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Cycle Case Helmet Backpack | Review

August 2, 2012 at 8:04 PM

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Cycle Case Motorcycle Backpack

The lights suddenly went dead in the office. Seconds later, sirens were heard, and I was without electricity or Internet. A few minutes passed, and I found out from local news on the iPhone that some 18-wheeler had cracked a telephone in half.

I was going to be without power/internet for a few hours. Well, here was my excuse to go riding, but I still had much work to complete. I opened the garage and could have taken the luggage-ready V-Strom, but was in need of some sportbike fun. Off came the cover on the Ducati 1198, and I was ready to take a trip down to the local Barnes & Noble to wrap up the day's work.

But how would I bring my laptop, camera for picture uploads, and all other necessities needed to complete some work? Easily...the Cycle Case Helmet Backpack.

With a MSRP of under $60, this new low-priced backpack designed of sturdy Maxtura ballistic fiber battles the lack of cargo space on luggage-less motorcycles, allowing us not only to carry our needed supplies, but also toss our helmets into the bag while doing what we are doing.

Inside, the Cycle Case Helmet Backpack features a fleece-lined compartment to store away the laptop, my MacBook fitting perfectly, though there may be some space issues with bigger laptops, especially those of yesteryear. With the MacBook stored away, there's also ample cargo space for other items, such as a few books, a hoodie, and a Nikon D2H camera.

A smaller, fleece-lined audio/phone pocket is contained on the top of the bag, providing enough room for my iPhone and iPod. This compartment also has a socket for headphone wires, allowing the electronics to be stored away out of sight. The Cycle Case also features two simple outside vented pockets, allowing for further storage of other items such as water bottles and gloves.

Then there's the backpack's selling point, the front pocket, which has a built-in hood that fits most full-sized helmets. When arriving at B&N, I simply unzipped this front pocket, and stored my Arai Vector-2 in the hood contained within. Once the helmet was in place, two straps clasp into the top of the bag, creating a secure holding location. The helmet will strap to the bag regardless of what's inside the main compartment, also, due to the exterior-pocket design.

The backpack features thick straps that are adjustable, along with an adjustable sternum strap, providing a comfortable fit for all body types. And for added safety, the Cycle Case Helmet Backpack has Reflect-A-Light reflective piping for nighttime visibility.

When it comes to short trips such as mine to B&N to wrap up some work, the Cycle Case Helmet Backpack is very ideal. It not only provides space for my necessities, but also prevents me from putting fairing-scratching luggage or a tank bag on my Ducati. For around $60, it's not a pricey investment, either.

But be warned - the bag contains no waterproof material, and water loves to penetrate that socket for headphone wires.

The Cycle Case Helmet Backpack is available in black ($54.99) or Hi-Viz ($59.99). For additional information, log onto cyclecase.com.

AMA: 'Wild Lands' Policy Being Resurrected

August 2, 2012 at 6:22 PM

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Motorcycle Legislation

Some powerful federal lawmakers say the U.S. Interior Department has unilaterally resurrected the controversial Wild Lands policy that Congress terminated last year, the American Motorcyclist Association reports.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar initially unveiled the Wild Lands policy on Dec. 22, 2010. Under the policy, lands designated as Wild Lands by the federal Bureau of Land Management would be managed as if they had received the restrictive Wilderness land-use designation from Congress.

The policy circumvents any congressional input. When Congress designates an area as Wilderness - one of the strictest forms of public land management - nearly all forms of non-pedestrian recreation become illegal.

The Wild Lands policy announcement shocked the off-highway vehicle riding community because it was expected to have a far-reaching impact. The BLM manages about 245 million acres of public land nationwide, primarily in 12 western states. Federal lawmakers considered the policy a "land grab" and a blatant attempt to usurp congressional authority.

Because of opposition from powerful federal lawmakers, governors, the AMA and other OHV enthusiasts, the Wild Lands policy hit a major snag on April 15, 2011.

