and blind spot warnings. Now, we've been interested in this more as of late just because we want consolidation, simplicity, and things that are out of sight and mind while we're riding and focusing on the road. This comes from UltimateMotorcycling.com, but the CPMC X6, it combines a bright 6.25-inch CarPlay and Android auto display, front and rear 2K cameras, tire pressure monitoring, and camera-based blind spot alerts in one weatherproof box. This is what I like about this. Months of testing found useful hardware, but also occasional reboots, weak instructions, and no true standalone navigation. So, you know, it's like, oh, in development and made from a parts bin or something. But this is the cheap all-in-one dashboard argument with the catches left in. Can a solid power feed and offline maps make the rough edges acceptable? Or are separate proven devices still worth the handlebar clutter? I already know the answer to this. Screw the clutter. Get it on one thing that's easy to replace. It's known cloud entities.

Brian: Yeah. I can't wait to see where this is going to be in two to five years. I think it's going to get solved and it's not going to be janky and it's going to be awesome. And we're all going to buy it and somebody's going to get rich.

Robin: Why not us?

Brian: Why not? Yeah.

Robin: How have you been, man?

Brian: Good. Been very busy fixing, riding, getting ready. Still... Things to do before Kentucky and so forth. Had a lovely dual sport ride, had some KLR crap to fix. I'll skip a lot here, but basically the bike wasn't idling right. So I started digging. And then when you turn over the rock and all the roaches scurry out, that's kind of what happened with the carburetor on my KLR. So the petcock was bad. The vacuum diaphragm was leaking, you know. 21 years old and this damn pile of crap is leaking. So I had to convert the petcock to a manual operation using a kit i bought years ago i've been carrying around a little baggie for 10 years or at least it's just a little plate and a piece of rubber, converted it to manual for the weekend um had to pull the carb out clean the idle jet out it wasn't idling for some reason and and again i'll admit, i haven't ridden a klr since like before the track day so i had to be what six weeks or something so that's my fault it usually doesn't happen, but i did order the Kawasaki one, which was $100, $102. And I know it's the right part and it's got the brand name on it. Anyway, that's the one I put in there. And then finally, there's a whole rant I'm going to skip on. Why the hell you can't get good fuel line? Because the fuel lines on my KLR were literally falling apart. I put a finger on it and it just went bloop. I mean, that could have easily been like a boot full of gas, you know? So I'm glad I caught that. Finding good fuel line is more difficult than you might think. You can get the rubber stuff for cars all day, but it doesn't even fit on a lot of motorcycles. Like there's not even room next to the carburetor for it, the thicker stuff. So all figured out, all the nonsense figured out, ordered new fuel line, about all that, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. That's all good. KLR is healthy. I just had to remember to turn the fuel off and on for a day and it was awful. So yeah, I don't like doing that. I really don't. So anyway, some good friends have come up with a dual sport ride happening in late October in the Monongahela area of West Virginia. I really want to go, but it's, Eight hours, 468 miles of trailering just to get there.

Robin: One way?

Brian: One way. Oh, my God. Yeah, that's a little rough. And also, that's kind of the height of deer season around there, too. So I'm a little spooked by that as well. Although that area, it's riding paradise, but it's dual sport paradise. So many dirt and gravel and forest roads. You know, choose your own adventure. It's amazing.

Robin: Whatever you're doing, if you're riding there, it's going to be great.

Brian: We're sorting out our logistics for Kentucky. That's going to be great. Going to see each other in a couple days. Going to do some riding. Going to get some wiggly time in on the roads.

Robin: I'm excited.

Brian: Robin, what have you been up to?

Robin: I just finished Neil deGrasse Tyson's Astrophysics for People in a Hurry and just picked up Stealing Speed, which is about the Cold War era where a German racer wanted to defect and brought technology and handed it over to Suzuki. I'm just starting this. So if you look up the book Stealing Speed, that's what I'm into now.

Brian: Two-stroke stuff, yeah.

