5500+ mile DEMO ride...

This summer I had a chance to demo several products during a ride to Wisconsin. Our ride took us through New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Utah. One big loop, with Janesville, WI as our turnaround point. Our group encountered cold (Colorado), Wet (Wisconsin), and a TON of wind (Iowa, South Dakota). One day consisted of nothing but battling 70+ MPH crosswind gusts for 300+ miles. Strong enough to knock my bike off its side stand. I've had better days.

Out of all the products I brought, the one that surprised me was the Garmin 376c GPS. Why? Well, I honestly didn't think it would come into play as much, or that I would rely on it as I did. Often we would start out the day with a route in mind, only to change it based on the weather reports provided on the GPS screen. I also used it to change the route on the fly. We would be traveling down our set route, see weather ahead, and take evasive action. Nothing better than making a route adjustment, and watching the storm pounding the original route on your screen. The built in XM radio was also nice. Worth the cash? Absolutely. It was also nice being able to take a detour off our set route, knowing the GPS would adjust our route, and take us to our destination. There were times I just pulled onto a side road just to see what was over the next hill. Because of our GPS, we saw more of the country side, and went places many never see from the seat of a bike.

My demo apparel was the Cortech GX-Air w/leather, and the Tourmaster Flex pant. I had some reservations about leaving on this long ride with nothing but a mesh jacket to keep me warm. I've ridden in Colorado in the past, and knew our route was going to take use through the highest passes. Well, I was right. Colorado treated us to snow, ice rain, and rain. The final results? The liner kept out the wet and cold, and I was comfortable. My bike has a temperature gauge, and I watched as it registered mid 30's. Combine that with the wind-chill, I couldn't be nothing but impressed. When it got hot, the mesh did it's job. One jacket, for every condition. Made packing a no-brainer. Would I recommend it? A huge, absolutely. The Flex pant, was, well, flexible. Never had a complaint.

My main helmet for the ride was a Scorpion EXO-100 half helmet. At the time it was new to the market, and the flip-down internal visor intrigued me. While I found that the internal visor wasn't 100% optically correct, I did find it very useful, ex specially in the rain. It allowed me to use my sunglasses, keeping the rain at bay. While I wish the visor was 100% correct, I found it VERY helpful. In this price range, I think it's a very strong product. Would I use it again? I would, and feel that it's one of the top 1/2 helmets on the market.

Tourmaster also provided my riding boot, the Response. I typically tend to shy away from committing to a "bike" specific boot. Whether it be me, or my feet, I've yet to find one that was better than my trusty hiking boots. I like to walk around during breaks, and up until this point, all the riding boots never lived up to my expectations. The Response was a pleasant surprise. On the bike they were great, and never had a complaint off the bike. They were also water proof, which came in handy. They aren't the warmest boot out there, but my feet never got cold if I used my brain. Warm socks, on cold days, can do wonders.

OK, enough. Which helmet?

Of course we get asked this question a lot. We've seen almost every helmet on the market, and ridden or tested 90% of those. You would think this would be an easy answer. It is, for each of us here at the store. It sounds evasive, but it's simply the truth.

Taking for granted that we "all" want our helmet to be comfortable, I'll leave this point alone. There are two things that I focus on when looking for my next "full-time" helmet. It must vent very well, and it needs to be lightweight. Rarely does a single helmet come out on top, in each of those categories, to be a clear winner.

Right now I'm wearing a Shoei X-Eleven. No other helmets vents as well. However, it's not the lightest helmet out there. Coming in at around 3lbs - 7oz's it's not the lightest by a long shot. If you look at our weight list (HERE) you'll see it comes in at #10, but because venting, at that time, was more important, I made my choice.

Like anything else, my decisions are never set in concrete. I will soon be switching to the Shark RSR2. Why? Well, I now want a lighter helmet, and nothing comes close to the RSR2 in this category. Am I giving up a ton of venting? Well, a little, but it just so happens that the RSR2 vents very well too. While the X-Eleven is the king of venting, the RSR2 is very close. The RSR2 weighs only 3lbs - .8oz's, which makes it a clear lightweight winner. By the way, they both fit me great.

The bottom line here is that everyone has a different idea of what is the best, because we all have different expectations and requirements. Some of these requirements change throughout the year. Some of our customers have a super lightweight race helmet, but find another helmet works better while they are on their day rides.