That's when President Obama signed into law the Fiscal Year 2011 Continuing Resolution -- the funding measure that kept the federal government operating through Sept. 30, 2011 -- which included language barring the Interior Department from using any funds to implement the Wild Lands land-use policy to manage land as if it had been designated as Wilderness.

On Aug. 2, U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) and U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) announced that Wild Lands has been revived.

A news release from Bishop's office states that BLM guidance manuals recently discovered by Bishop and Hatch show that the Interior Department "has resurrected the controversial Wild Lands policy killed by Congress in April 2011. Included in the manuals is language directly lifted from Secretarial Order 3310 and its supporting documents, known as the DOI's Wild Lands memo, illustrating how BLM employees are to identify and manage lands with wilderness characteristics.

"Congressman Rob Bishop and Senator Orrin Hatch, along with other senators and representatives from the West, today issued a letter to Secretary Ken Salazar outlining concerns and questions about the DOI's efforts to re-establish Wild Lands through the new guidance manuals," the news release said.

"Even though these proposals have already been overwhelmingly rejected, the administration is attempting to administratively put these policies in place," Hatch said. "This proposal will give Washington bureaucrats more control over the lands in Utah and across the West. It's wrong, and the Interior Department needs to stop trying to keep the public off public lands."

Said Bishop: "I am troubled and angered by similarities found between the contents of the handbooks and the defunct Wild Lands proposal. This is clearly an effort to establish 'Wild Lands 2.0' and abandons all previous commitments Secretary Salazar made to me and many other western members to work openly and collaboratively on new land management practices.

"Excerpts within these handbooks clearly depict a thinly veiled effort on behalf of this administration to further limit access to our nation's public lands," he said. "I expect a prompt response from Secretary Salazar and will continue to pursue this issue to ensure that the livelihoods of westerners are protected."

Harley: Hollywood Handlebar Now Available

August 2, 2012 at 5:19 PM

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Harley-Davidson Hollywood Handlebar

The new Hollywood Handlebar (P/N 55800050, $109.95) from Harley-Davidson Genuine Motor Accessories combines the laid-back riding attitude of the 1940s with a shape and black finish that's perfect for today's new-school, stripped-down bobbers.

Introduced as Original Equipment on the 2012 Softail Slim model, this traditional, cross-bar equipped handlebar features limited rise, a narrow profile and gentle pull-back shape.

The Hollywood Handlebar fits 2010-later Forty-Eight, 2006-later Street Bob, 2010-later Wide Glide, 2000-later Heritage Softail Custom, Fat Boy and Fat Boy Lo, and 2008-later Softail Deluxe models.

Installation requires separate purchase of additional components. See an authorized Harley-Davidson dealer for fitment details. For additional information, log onto Harley-Davidson.com.

2013 Kawasaki Ninja 250R | Unveiled

August 2, 2012 at 2:18 PM

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Team Icon Brammo on Podium at Laguna

August 2, 2012 at 11:58 AM

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2012 FIM e-Power Electric Motorcycle Racing

For the third year in a row electric motorcycles convened on Laguna Seca's world famous track for FIM's e-Power electric motorcycle racing series.

Team Icon Brammo showed up in the nick of time for the practice round on Friday with riders Eric Bostrom and Steve Atlas.

Minor technical issues kept the team from pushing their limits and talents on the track. Saturday's qualifying also continued to present challenges, which the team was able to use as learning opportunities and keep moving forward with high morale and exemplary team work.

At Sunday's race event, the hard work paid off, though, and team Icon Brammo finished with their two racers on the podium, trophies in hand.

While first place went to Barracuda Lightning's Michael Barnes, with a total time of 14:32.030 and an average speed of 134.123 Km/h, Team Icon Brammo's Steve Atlas finished a close second at 14:34.963 with an average speed of 133.678 Km/h, just 2.903 seconds behind Barnes. Team Icon Brammo's newest rider, the legendary Eric Bostrom, finished third with a time of 14:44.858 and an average speed of 132.183 Km/h.

