The One Motorcycle Show 2020

The 11th Annual One Motorcycle Show 2020, at the Veteran's Memorial Colosseum in Portland, OR was just a reminder that this is not just a Motorcycle Show, or a Flat Track Race, but an excuse for all of us to come out of our hibernation caves and see old friends again.

The One Motorcycle Show has been a staple in the PNW Motorcycle Community for the last 11 years. 

This year saw the event moved from the Pickle Factory to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, which also meant that the Flat Track Races were able to happen under the same roof, instead of down in Salem. 

This event stands out amongst other Motorcycle Shows because it draws every niche in the motorcycle community. Vintage, Sport, Dirt, ADV, Cruiser and everything in between. 

This year’s entree from Number 8 Wire Moto, Missoula Montana

This event set in the middle of Portland’s gloomy winter is more than just a bike show, it is the excuse everyone needs to come out of their caves to see friends and people we haven’t gotten to see since last Summer, or only get to see once a year when people flock across the country to the show. For most of us in the PNW it is the bright spot in the winter, and gives us all hope that Spring will be coming soon. 

Not to mention inspiration for our own projects. 

A Love Letter to an Old Bike

There is satisfaction and a kind of peace in manual labor. 

Something that can’t be found by looking at a screen. 

Taking something broken and making it work again. 

Peace is something that’s pretty illusive when we’re all screaming our opinions at each other trying to validate our self worth to people who don’t really care. 

But working on this bike, feeling the metal, being able to see the immediate reaction of mechanical parts is something that brings me peace. 

Not all the parts are original, and they don’t all fit perfectly, but they all work together. 

Yes, fuel injection tends to be more reliable. Less hassle. Less maintenance. But how many people can say they can diagnose and fix it when it breaks in the middle of nowhere. How long do you have to wait for special, proprietary parts to be shipped to you. How many special tools do you need just to get to the heart of the problem. 

Everything is give and take. There are good parts, there are bad parts. You can’t have one without the other. 

It needs more attention, more troubleshooting. But in return you know that you breathed life back into it. It responds in kind, takes you places you didn’t think possible. All the while being your constant companion. Letting you know you’re not alone. 

Like any companion though, they need love, they need your attention. 

To get it right you need to focus on it. There’s no room for worrying about other problems. It needs your whole attention. It’s a different kind of meditation. Solving Problems, and then solving them again when you find out you were wrong. 

Two Years REVIEW of the Scorpion EXO AT950

Alright you guys asked for this. One of the most repeated questions I get in the comments is what is the helmet? Or What do you think of the AT950?

So I’m here I am answering.

As always I want to make a note that I don’t do technical reviews, this is purely my opinion. Take it all with a grain of salt. 

Here are my thoughts on the Scorpion EXO AT950 after two years of use. 

So I don’t have a lot of other helmets to compare this to, this has been my first ADV style helmet, before this I had the Icon Airframe Pro which is a full pound lighter than the Scorpion, and before that I had a pretty crappy Biltwell Helmet I bought because it a full face under a hundred bucks. 

The AT950 is about 4 lbs which yes does make it a bit heavy, but it’s also in the under $300 range. Anywhere from $200 to $290 depending on the version you get. To be totally honest I got this helmet while I was working at a motorcycle dealership so I got a decent discount on it, which is also why I have the full Scorpion Yosemite suit, because I got them for way cheaper than I could have gotten a full suit of Klim or Rev’IT. I am not sponsored by Scorpion, they don’t know I’m making this review. Although I have been trying to get their attention for a while so if any of you want to send this to them that would be cool ;) 

Anyway! I’ve definitely become accustomed to the weight, it doesn’t become bothersome until after a solid 5-6 hours of riding. I tend to take my helmet off when I take breaks so it’s more like pacing myself so I never get to the point where my neck starts to hurt from the weight. 

I’m a fan of the modular design, it means if I do a quick stop at a gas station I can pop the top to more easily talk to attendants and I can scarf a snack before hitting the road again without the extra time to take off and put on my helmet. After two years of ownership the points where the modular clips into the metal pegs has become a little hard to engage, so it takes a little extra oomph to get it to close now, or you have to carefully hold the release button and release it when it's closed which takes a little extra minute to complete. Not a big deal over all but when you're tired after a long day it can get annoying.