Robin: It is super cool. I'm really, yeah, he was basically introducing workable two-stroke technology to a drooling, receptive Japan. You know, like, yes, yes, yes, yes. Let's do this. With the exception of Honda, who wanted to stay with the four-strokes. Great book so i just started that maggie's bike her sv650 is now pretty well situated we got new chain check coolant top off check and you know drain to the proper level uh the top case hardware and all that is installed check and her signals are now back on i don't know when signal relocation of all things became this giant process this big task but feck haha The hardware from Puge versus the hardware from SWMotech, the hardware for the top case basically would not fit into position with the turn signals mounted, or with the mounts for the signals in place even. So I had to cut them off with the grinder and then found some other brackets, cut them down, polished them, blast them with some bed liner, and now she has signals again. So it's looking really good. Now she's got a touring machine. She wanted a touring machine. It's back. Speaking of bags, now five days after that squid rant in that bit that I did, she spotted a small posse of sport bikers riding up to Indiana 62 from the dock, which is notorious for irresponsible riders hanging out, right? Her observation was that all of them were wearing full gear, full ag-gag. Excellent choice. You know, refreshing to know. We are packing and preparing for New Mexico. We're on our way home. And so I've spent the past two days tearing things down, cleaning everything inside of everything, and then putting it all in the truck, getting that ready, tore our portable garage apart, got the bikes all set. But now I'm just packing up the rig itself in an effort to just be ready to go after Berea. So after you and I go rock the roads for two solid days, technically, I think you and I are going to be rocking roads for about four days. I come back here and it's game on. We are heading to New Mexico. It's that time. Let's do this thing. Yes.

Brian: Nice.

Robin: That's what I got. My biggest thing is I got all these Ryobi things now because the battery system, that OnePlus stuff, I don't know where I'm going to put it all. So the Jenga is completely different. Everything is going to puzzle piece and jigsaw into a different place than before. It's going to be a creative act.

Brian: Yeah. Next up, we have questions from the wild.

Robin: Now, if you'd like us to field your questions, visit email.tro.bike in your web browser and send us a message.

Brian: So the question is, what do you think is the coolest motorcycle you can own that is not borderline functionally useless as effective transportation? So one of the things I immediately thought about on this question is you really need to divide it into new and old, because I don't think the coolest motorcycle is something that's being made right now.

Robin: Sure.

Brian: But there are some very cool motorcycles being made right now, and there's something to be said for something old and something new. Now, if you're talking new, something you could drive to the grocery store, you could ride to the grocery store, you know, pretty much anything will start and run every day. It will get you to the grocery store. You can throw on a backpack and so forth. I don't think GV makes any racks or luggage for the Panigale. I could be wrong. No, I don't know. I just remember the guy at the track day on a new Panigale. I mean, his eyes were just like saucers. He was like, I need to learn how to ride. I don't know what I'm doing.

Robin: Yeah, the manual didn't include any links to the talent involved to ride this machine. I don't know what to do now.

Brian: At least he knew it, you know, at least he had that sense. And if you're talking about, you know, things that are red, like I prefer naked bikes personally. So I think the Panigale is not cool enough for me. So I would say the Monster is in the ballpark. It's kind of ordinary, though, because there are a lot of them around. Or you could go with the Aprilia Tuano V4, a beast of a naked bike. And here's the thing. I can't tell if they're still in business or if this is still a new bike. The MV Agusta Brutale. Naked bike. It's got that little pitchfork exhaust. I've seen them in person and they're crazy.

Robin: It's an insanely beautiful machine.