Laguna Seca's race weekend was only Bostrom's second time on the bike. At the press conference after the race Bostrom explained, "I only rode the bike a week ago and I said to the team, "If I don't like it I am out." But just pulling out of the pits and coming out of the race track, it put a big smile on my face and surpassed all my expectations; I am still coming up to speed on how to ride the bike and it may have caught me out a little bit. With Barnes setting a blistering pace it was cool to see the other Brammo up there and my team mate Steve pushing me to go faster. The biggest disappointment for me was not being able to keep Barnes honest and push him to the end."

Team Manager, Brian Wismann, was happy overall with the performance of both the bikes and the riders, "Team Icon Brammo are very pleased to come away from the FIM ePower/TTX race at Laguna Seca with its first double podium. We had hoped to be on the top step with one of our riders, but with the way our weekend went, we're quite satisfied with the result. We leave Monterey knowing we've got a couple of fast bikes that have more performance to give going into the final round of the TTX North American Championship at Miller Motorsports Park. Steve and Eric are pumped up and feeling confident following their stellar performances on Sunday. If the team can manage to eliminate the glitches that cost us precious track time, I think these guys will be the ones to beat at Miller."

Wismann continues, "Also, it's great to see the lap times improve and the parity gap diminish as it really made the racing exciting. Hats off to Michael Barnes and Lightning for finally getting their well-deserved win!"

Sacramento Mile Flat Track: Recap & Video

August 2, 2012 at 11:01 AM

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2012 AMA Pro Flat Track Video

The much anticipated Sacramento Mile marked the first appearance of the AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com and Lucas Oil on the West Coast and it didn't disappoint the large crowd gathered at the California State Fair on the Cal Expo mile oval.

The 25-lap Miller Lite Sacramento Mile presented locally by Big O Tires and Padilla Bail Bonds Grand National had all the typical mile-track action as a 100 MPH chess match unfolded. Draft passing and late race strategy was the name of the game.

Just as he had done in 2011, Bryan Smith came out on top. Last year, it was Chris Carr who came up just short but this year, defending Grand National Champion Jake Johnson was the victim. In 2011, back-to-back race winner Smith rode a Harley-Davidson XR750, but this year he was aboard the Crosley Radio / Howerton Motorsports / Eaken Racing-backed Kawasaki.

After dominating May's Springfield Mile early only to come up short on the last lap, Smith was the pre-race favorite of many and he was looking for redemption after losing a race he felt should have been his.

"I've been pretty much mad about Springfield since then, but now I can sleep at night," said Smith. "It is definitely a weight off my shoulders to get a win for Rick (Howerton) and Jeff (Gordon) here on the Crosley bike."

Zanotti Racing / Schaeffer's Harley-Davidson's Jake Johnson had started off the day posting fast qualifying times in the afternoon and followed that up with a dominating performance in the first heat. Johnson led Luke Gough (Dick Ford / Skip Eaken Racing) by nearly four seconds when the eight lap heat ended.

The two remaining heats were much more typical of mile flat track racing. Brandon Robinson (Werner-Springsteen Racing) edged Rogers Racing / Blue Springs Harley-Davidson's Jared Mees by 1 thousandths of a second in heat two.

Bryan Smith's time qualified him ninth, which he considered poor even though he was less than half a second off Jake Johnson's fast time of 38.742 seconds. Smith worked his way up from the back to win the third heat, garnering a front-row start in the national and a spot in the Dash for Cash.

"In the free practice session we were fastest, but the track just really kept changing so much. I just kept chasing the track," said Smith. "I felt decent. I knew we would be all right once we got to racing everybody. I always race better than I qualify. It was just a matter of mixing it up. In the heat race I got a horrible start, my fault. It was kind of good because it made me push it a little bit. At the same time it made me pretty nervous, to barely win the thing."

