By Admin
In another triumph of attempt at Hooniverse Podcast Network Corporate Synergisity℠, we are joined by Cam Vanderhorst, one of the hosts of our Hooniverse sister podcast Cammed & Tubbed. Our conversation spilled over into two weeks worth of material, so this is part one of two episodes featuring Cam. (“Twin Cams” — get it? Ahhh, I crack myself up.) In this first go-round, we discuss helmets and hearing protection, scooters, and tweaking Cam’s Sportster. A little ways in, Eric jumps in for the tragic truth about barn finds, and whether there are still any truly bad motorcycles on the market. Rest assured, like nearly every episode, we manage to mention the Yamaha TW200 and Suzuki GT750. We’ve also provided few other aural surprises along the way.
EDIT: This might show up multiple times in peoples’ iTunes feed, as I somehow managed to deactivate the “Explicit” flag, necessitated by Cam’s lone f-bomb in the last five minutes of the podcast.
False Neutral – Twin Cams, Part 1
Except where noted in the captions, images are standard press kit/website photos used courtesy of the respective manufacturers.
Jeff Glucker 
Kamil Kaluski
Sparky Approves…..
I have a pair of re-usable 3M ear plugs that I keep in my armor pocket. They can be cleaned (I usually use dish soap), and they’re always there, and I only have to remember to put them in.
The big benefit I’ve heard about for the $600+ helmets is better aero. I’ve got a $300 Shoei, and when I turn my head on the highway, I have to hold my head against the wind with my neck muscles. An instructor I had pointed out that she buys the next level of helmet up for the aero features that reduce the amount of force on your head when you look over your shoulder at 70+mph. That’s the killer feature that’s going to get me to shell out more for my next helmet.
I have a pair of Tasco tri-fit silicone ear plugs that I’ve had since 1984.
http://ep.yimg.com/ay/earplugstore/tasco-tri-fit-triple-flange-reusable-ear-plugs-in-poly-bag-nrr-25-19.gif
The trouble with most aero testing is that it’s racing oriented and assumes that you’re riding in a crouch.
http://i481.photobucket.com/albums/rr178/CBRTime/CBRTime146/12091265_920077721371083_8069547311202416479_o.jpg
Hadn’t gotten that far in my research. But that makes sense. Said instructor was also a racer who rode a gixxer 1000 on the street with race take-offs on the wheels.
I bought an Arai Signet back in the ’90s when I was a scooter messenger. I could wear that thing 8 hours straight no problem, also take it off and put it on 10 or 15 times a day. Time came to buy a new helmet about 20 years later (I know) and I figured another Arai SIgnet was worth it.
When I needed a dirt bike helmet, my ‘Long-Oval’ head shape and XXL girth meant I had to really go to a real shop and really try on a lot of different helmets. (An hour’s ride into the suburbs, BTW.) Although I confirmed what I read on internet forums, that the Fox V1 and V2 fit my kind of pumpkin well, I also discovered that there were V1s that fit better than other V1s in the same store! XL and XXL meant different things between helmet makers, too.
Although I bought the second Signet sight unseen, I’m sure glad I went to brick and mortar to get the V1. No idea how it compares to other dirt helmets, since it’s the only one I’ve ever worn. It doesn’t suck, and inspires confidence.
CityBike, my local motorcycle newspaper (doesn’t everyone have one?) did a rather extensive test of 15 or 20 old helmets, ranging from 3 to 34 years old to see if they still passed the standards they were manufactured to (DOT or SNELL for that year of production.)
The results are surprising. An ancient 1980 helmet still passes 1980 DOT standards (whatever they were) but an N.O.S 1993 helmet failed miserably against its SNELL test. (Perhaps the later failures were due to its being compromised after the first?)
You can find their article in the PDF of the November, 2014 issue
http://citybike.com/includes/upload/back_issue/cb_2014-11.pdf
CityBike is not really interested in maintaining a whizz-bang website, since just the newspaper is enough work already, and there’s ridin’ to be done! Unfortunately that means there’s a wealth of information in their back issues that’s not really searchable through internet search engines.
Was that snippets from Teen Girl Squad?
Yes, a couple of them were.
As a Day 1 False Neutral listener, tell what’s-his-name in this episode that we listeners who appreciate the intelligent discourse on motorcycles we can do without the F-bombs, etc. I can remember being 27 and the swagger of youth, but trust me, we all grow up and are not impressed with the vocabulary. It hasn’t been a part of this great podcast and hopefully won’t weasel its way in going forward. Just sayin’
No, it’s not something our regular hosts will ever do.
Great episode. Loved Cam.