Brian: I don't know if they're still making it or not. So kind of where I landed was, back in the Dream Garage episode. It was a bike that I've actually ridden. Like it has just enough practicality. I could ride it every day and I could probably figure out a way to get some luggage on there to go places. But that would be the triumph scrambler 1200 and this is the 1200 xe the xe is the important part it's got the upgraded olin suspension, or irlins or however you say that it'd be incredibly stupid but i think it would just be practical enough to be able to to use every day and and if i had to be an only bike that kind of thing, and if we're talking about old stuff then we need to talk i Let's just get really weird. Basically, go forkless is kind of my idea here. By Moda Tesli or Tezi or the Yamaha GTS-1000. Find, like, the best Yamaha GTS-1000. Find the only one that's still running and ride around and make people go, what the hell is that? What are your thoughts, Robin?

Robin: I'd start with the XB-12S, the Buell. Ha ha! Not the R, the S. I just think that is a lean, mean, hate machine. It's just all of the pissed, tons of beauty, but it's all compacted. There's no airspace between any of the parts. And we cannot ignore the new Norton Manx. What a bike. Yeah, it's been discussed, and I just think it's just such an elegant-looking machine. But then there's all these wild cards that are funny to just talk about, like the Hawk GT. It's such a great bike. It's problematically small, and they don't make a luggage pack for that. What are you going to do? Really? You know? However, if you look up Joe Godin on our podcast website, there is a friend who's been on the show who flew to Chicago, bought my Honda Hawk GT, and rode it to Texas. Some people are just a glutton for punishment, or, like, you know, did he, like, rename it the hemorrhoid machine? I mean, you know, there's also the Pacific Coast, Honda, the Tupperware Extraordinaire. That's an amazing machine that's very purpose built and can do all kinds of stuff. They're cool. The list is extensive. So I think that if you're looking for the coolest motorcycle you can own that is not borderline functionally useless, that's a long list. There's a lot of good options. Next question. For a 31,000 mile European tour, is the Tracer 7 GT's agility worth giving up the Tracer 9 GT's power and electronics? This comes from a rider planning six months across Europe expects roughly 31,000 miles total. And about 185 to 310 miles per day. The choice is between the lighter, more manageable Tracer 7 GT and the roomier, stronger Tracer 9 GT, with cities and mountain roads making agility matter while sustained mileage raises questions about comfort, wind protection, luggage, fatigue, yada, yada. I'm going to say, get the 7. I went from the R1200RS to the GSX-8R. I'm completely indifferent to the whole power thing. It was all about, what do I want to do next? This feels so good. I'm happy. I'm smiling. So do that.

Brian: Yeah, exactly. And that was kind of my first impression. The one thing that comes to mind is how tall and how large is this person? If they were an extra medium, average, statistically middle of the road, in the middle of the bell curve humanoid like Robin here, then absolutely get to seven.

Robin: My name is plain oatmeal. What is yours?

Brian: Yeah, they use this guy. This is the average humanoid. If this person is taller, has longer legs, the 9 would have a little more room and so forth. I don't think you're really going to miss the power either way. I have an FJ09, obviously. That is the predecessor of the Tracer 9. I have ridden the Tracer 9, and there's a tiny, tiny difference in agility. I do think that the FJ is a little more agile. It's a shorter wheelbase by like two inches. However, the Tracer 9 is still a stunningly lightweight machine for what it is and the power it is and what it offers and the room it offers. If the 7 costs a lot less, that's going to give you a lot more money to do fun things and stay on the road longer. So that's part of it. However, the Tracer 9 has much better suspension. So that's the other big difference. So I don't think agility is really it. I think it's more like if you need the room, Or if you would like to have the upgraded suspension and you can spend the money, great. Or if spending less money, a little more basic suspension, a little bit smaller bike, but your average size, then go with the 7. So yeah, both is their answer, yes. All right, on a remote motorcycle trip, which comforts earn their luggage space and which safety items are non-negotiable? Here's a situation. A rider heading into the back country for several days found that even a supposedly light setup became a pile of weight once fuel, water, tools, emergency gear, cold weather layers, camp shoes, and a chair were included. Cutting the load in half is possible, but only by deciding which risks can be planned away and which conveniences protect sleep, recovery, and judgment. That's a great point there. And I guess this means they're camping, right?