Here's my suggestion. Make a list of the top 3 requirements, then put them in order. As you shop, refer back to your list. You need a crystal clear understanding of what you personally require before you can truly find what you need.

Lifes too short...

Ya, I'm sure we've all heard it before. "Life's too short, just go for it." Well, often its just a line I shake my head at (in a way that says, yip) most of my life.

Don't get me wrong, I understand all to well that life is WAY too short. When my kids were born, 18 years seemed like forever. Now they're out of the house and having children of their own. When I was in school, getting out seemed like forever away. I can barely remember those times since they were so short.

The cruel part is that it works the other way around. All those occasions when I thought I was "in the best shape of my life." Now that time seems like a flash in the pan. I've been out of shape, more than in shape throughout my short life. It's almost like I've bounced around, with my body walking around Earth, and my brain vacationing on Saturn.

This week I found out that my sisters husband lost a second employee/friend to a fluke traffic accident. He was working late at his mothers home, decided to head home (5 miles away) for a change of clothing, and fell asleep at the wheel. His car flipped, his neck broke, and now he's gone. That quick.

While looking hard at your own life might seem silly 95% of the time, I say it's time to get a little silly, a little more often... "What Todd, someone dies and now you're looking at what life's all about?" PLEASE, but even if it was this single event, why not?

Now I have friends who say the most important thing in life is family. I more or less agree, however I think my children would get a little tired of me after 72 hours straight. My wife means more to me than anyone on this small planet, but if we spent every hour together, I think she would be looking for another planet.

Shall I dare say it? Why not. You're the most important person, to you. Vain, not a chance. I spend ever second with "me", and while at times I don't get along with myself, we're still together... Simply, give yourself a break.

How many times do you have that inner struggle. The fights with myself are the toughest battles I've even encountered.

(Inner Dialog) "Should I treat myself to that? Is it right if I waste this money on something just for "myself." How can I "spin" this into a group purchase so I feel better about it? If I bought one for my wife, then it's not "just" for me. If I vacation there, and bring my bike (somehow) I could send my wife to the spa, and get in a ride."

Break down your day. I sleep 6-8 hours away, work 10-12 hours, then try to fit everything else into the remaining time. I read somewhere that we spend something like 2 years in the bathroom in our lifetime. The odds are that if I was to die tomorrow, I will be either sleeping, or working. It just doesn't make sense to beat myself up over decisions that would make my life more complete.

Without retreating to far back, life is WAY to short. Too short to be listening to "myself" give me a hard time about anything. True, I have responsibilities. I'm not saying that I'm going to go crazy, just that I've decided to give myself a break. If I want that new bike, I'm going to buy it. New gear, the same. If I need a break from work, I'm going to take it. Even if it's just a shorter day to enjoy the Fall weather.

Can manufactures "Multi-Task"?

I know that with our company, nothing good can come of trying to be "everything", to "everyone" when it comes to the products we sell. Before you know it, you don't do anything outstanding. I see it all the time on the web. Companies trying to sell everything on the planet, thinking that's the only way to increase sales. I honestly don't get it. Guess who suffers? Well, you see him or her in the mirror each morning...

The same can be said about manufactures. Let me give you an example. Scorpion sprung on the market a few years ago with a helmet line. If you read or watch our online videos, we like their product. However, this year they decided to come out with an apparel line. To make a long story, somewhat shorter, one of the main guys who started the company used to design and sell apparel in his past. To him, it only made sense to go back to his roots.

Here's my issue. Can companies dive into other product lines, and still stay on top of their core products?

First, is the world really demanding yet another apparel line? Look around our site. There are a ton of manufactures pumping out everything from innovative products, to the same old, same old. If you have a need, there's 20 different models to choose from. 70% of them are great buys, and made to last. Competition isn't lacking when it comes to apparel. Each year manufacturer's battle it out for a share of the market, and ultimately we, the consumers, win.

Of course there are companies who do a little bit of everything, and seem to have a good idea on how to handle it. But honestly, most can't.

Now I understand that some companies think that if you, and I, love their apparel line, we'll carry that over to their helmet line. Joe Rocket did this last year. Icon more or less came out with both a helmet line and an apparel line at the same time 3 years ago. While their apparel line did well, the helmets they produced we very average. Couldn't all this extra effort be better used focusing on one or the other? Personally, I think so.

