Pocket Tire Plug, Tubeless Tire Repair Kit

We also carry the Pocket Tire Plug to patch Tubeless tires on the road. These tire plugs come with a few tools and will allow you to limp to the next bike shop for a new tire.

They are easily stowed with a mini-foot pump or other small tire inflation equipment under your bikes seat and wont get in your way that way.

We extremely enjoy this set overall, however it does not come with anything to cut the excess length of the plug off once inserted.
For that you will need to carry a knife or a side cutter that can trim back the plug. If you want to make it especially smooth before taking of again a little piece of sandpaper to even off the stump would come in handy. But don't do that until you have inflated the tire enough to hold the plug in place.

What we like about this is that it gives us the confidence that we can patch a tubeless tire on the road and get to the next shop for a new tire instead of having to call a tow which may take a while depending on where you are on the road.

The Plastic baggy contain the plugs.

Here you see it with the pouch for the tools and plugs.

Icon Helmet After Note

I have been trying the Icon helmet that was reviewed earlier on this blog and found that the shield tends to fog a little if you close it fully.
The fogging clears immediately if you crack it just above the locking dip.You can also of course use some anti-fog on the visor and will solve the issue right away I have also played around with the vents and none of them will completely clear the fogging that does occur.
The fogging mainly happens in rainy weather when humidity is already high in the lower temperatures.

Original Helmet Review

Mini-Foot Pump

The Mini-Foot Pump is appealing simply because its smaller then a coffee mug or an oil container (946ml). And can easily be stored under the seat or in a dark corner where its out of the way.
Now to be honest when I opened the package I was concerned because the pump looked suspiciously flimsy, but it does state modern engineering (they name German specifically) made this pump possible.
Now as far as that goes I am not sure about this pump however I am certain that it works surprisingly well and it does inflate a bike tire in under one minute...if you put the gusto into the pumping to make that possible.
The upside of this system is that it uses your power and the surrounding air so you are no relying on the bike to have enough juice or on the air can to have enough pressure to fill your tire. There is only one maintenance advise the pump comes with which is to disassemble it once a year and lube it up with silicone lube. Which we have not gotten to as off yet but it shouldn't be to much of a chore.
As far as the price is concerned it usually goes for about 16 bucks but can be found on sale for less which not only makes it convinient in my eyes but also fairly cheap.

Mini Foot Pump

Suzuki Skid Plate

The Skid Plate full fills the job of protect the lower parts of the engine such as your oil filter, drain bolt and exhaust assembly. Now this mostly relevant should bottom out somewhere but. It also can block stones from flying around and damaging the lower portions of the bike.
Really Skid Plates are out of the way so all that is expected of one is to absorb abuse when needed and be of as little inconvenience as possible. For that reason some companies advertise that their skid plates will allow you to leave them in place for an oil change. That is a big no no, not for any reason then it will always become a mess and usually it is quite easy to simply undo the rear portion of a skid plate and swing it out off the way. But it is still nicer not to have to clean spilled oil up from everywhere then having to put in some extra minutes to remove a skid plate completely.
Again skid plates have a wide range and they come with various convenience or safety extras. If you need those and how much of a skid plate you will need is up to you but don't led a brand name misguide you from the basic truth about any business they are in the business of selling with their shareholders in mind.
So the part will probably not fail because they don't want to get suit not because they like you that much and worry about you. However at the same time they will try selling you anything they can manage to, since they are also not trying to keep your money in your wallet but rather of making it come out.
Which means if you just want a basic skid plate for some added protection but don't think that you will be sliding your bike over trees on a regular basis you don't need the deluxe model the base model will probably be fine.
When going with a home made alternative stop to think about air intakes/heat exchanges and try to insure that you don't block them off completely so that they can carry on doing their jobs. Which is why you want some air going through on the Strom. 
Skid Plates range from 120-260$ each bike has their own designs and ranges but that is quick and dirty.

Engine/Faring Guard

Now I don't care what anyone says at some point somewhere some how everyone will put a big done, some more often then others. When it happens we generally hope it is at low speed with no traffic somewhere on soft cushy grass but you can't always bed on that. An engine guard that extends over part of the faring however is a good option to limit the damage and protect yourself a little more...also its another spot to put those additional headlights that you keep telling your buddies all about but haven't gotten yet.
Now I run the OEM Suzuki ones on this count as well...most of my protection is OEM why? Because a local dealer got me a good deal on the package. Which only reminds you to not get blinded by the cool names but also look at the bottom line a bit shop around you never know maybe a local dealer is trying to get rid of some gear that you want and he can make you a deal.
Anyhow the Engine guard on a V-strom is also needed to install the skid plate. The Engine guard Suzuki vendors is pretty straight forward. It follows the bikes contours where it covers it protecting the lower part of the faring and a portion of the forward section of the engine. Suzuki did change the design for these and skid plates heavily for the following models. But the use remains the same and of course the price pretty much the same as well.

Some people claim that it give you some extra wind protection but unless you start mounting solid pieces on the engine guard I don't see that happening. This engine guard however does not get in your way and it sturdy enough to absorb some good abuse if God forbid you dropped it somewhere less desirable then the perfect grassy knoll. You can't see it well in the pictures but with the handle bar kicked in as it would be if you dropped your bike the engine guard is the first point of contact to the ground protecting the faring from hard surface impacts I could see on soft soil the guard sinking in a bid though and the faring taking some abuse.

