Schuberth E2 helmet: the right lid at last

The last ride but one – wearing the Nexx Viljord flip front/modular helmet – convinced me beyond all doubt that it had to go. It was too tight around the jaw, the ears and, probably worst of all, on the top of my head – where it really hurt. I couldn’t deny it any longer. It was the kind of torture that meant that after about an hour, maybe less, I just wanted to stop riding. And added to the physical pain was the realisation that I had wasted a large sum of money on this. So a week ago I took the train down to Motolegends just outside Guildford, walked from the station down to the shop and told them the story – that I’d tried on a Schuberth E2 large and extra large at the MCN show and that L was far too small and XL a little, I thought, too big. But after measuring my head they started me out with a large and gave the fitting proper attention, changing the cheek pads and neck roll, repeatedly checking for fit, until we were satisfied that this was the right fit. As the guy said about my experience at the MCN show, its not rocket science to fit a helmet properly and Schuberth’s selling point is that people can adapt the padding to get the fit right for them. But of course at a trade show, there’s no way someone on a large stall with hundreds of customers is going to take the time and trouble to do this. I was sceptical about trade shows to start with and I am even more now – at least if you are there for some shopping that needs careful attention. (Or getting fitted for custom earbuds – which was fine because I knew exactly what I wanted from UltimateEar.)

An hour later, I walked out of the shop with a big orange and white and box and my bank account £560 lighter. I tried it on at home and it felt just right. I spent some time trying to clamp on my new Senna EVO20S but in the end gave up and used the glue mount – heating up the helmet first for a good seal and with a neat tethering cord hooked inside the helmet just in case. It turned out easy to swap out the speakers that are already fitted (for the ridiculously expensive kit that they offer) and replace it with the Sennas (they are probably the same speakers). The boom mike is a little short but I doubt I will use it. Slightly more challenging was fitting a helmet cam. There was just no way to mount my Sony so I bought three attempts at the right mount for my GoPro and after studying how a couple of Vloggers have mounted theirs on a flip front, more or less copied the approach, also heating everything up before gluing and installing a tether from the camera to a discretely mounted spot inside the chin bar. Its a little heavy but all feels sound.

I rode from Cambridge up to the land in Suffolk and back again, with the GoPro filming and all seems well.

I am happy with the Schuberth and can see its beautifully made, just one thing though: Next to lids like the Arai Tour X or the Nexx XD, it does look like a huge germanic spherical thing with a peak stuck to it. You wouldn’t exactly call it aggressively styled. But this was definitely a function-over-style decision. I’m not complaining.

Nexx Viljord flip front helmet very first impressions

Yesterday this much anticipated (by me) helmet arrived in my front porch. It seemed the slightly pragmatic answer to my plan to use a flip front on my next trips, making immigration, buying petrol and having a drink or snack much easier. The newly released (and v expensive) Schuberth E2 was my first option but trying on a couple of sizes at the MCN motorcycle show back in February revealed to me that my head seems to fall between M and L for Schuberth. So plan B, Nexx was cheaper by a couple of hundred pounds and also, I realised, could save me buying a new Bluetooth headset as I could use my existing XComm and the expensive moulded wired earbuds that are on order, arriving soon.

First nervous impressions out of the box: the sun visor had not been attached, and rattled around and seemed broken. On the verge of returning the helmet I found instructions on how to fit it – first problem solved.

So trying it on: hmmm Large is probably the right size for me but – when closed the helmet is very tight around my manly jaw. Perhaps I could live with that. Perhaps it will give slightly as people say. The opening is a bit more slit-like than my other open face helmets and because I’ve pushed the helmet slightly upwards to make it more comfortable around the jaw my field of vision is restricted downwards – but I can probably also live with that. Sunglasses do fit inside it but slot in at an odd angle. Again that could be made to work. Flipping up is clunky. Flipping down is a bit of a struggle and the visor closes itself when you flip up – annoying – again just a bit. I see why Schuberth made such a fuss about their new helmet not doing that. When it latches closed the tightness around the jaw becomes on the verge of unacceptable. But weighed against the excitement of a new lid, I can probably live with this.

