Travis: I'm Robin Dean. I'm Tim McClark, and I'm Travis Burleson Where are you right now?

Armene: I Am in Austin, Texas at the MotoGP race for 2023 2023 and this is my very first MotoGP experience ever Awesome.

Robin: You look like you're part of the Aprilia racetrace for the headphones alone You look like you're missing your you like you can't find the pits

Armene: I know I was at the Aprilia tent and somebody asked me for a size

Robin: So you beat us all to the punch you're the first one of the four of us to actually attend one of these events Correct I have no idea what to make of any of what how we're gonna go about this But if your arm gets tired, don't hurt yourself doing this. We're just glad you're there.

Armene: No, I love it I was uh, I was recording some stuff yesterday and somebody asked me what I was holding and I told him it was my vape That is too funny Yeah, he was like, what is that? He looked he seemed very you know, like what is that? What are you doing there?

Robin: Do you have a selfie stick or a handle or a holster or any of that kind of noise?

Armene: I have my wrist and also my four fingers of a thumb.

Robin: So is there a scoreboard? How do we know the stats in Austin? What would the scoreboard there be called in MotoGP terms?

Armene: I think it would be called the scoreboard sounds French. And also I'm not I don't know where the scoreboard is either very European There's I don't know about the whole scoreboard thing But there are lots of video screen like a big TVs everywhere. So that's kind of what I've been like just watching to figure out What's what?

Robin: Well, I just googled 2023 MotoGP Austin scores Okay What I have so far, I guess there's 18 more rows here. Okay. Wow, this is crazy So are they live streaming? Status I get well here. I'll link you in the But I just linked you guys to the stat results for Grand Prix of the Americas. Is that the one we're looking at? Yep Circuit of the Americas Yeah, no, it's Coda but it's the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas is the name of the title race for today.

Armene: Oh See how much I know I'm here and I don't even know that. Yeah, I don't even know I'm not sure.

Robin: I'm correct. I might be looking at the wrong screen Tim help me out. You're technical Looking it up on a different device here Piper what have you seen so far?

Armene: Tell us what your experience has been like yeah, so Yesterday they did a like there's like a pre race day. It's like a sprint race, I guess And it was all all three of the different like levels right so sort of the newer newer younger dudes who I think are Young like 15 16 17 years old and then the next class.

Robin: Yeah, then the next class These kids have been racing since they were three and four years old Yeah amazing Yeah, it's too late for most of us Yeah Oh Moto three that's moto three. So those are like how many cc's of those bikes? Oh, those are 500 Awesome you're on a sweeper. So yeah, that's pretty this is the best spot

Armene: This has been the best spot that I've I've seen for the last

Robin: Yeah, I've got all my friends on Facebook who they're posting their little videos they're posting their vertical videos sideways, thanks for that So they're at a hairpin that's entertaining to watch too because those guys come sailing in As it gets especially when you have to cook your neck sideways, right? Here the record anything you say takes priority here.

Armene: Okay, here we go Isn't that so awesome I see you got your crowd gathering there. Yeah It's crazy when you as the classes move up and the bikes get bigger Like you almost can't sit through it it's so loud Flatware See that's what this episode is they're listening to an audio only platform of us watching racing through a cell phone Maverick is is the Aprilia writer and that's the Signature, right? Yeah, that's the signature. I got this morning.

Robin: You got a signature. Did you?

Tim: Yeah We got a live time again our gas gas rider is currently in 24 Gas gas gas is in 24th.

Armene: Yeah, they say I was telling Tim when I got here this morning that they've They have a writer in this Wow, but you got a signature talk about that.

Robin: How'd that go?

Armene: Yeah, it was really it was very cool How excited was he to see the TRL press pass and how long was your interview with this person? Oh my god He was so excited to see me. He knew me. Actually. He's like, oh I listen to TRL all the time You know, I don't even think he looked up Right, okay, so I did go away, you know, I was the last person in line I think he didn't want to sign anymore and I like sort of just forced my way in to there So well done, he signed it begrudgingly Kind of him to do that I'm laughing at how many of our listeners right now?

Robin: Heard Tim say well, I found a score chart or a timer here and they all just went. Thank God Yeah Something to anchor the discussion.

Tim: Yeah, we've got a little bit of a Move being made of the number 13 Bendis and Snyder He's just gained a position. It's actually giving me a highlight when someone's making a pass I Don't he's still hanging back in number 24.

Armene: Yeah, that's not gas gas.

Tim: No, he dropped it number 25 Pedal harder Oh Who's in the lead now? Oh, we just had a lot of shakeup in the scoring collar. Yeah, go into detail We're asking kind of the later guys are Shuffling around a lot a lot of the eight nine ten eleven position. They're moving around Okay, and a lot of the guys in the back end are exchanging places So our our lap times are the hot ones are going around at two oh nine and a half And the slow guys Talking about you. Mr. So Shiro Minamoto Mina me moto Mr. Two minutes and 17 seconds Are you the guy that when you're in a Mexican restaurant you order up? No Yeah We had a change in the lead Mr. Tony Arbolino is now in the lead Where's my Aprilia, dude?

Robin: It's just moto timing Dog live brought to you by TRL There's a lawsuit Lopez fallen into third place Hopefully anybody who listens to this will email podcast at TRL bike That's podcast at TRL bike. All four of us will receive the email Explaining what the hell it is that I'm failing to talk about I Can always walk around and ask people if that's what you want to do you do that I might do that I like your style Though I see a lot of activity now Lopez just jumped.

Tim: No, he's dropping. He's dropping hard He's he's going slower than the others right now. He's Kind of struggled on that last lap at 210 Everybody else is running under 210.

Robin: We have a an episode where we interviewed Sam Cooke two-part episode racers superbike racer Sam Cooke And he's he's what is he moto America? Is that what he said?

Tim: Yeah, they're they're doing a lot of battle battling around their fifth sixth seventh place And another guy to watch is this Ben Snyder Yeah, Bo Ben Snyder currently in ninth place. He was down five points He's had a bad start down around the 14th, I think. Okay, he's been slowly climbing Okay running under 210 consistently Maverick Maverick something.

Armene: I can't say his last name.

Robin: I'll butcher it You know how I feel about butchering names That's our Monet Piper Maverick is three o'clock he's got a big boy bike 500 CC's a pure kick-ass right there. Oh and he's climbing Was that He just moved up to four well done and he's seven points up for his racing season Yeah, he is having a good race We should do this more often. We don't even just see the race We'll just sit here in front of the charts and be like, yeah, Tim. What do you think? I think you should be doing good.

Tim: You know, he's really been working on his form lately Maybe I'm only a legend in my own mind One of those fun things like one of our slow guys this so Shiro Minna me moto. I think I may have gotten closer that time He's not going very fast, but I think he's an independent I'll look him up

Robin: Okay, he's got a wiki data page Okay So Shiro Okay Japanese motorcycle racer And then the whole page is just statistically gridded out but his competition list is pretty heavy-duty I'd like to know he was doing

Tim: He's doing good, he's got up six points on the on his season, I guess I'm reading that, right

Robin: He was born in 2000. He's 23 years old Some people think I hope that when I'm old enough my parents will buy me a motorcycle and then there's some they're like They'll be in MotoGP

Tim: Yeah, you just imagine how many parents get their kids started early and they enter them in these young races and they And by the time they're like old enough to do this, they're they're tired of motorcycles that they want to move on

Robin: Okay, well fascinating enough. It looks like he may not only be an independent. He may also be a placeholder I've got an article for March 30 of 2023 moto to But not my moto to replace Nozain at Argentina. Oh, so he'll replace Kota Nozain at the Corio's Propago Yamaha VR 4.6 Mastercamp team at the Argentina Grand Prix It's myself that I should become a MotoGP racer I tried on a full leather suit at Alpine star, right?