It will be hard to go back to a non modular helmet. 

A note on the Safety rating, it is only rated DOT, which means like all other Modular Helmets, the weak point is the chin bar if you get into an accident and your face hits the pavement straight on. 

I had never had a Visor before, and that's also something it would be hard to give up, even pounding slab. Being able to dip your head a little and create shade for your eyeballs is ten times better than any sunglasses ever. Yes it can be a wind sail, but only when the wind is BAD, like worse than the Gorge bad. Even going down the freeway at 70 I really don’t notice the pull, I’m sure it’s there but I’ve been wearing it so long I don’t notice it anymore. However! If that is something that worries you the Visor is easily removable. 

Speaking of Sunglasses, something I didn’t think I would care that much about is the drop down sunshade. It has actually become really nice, especially after doing a fair bit of “desert” riding last year. However the Sunshade does have a tendency to gather dust when riding lots of dirt roads through the vents, and it can be a bit of a pain in the ass to clean. 

It does have cut outs for speakers, which keeps the speakers from creating pressure on your ears which means no pressure headaches. 

The Scorpion does fit my head a bit better because it’s more for rounder heads whereas Icon is pretty exclusively Oval so I used to get pressure headaches after a 3-4 hours or so. It was also nicer to upgrade to a helmet with a much wider Eye Port than the Airframe Pro, the Chin bar is pretty thick on the Icon. 

Last but not least I will say that it’s a bit loud, which I attribute to the visor catching wind. It means it can be a little hard to hear my speakers when going over 60, and noise fatigue is a real thing. Earplugs are pretty vital for trips longer than 5 hours. I can hear music ok on the highway, but I can’t listen to Audiobooks if I’m going over 55. I would rate the airflow somewhere in the middle, if it’s over 90 it can get pretty stifling in there, but  it also means it makes a good 3 season helmet because you don’t really have to tape over the vents to keep out cold air in the late Fall, Early Spring. 

Alright in Review:

PROS:

• -Modular

• -Drop Down Sun Shade

• -Headphone Cut Outs

• -Removable Visor

• -Wide Eye Port & Relatively small chin bar

• -Removable and Washable Cushions

• -Amount of features for the money

CONS:

• -Weight

• -Not Snell Rated

• -Sun Shade Gathers Dust from Vents

• -Loud

Five MORE Lessons from the Road

QUITE a while ago I made a video about 5 Lessons from the Road that I learned while I was on the Pilgrimage. I also did a collaboration with Tim over on his Channel Forty Times Around about 5 Lessons we Learned the Hard way on the road.

Rik Englebert left a comment on that video saying it would be interesting if I did one of these every once in a while like a retrospective. I’m probably a little overdue on this but here we are. Better late than never. 

1. Get some awesome Roadside Assistance 

   1. We ride motorcycles. Unexpected breakdowns just happen, whether you’re super up on your maintenance or not. No one does TCLOCS every single time you get on the bike in the morning, especially when you’re travelling for a week or more. Stuff breaks. It’s a motorcycle.

   2. I’ve really really gotten my money’s worth out of my cheap Roadside Assistance add on I have through my insurance. Everyone has different opinions about which company is best, but Progressive has really treated me well. I haven’t had to deal with any accidents with my insurance besides on incident in my truck which they handled awesome and I have no complaints, but I can’t speak to their motorcycle incident process. What I can speak to is that I have saved over 2 grand in tow bills since getting Roadside Assistance with them. 

   3. For example I got towed from Butte to Anaconda on the Pilgrimage because there was no place that is qualified to work on Lazarus. Another example which happened more recently on the Falling Short series,  Progressive covered my tow from Blythe, CA to Phoenix, AZ because that was the closest Triumph Dealership. That was 150 miles, that would have cost me on average between $400- $900 out of pocket had I not had roadside assistance. Enough Said.