If Shoei, Arai, or Suomy decided to come out next year with a apparel line, my first reaction would be to say, "PLEASE, enough is enough." These guys know helmets. Why spoil and confuse their image in a weak effort to broaden market share. I say stick to what you know, and expand your customer service. If you're scoring 8 out of 10, shoot for the 9 next year. Perfect doesn't exist, so there's always room to improve. While a company might think they can handle it, there are times when you have to take a reality break.

By the way, I've had a chance to look over the new Scorpion apparel. It's nice, and it could be cool to own a jacket that matches your helmet graphic, but only time will tell how well it's received. In the mean time, I'll be keeping a close eye on their helmet inovations. I hope they make it work.

What does it take to get faster?

Now that the year is coming to an end, several members of our Helmet Harbor team have started to evaluate their season. While most have progressively become faster, others have hit plateaus. It's easy to see, when you compare their progress with others in our racing clubs. At the first of the year they were hanging with some guys, dicing it up every race. But now these guys are getting trophies, while they are still bringing up the back. What's the secret? Not protesting to be an expert on the subject, but I do have a few opinions.

Racing isn't about the motorcycle, but the rider. Oh, and by the way, motorcycle racing is a sport. If you don't have the correct mindset, and work at your weaknesses, you won't become faster. Several of our members have decided that no practice is needed. They show up for the race weekends, and expect to do better than last month. How many sports do you know where practicing once a month leads to rapid improvement? If you're gifted, and there are some riders out there that are, this might be enough. However, the average rider needs practice to improve. Unfortunately, because our sport is expensive, extra practice is out of the question for some. Then what do you do?

The next step would be to practice when you have the chance. I've seen riders complain about their progress, but spend most of their practice time sitting in a chair in the pits. What sense does this make? If you're at the track, get out there and ride. I've heard every excuse under the sun. Everything from, "I'm saving my tires" to, "I don't want to tire myself out before the race." Ok, these would work, but if you’re not practicing, you’re not getting faster. If you’re out of shape, start working out. If you’re tires are worn, bring another set. They don’t need to be new, use a set of take-offs. The key is saddle time.

Suspension is another “Huge” excuse I’ve heard come from riders not improving. “My suspension sucks, and I don’t have money to fix it.” Granted, suspension is huge, but those that are fast, would be fast on “any” bike. They adjust their riding style, and overcome the bikes shortcomings. They understand that through practice, a bad bike setup is only an inconvenience. I’ve seen guys come into the pits, ask a fast guy to ride their bike to find the "problem", and watch as their bike travels around the track at near record times… This isn’t magic, the rider identifies the bikes weaknesses, and compensates.

There are those that can practice all the time, but still need help. This is where riding schools come in. You could be riding hard, but not smart. I don’t care who you are, everyone can benefit from a riding school. For those that want to improve, it’s a must. Again, it’s not about the bike, but the rider. If you’re out there making a ton of mistakes, you won’t get faster. And if you think you’re above attending a school, get used to the back of the pack. Every top-notch rider has attended some type of school. Whether it’s at the club level, an informal chat with a local fast guy who’s willing to help, or a professional school conducted by a seasoned nationally ranked rider. Knowledge is power on the racetrack.

There are times when you will do everything you can to improve, but yet your times don't come down. If this is happening to you, join the rest of us. It's normal. There will be times when you do everything you can to make progress, but don't. It might be time for a mental break. If you're riding, thinking about every corner, you won't be relaxed. Take a step back, and start focusing on having fun. There have been times when I've gone out on the track, and purposely entered corners out of position, just to see where I ended up. Stop focusing on improving, and just ride for the fun of it. Once your mind is clear, you will see that your times will start coming down.

The hardest part of improving, is finding your weaknesses. If it’s motivation, then decide where you want to go, and what goals you want to achieve. If you’re out of shape, start doing something about it. If you’re relying on natural talent to get you by, then start looking for a school. The bottom line is, what you’re doing now, isn’t working. It’s time to step outside the box, and find another approach. If you don’t, then start becoming content at your current level of progress. If you quit out of frustration, you were riding for all the wrong reasons. If you stay with the sport, ride because it's fun, and stop worrying about your lap times. Put the excuses in the closet, no one wants to hear them. We “do” have control over our riding progress. It’s all about commitment.

When does racing hard, turn into racing stupid??

If you race, then you’ve either been involved in a tight situation, or caused one. But when does hard racing, turn into racing stupid? Is it when you try a tight pass on the inside, but mid-corner find you over estimated the room? Or found you couldn’t hold your line because you under estimating your entry speed? Hey, everything looked great just before you leaned the bike in. Should you be accused of being over zealous on the racetrack if things turn messy? Whether you’re racing for first, or second to last, it’s still racing. Decisions are made in a split second, which at times can make things a little dicey.

I’m a huge baseball fan, and I marvel at how the pitchers can hurl a ball at nearly 100mph towards a small plate, just feet from a fellow human. These guys practice everyday, tossing 1000’s of pitches a week, working on the location of their pitches. But even after all this practice, batters get hit. Sure, sometimes it’s on purpose, but I would say most are by accident. The pitch just got away from the pitcher. The batter wears protective gear because of this possibility, and before he approaches the batters box, understands its just part of the game. And to those that think getting hit by 100mph pitch can’t cause damage, you’re nuts. That fact is, accidents will happen.

If you’re racing, you are going to crash. That’s just part of the game. Most of the time it will be caused by something you did wrong, bad tires, conditions, but there will be occasions when other riders will be involved. With time and experience most figure out how to limit those odds, but they will never get down to zero. Every racer is on the track to have fun, and should understand that passing someone in a turn can be dangerous. However, if riders never push themselves into attempting a pass, we wouldn’t be calling it “Racing”, but rather “Follow the leader”.

I’ll share an incident that happened to me in Las Vegas a few years ago while riding for The Helmet Harbor, LLC race team. I was mid-pack and dicing it up with a group of four. On the prior lap I had been measuring up the guy in front of me, and by the second lap I found a corner where I could get a better drive and make the pass on the following corner. Several corners before the move, I made a mental checklist. I told myself that if I didn’t get enough drive out of the corner and get even with the rider by the mid point on the small exit straight, I would not attempt the pass. However, if even, or slightly in front, and in the middle of the track, I would out brake him to the turn and go for it. I had practiced this during the two days of practice, and new I could make the turn from this point on the track.

As I hoped, I had a better line through the turn and found myself slightly ahead of the rider before the next turn. Every check on my checklist had been met, now it was time to make the pass. I got on the brakes hard, and unlike the practice sessions, the rear tire came up. I adjusted, got the rear tire down in time to get the bike leaned over, but I had gone slightly deeper than I had planned. No big deal, and I thought the pass was made. Just as I settled in, I was hit from the outside, knocking my bike to the ground. My bike slammed into the track, then taught and high-sided. The second rider involved recovered, but ended up riding off the track, only to crash after hitting a ditch in the run-off area. Later inspection of my bike showed rear tire marks on my bikes front fairing, wind-shield and fender. It appeared I had been clipped in the front at full lean as the other rider crossed in front.

What happened? Plan and simple, a motorcycle race. I had my plan, and the other rider had his. He apparently was looking to take the corner wide, allowing him to square it off and beat me out the other side. Great plan, but two great plans can lead to a crash. I wanted the pass; he wanted to stay in front. Could I have waited, and attempted the pass in another corner? Sure, but when would that pass appear any safer? Could the other rider had let up, and attempted a pass later? You bet, but again, he thought his plan, at this corner, would work.

Now I’m not advocating reckless riding. But short of intentional contact, where is that line drawn? Corners are where passes are made. They are also where crashes happen. As a racer, all we can do is sharpen our riding skills, and our track awareness. Get by those that appear to be possible issues, give room to those that have the advantage, and focus on having fun.

I'm a VICTIM... Credit Card Fraud

If you've ever purchased anything from us, you know how careful we are about credit card fraud. Unlike other companies, we check every transaction by hand. No automation here. Trust me, the person I have in charge of this process would much rather go automated, since it's much easier. However, I just won't allow it. I want every order looked over in detail. Not just because of the reasons effecting my company, I just refuse to allow our customers to be ripped off.

Up to last week, credit card fraud was something I'd only read about. I was like everyone else, I was careful who I bought from online, and took every precaution I could. Well, last week I was looking through my credit card statement, and was shocked to see that my balance was way to large. I dug further, and found over $4600.00 worth of charges that I had not made. To say the least, I was shocked.

I did the normal thing. I called my wife to asked if any of the charges were hers. I was hoping they were (thou I wouldn't have been happy with her), but she didn't have a clue. By where the card was used, I knew the answer before she answered.

I called the credit card company and made my report. It pained me to do this because I knew what was going to happen. All these companies were going to end up eating all the loss. I've been on that side of things myself. The real shock came when I was told that my card had been swiped through a machine at the time of purchase. How could this be, since I was staring at my card as I spoke to the representative? This is when I first heard of credit card cloning, or "skimming".

Apparently someone who had possession of my card swiped it through a credit card "reader". It takes everything off your magnetic strip, stores it, and then allows another card to be "written" with your information. It doesn't need to be a blank credit card, they can erase information on a stolen credit card, then write yours onto it. Doing some research online, I found that these "readers" are now made the size of a pager, so they can be easily hidden from view. Also, the stuff to make it happen (the reader and writter) are legal to purchase... Yep, they can buy everything they need online, and it's totally legal.

I was also told that 95% of the time this crime takes place at restaurants. You hand your credit card to pay for your meal, they swipe the card on the reader, pay the bill, then hand it back. You never know what hit you, until that first statement arrives. Of course, it can happen anywhere you loose sight of your card.

Needless to say, we will continue looking closely at every transaction that happens at our store here in Gilbert, and online. I don't want anyone victimizing our customers. I also hope that our customers are understanding when we explain our guidelines. Yes, it might be a pain when we can only ship to the billing address on the credit card, but there is a reason. It not only protects us, but our customers. As I found out, you can never be too careful. Personally, I would much rather buy from a company that is extremely careful, than one that could careless.

These low life criminals could careless about you, and the stores they steal from. All we can do is be as careful as we can. Shop at places you trust, keep an eye on our cards as much as we can, and understand that there are dirt-bags out there who are looking to rip you off.

Side Note: After I called the credit card company, I called every company where the card had been used. I gave them my information, and offered to help in their investigation. Few know that the retailer/s takes the loss, not the credit card company. Credit card companies rarely investigate these crimes. They leave that to the companies who were victimized. Often these companies just eat the loss, which can be a HUGE hit to their bottom line. I just hope they choose to contact me and catch these loosers. I also REALLY want to know where my card information was stolen, and who did it.

The ups and downs of change.

Lately much of my time has been devoted to putting the final touches to our new online store. It's been a VERY long process, and as ussual, nothing went as planned.

Of course I have a great group of guys around me, which has allowed me to spend much of my time hammering out the final details, and putting out fires. Thanks guys (and gals).

It's hard to believe that this project has taken over 2 years, and still isn't 100% perfect. I'm a firm believer that keeping things "simple" is often what makes design "hard". I can't tell you how many times I would suggest a change that I assumed was a simple thing to implement, only to find out later that it would take several weeks of programming. Like I said, nothing is easy, and if it was, something isn't right.

When I started The Helmet Harbor it was just me and Microsoft Frontpage. What you saw online, was designed by me. No fancy software, no programmers, no one helping. While I thought we had a great selection of product, it was very slow to use. I also noticed that other online companies were getting away from the basics, and using more customized software. This really didn't bother me, since I thought my design was simplier to use. Less fancy bells & whisles, but to me, they did nothing to help the customers make a sound purchase. I'm very attached to simple design, and my customers agreed.

While I'm on the subject of fancy websites, what's the deal with all the Flash sites I'm seeing out there? I never really "got it", and don't really understand why it's used. Don't get me wrong, I think there is a place for Flash animations on a website. But PLEASE, right down to the navigation buttons? On some sites they literally make me dizzy.

In 2005 the industry had grown, and quality manufactures were popping up all over the place. There was no way I could keep up, so I decided a change was needed to how we designed and used our site.

I sat down with some programmers and told them what I wanted. My list of needs was simple.

1. It had to be easy to use.
2. Allow us to continue to add unlimited information for each product.

Sounds simple right? Well, I found out real quick that there's more to it than just a simple need list.

The process has been very difficult, but I think we have managed to keep our "down to earth feel", while still providing a HUGE amount of information. I'm proud of that, and have a new found respect for those involved. We still have a ways to go, and I don't really think it will ever end completely, but the journey has been interesting.