Armene: Oh, yeah, I did nice freaking awesome It was really hard to get into really hard to get out of but it made me feel like a badass And they had like the perfect mirror in there that just made you look so like it made me look so cool and it matched my Match my new Aprilia hat. I don't know.

Robin: Do you have a circuit in Denver? Is there a race circuit in there that you can go to track day?

Armene: There is but I Wouldn't dare take my Aprilia there Why not Begging for it. No, I'm not taking my brilliant because I will cry ugly ugly tears if that's the best place to take You're that bike.

Robin: It's way better than any road. I would love to have no track day. It's so safe. So safe No way.

Armene: No, I just want to take some like, you know, it's just like some cheap The thing is is that if I'm thinking about my bike, I won't be thinking about What I'm doing.

Tim: Oh Yeah Yeah, everybody's going for that last minute push Get a little crazier. You know that guy I was watching Ben Snyder He's up to sixth place now. He's gained more than eight slots since the start He's a safe to say go Go go. Yeah. Yeah. He is still running faster laps than the fifth place guy, but he's pretty far back I'm sure you can see him and he's chasing him. Yeah, I think that was our two leaders just went fast. Oh Man friggin awesome to look and see when our next local race is happening We got some enduro stuff going on it People are clapping last lap I Know anything about what I'm talking about, which I don't All right All right you introduce yourself and Kind of tell us what you do Brian Weston with the right helmet Inc our managing director of Right helmet North and South America.

Brian: Okay, so our office markets and Supports our markets from Canada down to Brazil.

Armene: How long have you been working with the right?

Brian: This is my 38th year Oh my gosh.

Armene: Yeah, how many are I helmets? Do you have?

Brian: Do I have the product? Well, that's the funny thing is I rotate through I have to test so many helmets I actually don't get to don't get to keep them. I just can't keep them There's just too many. So and in that same vein, I almost never break in a helmet because I'm always Rotating to the next one. So I have a unique experience of not having a big collection and I've never really Worn one out because I'm just always moving to a new a new model.

Armene: So when you say testing them out, what does that mean?

Brian: Just basically field testing how how it's working for this market A lot of people don't realize the rhyme makes helmets for the world and the world has different head shapes Asian heads tend to be more round American euro heads tend to be a little bit more oblong a thinner longer So we actually make different head shapes for different markets and when they develop a new model They have to develop the new or the shape for that market and then we have to test to make sure that what they've done Works in that market. It's quiet staples comfortable. So even though People would think you just you know Rinse and repeat, you know, just make if you got the fit last time. Why can't you do it this time? Well, you need to develop a new shell. It's a new mold things change the new liner mold changes. You try and make it the same You have to make sure that what you did is right. Nothing changed. Yeah when you made those updates So we're always testing for comfort visibility quiet ventilation stability. So we basically are the ones that have to do the initial Feedback and if there's anything that we want to address the factory takes feedback. They work on it. They tweak it We test it again. And once we're confident it's as good if not better than the last generation Then we can move forward into production is a ride the only helmet company that Has different molds for different head shapes as far as I know. Yes, I believe we're the others talk a little bit about Well Some some companies or some dealerships. Well, we coined the phrase intermediate round and long oval Basically, we had to address how the helmets fit and now a lot of people use that as the standard They'll talk about this brand is intermediate. This brand is long as far as I understand it. We're the only ones that make three distinct Models that have three distinct fit packages and then between those two packages. We've tweaked the foam Interiors that you can take away or add to get between so you can go intermediate long or Round intermediate you can kind of mix and match but we do have I think the only company that has three basic Distinct models that are our shape specific.

Armene: Okay, so besides comfort Why does the head shape matter so much?

Brian: Actually, it has a lot to do with the helmets performance while you're riding so comfort is one thing first thing you look for But stability is the most important thing helmet needs to be stable on your head firm so it doesn't lift it doesn't move it doesn't Vibrate at speed therefore distracting you while you're riding Being uncomfortable again while you're riding it if a helmet's not comfortable, you won't ride very long. You'll want to stop We don't want the helmet to be the reason you stop so Comfort in the store is awesome But standing there in the store with the helmet sitting on your head almost any helmet can be comfortable You have to get you know on your bike in the sitting position lean forward that kind of Tells you what the center of gravity is like Standing there with a helmet on top of your head All helmets could feel light or light helmet feels light even a heavy helmet might feel light When you get on your bike and you lean forward the fit of the helmet determines how it's Balanced and how it lays that weight on your head. Your neck is now supporting more weight Levered out over the gas tank if you will So if a helmet fits properly it will displace the weight more evenly the helmet won't move at speed It doesn't want to start lifting and shifting When we talk about fit we always remind people that you're not trying to fit a helmet like a bedroom slipper Because you know bedroom slippers great for getting from bed to the bathroom in the middle of the night But out on the street in a crash that the forces that work will just pull that slipper right off your foot Same thing with the helmet the helmet needs to go on extremely Like a like a tall boot you need to work to get your head inside that helmet so that it envelops your head The bottom of the helmet wraps around your jaw grabs your jaw grabs your your cheekbones and holds onto your head Like it wants to be there kind of like a laced tall boot. It needs to be there and needs to be secure So comfort's important But it's more about Is the helmet displacing the weight evenly are there pressure points because again Uh, if the helmet doesn't fit comfortably people tend to chase Discomfort or hot spots with the bigger helmet the bigger the helmet the more it's going to move now in an impact scenario if a helmet moves The helmet stops and your head keeps moving and your head slaps up against the inside they call that a secondary impact So a helmet that's nice and firm and fits Well in an impact your head will make contact with the eps liner immediately and start absorbing energy quicker So you don't want a helmet that's oversized. You don't want a helmet that doesn't fit your head shape You want a helmet that's snug? It makes contact all the way around your head so that in the unfortunate and uh event of an impact You're going to be the best protected you possibly can so comfort's one thing But performance, uh as far as just riding even if you never crash you want a helmet that doesn't distract you Doesn't you know cause hot spot doesn't make noise but in an impact a Properly fitted helmet will serve you better in absorbing the energy more quickly

Armene: so um when it comes to performance, is that also why arai has that egg shape and why you won't do the drop-down visors and Why we can't find any three-quarter open face helmets from arai

Brian: Well, we do have three-quarter open face We do um because people say well, what about the face or I want this is all about protection What about the face? Why would you even make an open face? Well, the issue is helmets are head protection. They're protect your brain face protection is nice If you want face protection We make full face helmets if you want open face if you if you're claustrophobic if you want to cruise you want to feel the wind In your face, we make a helmet for that But we make our open face helmets To the same level we make our racing helmets It's there to protect the brain and we offer the most possible protection We can possibly do there's no guarantees, you know, even a helmet as good as an arai We know there's energies out there in an impact that are You know beyond the scope of what a helmet can do. So knowing that we make the very best helmets we can um, but we know our even our helmets can be overwhelmed and unfortunately It um, it's it's hard to accept But knowing the fact that we make the very best helmets we can we don't compromise we sleep very well at night knowing That no one is going to be better protected than if you're in an arai and if by chance, uh, um, you know Our helmets were overwhelmed. We know we left no stone unturned. We know we didn't compromise No helmet would have done better And we just keep moving on to make the best helmets we can because it's that important A round smooth helmet performs better in a crash We tend to crash at speed motorcyclists, you know your low side high side you're moving, you know There's always this forward momentum a lot of times on on on camera If a crash is happening coming at you, it looks very static It looks very like just falling but a lot of races we have video of racers falling From you know, 15 20 feet in the air after being high sided They also happen to be traveling at 150 to 180 miles an hour. So on impact they're not just hitting something. They're hitting something with a tremendous amount of kinetic energy from being cobalted into the Into the air the weight of their body falling and the kinetic energy once their body pushes through Into the helmet and then hitting the ground the goal is to Avoid as much energy as possible avoid as much energy getting into the helmet as possible So when you hit the ground at speed The idea is that the helmet will skip or slide On contact. Yes, some energy will be imparted as the helmet flexes the shell flexes and the liner Starts to compress but if you can keep the helmet moving if you can slide and keep that momentum forward Every bit you slide you're leaving kinetic energy and impact energy behind you. You're passing it You're not letting it get into the helmet. So our goal is by minimizing how much energy gets into the helmet The helmet can handle more energy As the crash continues because the crash does continue you skip slide bounce tumble Um, so we want to make sure that during those tumbles those multiple impacts hitting obstacles the bike hitting you hitting a curb or a pole We want to make sure that that initial impact didn't use up the helmet's capacity That that initial impact didn't you know crush the entire liner leaving you basically defenseless So we want the helmet to be there over and over and over again should you need it even in the same spot Because as we crash we tend to tumble and as you tumble you hit the same spot over and over and over again So we want to make sure that the shell Still has integrity. It's flexed. It may have delaminated a little bit, but we want it to still be round and smooth We still want it to be able to resist impact energy and displace it over the widest possible area and the more energy you can displace over a wide area with a strong shell that sends the energy wider and out the This full surface of the shell more of the liner can absorb That energy and the more liner you can absorb the energy with the more capacity you still have Having said that there's only so much eps foam we can put inside the helmet There's only about an inch and a quarter of material there Not a whole lot of energy when you're dealing with the speeds that we ride at and the obstacles we come in contact with So the idea of taking any of that foam away for any reason Especially one that's as frivolous as sunglasses, you know a drop-down lens. It's convenient. It's very cool. But in the end We don't want to take away precious material that's there to absorb impact energy to protect the brain Ari, that's why I came came up with the crocheted system. So we hung an external shade Which in itself is even better than a drop-down because it's not on or off. It's not up or down Our pro shade functions in three different Modes full up. It's kind of like a visor to block overhead glare halfway down so if you're kind of midday kind of coming into the Afternoon or in the mid morning and then full down if you're going into sunup or sundown so it actually functions Three specific ways and in its full up position it even works at night so it can block the glare from overhead street lights So we've actually come up with something that does not detract from impact absorption or protection And we've given you something more functional and beneficial by giving you four independent things that it can do that a drop-down lens just can't so Ari is always looking at any accessory we do to enhance the ride Benefit the rider without detracting from protection In anything we do so it's important to recognize and remember Too many people take helmets for granted. They assume they're all safe because they've got a sticker They're all offering the same protection because they've got that certification sticker and the reality is those minimum standards are there to make sure that The consumer is getting the basic minimum that the government thinks is necessary and they're they're pretty tough standards But it doesn't mean we should just stop It doesn't mean we should just give up and say yeah, we meet the minimum. We're good You know, let's wait for the next standard and just make helmets all day long Ari is always looking for You know, how do we protect the rider better just because we could put something into our helmet And it would still pass the standard. It doesn't mean it's necessarily a good thing Now it doesn't mean it's also a bad thing. However Again, everything we do We look at it from a rider's point of view the when we're out in the street or the racetrack The the impacts we have are dynamic and it's something that I don't believe any standard could actually Replicate standards or laboratory repeatable tests because they need to compare apples to apples brand to brand On a meter on the the test rigs You can't test a high speed high side On pavement because every time you try and repeat that process it's different. Every crash is different You can't compare apples to apples in the real world So we look at everything we do To benefit the rider and to benefit protection so over the years we evolved from a fairly round to an egg shape, you know, we didn't We didn't design our helmets with the end goal of being an egg It just kind of happened that way and then we looked at it one day It's wow, this thing's really egg-shaped and then we started thinking well, that's Almost seems like common sense. Why didn't you do that before? The egg is the strongest shape in nature, I mean it's this thin little shell but it supports a tremendous amount of weight It protects the egg inside of it quite well and we kind of slowly came around to that realization as we developed the helmets over over the decades, so Egg shape is something that we've really Focused on and some might say god you're stuck there. I'm like, well, it really works People have to remember a helmet the job of a helmet's never changed. It's about protection So once we found that shape is the optimal shape We continue to use that as our foundation all of our helmets are very very similar because they have to The core of the helmet is protection. It's round and smooth strong we change it up with Ventilation components aerodynamic components as necessary based on what people are doing racing touring just street riding commuting But the basic helmet is the round smooth strong shell And it's important to recognize all those things that we put on the helmet to make it a better riding experience aerodynamic for quiet stability And ventilation all that stuff Once you leave the motorcycle at speed are a liability, you know now they're sticking out They're they're points of contact that could create rotational force that could make the helmet stop even for an instant sending energy into the helmet So all of our parts are frangible they break off Or crush upon impact so they get out of the way they they contribute nothing to the crash. They don't get involved They disappear. They should break away or crush so that the helmet can just do its job of Avoiding energy not interjecting itself into the crash. It needs to just go along for the ride Protect what's inside, you know slide past as much energy as possible Smooth, you know the slide over smooth terrain glance off obstacles as they come and in multiple impacts withstand You know those energies so that the rider inside hopefully gets through it pretty well

Armene: so All of those pop off As soon as they touch the pavement so leaving just that that egg shape so when we think about other helmets where they have sort of the flare out at the The neck or the chin those are all hooking points, right that could all get hooked and kind of snap your neck