Overall engine guards are about 250$ or thereabouts they are definitely worth the investment for the piece of mind in my opinion especially when looking at the cost of a new faring never mind having to deal with the damaged bike until you are at the next shop.

Suzuki Handguards

OEM accessories have a bad reputation because people think that they tend to be useless.
The hand guards are the ones Suzuki sells for 79.99$. They are made out of hard plastic, and give generous space for the hand brakes and clutch while still shielding the hands from weather and trees fer effectively as I have tested...unintentionally on the right handle bar you can see the slight scratch on the hand guard. This scratch was cause by hitting a tree near a path at about 20-25km/h.
The hand guard did absorb most of the force leaving me very happy when I carried on that I had the hand guards.
These hand guards are also very easy to install and uninstall to check the wires that are covered up by the guards.

Suzuki Hand Guards:

Suzuki side Bags

I am currently running a V-strom 650 with a few farcles...of course more to come and I review them individually as I get them on the bike for now I will of course start with the gear already installed. And other farcles will be mentioned as I get them.

Now I have a set of Aluminium side bags on my bike they are the ones the Suzuki pushes through their dealers. Now these bags have been through rain at highway speeds as well of course through sun and the nice things about them are. They don't get to hot despite them being black; what I mean by that is they wont get warm even when not riding. While riding they are of course kept cool but when you stop for a lunch or something you want to know that your sandwich, water or water ever else maybe in there is not boiling. And it does not.
These bags come with a lid seal for the top opening lid and they do come with one liner bag each which are water resistant (I haven't tested this as I had no leak into the boxes but they do repel water fine while sitting in a bathtub or being rinsed in the shower) so if you are in a lot of rain you can keep items that need to stay dry in there just in case.
The are of course as all top opening with lock in the rear and swinging to the front which makes them the same on that count as all Aluminium side bags that I have seen. 

They of course lock to the bike when mounted and the mounting is very easy and straight forward you simply slide the bag onto the pins on the mounts and lock the rear clasp to hold it in place.
Of course the lids lock as well, the locks are a little jiggly at times and you have play with the keys to unlock the cases at times.

The mounting side of the bags.

Exterior with the reflectors adding some visibility.

The side clasp is the clasp locking to the bike

.

The Liner bags.

Right Mounting bracket.

Left Mounting bracket.

Icon Alliance Helmet

Icon has an excellent reputation in motorcycle gear and this helmet is towards the middle to budget end of the helmet market. As you can see it has some major vents on the top of the helmet. The helmet is extremely comfortable but then again helmets tend to be very subjective. The helmet does not possess the chin net that has become more popular. However you don't miss the net the airflow seems to not want to push debris or other items up into the helmet . The noise level in the helmet is soso, there isn't a massive amount of noise generated but it isn't the quietest helmet out there by a long shot. It is one of those helmets in which I would definitely recommend to wear earplugs to prevent hearing loss or damage to the ear in general. The wind noise gets extremely bad when you shoulder check which I expect to be caused by the large top vents.
The air circulation is good in the helmet and the visor locks into place when you put it all the way down which gives you a great deal of confidence when riding in the rain or on the highway in general.
The Helmet has all the certifications DOT FMVSS 218 (US), ECE 22-05 (EUROPE), SAI AS1698 (AUSTRALIA) & SG (JAPAN).

The Price around 165 CDN.

Ducati Shadow Gloves

 This is a review of the Black Shadow Ducati Gloves. They possess leather palms which are very comfortable and give good grip on the handlebars. They extend just passed the wrist and have textile surfaces on the outside which also covers the knuckle protection. The fingers are punctured between the fingers to allow air flow this of course has draw backs when it gets wet. But when you are riding in the sun then you are grateful for the excellent temperature control that these gloves provide.

Overall these gloves are excellent.

Price: around 137 CDN$

Stinger Waterproof Leather Boots

The Stinger boots are nice riding boots they are nice and subtle. They have all the normal protection for your ankle and heel. They are extremely comfortable and do not in anyway limit your ability to you use your controls. It is quite easy to feel the controls through the soles of the boots.

Now they are not designed for extremely cold weather but will do fine until about -5C in rain/slush/snow.

As you can see they use a flap system which is quite convenient when you are in rain but also makes them very easy to put on and take off. 

Price around 150 CDN.

Joe Rocket Ballistic Jacket

This Review is about the Joe Rocket Ballistic Jacket with high visibility patches.

The Jacket has all the features you would expect of textile made Motorcycle jacket. They come with all the pockets you could possibly need and they have the water resistant zippers. There are two liners for this jacket one being the water resistant liner and the second being a warm liner that will prevent you from getting cold while riding in the rain or colder weather. Like the Joe rocket pants this jacket also has the vents that will allow air to flow through and they make it a lot more comfortable to ride in this jacket in the summer and city traffic.

The high vis areas work extremely well and allow you to be seen nicely.

Price around 330 CDN.

Joe Rocket Alter Ego Pants

These pants have many nice little features which combine into one great set off pants.

They have all the padding that you know and like for motorcycling, they have a mesh liner inside that holds the knee pads. Then you can open zippers along the upper leg that allow air flow through the pants so if you are driving in the city for the day or its unbearably hot that is a great way to cool down. Then there is a water tight liner that will keep water at bay and provide some additional wind protection when some water seeps through.

These pants feel comfortable and a reasonably snug. Extremely comfortable and well made product overall. 

Price around 250 CDN.