2013 Progressive International Motorcycle Show

This post isn't specific to the V-Strom 650, but it is motorcycling related, so I thought I'd throw it in anyway.  Besides, the weekend weather here has been absolutely dreadful lately, which has resulted in no riding for me whatsoever for almost 6 weeks now, so at least this is something I can do that involves motorcycles.

Last month, the 2013 Progressive International Motorcycle Show stopped in Dallas, TX, so I packed up the family and made the road trip to see what they had to offer.  I was really hoping to find some great deals on new riding gear.

The show was at the Dallas Convention Center, so we decided to check out rates at the Omni, which is connected to the DCC.  It just so happened that the hotel was offering a pretty substantial discount on a regular room, which made it cheaper than any other hotel that I checked in the downtown area right around the DCC.  The fact that we could walk indoors to the show made it all that much better.  By the time we finished eating breakfast, we could hear the rumblings of the many people who had ridden their bikes to the show.  I would have been jealous were it not for the fact that it was overcast, cold, and looked like it could rain at any moment.  Did I mention that we could just walk over there while remaining comfortably indoors?

The free motorcycle parking lot filling up in front of the Dallas Convention Center

I hate to admit it, but I didn't really take too many pictures while I was there.  For the most part, I had already seen most of the new bikes that were there.  The main ones that I wanted to see but hadn't already were the Star Bolt cruiser, the new Suzuki V-Strom 1000, and the Yamaha FZ-09.  I'm not really a cruiser kind of guy, but if I were to get one, I'd give the Bolt R-spec serious consideration.  I found the V-Strom 1000 to still be a bit of an odd duck aesthetically speaking, but it was very comfortable and did not feel any bigger than its 650 sibling.  I liked the FZ-09, but it actually felt a bit on the small side.  I am curious, though, to hear how its triple cylinder engine sounds compared to the Triumphs.  I apologize for the lack of eye candy, but I was more focused on sitting on the bikes and helping my 5 year old son on and off the bikes without knocking anything over.  I really would have liked to have had the opportunity to sit on the Moto Guzzi Stelvio 1200 NTX and KTM 1190 Adventure back to back with the likes of the V-Stroms, Triumph Tigers, and BMW GS, but neither Moto Guzzi nor KTM were there.  If they were, I totally missed them, which is not entirely impossible.

They had some stunt riding demonstrations as well, but because they were inside the same hall, it was extremely loud, and my son wanted nothing to do with it.  Sorry.

We did enjoy looking at all of the custom-built motorcycles that were displayed throughout the hall. Again, cruisers and choppers really aren't my thing, but you could not help but be impressed by the craftsmanship involved with these one-of-a-kind machines.  Very impressive!

Progressive had a really cool slot car racetrack set up, complete with lap timers for the cars.  My son wanted to give it a shot, so my wife stood in line while he watched the races from trackside.  They even had cameras set up around the track which were displayed on overhead screens.  When his turn came up, he drew the middle car and ultimately came in second.  Not bad, considering the car came flying out of the slot on the first turn, and he had to wait for it to be rescued.  It was all worth it for the prize -- a lollipop.

By this time, he was starting to lose interest, so we headed over to Al Lam Honda.  They had a big shop set up and were offering a show special of 25% Off all inventory.  I was encouraged as there were some specific items I wanted to get.  The primary item was to get my wife a riding jacket so she could go riding with me.  We bought her a helmet last year, but she wasn't able to find a jacket that she liked.  The secondary item I wanted to get was a new helmet.  My Shoei RF-1000 is now seven year old, which is well beyond the recommended 5 year lifespan for a helmet.  While we can debate the merits of this 5 year limit, I am convinced that helmet technology, design, and materials has improved a bit over the past 7 years.  Plus, Shoei had just announced the new GT-Air and RF-1200, so I was hoping to try them on and maybe even get one at a discount.  Finally, I wanted to get a 3/4 length high-viz jacket.  There wasn't really anything wrong with my Tour Master Intake Air jacket, but if I could find a good deal and make myself that much more conspicuous, then that could only be a good thing.

We were able to find my wife a high-viz armor mesh jacket by Fly.  While not a mainstream brand, I've read about them, and they seem to get good reviews.  Hopefully we won't ever have to test the armor and fabric durability (knock on wood).  I tried both the GT-Air and the RF-1200, and while both fit pretty well, I decided to go with the GT-Air, which actually seemed to fit more like my RF-1000 than the RF-1200 did.  Plus, it has an internal sun visor and has received great reviews for its ability to move air within the helmet, which is pretty crucial for the Texas summer heat.  They only had the GT-Air in S/M/L and one graphics style, but they not only ordered the size and graphics style I wanted, they also gave me the show discount.  While I was browsing the jackets, I came across a single high-viz Tour Master Sonora, which is basically a 3/4 version of my Intake Air, including separate wind/rain liner and quilted liner, and it was the right size.  Score!  As we made our way to check out, I spied the Scala Rider G9 comm set, which also was discounted for the show and priced lower than anywhere else I had ever seen it.  My wife scored big points by telling me, "Go ahead and get it.  It's a great price!"  Now I'll be able to talk to my friends Kari and Jess when we go riding.  Jess had already researched comm sets and decided on the G9, so it was either get the G9 or not be able to talk to anyone!  Seriously, though, it's a great headset with a very robust set of features.  All I have to do now is figure out how I want to mount it.  Overall, it was a good haul.  The guys were very helpful and friendly, and they saved me a lot of money.  Or should I say they enabled me to spend a lot of money?  Cha-ching!

Got to see a lot of great bikes, share one of my hobbies with my family, purchase a riding jacket for my wife, and upgrade my riding gear all in one afternoon.  Not too shabby.

Underwear for the V-Strom

Rev. Brian posted a comment on my previous posting "Summer, Seats, and Stelvio" and included that he was trying to decide between getting the OEM under cowling or a real skid plate.  I started writing a reply and then figured it would make a good posting, since it's been a while since I've added anything to the blog.  This, of course, then reminded me that I never made a post after attending the International Motorcycle Show in Dallas, TX last month, so that's something else to add.  Look for that soon.

Anyway, back to Rev. Brian's conundrum.  Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that the following is merely my opinion based on my experience and observations, be they correct or wildly not.  Much of it is supposition, because I have direct experience only with the OEM under cowling.  If you have better information from which Rev. Brian can benefit, then please leave a comment.  Flames or trolling will be deleted with extreme prejudice.  It is my blog, after all.  :-)

So for those of you who have not read his comment, Rev. Brian is planning an adventure to the Black Hills in June and is trying to decide what kind of underwear to buy his V-Strom.  My advice is to take a good hard look at the type of riding that you intend to do, and then purchase the appropriate item to meet that use case.

For me, very little, if any, of my riding is going to be off-road.  If I do go off-road, it will most likely be limited to fire roads or groomed gravel.  Certainly nothing requiring a 4x4 vehicle, so the risk of high-centering (maxing out the bike's clearance) or sliding over rocks/logs and needing to protect the exhaust pipe or engine casing is practically zero.  In my use case, the OEM under cowling should be adequate protection from any road debris that might get kicked up and threaten the oil filter and/or exhaust pipe.

Seeing as how Rev. B is going to be visiting the Black Hills, I would hazard a guess that he may see some off-road action during his trip.  Even so, the OEM under cowling may be adequate if sticking to roads such as those I described above.

Givi makes a belly pan that I think offers a level of protection between the OEM under cowling and a skid plate.  It's also quite cost effective at $160.99 from OneidaSuzuki.com.

It appears to be a light-weight aluminum belly pan that I think can be mounted without engine guards/crash bars.  It seems like it would provide a bit more off-road protection than the OEM under cowling, but not quite as much as a skid plate.  Having not seen one in person, I can't really comment on just how durable it is.  From posts on Stromtrooper.com, it seems to be fairly durable in light off-road duty.  I still think the OEM under cowling looks better on the V-Strom, but this option might look better with a coat of matte black paint or spray-on rubberized truck bed liner.

Another option that doesn't require engine guards/crash bars is the SW-Motech skid plate, which is available at TwistedThrottle.com for $259.99.

Some posts I have read showed concern for the fact that it attaches directly to the engine case and may potentially cause greater damage than the protection it provides.  I believe that the concept is that the mounting struts are designed to flex in the event of an impact, absorbing some of the energy.  This is SW-Motech's bread and butter, so I'd like to think that they thought this through and did some testing to make sure that impacts to the skid plate would not bust up the engine case.  Maybe I'm just too optimistic.

There are other skid plate options as well -- Hepco & Becker, AltRider, and many more that can be found on Stromtrooper.com -- that require engine guards/crash bars to be installed.  These are probably the strongest solutions, but I guess it all boils down to how the skid plate connects to the crash bars.  It would be interesting to see some crash testing done to find out how each solution performs and up to what impact levels.  The skid plates alone are probably on par with the SW-Motech, but then you have to factor in the cost of the engine guards/crash bars if you don't already have any.

So I guess to summarize, I would rank these as follows:

• On-Road Only -- OEM under cowling is definitely adequate; expensive but looks great
• Light Off-Road -- OEM under cowling is probably adequate; the Givi belly pan would be better, less expensive, but not as factory-looking
• Light to Medium Off-Road -- Givi belly pan on the lighter end; SW-Motech on the medium end; both have that after-market add-on look
• Serious Off-Road -- skid plate incorporated with engine guards/crash bars; after-market add-on or bad-ass adventure look, your choice

Remember, this is just my opinion based on what I've read and what I think about a product based on its manufacturer's description.  Rev. Brian, I hope you found this to be somewhat helpful in making your decision on what to get.