Brian: yeah, we We make head protection we don't think too much about anything beyond the head because that's not what we do So I always kind of shy away from saying those things, but our attitude has always been anything that's you know, like like I mean leverage, you know levers your levers on your on your motorcycle. They're used levers because they create, you know, they allow you to Twist and turn so we want to avoid leverage and things that twist and turn We want to avoid sending energy somewhere else that might also do harm, correct? so in the grant scheme we look at Anything sticking out is is a potential trip hazard, you know, if you will, um aerodynamically, uh, yeah, it might be Beneficial, but there's no reason why you can't do that with an add-on piece Um, a lot of companies have add-ons, but it's um, a lot of them also have very exaggerated sexy looking shells I I can't deny it. Um, our helmets are round and smooth and strong Some people say they're boring, but you know what safety isn't always sexy Uh, it's hard to sell safety. A lot of people don't want to really address it or talk about it We have to kind of have that awkward conversation with the kids about you know Riding a motorcycle even with the best gear on you're you're you're out there on your own. There's no airbags There's no seatbelts. No crumple zones. No padded dashboard. You're on your own. So even the best gear, you know It's a very thin, uh shield of armor. Um, and I love the fact that alpinestars, you know the best Tremendous it's a helmet for your upper chest and your body awesome Um, you need to put as much between you and the impact as possible You need to do your homework and choose a helmet that you believe is going to offer you the best protection And again, there's no guarantees Um and standards all pass or fail. It's really hard to distinguish between You know, what is a good helmet and what is just a helmet that was produced for mass volume consumption and margin So it's important people do their homework. Don't take my word for it. I work for rye 38 years Obviously i'm a little bit biased. I think everyone should wear in a rye Um, but do your homework and investigate the company that made your helmet and ask why did they make that helmet?

Armene: Well, can I ask you? Um, because I did some research on the minimum standards And I i'm sure it's not as easy as just saying, you know 30 40 miles an hour 60 miles an hour Can you talk a little bit about the dot standard versus snell versus mix versus ece? I'm sure we could spend all day talking about it. But I there's some great confusion for me Like what does it take to get the snell? approval and you know Can any company just get the dot? Like is there a mile per hour rating in which they have to get passed to get it on the shelf for a consumer?

Brian: um Well dot is self-certification. So if dot sets a standard they put it out there the government says this is what you got to do And by bringing a helmet to market you put a dot sticker on it You're telling everyone that you've self-certified you you satisfy the the minimums and the government once in a while We'll go out and test and they'll verify it. So it's kind of like an honor system until you're caught kind of a thing. Um snell is is uh independent um standard that was created in memoriam to uh Pete snell who died in a car racing wreck back in the 50s In a helmet that he thought was good and his wife and a friend of his who was a doctor at the time Wanted to do something to uh to better the potential for drivers to one understand what they're wearing and will it actually offer them better protection and they bumped up The requirements and it's not necessarily a mile an hour. It's well, I guess it's trying to get some mile an hour I encourage everyone go to the snell website and learn how snell looks at protection But it's a matter of you're dropping a five kilogram head form from I believe Nine feet, you know three meters give or take I forget the exact number. Um, so you have to get feet per second speed With the kilogram head form onto a steel anvil both hemispherical flat anvil And also penetration and you just can't pass a certain amount of g's to the brain. Um And snell is the most strict standard in the world yet. It only tests to about 17 and a half miles an hour That's the speed at which they test to and they've been accused of being too tough um And you said 17 not 70 17 17 17.5 is what the company has that's all that's the highest speed rating They have to pass to get the snell sticker on the back of the helmet And now when you look at that, it sounds ridiculous. That's nothing You know, I do I do 50 in first year on some motorcycles or you know, or 30 at least um But I I always challenge people and i've had people Like again when they attack snell snell is too hard It's too tough for the average crash rolling riding around town 35 miles an hour, you know, we don't need a helmet that strong To which I have to argue, you know At 35 miles an hour if you're riding down the street watch the telephone poles go by They go by pretty quick and imagine if you turned into one and hit it head on without any deflection That's a tremendous amount of energy 17.5 miles an hour from nine feet onto a steel anvil is a tremendous amount of energy and a tremendous Test of the helmet shell's Strength and its ability to withstand those forces not crumple the straight displace the energy and absorb it from the interior You know the eps liner. It is a tremendous amount of energy And we do really well in big impacts like that, but luckily again in motorcycle crashes we're moving That's sliding that glancing and that's why we look at improving our helmets performance by sliding Take advantage of what what's already what's already there Maximize the fact that your kinetic energy You're still moving as long as you can keep moving as long as you can keep sliding you're avoiding impact energy so Uh, I love the fact that ece has stepped up quite a bit from the 05 to 06 They're they're requiring much more energies as is the uh, fim standards However, they do not require penetration resistance snell and dot do Require penetration resistance again. You have to check out snell and look what they look what they ask for. I believe it's a three kilogram Uh striker I believe it is also from nine feet um And it basically has to be tested on the bare shell and also any ventilation holes within the strike area Which is the entire crown of the helmet And it can't make contact with the head So you have one and a half inches of foam the shell which is about a quarter inch three eighths of uh, Three eighths of an inch. I'm, sorry an eighth of an inch to a quarter of an inch thick depending on where it is It's a tremendous testimony to a shell that can withstand that striker. Um But it's it's one of those things that a lot of people say There's really nothing that sharp out there. It's really not applicable in the real world And i've seen racers especially race bikes with a fairly pointed foot peg Land on a rider's head with the foot peg at the temple it's not Probable, but it's possible and arise philosophy is we're not going to go based on percentages if it's possible We're going to try and develop something that can withstand those things how much we don't know. Can we cover everything? No, but we look at things that we know of and we're not going to dismiss them because they only happen once out of a thousand because murphy's always there and Chances are that one in a thousand It might be you one day and you're going to be really thankful that you're in a ride because the right thought about making A helmet a little bit better because that could happen And again, I have to fall back on there's no guarantees because we don't know what kind of energy We don't know if you're doing 100 to 150. We don't know if the bike is going to hit you square or glancing We don't know what's going to happen Every crash is different even lower speed crashes can put much more energy into a helmet than high speed crashes. So Not knowing how fast you're going to ride not knowing your environment not knowing your Your ability to take punishment because some people can take bigger hits than others I know, you know, some races will take a massive crash get up and walk away I've hit my head on you know, the corner counter, you know, I cry for a week. So Not knowing all those things. We just make the helmet the absolute best we can and then hopefully it's going to serve you Serve you well, whether you're in a small Tip over, you know lay down or a high speed high side So it's important for people to do their homework look at every standard ece dot snell even the fim and decide for yourself what How much protection do you want? Which one do you believe offers the most potential to cover all the bases? How much protection do you want? How important are you to you? I always ask people that it's like well, i'm not I don't need a helmet that good You need the best time you could possibly get well, i'm a new rider. I don't need a helmet That good you're a new rider. You might crash more than most people. You need a helmet that good Well, I only ride once once a month Occasionally i'm like no you're you're out of practice You got to get back up to you know, kind of feel comfortable to bike You need a helmet that good, you know, you're riding down the street, you know, someone distracted on the phone You know grandma's not paying attention. You know, she didn't wear her glasses today I don't know. I've had people in cadillacs pointing the cars at me a lot when I lived in florida I didn't like that feeling but I do like the feeling of making sure that should I hit something? I've got the best helmet on my head. So everyone has to make that decision how much they're willing to compromise You know if you're going to spend a few hundred dollars on a pair of boots, which is important I think it's the most common injuries and ankle injury But you break your foot you can still get around on crutches. You lose a foot You can still get around and you know prosthetics and and crutches or a cane Sometimes it's pretty hard to reboot the computer, you know, so it's important for people to recognize look do your homework We're not asking you to drop a tremendous amount more money than other helmets Just look at what you think you you're you wanted what you think you're willing to spend what you think is good enough Then research or I think if you think the family That puts their name behind every helmet they make That still is 100 control of the helmet that the grandfather started more than 70 years ago And the third generation will be taking over to defend that awry name And still wear it for his own protection Knowing that there's only one production line Every single helmet was made by 15 men that had great care in the helmets They make because their name is in every helmet they make Every helmet's inspected twice that used to be reserved for our race program back in the 60s and 70s Now it's for everybody every helmet gets inspected twice Racer helmets come off the same production line. Mr. Rice helmet comes off the same production line uh, you know a jonathan rea replica a maverick daniela's replica could be the exact One snell digit off of the one you buy today It literally could have come off the exact same production lot because they come from the same production So no one's more important than anyone else. Everyone gets the best we possibly can and it's important for everyone to look at Where they're riding understanding the risks and recognizing? Okay I was going to spend four or five hundred Do I want to spend another one two or three on a ride, you know, and and we're not necessarily entry-level price points if you will but Think about it for another hundred or two hundred dollars you might get the the the I guess the The feeling that there was a family that cares about protection more than market share and more than profit Puts their family name on it every single time Risks their own safety when they wear their own helmet that was made in the same production that you bought And basically every racer that races around the world is again getting the same protection you're getting because honestly Racers are all going in the same direction with other professionals with runoff airbags ambulances and helicopters all nearby You're alone on the street with trucks telephone poles curbs and crazy people. You need more protection. I think than most racers You're not going as fast as them, but you have a bigger opportunity to hit a lot of things So again, everyone has to do their own research figure out what they're worth to themselves. How important is their own protection is a ride? Doing things that they feel are in their best interests Better than others or do they feel like a 500 helmet or 300 helmet that has a standard good enough? And it might be for some people I have to end it with saying we can't make enough helmets for everybody if the entire world one day said I'm going to buy a ride There'd be a 15-year waiting period. There's no way we could possibly do it. So It's okay. If if you're not ready for an array right now, right? I mean We can only make so many And we love the discerning few that are willing to spend the extra money in a ride because they believe in a ride And I believe everyone who tries in a ride Will appreciate what we do and will probably become an array fan Everyone who crashes an array. I know is an array fan. Um I kind of used the joke saying you don't know how good a rise until you crash in one and that's really not true You don't know how good an array is until you've put up one on that was properly fit Properly shaped and you go out and take a ride in it and realize wow, this is incredible It's like being in a pillow field of view is incredible. It's quiet. It's ventilated It's going to be the best experience you have even if you never crash so It's it's a unique brand Um, we only do what we want to do for the sake of improving safety and protection performance all for the customer because We care about our customers. We really really Want to know that If you're buying a right helmet you're buying with the absolute confidence. That is the very best time that we could possibly make Well said thank you.

Armene: I love my right i'll tell you I i've i've been an array Fan since I first started riding and I will wear nothing else I really appreciate your time. Seriously So we're we're here today at moto gp and um I've come into the alpine star tent and i've got an interview with um, one of the guys who is Responsible for the air tech gear. He sort of promotes it knows all about it um, and It's that really awesome body suit that sort of um Blows up if you come off a bike Expands maybe I shouldn't say blows up It's an airbag system and it's it's rad Um, but it's not it's one of those it's one of the few that is not attached to your motorcycle um It just is so high tech that it knows Um, as soon as you start going a certain speed 25 45 miles an hour And I think depending on the suit that you get kind of determines when it kicks on But as soon as you hit that particular speed it it kicks on and it's ready and it knows if you high side Low side if you get hit from behind um and it deploys so it's yeah, it's It's pretty neat stuff here, oh wait, we're we're doing something Oh, they're about to pop. Oh, they're gonna pop the jacket Pop the jacket. Yeah, watch the dude just like disappear and then they find them 20 feet to the right This one was miscalibrated ignore what you just saw we got one from a toyota camry instead This is awesome actually because once it's nothing left but a pair of red shoes Once it's once it deploys you guys can send it back to california and they can fix it you can use it again.

Robin: Yeah Yeah, that's oh you're talking to somebody next to you Three two one Oops misfire They gotta throw them off a bike at speed or it won't work All right.

Armene: Here we go.

Product Rep: Okay, here we go Promise me five four three two Holy crap That was 25 milliseconds and the covers that you see full back shoulders upper arms For any area that that covers again, that's amazing.

Robin: Do you need anything else for me before we Before I sign off you rock go have a good time do what you do and find out what you find out And have fun.

Armene: All right. Thanks guys All right Um, can you tell me your name and what your role is for alpine stars?

Brent: Sure. Yeah, my name is brent jaswinski i'm the technical product specialist at alpine stars and I Do a lot of different things from sales to media and pretty much everything in between but my focus is with uh, you know Basically basically airbag products.

Armene: Oh awesome. How did you get into this industry?

Brent: Uh, well i'm a lifelong rider i've been riding since I was five or six years old, you know growing through the ranks racing both on road and off I was uh In the media as well test riding bikes and then it was after that I uh, you know linked up with friends at alpine stars and started, you know my career there Awesome.

Armene: Have you ever been on a bike and then deployed and had the airbag go off?

Brent: Uh, not yet. No, uh, fortunately, but I have deployed myself several times my last road crash was a few years ago probably in 2017 or 18 or so, but it was a uh, It was a it was a low side where I was cranked way over and basically framed out on the foot peg and you know There's enough pressure off the the rear tire that it, you know slid out on me and uh, you know I was already so far over that it didn't necessitate the the deployment of the airbag.

Armene: Fortunately, you know high side could have been a different story Gotcha, and i'm assuming you were wearing all of your alpine star gear.

Brent: Yep. I was wearing full full leathers Um, so, you know, I walked away no problem. The bike was even you know, pretty pretty minimally damaged it was just a couple scrapes on you know, the bar ends and and whatnot, but Yeah, I know the gear definitely did its job. I was able to ride away and you know Can keep working the next day and you know, no Came away unscathed How do you convince people to wear their gear? Just gear in general. Uh, well, you know, it really is it's kind of easy honestly, if anybody's ever, you know had a crash especially on the pavement whether it be a You know a simple accident or you know something bigger Uh, you know really all it takes is that experience to understand the importance of wearing any form of gear Whether it be just gloves and a helmet and boots Or long, you know long pants or a jacket, you know, whatever the case may be You know, all it takes is one to really kind of rewire your whole perspective on protective gear and uh Uh, but really a lot of people are obviously risk averse, you know, especially the older you get obviously and uh, You know have being able to you know Walk away from these crashes without any sort of you know Road rash at the at the least at the you know, the easy getting off easy end of the spectrum to broken bones is uh, You know if you've ever been in that position where you've had to miss work or have a surgery or anything like that You know, it really changes your whole perspective. So You know the earlier you can get You know the earlier you start riding and wearing gear the easier and faster you can appreciate, you know what it's there for

Armene: So for me since I own a motorcycle training school and most of the people who come to my school I've never been on a motorcycle before they really don't understand the concept of what it What it's like to come off a bike and ride and all those things But at the same time trying not to scare them out of the sport What could I what do you think I could say to them to sort of encourage that behavior?