With the heat races in the books, the all-important Dash for Cash was up next, worth $1,000 to the winner and five points toward the Grand National Championship. Johnson jumped to a quick lead in the four-lap race and held off Mees, Smith and Robinson. The top four finished within half a second, foretelling how the national would play out, but not in that order.

The 25-lap main event saw the big number one of Jake Johnson blast into the lead, but it didn't take Smith long to make his presence felt on his high powered Kawasaki.

"Damn that Kawasaki is fast," said Johnson of his futile race long battle. "There were a few times he (Smith) would see that I had a little bit of a wheel on him and he would kind of roll out of it and I could slip by going into the turn. Then he would suck three tear offs off of my helmet when he would go by me on the next straight away."

The lead pack contained at least three and sometimes as many as six riders going for the lead. Despite the heated battle for the lead, Smith's Kawasaki horsepower allowed him to lead 23 of the 25 laps, most with draft passes at the line.

"Obviously, the race was good, we won, but it was tough. Those guys were right there. It took everything I had," said Smith. "It was pretty slick in the corners for me. The power band the Kawasaki has really wants to spin the tires, but when it hooks up it goes. It goes obviously... ask Jake and Jared.

"I just tried to give them a good gap off the corner," Smith continued. "That way I got the best draft possible and could just sweep by them into turn one or turn three, rather than draft them real early and almost drag race them into the corner. That would allow Jared to go up there. They would get to the corner a little faster than me when they were in the lead so it worked out pretty good. I would utilize the draft on the front straight away and blow on by them."

"There was nothing I could do. I was able to get by him a few times going into three and it really wasn't a draft pass," said Johnson. "I would get a run on him, draft up alongside him and basically it was just a shutoff contest through the corner. Bryan would give a little bit, but he had nothing to lose, he would just draft right back around."

Current AMA Pro Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship Expert Class points leader Jared Mees was able to hang with the leaders, but was never able to "officially" lead a lap at the finish line.

"As soon as I saw Bryan get off the line, I thought, 'Man, I've got to deal with one of these Kawis again,'" said Mees. "It is hard to say that Bryan held us up, but he had so much power down the straight away that we really couldn't run down the straight away with him and get away from him. We would get through the corner good and everything would be fine and he would just suck right by us on the straight away. About halfway through, I hate to say it, but the race was for second." That battle would go to Johnson.

The battle for fourth heated up as Robinson and Sammy Halbert (South East Harley-Davidson / Mo Vaughn Transportation) battled it out until Halbert's tire went away.

"Finally I had a good run that shows what I really have. It was a good night," said Robinson. "I rode for the first 20 laps, just watching them and studying them. Sammy got around me, but he kept slipping the groove going into three. He drifted up and lost the draft with five to go and I was able to get around him. I chased the leaders back down a little bit by myself and I got right there in the hunt. I just messed up a little bit in three. I just gave them enough of a gap coming off of three. I got within inches of Jared for third and that was all I had. It's frustrating to come up inches short from a podium, but I have to be happy with fourth."

Halbert kept himself in the points hunt with his fifth-place finish. "I was able to catch the lead draft. I pushed really hard to catch the leaders and I think that burned off my tire a little bit," said Halbert. "It was good to catch them, but as soon as I would catch them, I would try to do something and make a mistake and blow the groove. I would have to do it all over again."

After the top five broke away, another tight bunch fought over sixth. Kiesow Racing's Jeffrey Carver came out on top there finishing a solid sixth after a slow start. "I actually decided to start on the fourth row in the main, on the groove. I started working my way through, then I got stuck behind a few of the Japanese brands. Once I got by them, I started picking off people, then I got stuck behind Mikey Martin for about 8 laps. He just had so much straight away speed that I couldn't draft by him. I kept seeing him slip up coming off of two. I got a run on him and got by him. I just burned it off in there as hard as I could so he couldn't draft back by me. Once I did that I just caught up to Brad (Baker) and Luke (Gough). I got by Brad and worked on Luke for a couple laps. I got by Luke and by then it was two to go. I could see the lead pack, I was right there."