Robin: Yeah, they must be. And for this, I would suggest go to TRO.bike and mouse over DigiTools in the main menu, hamburger menu on your phone, and then click on motorcycle packing checklist. We update at any time we feel like no to this, yes to that. And it's been pretty static for quite some time and it's always worked out or been quite helpful.

Brian: That bit about making sure you can get rest and so forth. So a tent you can trust, a lightweight tent that you can trust, a pillow, something to put your head on. Not just wad up some clothes or something, or at least get used to wadding up some clothes and putting your head on that.

Robin: And more than just trusting it, make sure you learn how to use it if you don't know already. There are a lot of people who are going to hear that and be like, it's me. And it's like, okay, not for you. You know how to camp. You know what you're doing. But if you haven't done this before, you need to know how to dig a trench around your tent. You need to know how to make sure that everything that you want to keep dry will remain dry should there be a heavy downfall and you're in this tiny little borderline coffin made of nylon.

Brian: Yeah, and I think most people bring way too many clothes. I mean, do bring layers and so forth, but don't bring so many clothes. I bring too many clothes. Robin's got this a little bit, it's kind of down to an art of, there's things being washed in sinks, I don't want to know. And I've seen people drag along speakers, you know, just too much electronics, things like that, keep that down to a minimum. And the other thing is, they mentioned fuel, really depends on how long you're going to be gone. I mean, do you really need a camp stove, you know, or is that really essential for rehydrating food, things like that? And also bringing water. If you have to carry three days worth of water, you're going to be very, very sad. And I've learned, you know, I used to do a lot of backpacking and figuring out your water sources, where those are going to be when you get there, or at least grabbing water when you get closer. You know, if you're on a motorcycle, you're going to be passing through, you're going to be getting gas. So get water when you get close to camp or get water at your camp. The things that have kept me awake at night It's not so much the stuff I have, it's whether I've practiced, whether I'm used to sleeping in the tent, whether I'm used to the crinkly noises that get made all night. You know, like a lot of air mattresses make horrible noises and crinkles and crunches you don't really know until you try it. So that would be the thing is just kind of get used to using your kit. Make sure you have a sleeping bag or a sleeping arrangement that works for you that's going to keep you warm enough. Temperature ratings are a lie every damn time. They're just damn lies.

Robin: Totally. And it's like basically break down and set up three times. If you can do that inside of an hour, you are golden. You're going to be fine. But push yourself. Be like, okay, what is the system? What is the approach? What am I doing when? Because nothing is worse than setting up camp after dark.

Brian: Yeah, I know where everything is. And things like, you know, we talked about tools a lot. We've got articles on TRO.bike about tools and so forth. I tend to carry a lot, more tools than most, but that's because they get used.

Robin: Dude, I just dumpster dived for tools I thought I was going to get rid of and realized this is a mistake. I was like, why do I have two of the same bits in this Allen head? And it's because I scaled down my toolkit for the bike to use my Leatherman Wave and it's two bearing. It's like two bearings ratcheter. That's not going to take an axle nut off. That's not going to handle 74 foot pounds of torque. I had all these doubled sockets. I was like, there's no reason to keep these. I'm going to give them to Goodwill. Then I realized, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Go get those. There are some things that you should have on your purse. The light kit does the light task the heavy kit needs to be there for the oh shit moments

Brian: Yeah and i would say again the same principle applies practice beforehand use your road tools, to do maintenance to practice things or at least make sure you can reach things that you're going to need to reach may reach the adjustments and so forth, you can probably get rid of a lot of a lot of weight that way one thing that that happens a lot is people will go camping when it's hot And that is a, like, everybody's kind of ready for it to be cold, but nobody's ready for it to be that hot and sweaty and nasty.

Robin: Yeah. For that, bring bug spray.

Brian: Bug juice.

Robin: Cover yourself in that noise. Be comfortable. Be able to rest.