2. Carrying a First Aid Kit isn’t an option. It should be as important as your tool roll. 

   1. Hard truth I didn’t carry a legitimate first aid kit for the whole of the Pilgrimage. Just some band aids and Ibuprofen. If you didn’t know, I broke my wrist on the way to Rocky Mountain Roll last year. I purchased my first properly equipped first aid kit right before that trip. It’s pretty much only because I had that kit, the pain killers and the wrap specifically that I was able to ride out of the woods. 

   2. We do an inherently dangerous thing riding motorcycles. A common saying is that it’s not if you go down but when. Especially especially when you ride off road. You’re going to come off the bike when you ride dirt. It’s just inevitable. Not carrying a first aid kit, especially if you carry tools for your bike, is just negligible in my opinion. That’s me speaking as a person who only started carrying one on my bike last year and I’ve been riding since 2011. That’s a whole lot of dumb

3. Be very specific about the people you choose to travel with. 

   1. This one was definitely learned on my trip to Baja last year. There ended up being seven of us on that trip, which was really too big of a group. I tried really hard to keep it under control, but there were a couple people on that trip who were just really not my favorite people and that was made worse by the size of the group, and the complete and utter lack of the ability for all of us to compromise properly. It took us forever to figure out what we were doing every single time we stopped. We missed out on half of the planned stops and campsites because one particular person in our group was too scared, or decided they wanted to not camp last minute. Hence why we stayed at place that smelled like toilet water, and another place that cost twice as much as any other hotel in Baja. I have a lot of pent up rage over that whole trip. There was a lot of things I enjoyed about Baja itself, but I have a lot a lot of angry feelings every time I think about that trip as a whole. I’m sure there will be a few people in the comments letting me know that I’m an angry person in general, which is true. Which is the point of this lesson. I really shouldn’t travel with big groups of people, because I’m an angry person. I’m happy, and it doesn’t take a whole lot to make me happy, but it also doesn’t take a whole lot to piss me off either. 

   2. Moral of the story, make sure you like the people you’re gonna be spending every day with. Bonus tips:  Set clear expectations before you even leave on the trip and be realistic about those expectations. (Including how long between break stops, how long you expect to be stopping for meals, gas stops, photos stops and budget expectations for lodging) Have designated signals and road signs for emergencies and a way to get a hold of each other if you get separated and there’s no cell service. 

4. Understand what you enjoy about travel. Don’t do something just because someone else wants to. 

   1. Another lesson I thought I had learned but smacked me in the face on the Falling Short series, is really figuring out what you like about travel, and also understanding what you don’t like about travel. It’s so easy to get caught up what other people are excited about and forget what you need to be happy on the road. IT can be a huge bummer, for you and your travel mates, when you get into it and you’re like wait. No. I don’t like this. 

   2. This is different than compromise, compromise is good, it gets you to try new things and it’s important in any group travelling experience. However, what I’m talking about is when you are doing something way way way out of our comfort zones and it’s really not good, to the point of being dangerous. 

   3. I let myself get way caught up in the hype for the release of the CABDR, I got really excited about the new traffic a series about the CABDR would bring to my channel, I was really just in love with the idea of doing the thing because all of my friends were talking about how awesome it was going to be.Then I got there, I was in way over my head, and I had to really think about what I actually enjoyed about Adventure Riding, and beating myself up to say I did an obstacle, or that I finished a BDR is not what I enjoy about Adventure Riding. I enjoy seeing new places, and I’m not opposed to getting over an obstacle so I can earn the view on the other side, but if there is no pay off on the other side besides getting over the obstacle I tend to feel a little deflated.  

5.  It is so important to document your trips. But not every trip needs to be filmed.

   1. Earlier this year I had to make an unexpected trip to Montana for my grandmother’s funeral. Safe to say I wasn’t in a great headspace. It made it really difficult to fake a smile for the camera and my heart just wasn’t in it at all. 

   2. The point is that it’s important to still take photos, you’re still going to want to remember the places you stopped, or at the very least keep a journal to vent your feelings, but if you’re not in the greatest head space there really isn’t a need or a point for you to be filming if you also have a vlog thing. No one wants to watch that. Also it’s important to take time for yourself every once in a while, do trips that aren’t for social media, and have time to process things that are going on in your life.