The last few laps saw the group settle in with Brad Baker bringing the Factory Harley-Davidson home in seventh safely ahead of Rob Pearson on his Memphis Shades / Bumpus Harley-Davidson backed Harley. "I was pretty satisfied with the start, I was on the third row and think I came out sixth. I got past Sammy about four laps in or so and I was up into fifth," said Baker. "We just didn't quite have the ponies to be able to draft the front runners. I could stay with them in the corners, but they would just inch me down the straight away and I couldn't draft them. Little by little they started to pull away. I just kind of hung in there for what I could. Luke and Jeffrey got up to me. We mixed it around with them. When Luke got by me, there wasn't any reason to pass him in the corner because he would sling shot past me on the straight. I just made what I could out of it."

Rob Pearson landed the MotoBatt "Hard Charger" Award again at Sacramento. The cash award goes to the rider who advances the most positions during each expert main event.

Last year's Motorcycle-Superstore.com Pro Singles Champion Mikey Martin qualified for his first-ever Grand National and brought the Bonneville Performance Triumph home in ninth. This marks the first time all three former Motorcycle-Superstore.com Pro Singles Champions would be in the same Grand National main.

As the season reaches its midpoint next week, the points race in the Harley-Davidson Insurance Grand National Championship is shaping up to be a two-rider race as Jared Mees and defending AMA Pro GNC Champion Jake Johnson inch away. Mees was able to overcome his early problems and minimized any damage with his third in the national and second in the Dash for Cash to Johnson.

"It is what it is. It's tough," said Mees. "Congratulations to Bryan and the whole team, they work really hard. We came from a long way today from qualifying and to finish third I feel really confident. I lost a little bit in the points. We were 11 ahead going into Hagerstown, went to 15, now we are at 11 again. It's just cat and mouse really."

Sammy Halbert is 33 points down to Mees with Bryan Smith leapfrogging into fourth just eight behind Halbert. The absent Johnny Lewis remains in fifth, 44 points down to the leader.

Laguna Seca MotoGP | Video Highlights

August 2, 2012 at 10:38 AM

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2012 MotoGP Video

The 2012 MotoGP Championship went from sour to sweet for Repsol Honda's Casey Stoner following the Australian's win at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Before the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, Stoner had amassed three wins (Jerez, Estoril, Assen), but then suffered a crash and ultimate DNF at Sachsenring, and an eighth-place finish at Mugello.

But Stoner found something extra in the Honda RC213V's setup, and went on to take his fourth win of the season at Laguna Seca. Joining him on the podium was Yamaha Factory Racing's Jorge Lorenzo and the other Repsol Honda rider, Dani Pedrosa.

Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC213V MotoGP) says: "It's been a difficult weekend for us in general especially trying to make the hard tire work. So for the race I decided to go with the soft option and be a little more careful with the tire, keep a little more traction and not spin so much. At the beginning of the race I tried to move to the front but Dani and Jorge were riding very good lines and it was impossible to get past. I decided to slow the lap times a little and try to save the tires until the end and then we could start to come back.

"I was confident for the entire race that I had enough pace for the win, we just needed to make sure the tire would last until the end. When we got to the front we put in some good laps and pulled some small advantage and just continued from there. I'm very, very happy and a big thanks to all the team."

With his second-place finish, Lorenzo continues to lead the MotoGP series after 10 of 18 rounds, the 2010 Champion 23 points ahead of Pedrosa. Stoner remains in third, 32 points behind Lorenzo.

Attached above are video highlights of 2012 Laguna Seca MotoGP; for a review, including full results and points, click here.

Photo by Ara Ashjian