Brent: well, yeah, I mean obviously scary crashing is scary, but uh But knowing that you have the right equipment minimizes and mitigates that risk tremendously and uh You know having that confidence and knowing that you're as best protected as you possibly could be really does help You know increase rider confidence and whether that be a newer rider who's just getting you know Started learning how to shift gears and you know merge onto the freeway or whatever the case may be to a more experienced Rider, you know having the right gear really does help you enjoy the whole experience that much more because You're able to push the envelope a little bit further, you know as you progress and get better and knowing, you know And you'll have your little scares and your moments um, but you know that little scare and moment depending on the road condition, you know could be the That thin razor thin line between going down or keeping it up and obviously any sort of spike in heart rate There is a is exciting and scary, but you know, you do it enough times and you get comfortable with that feeling Which again is attributed back to wearing that gear and knowing you can push that envelope It you know, it makes the the whole experience that much more fun You know the more you do it the more comfortable you get the more fun you have the more you want to keep coming back

Armene: Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. That was this is great.

Robin: This is awesome Wow That's cool I gave myself an entire extra week to make production of this next episode easier on my Mind because I want to get one out for every month And I guarantee it's going to take me a week to get through all the production on the audio i'm gonna have all time there all we heard was Bikes going by they were doing they were doing uh, the 500 class. What is it? The uh, moto three moto three. How you been man?

Travis: Who me?

Robin: No, tim, how you been been talking to him for an hour? Who do you think i'm talking to?

Travis: Oh, all right hanging in there The uh, we had that uh fools fool spring Um last week, so that was nice rode the bike to work.

Robin: It's gonna snow tonight so Hey, where did you get that information at?

Travis: Uh, the tro.bike weather page, of course I have been busting my butt on that thing man.

Robin: I've been working on it and working on it and then I realized that like I i've set myself up for success because all of the variables that are included can be programmatically This is where you get that information for every single one of them problem is the place i'm telling them to go I was telling them to like calculate using over 120 hours instead of 24 So fixed that last night.

Travis: Sorry if anybody got rained on You were saying so it's gonna snow Um, yep, but uh, otherwise, you know been just commuting on the bike haven't really gone out for a ride or anything. He's been too busy um, oh So I got that uh, agv k6 helmet k6s, I guess good timing the whole story is I Was up late one night one night which you know is how you end up buying things you don't really need Staring at my phone. Yeah, um I started looking for and I think revzilla had called it like the helmet of 2022 It was on their like list of helmets because it was like the lightest helmet Outside of like a carbon race helmet like it was like super light it's designed for like adventure sport bike touring like it's designed to kind of You can be in a tuck and you can still see and it's aerodynamic you can be more upright And you can still see and it's aerodynamic Does that have the removable visor the removable brain? No, it's not like an adventure helmet. It's it's okay. This is sport bike helmet. It's nice um So i'm like, uh, just kind of on the internet and I find this danish website champion helmets Um, and they i'm on clearance because it's like it was like this was like in december maybe january so it's like the 2022 Models, they were clearance, you know Um, and so I like ordered one. I heard they had like the gray and uh, medium small I said like two medium sizes like medium small medium large. There's like extra small small medium small medium large large Okay um And I guess what they do is they use like a multi layer multi-level uh eps so that um, like the Helmet's actually thinner so like between like your head and The shell they can use less material because there's like multi-density foams in there. Not just like one one density of uh, You know expanded polystyrene And they're using like an aramid carbon infused You know, whatever polymer for the um for the shell. So this thing's like super light. It's like two Pounds and change like it's It's ridiculous.

Robin: It sounds like also it's the same level of protection with less real estate

Travis: Yeah, and it's like ece rated you know um So anyway, I ordered it and then they get back to me and they're like hey, so there was a problem with our inventory system And we actually don't have any left but um What if we give you one of the new ones that's coming out one of the the 2023 revisions which is the k6 s um, it's like 50 bucks more And I was like sure it's like great. So when those come in in march, we'll ship them out So then what's the price point for that one? Like msrp. I don't know. I paid like I think 350 for everything and that included a visor. So wow Uh, it was a good deal.

Tim: That sounds really good.

Travis: Yeah Uh Oops, apparently there's some sort of gun accessory that is also called that. Um, so right now Uh, google is showing me on sale from various vendors, they're like 400 bucks So great price for something that light that has that much protection. Thank you. Yeah um, so I ordered it and then I ordered a um, Like a a dark visor for it too, right? Because it's not like a drop down. It's like you have to get a dark and I don't like drop downs anyway so I got a dark visor and then March comes like hey your helmet's in but we don't have the visor anymore. We're out of stock on the visors Oh, no It's like can we send you like the the mirrored one? I should go grab I should go grab it because it looks cool So instead of like just having like the black dark like dark smoke visor, it's like the silver mirror on the gray helmet It looks really I was like aviators visor yeah, so it's um it was a little tricky that I had to track down another pin lock for the for the mirrored visor for the dark visor, but Um, yeah, you know pin lock ready. The pin lock is like recessed into it. Like it's really nice um Yeah, and it's like super quiet so light like it's like you know, you know, you know when you pick up like a carbon bicycle and it just feels weird because You're used to bicycles weighing in a certain amount and this is not that It's like that like it's it's one of those super light helmets like really close to like, um, it floats away picked up in in arfa 11 pro the um Those are super light. Yeah But it's like it's really quiet the vents pretty pretty decently um And like, you know big big wide view. Um Like, you know modern helmet design pretty cool What's the head shape on those?

Robin: It's an oval like I feel like almost everything's intermediate oval these days I am interested in that, you know The other thing I like about agv is they've got so many great paint jobs if you want a custom looking helmet They've got tons of different paint jobs.

Travis: Yeah, there's lots of cool colors. Um The uh I just had like the nardo gray the like Gloss matte gray, you know Yeah, but it's carbon.

Robin: I mean it does have that carbon fiber No, no, it's just great.

Travis: It's like well, it's not like it's not just like a carbon weave it is Let me see what they say Car a car Uh, it is carbon, but it's not like carbon fiber. It's a combination of carbon and aramid fibers And part of the reason it's so light is they use they have four shell sizes Oh cool so they really split that's really good and that also reduces the um the amount of like Eps you need in the helmet so you can get a like when you get a medium or you get a small The helmet is actually smaller on the outside whereas like with a lot of helmets like The medium and the large and the small all have the same shell. So if you get a medium or a or a small It's a large helmet Foam filler.

Robin: Yeah, so you have a giant helmet I've made this joke many times where you've got any helmet that comes with a lot of features If you buy the the worthwhile version of a helmet with a lot of features There are a lot of great features built into the helmet and then when you get the cheap version of a helmet with great features They build those features on to the helmet. So everything grows versus is Integrated One two, it's like I like a simple helmet.

