Well, when a company who has built a reputation like Joe Rocket brings a motorcycle helmet to market, you'd expect it's going to be good and we'll tell you straight up that the RKT 101 is a winner. We'll cut them a little slack because it's their first attempt, but the RKT 101 isn't just a good first try, it's an excellent piece of work that should shame other helmet manufacturers who have been in the business, oh, shall we say 20 or 30 times longer?

Alt-berg is a small business that started life making walking boots but as the owners are motorcyclists they soon moved into motorcycle touring boots. The boots are constructed using walking boot technology; a Skywalk dual density sole stitched into a lined upper, with insulating insoles. The motorcycle boots though have nylon reinforcement around the heel, ankle padding, side zip opening concealing a cordura bellows, shin pad, and gear change pads. A pity they use leather.

After many 'phone calls I found a supplier of Lorica and Alt-berg agreed to make me a single pair of boots. Prices were agreed, sizes tested and two weeks later (excluding delays caused by me) I had two boots (not a pair as my feet are odd sizes) ready for collection.

Helmets have really come a long way in the last few years in terms of weight and ventilation and what really struck me most about this hat is the ventilation. Even at speeds as low as 40mph I can feel my hair being blown around inside the helmet when all the vents are open. I'm sure some very complicated engineering went into making the venting system on this helmet including the spoiler thing on the back.

Don't ask us why most cruisers don't come with tachometers. We think every motorcycle needs a tach. Perhaps the manufacturers think that, because cruisers aren't constantly trying to wring the last bit of performance out of a [motorcycle's] engine (like those sportybike types), we don't care what the engine is up to. Or maybe they think we find clutter on the handlebar so distasteful we'd rather not be bothered with how quickly the engine is spinning.

Most of us have been caught unprepared in wintry weather, and it made us whimper enough that we ran to procure a proper pair of mitts -- once we regained the feeling in our fingers, of course. Hands take a beating in any season, but they're especially susceptible to the harsh conditions in the winter. When temperatures drop, your extremities tend to freeze up first, potentially hampering your operation of the motorcycle's controls.

In the faster curves found on the roads of the Angeles National Forest, they were plenty stable. Steering speed, while a touch slower and heavier than other tires in this class, remains acceptably quick, without being twitchy or overly sensitive. With the 929 and its reputation for being a bit lively, a rider may find this to be an asset. Traction was abundant, and allowed regular scraping of the footpegs on the F4i. My 929 is setup not to scrape (on the street) and so while nothing touched down, it is not due to any performance shortage from the tires.

Being curious folks, we decided to see what pipes were available for our long-term Vulcan 1500 Classic at the tail end of The Year of the Cruiser. The results of our initial query of pipe manufacturers illustrated two facts we were already aware of. First, with six manufacturers sending us pipes for a [motorcycle] that has been on the market for less than a year, we can confidently say that there are more exhaust customizing options than ever available in the Japanese cruiser market. Second, since half of the pipes we tested were either pre-production or first-run production items, things weren't always so rosy in this segment of the market. These thoughts lead us to wonder how these pipes would compare to each other, how well thought-out they were, and if they would fulfill the conflicting demands of good power and good citizenship.

Most gloves are ergonomically formed. Just watch the rain glove because sometimes it's just two halves sewn together. Motorcycle gloves are nearly always made up of leather or very strong nylon. Leather provides the highest safety if you hit the ground.

Furthermore a glove should have reinforcements such as extra padding on the knuckles and palms. Special features are carbon shells covering high impact areas. Or little metal studs on the palms to avoid scraping open your hands.