Brian: But yeah, basically practice with everything and then you'll know what it's going to be like. For me, we're doing a lot of really hardcore backpacking in winter and stuff like that. Teaching yourself how cold you can be and you're not going to die versus, oh, this is too cold. I'm going to die. I need to do something. Learning and practicing that stuff is very important. And you can just kind of shed weight and shed weight and shed weight.

Robin: One more time before we move on, if you'd like us to field your questions,

Brian: Visit email.tro.bike.

Robin: In your web browser and send us a message. Brian, what do you got in store for us in the primary topic?

Brian: I'm going to call it riding on vibes. We talk a lot about maps and GPS and dashboards and screens and drawing a line and, you know, figuring out the route and aerial views and so forth. But, There's also a skill that you can lose over time, and that's riding like, I'm going to go northwest, and I'm going to get to this town. I'm going to figure it out as I go. You had a conversation about something called the 81 Challenge. I think it was a gentleman's 81st birthday, and the challenge was to ride 81 miles without a device or without a map. Just go out and vibe and see where the vibes take you.

Robin: That was in support of dementia patients, by the way, but yes.

Brian: Use your local knowledge, follow the weather, follow the terrain, and just see what happens and what you find and see what you feel like. I feel like Goat Pass today, or maybe I'm looking for the big sweepers, or I just kind of vaguely remember there's something interesting over that next hill, that kind of thing. We did a dual sport ride with some very good, very close friends of mine last week. That's kind of how I did it. You know, that's kind of how we always do it. One thing is these guys don't really care where we are. That's always fun. Yeah.

Robin: Yeah. We're here somewhere.

Brian: Yeah. You know, there are people I ride with who just don't care. Like, hey, just take me somewhere. Cool. Let's go ride, man. We're vibing. We're in the wind. And sometimes you're like that. Sometimes you want to know, can we get some lunch? Or I have to pee. Or I need gas. So other than that, though, it's just all like, oh, let's drift around and go over here and go over there. One of the things I wanted to add, you know, like Robin, you've lived in a lot of places, you've ridden in a lot of places, you've had a chance to get out and poke around and explore and feel the vibes and so forth. Like in New Mexico, for example, or when you were in Idaho and so forth. Did you just go out and do that?

Robin: Wow, that's a damn fine question because I don't quite remember what caused us to choose that location. But I think that we knew there was going to be stars. The campground looked nice. The town seemed really cool. Then I immediately zoomed out until I saw curves. And did I ever? There were just plenty of curves. That's how we chose the location. We got set up there and I started kind of like eyeballing, what are my options? What is this really going to take? And here's the thing. I had no reference. I didn't have any friends who said, oh yeah, you got to ride this. Oh yeah, I've ridden that. This was unknown territory on the social scale in terms of what's going to be good jackpot man i just zoomed out and i saw i want to do this i want to do that i heard about this from one person who's a local that'll be devil's highway as brian puts it a dirt road with pavement underneath and there's a real sense of adventure in that alone when you're that isolated and you zoom out to find all these distant start points of amazing writing That's really exciting because you have to figure, okay, where are the gas stations? So I guess my preparing was just about survivalism, but the writing was, we're going to find out.

Brian: Yeah.

Robin: The instant the key was on, once the motor was running, the bike was in motion, I was simply looking forward to the first series of curves and thought,

Brian: Holy shit.

Robin: Is it really to scale per what i thought it was to get me to the next gas station i got lucky it was it was perfect so that's how i did so did that actually answer your question

Brian: Yeah exactly that's exactly what i was saying you know like how do you explore and you really have to let go of the map and the gps and the pre-planning and all that stuff a little bit or a lot of bit.

Robin: You want to feel like oh yeah let's do this we're gonna go ride this you want come from a place of excitement that is positive, not a place that is fear and concern. So the fact that you don't know that alone, there's a certain energy from that that really makes it a lot of fun to see new stuff.

Brian: So there's a difference here, and we talked about this before, between a place with mountains and like terrain, terrain.

Robin: Yeah.

Brian: Versus Indiana. Like we've got some hills. Like Indiana has some fantastic roads you're sitting on right now.

Robin: Yeah. The difference between hills and mountains are we made a bunch of roads because moonshine, and that is the road because diamond-encrusted taxpayer dollars. You go to a mountainous region, and you're limited to these are the roads, and we've engineered them as such to be exactly what they need to be for their use. And even then, they're just a playground for motorcycling. But you go to some place like Berea where it's like, rootin' tootin', I gotta get my moonshine to the next day. You know, it's like they're hiding. Old school. Old school.

Brian: They literally followed the cow home and then paved it all over Kentucky. Yeah, and all over southern Indiana, too. Like in New Mexico, you had to pay attention to things like, oh, yeah, I'm going to run out of gas. Or this may or may not be paved.

Robin: I already told the wife, it's like, if everyone could fuck off, everybody that I care about, if all the people I spend the most time with could all just fuck off, I'm moving to Berea, Kentucky. Because it's just like, what roller coaster do you want to invent today? That's the deal. That's the spot, Berea, Kentucky. But, you know, I really enjoy my friends. So Madison, Wisconsin, Indianapolis, Indiana, Brevard, North Carolina, and, of course, home down in New Mexico.

Brian: Very awesome. I live on the northwest corner of Indianapolis. If I have 20 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour or two hours, I've got like directions I can go and just kind of vibe around and find something that's entertaining. You know, it's not like a circus like in southern Indiana, but I can keep myself happy and scratch the itch a little bit and get out and blow the stink off for an hour and have a good time pretty close to home. And I think everybody does that, you know, And again, that's a kind of vibe writing. Like, oh, yeah, I'll go. There's Fishback Road. I'll go check that out, you know.

Robin: Fishback Hollow Point.

Brian: Yeah, that's literally a road near here. Fishback Road. There's all kinds of little stuff. Oh, there's a guy. They got horses over here. And there's like bees. Wow, man. Cool.

Robin: I so want to make this Berea trip exactly what you're describing.

Brian: Yeah.

Robin: How do we do it? You know, I want to go relax and exhale and fine tune my orchestration of all that is new to me.

Brian: For example, maybe like, OK, I think lunch will be over here and then just sort of noodle it out from there and see what happens. Yeah, it'd be kind of fun. Now, Kentucky is also full of these little tiny goat roads. So that's going to be interesting.

Robin: Yeah. Do you remember the hideaway in Wisconsin? Listen, it's not there anymore. The Hideaway was a place that I think our friend Batfam, we'll just say Batfam from the GS Resources, he found it. And they did these perfectly cubed breaded cheese curds and walleye cheeks.

Brian: Yeah.

Robin: And it was just all you wanted to eat for the whole day. I miss my 30-something-year-old metabolism. Truly, I do. But man it's like if you don't you don't run into places like that by way of like um well i'd like to see the google reviews for this rating is this a particular how many feather points does this particular execution of an excellent restaurant it's not a five star hyatt regency anything you don't find this stuff that way you find this stuff by accident and it's better than anything you've ever had

Brian: Yeah go and look and see what's going on there.

Robin: The world is out there waiting for you to observe it in a way that is both intake and non-threatening to its existence you know just to be able to go out and experience things and say thank you to the people who were hoping you would show up go do that motorcycling allows that yeah

Brian: The one other thing about riding on vibes and so forth is you often kind of have to do that when you're trying to dodge weather. And like we've done that, I've done that, you know, like, okay, over here where we want to go, there's this front. But if we go here, we may end up behind it. I mean, that's actually a lot of fun. Or at least I find that really interesting sometimes to try to anticipate the weather and get around it. Sometimes it works.

Robin: It's a lot more fun than when you and I are like, together, we understand exactly what we're doing. and we're going to beat these storms. And we hit every storm, every single storm.

Brian: All the water in my underwear, yes. And sometimes you make it. You know, we got to Bedford right before, slide in, gas up, kaboom.

Robin: Like three storms we managed to dodge on regular riding efforts. It was one time that you and I got pummeled, but it was unavoidable.

Brian: Yeah, and it also kind of brings you, you're like a sea captain and trying to put together, you know, those kinds of skills. So it's a lot of, yarr, there be squally over there. It's time for segment two, the Armory. Brought to you by gearchick.com.

Robin: G-E-A-R-C-H-I-C.com.

Brian: What are some pieces of gear that are so cool that I want to put it on and they make me want to go ride and go fast and do dumb things?

Joanne: For me, it would be a new helmet. Now, if I have a whole new outfit head to toe, yes, of course, that will make me want to go out. But we're talking separates. Helmet for sure. It's the most flashy. Jacket is second. I don't think any other pieces can be as flashy. SMK, the lesser known global brand that is made and based in India. And they are the number one helmet manufacturers in the whole world. So they make the most helmets of anybody. And they have a nice collection of easy helmets, as I like to call them. And there's no extra tariffs or markups, which is great. But yeah, like the quality and the finish is really nice for the price point. I just like this color because it's cute. It's like turquoise. It's like magenta with blues, gray, black. This is their sporty helmet, like their sport track style. They're basically an intermediate oval. That's me too. This fits me pretty well so far. But I've only written it for about 20 minutes.

Brian: I see a lot of like shorty boots and things that look like they're supposed to be motorcycle shoes, but they look like high top sneakers. They look like work boots. They look like this, that, the other, and so forth. Are those things a reasonable choice are you compromising too much.

Joanne: The lowest entry point for like a low high top is $130. And that's a true motorcycle shoe because they also CE certified their shoes. It's a RE-AX, it's a house brand. Riv's a low one. This is just an example. I haven't looked at the RE-AX shoe. It's called the RE-AX Ventra Air. I haven't looked at it in depth. This is my first time looking at it. I just see in their subject that it is a CE certified shoe. That's actually a really good thing to point out because whenever brands CE certify their shoes, you know for a fact that they have done a couple of minimum things to ensure that there is protective value in this shoe. If you're holding the shoe in your hand and then you put it on its side and then you basically put the sole between like a vice just to see how solid that rigidity, it's called transverse rigidity from left to right across the sole of your shoe, how strong is that support? Because your foot can get trapped underneath your motorcycle under the weight of it. That alone can do some serious damage, So at the bare minimum, you know that these have been tested for that. Same goes for ankle and heel and toe impact protection.

Brian: Yeah, like the example you have, it looks kind of like a work boot. So it'd be like, I'm going to go to Home Depot. I'm going to run to the grocery store. It looks like it'd be decent for walking too, you know. So it'd be kind of the around town stuff.

Joanne: The shoes follow the same idea as a lighter jacket, a lighter glove, a jean instead of a heavier pant. But also keep in mind that there are entry-level brands that do not even add ankle protection. So you want to make sure that one, if you can, find CE-certified footwear because then you know all your bases are covered and you don't have to look for anything else. If it's not CE certified, you want to find out, is it reinforced at the heel, the toe, and the ankle? And some people will do it and just not CE certify it. That's fine. They could be just as protective. They're not going through the whole process of CE certification, but they're just manufacturing them to protect you in those areas. That's what's important, whether it's CE certified or not. Buy a good solid motorcycle shoe that has reinforcement where you want it and then you know wear them when it's appropriate there's a lot of low adventure boots now and those are not meant to actually not really off-road in right they're meant to Sure you got a back road you need to quickly go down yes but they're not designed for you to go off the pavement for a day and go ride. They're meant to be your, you know, around town shoe. And function as a light-duty adventure riding boot where you might be, you're gonna take your KLR out and maybe you live on a big property and maybe you have to ride a couple miles through some dirt or something to get to the pavement. That's the appropriate time to wear those. When you get to a $200 riding shoe, now what you're buying is quality. The protection may not be that much better, but you're getting a more quality shoe that won't wear out as quickly, will last longer, and you probably won't have to warranty anytime soon. Because when you're on a sport bike, no, you don't want to wear a chunky short adventure shoe. You can't. It's impossible to hit your levers and your brakes properly. So if you're going to buy a riding shoe for your sport bike, find like more sport focused. For people on sport bikes, that's where you're going to spend more for a short riding shoe. Like, Dianese has a slightly higher track shoe.