Travis: I don't want a modular. I don't want a drop-down visor I want it to be one piece and it goes over my head there the visor seals really well And I can always swap the visor when it gets dark to a clear one, right? So I just find that and like there's like one less line in your line of sight too versus like the drop downs and One less little button to deal with on it Um, and again, it makes it lighter makes it stronger Makes you get like more helmet for your money because they're not bolting extra stuff on um So the this is saying that their way comes in at 12 98 grams um, which is 45 ounces Are you asking us a question? um What a question mark face Um, yeah 2.8 2.8 pounds, I think that's about right so coming in under three pounds that's it's very light Um, it's impressive. Yeah, it's cool. So I I would recommend I would recommend it if you're in the market for a helmet check out the agv k6 and like I said on my Nc 700x that I have modified with bar risers and a tall seat. So i'm in a very kind of upright adventure bike riding position clean air It really um, it's like like the quietest helmet I got That's nice.

Robin: You picked my interest on it. I could always use another one. I've got two helmets right now I'm happy with my arai. I forget which one that is. It's you know All in all I think I dropped about 800 and coin on it But it does have a lot of different adjustments for vents that don't operate Well while you're riding and I think for the price No matter what they had to go through to get those features to pass Snow or whatever reesey Yeah to be sellable in the united states. They should still be Easier to operate than they are some of them self-close while i'm riding Two little buttons up top to open up your top vent and then all of a sudden i'll be like why am I getting hot?

Travis: It's like one has closed itself somehow Yeah Huh Yeah, I know the rise to have like the little like the vents in the visor the little brow vents that are like in the Visor and stuff not easy to open. Yeah, not easy to open at all I never liked the arai Visor mount system too. You have to like pop the cover off and get into it and it's like you know hjc's got a great one where you just Open it pull the trigger and it pops off and then the agv one is very similar And actually it's like way more. There's actually an aluminum In the visor there's like an aluminum latch system like on the plastic that connects in so it's like It's a metal connection for the visor not not plastic on plastic nice You get a little bit more durability. Yeah It also does so it's got like a center a center locking button for it to lock it and open it So you can do it with either hand and it it's got a little loop on it so you can Kind of half pop it And do the like little vent pop on the visor, but it's still latched That's cool. You know what I mean? Yeah no, so like So like if you had it, you know Just popped a little bit for that little bit of extra vent like you're in the in the town or something like that Yeah, and something hit it. It's not going to fly open because it's latched closed. So that's pretty cool.

Tim: Oh, okay. Gotcha That is neat.

Travis: Yeah, so you kind of like you can like half press the the release and it'll it'll pop it up to that vent crack, but it's still It's still locked. It's still locked down I like that idea. Yeah No, I thought that was a cool feature. I don't think anyone's talked about it, but and maybe that's just what h agv does but That's cool. That's my most recent Motorcycle purchase besides I did an oil change and put a new rear tire on and Got it ready for the season I just hadn't changed the oil in two years because I haven't ridden the bike that much and it has 8 000 mile service intervals Yeah, I wanted to put fresh oil in it. Yeah when your cylinders are like pancakes What do you mean? No, it's the other way. It's over it's under square It's got a longer stroke than a bore. It does but it's a 670 cc bike that holds a gallon of oil I did not know that your bike was A tall bore. Yeah, I always feel so farm ready That's why yeah, that's why that's why it's got the like super low end torque and it doesn't rev very high I might be learning something right now.

Robin: I may have had that backwards all this time So a high a high revving bike 13 000 rpm bike.

Travis: Is that going to be over square where the I always forget which one is over and which one is under but that's going to have a short Under is tall stroke yeah under A high revving bike is going to be yeah, so, uh An under square bike that's got a short stroke is going to be high revving because you're not oscillating the mass as much Okay, so something like maggie's bike with a 13 000 rpm rev. Yeah Yeah, your 600 cc sport bikes have like a really like, I mean, let's see here cbr 600 r r Hr r r edition um bore and stroke Which you are not kidding.

Robin: You've got a nine percent ride quality right now today according to the tro. You've got a nine percent 43 is your high it's cold and raining 40 degrees and raining.

Travis: It's going to turn into snow overnight

Robin: rain wind visibility and temperature

Travis: a uh, a cbr 600 has got a 67 Millimeter bore and a 42 and a half millimeter stroke

Robin: Okay, so over square that's under square whatever one it's got more

Travis: It's wider than it is then it moves

Robin: I just learned something and that makes more sense because if the piston has to go That much further distance through metal metal to metal with oil You're going to be there's more wear and tear Opportunity, so it's going to be torquier. That makes more sense.

Travis: I just got smarter Yeah, because like with the with the longer stroke you're like compressing more air you get more torque off of the low end But you can't Oscillate the motor back and forth as fast Uh, yeah, so the the nc has a 73 millimeter bore and an 80 millimeter stroke So the stroke is slightly higher than the bore. I think the 750 The 750 might be square They might have boarded out. Oh, it's a little closer. So it's 77 and 80 on the 750 honda. Yeah um Speaking of honda. We're just going to kind of ramble here Like the reviews are pouring in for the new hornet and the new trans out and i'm just like man Is this going to come to the event said anything about the united states? I keep checking like every week.

Robin: I Scour the google and no one there's no even mention of like United states release Okay, so i'm gonna do honda hornets 2023 usa review Is the honda hornet coming to the usa? Honda will sell the hornet as a 2023 model But weirdly it has kept relatively quiet on whether or not the bike will come to the us Which given yamaha's success with the mt range? Seems like kind of a no-brainer particularly given the fact that the cb650r naked bike is getting a little long in the tooth So that's from jalopnik. Yeah, again, i'm just i'm busting down the whole lawsuit While just reading information direct from the source this episode.

Travis: No, you got it from the ai From goggle people who don't know robin dean isn't real.

Robin: He's just an ai chat bot We do not say these things self-destruct initiating in three Robin dean is a message redacted Oh, man, well it does make sense for the I don't necessarily like the headlight but i've said that before We talked about it in an entire episode Yeah um What was the other one the trans out which one's that what's that all about?

Travis: So it's like the so the the classic trans alp was like a mid-sized adventure bike That again, they sold in the art for a real long time and now the new version uses that same motor that's in the new honda hornet, so it's like every mid-sized bike is now it's a mid-size 750 cc parallel twin with a 270 degree crank but unlike the 700 ish cc parallel twin with a 700 or Um, whatever 230 degree 270 degree crank Like my bike it actually like revs high and makes power.

Robin: It makes like 90 horsepower That's not bad tim you went away on this what do you got you look like you're thinking over there.

Tim: Oh Let me think trans up. That's a little bit more like pre-adventure bike adventure bike At least the first generation the original one.

Travis: Yeah yeah, and I think that trying to remember if they Are really trying to go after that again Um, yeah, the new one is I mean, it's like a 21 inch front I mean, it's a proper adventure bike, you know taureen, okay It's like maybe not as hard as like the tenere, but it's like harder than a v-strom Okay All right.

Tim: I'm looking at it now. Yeah Yeah, they're definitely uh marketing that as an adventure bike. This looks good. This looks yeah it's a little bit more road focused than The uh t7 from yamaha.

Travis: Yeah, I got more creature comforts. It's like a little less bare bones Yep, a little more wind protection a little bigger Good.

Tim: It's still like it's not as big as your flagship gs africa twin You know, it's gonna be a little more streamlined.

Travis: Yeah, I mean, it's really like a baby africa twin.