But now the first real disappointment: my Nexx XComm does not fit this helmet. The cut out is too small so I’d need to shell out on their new version XComm2. (Its £195) . Not exactly the end of the world – but a careful look at the XComm2 manual on line shows that it does not have a separate connector for the earbuds so my clever adapter from Sena and custom earbuds on the way will not work with this model. So that could be another £190 wasted. So back to another plan – the Sena 10S if I can get it to fit on the side of this helmet. It is what I had planned to do, after all.

But with so many niggles, am I going to keep this helmet or return it? The decision is too emotional – after having this in my hands it would be a bit painful to return it and start the search all over again even though it might be the sensible option at the moment… lets sit with it for a while.

I’ve just seen Sena 10S is discontinued at Sportsbikeshop, though available at a discount at other places. I will go for it though expect fitting the clamp to be difficult – actually it seems its not a problem. I’ve now ordered a Sena 20S Evo (£165 from Sportsbikeshop) which seems it will meet my requirements with an earbud socket, and with more recent firmware updates so a better option than an already discontinued item.

The more I wear this helmet around the house, the more the uncomfortable parts are starting to soften. It will be very satisfying to get this helmet sorted with the bluetooth and GoPro mount.

Travel tripods – its a nightmare

Well, not quite that bad – just a difficult choice. A huge leap in interestingness of motorcycle travel video is some variation from the overused first person POV helmet camera footage to actual footage of rider riding into and out of shot on some beautiful corner on a twisty road. We’re so used to seeing seamless continuity on feature films that we don’t even notice it on motoYoutubers efforts, yet effort it takes to achieve. We must make some unconscious assumption that there is a film crew riding with our favourite motoYoubuer. Maybe on occasions there is but often its not the case. And how’s it done? With a laborious setting up of a shot in advance: scouting, stopping, riding back, getting out your tripod, trusting leaving your beloved camera running and unattended while you jump back on the bike, ride off, turn round and ride back into shot looking nonchalant; then stop again, ride back, pack everything away and ride off and repeat a few times a day. You really wouldn’t get very far in a day. It takes high motivation to record something to go to all this trouble. The other far less troublesome use of tripods is to film yourself unboxing and trying out various gadgets from camping stoves to er… new tripods.

So, having thought that I might just possibly try this, at least use number two, I am searching for the ideal lightweight tripod. There are actually a huge number to try to chose from. The high end carbon models cost over £300. They tend to get good reviews – but that’s a lot to spend on something that may be a very short-lived experiment. Then there are the scores of mid to cheap models, often praised highly by Youtubers who probably have only used them once or twice and like the design. Amazon reviews provide usually more sober evaluations. These cheap tripods are cheap because they might use a soft component where a slightly expensive piece of aluminium would have been better. So reviews show that these are often not very strong. I have been on the verge of ordering so many of these then read poor reviews and stopped in my tracks. The latest is this:

I have never heard of Sirui – but then I have never heard of most of these brands. Its small, its light and its cheap. I may risk it. But will I risk actually trying it out on a windy corner in Norway on my next trip?

2023 trip planning for the Arctic Circle

Its 180 miles from Hoek Van Holland to Eemshaven where a brand new ferry company has just started a route to Kristiansand on the southern tip of Norway, saving one night in Germany compared with the journey from Kiel to Oslo. And the price is a little cheaper. The cost in time is a rather longer journey in Norway.

From Oslo the route to Mo I Rana is 623 miles; from Kristiansand its 793 miles – 3 hours more riding on day one.