Brian: So to answer the question, these are reasonable choices, and you've given me several things to think about.

Joanne: They may or may not be reasonable for the rider if their expectations are ridiculous.

Brian: So, yeah, I have a pair of boots with the BOA system, but only because they were on a deep, deep, deep clearance. And fundamentally pretty cheap.

Robin: Yikesy yips, the heebie-jeebies, the jitters, the creeps, the wim-wams.

Brian: So when I was talking about the trips in West Virginia, there's a potential trip for West Virginia brewing, but it's in deer season and deer give me the yips big time. I've got scars you don't want to see from deer.

Robin: The deer population here in Indiana is excruciatingly high. It's attenuating my senses. You know, we're driving through the pitch black of night in the truck. And all of a sudden it's like, it's a brown white tail dipshit cramming on the brakes, honking the horn. Where do they run? Of course they run out to wherever they would most likely die. I'm with you, man.

Brian: Joanna, what gives you the yips? Is deer on your list? It gives you the heebie-jeebies.

Joanne: Yeah, I'd say deer for sure and bear and then dark, riding in the dark, especially on curvy mountain roads or anything like that.

Brian: Yeah, I've been there in the dark in West Virginia thanks to some poor planning and people who wouldn't get the hell out of town in time. Anyway, yeah, it was a whole thing. I've been on the Blue Ridge Parkway after dark. That's bad.

Joanne: I can't see as well as I used to either, so I just don't.

Robin: My daytime writing at the non-witching hour. Even then, I'm still preoccupied with the concern of striking a deer, which I've done twice. Both of them roughly around the witching hour. Once you pass that three o'clock mark in the Midwest, you might still be like, I want to go ride though. You know what I mean? Like you'd be like, okay, it's three, but I could go for a little one hour cruise. And then lo and behold, that's the one where you strike a deer. Well, we've got javelinas down in New Mexico, which is like a giant angry pig rat. That is why I always emphasize the, I won't say the trail breaking part, but the delayed apex. The delayed apex is the big part. My biggest issue is sightline. Can I see through this damn curve? And usually the answer is no. And what time is it? Is it time for deer? And here, the answer is always yes. It's always time for deer in Indiana. So something I always have to worry about.

Brian: Yeah, you get over to Arkansas and further south, you get armadillos. How about a living rock on the road.

Robin: Like hitting an armored basketball

Brian: Uh okay now we all got the yips we talked about all the mechanical stuff we're doing talked about our plans talked about kentucky can't wait to go to kentucky, talked about riding you know riding on vibes, we're gonna we're gonna do some vibe riding next week i think we're gonna we're gonna just leave berea and see what we find out there maybe figure out lunch, that kind of that's gonna be great yeah, And I learned a lot about short boots. Like, I was kind of interested. I was like, is this even a good idea? Is this a bad idea? My leg's going to snap off. And Joanne has given us, you know, here's how to make that decision. Robin, what are we going to get into next time? What's happening? Tell us what you have in mind, if anything.

Robin: It's a really good interview with the one and only Curtis Minder, author of Cyber Recon. So we sat down with Curtis for a brief revisit to our previous interview before diving into a good many modern vehicle hacking concerns. Curtis Mender, author of Cyber Recon, highly recommend you read the book. I am mentioned in it. Brian pointed it out.

Brian: That's right. Hey, I know that guy.

Robin: Go check it out and have a good read. Hear from the horse's mouth. That's what I want to do next round. You good for that?

Brian: Sounds good. Ready to get out of here?

Robin: Let's get out of here.

Brian: All right.