Tim: Yeah All right So this is the middle ground between the cb500x and the africa twin That needed to happen think would be an awesome spot to be

Robin: I just remember standing next to tim's africa twin before he was about to go conquer the moon And then looking at the seat and being like how this Clydesdale And I tried to sit on I was like i'm a little boy a little boy boy Like I couldn't there was no it wasn't gonna happen.

Travis: Yeah, that was a big bike Yeah, I'd do it if I had to I just don't see you know, i'm i'm i'm a wee man Yeah, I mean it's a big bike the the original trans alp was basically like an xr650 with a 750v twin Nice that looks good the new um staying on honda here the cf500l That looks good. I think if We ever get a new bike for laurel that would like be right where she needs to be It's like a it's like a scrambler What did I call I think it was the cf500 not the cv500 No, it's not.

Robin: It's that only shows me a bag of some kind.

Travis: It's like a saddlebag clf 500 500 scrambler um The cl500. Yeah, this could be a honda cl500 scrambler.

Robin: Got it.

Tim: I see. Oh, I see this. Yeah I like this This is the honda rebel with the scrambler treatment.

Travis: Yeah That's pretty cool If I may say laurel would rock that yeah, because I was wondering if they were going to do like a neo-retro job with the 500 class because there's like the The f which has the like modern naked bike styling and the x and the rebel um Isn't there another one i'm missing?

Tim: And I think it's under the f r l.

Travis: Oh, yeah the cbr. Yeah, the cbr. That's the other one Um, yeah, I was like, but they didn't do like, um, because they did the like the 650 R the cb 650 r with the retro styling with the inline-4 But they weren't doing one with the 500 and I was like, well that that would be perfect Um, and then they did it.

Robin: I'm super curious what my next bike is going to be because I've got plenty of space left on the beamer to enjoy it as long as I can And there will be an opportunity at some time in the I don't know foreseeable future whatever when the chance happens what am I gonna do and I keep thinking i'm gonna get something that is sub a thousand ccs and Mark my words It's going to be a base model. I am not Getting a maxed out beamer ever again Yeah, the fact that everything is integrated into the ecu and if you want to change that like One example would be tire pressure monitor tpms so mine are in the rim to get to them you need to Remove the tire. We've talked about this a little bit before travis watched me think like I've seen people try They have nobody has succeeded. I've seen people try to dig out the poxy and the rosin to get to the battery So i'm trying to figure out this is even possible what's in there a watch battery this rabbit hole has gone too far So i've got the tpms with a watch battery that's been rosined in That you cannot replace and all it is is a 2032 or a 2016 watch battery Yeah, it's a regular off the shelf and then to get the to get it out. You have to unmount the tire And then if you don't put it back in you're going to see the wrench icon on the dash, which you cannot disable This is unnecessary. This is bad to the market. I don't I don't like that anymore So my next bike I remember with the bandit, you know that when the bandit was done It was tricked. I had I had heated everything I wanted power ports luggage led lighting everything was A-okay Because I bought a base model and built it into what I wanted it to be and that's what i'm going to do next I will never buy a gizmo tronic bike ever again. Sorry.

Travis: Thank you for your time Yeah Totally understand that that was part of my when I got the nc is it's like it's It's got fuel injection And that's it Yeah, i'll take it fuel injection all day.

Robin: No carburetors. I'll be if it reduce if it simplifies things Give me give me that.

Travis: Yeah.

Robin: I mean at this point fuel injection is more reliable than Oh, yeah, i'll say this too so here is our spinoff because travis we've done it you've managed to make the episode Is there anything anybody else wants to talk about?

Travis: We talked about motorcycles not just watch piper walk around coda.

Robin: That is true however I imagine there are a lot of people here that would like to listen to piper walking around coda some more So in this episode, we're going to do a send-off Let's enjoy everybody. We're going to go back to piper And let her discuss all she is seeing interview all the people she's talking to I'm robin dean.

Travis: I'm travis burleson late as usual and i'm tim clark safe travels everyone Hey, can I ask you some questions about your school?

Armene: Yeah, i'm okay So i'm from a i'm a part of a podcast called total riding obsession Can you can I record you? Is that okay?

Denise: Sure.

Armene: Okay here i'll do the So that we can be together.

Denise: Hi Can you um What's your name denise denise and what is your school This is right smart. We are curriculum school We actually take student on a track and teach them how to ride a motorcycle safely No way so on a track, so do they have to do they have to ride do they have to have riding experience before they do They do but uh, you know, we can teach them from very beginning. Okay all the way to advance which is like Practice for racing we have advanced people come to our track day to practice for their race. Really? Yes, can you get somebody hooked up like with a team? Yes, we do have a ride smart race team. You do we do. Okay And so how much does this cost? Well depend on each track. Okay folder is 500 a day And then g2 and m msrh and crescent are all different price. So you don't have any in colorado?

Armene: What do I have to do to get you to come to colorado a lot of riding Okay, because I just tried on an alpine star outfit this morning and it looked really good on me And so I think now i'm ready to race.

Denise: Yeah Come to our track day. Yeah, and then we have instructor we take you out and we you will have a blast How many how many times do I get to go around the six times? We have four level we take turn to go out and you normally a day will take you six times.

Armene: So It's more than a hundred dollars Wait, it's less than a hundred dollars for it's about wait.

Robin: I can't do math but it's about 75 bucks ish math is hard Per time that you go around.

Denise: Well, that's for coda. Okay, like msrh 220 $220 Um g2 225 325. Okay. So this depend on each track. What do I have to have to join? Race suit my own motorcycle. Yeah, so these are the one that we love now, okay Oh, wow, you do have to bring your helmet and gloves. You have to have your own gloves Yeah, do I have to have my own motorcycle? Yes, you do. Okay, but we are working on rent out Our motorcycle we still work in progress. Yeah Awesome. Thank you so much. This is really very nice. Sorry. I've been talking for three days So do you do you go do you guys go to road america? Not yet. Not yet, but we're looking to you know, they're looking into expand it out Are you one of the instructors I am one of the owner wife, you're the owner's wife. Yes. Okay. Do you ride?

Armene: I do ride on the back of this bike. Okay, you need to come to colorado Because I own a motorcycle training school and i'll teach you how to ride a motorcycle And then you can kick his ass on the track Yeah, I I like to ride in the back with him. Have you tried to ride your own bike?

Denise: I do I do I ride my own my own motorcycle, but I like it you like to be on the back. Yeah Oh, that's sweet. Yes, but I like to lean but I don't like to control the speed you don't no, I don't so but I Fully trust him.

Armene: Maybe. Yeah, maybe I have control issues.

Denise: Yeah So I trust him so I love it when he take me on the track, oh that's yeah, he'll take you on the track Yes, oh that's amazing, okay, he always for 30 years that we've been together i'm always on the back of his bike Is that what keeps you together? Yeah That's awesome.

Armene: Thank you so much. I'm gonna shake your hand. Thank you so much. It was nice to meet you Okay, what do you guys think?

Robin: That was good that was so good piper is the the host that we send into a tornado. What do you see in there?

Armene: I see lots of people screaming I have a piece of metal in my eye So So Okay, so i'm from a part of a podcast called total riding obsession a podcast called total riding obsession called total writing obsession total writing obsession total writing total total total total total