Mosko Moto Tank bags compared – Nomax and Hood

About a year ago – or was it two? – I bought my first piece of Mosko Moto kit, the Nomax Tank bag, for my then new KTM 790Adv. When it arrived, I was surprised, maybe a little disappointed, that it was so small, and not only small but divided horizontally into compartments that made it even smaller. This was not the tank bag that you could dump a small supermarket shop, or your large DSLR into and ride off. It encouraged or rather forced you into organising the number of necessarily small items that you might want to have at hand. Even the additional map holder was so small I had to search for an A5 size road atlas to fit into it. But then the KTM, and other off-road-ish bikes, are smaller than BMW R1200s that my previous Touratech bag perched on. Touratech tank bags are described as being 15L in volume, compared to a third of that for these MM bags. That’s got that out of the way.

I think it was the influence of a Youtube motorcycle traveller that brought the Hood tank bag to my attention first. I liked its simple design and the fact it seems to be one large compartment and one that’s meant to be highly waterproof too. So I shelled out and it arrived from somewhere in Europe without me having to pay any extra tax. I wanted to know whether it had the carrying capacity of the Nomax so tried this experiment:

Soundtrack inspired by David Lynch

Pretty much all of those small tools for minor maintenance and some personal things like Ibuprofen and folding cutlery fit into the two separate pouches that fit inside. That leaves the centre of the bag for the usb charger and the tangle of wires and battery chargers that most motorcyclists carry around on their trips. The bag has some waterproof holes and routes for a charging cable to reach the bike’s usb charging socket installed now by the new tower. And that’s just about it. So just like the Reckless 80 that I also have, instead of opening it and reaching for the item you need, you have to take a bunch of things out first to find what you want – maybe not so much fun if its raining and you are by the side of the road. That’s the price of the ‘light is right’ approach, I suppose.

The real test is to try it out on the bike which I haven’t done yet.

Old School motorcycle garage in South London

Everything I do ends up with lashings of anxiety. My bike was/is due its first MOT just after Christmas so at my KTM dealer getting a service done a couple of weeks back I asked whether my high beam Baja Squadron Pro would pass its test. I knew that it was sold as not street legal and I also know that it is blindingly bright. I was told that it would be ok but the dipped headlight would bring ‘an instant fail’. And why? Because its beam sloped up to the right rather than the left which is how LHD countries require headlights to point. (See below – subtle, eh?)

So, on the mail to Aurora Rally equipment, based in definitely RHD Greece. They pointed me helpfully to a Hella light on Amazon with a LH slope, ordered then delivered a few days later. I thought I would replace both headlamps and brought the bike back home from its usual location in Cambridge. Its not really that difficult to remove the front of the tower, just a little time consuming. For me though, the new light looked like it could never fit because the connection seemed totally different, so every step proceeded with a sense that everything would go pearshaped on this job at any moment.

Needless to say everything worked out well. The dipped beam is a small LED (over €100) which easily replaced the halogen bulb that came with the new light, though the Aurora tower does not seem to have enough upwards adjustment for the dipped beam.

So, rather than head back up to Ipswich I took the bike to a local MOT and mechanics, ChasBikes on Kennington Road. I was uncertain that the bike would get through.

It was easy to book, and there was no waiting time when I arrived and the test was done in half an hour, possibly less. The place is great and a welcome antidote for those corporate dealers where you get a coffee from a machine while your bike is whisked off and the mechanic’s space is out of bounds to customers. This is an Old school motorcycle garage at its best. I sat about 10 feet away from the mechanic testing my bike and could explain its oddities – like the headlight only comes on after the bike has moved a couple of yards. Chas and his mechanic both have an enjoyable dry humour (‘when electric starts came out I thought this won’t catch on’). I’ll be back for sure – next year at least. Chas mentioned that he had lived in East Africa, but I didn’t enquire further. The bike passed and I learned a few things about how the bureaucratic MOT system works. Interestingly this is what I found when looking them up to do a Google review:

‘CHASBIKES was started in 1984 by Charles Holt M.A.(OXON), a former East African wildlife biologist. Originally located on an industrial estate in Greenwich, the company hired out Honda CX500’s to dispatch riders, before beginning to specialise in repairing them for the public. The company then moved on to work on other popular dispatch riding models….’ https://www.yell.com/biz/chasbikes-ltd-london-6519580/

And here he is: