Road Captain USA.com

Once again HLFX Dave from the Road Grits Cafe comes through with another product reccomendation. Yes, Dave knows his Love Rubs!

I’m not much into cleaning and polishing. My bike is no trailer queen show bike, but I was pissed when some plastic got melted onto my pipes. This can happen from sneaker and shoe soles coming in contact with the pipes, rainwear, stray plastic bags in the wind, etc… Another common problem is bluing of the pipes from heat. Dave suggested I get Blue Job to clean my pipes.

This polish with the funny name is highly reccomended for cleaning chrome exhaust pipes and removing heat stains. It is available at J&P Cycle.

Regarding the J&P Cycle website: you can go to J&P and do a search using product name. J&P Cycle has Rider Forums where people discuss products and problems like cleaning stains and melted plastic off their pipes.

If you have any secret techniques for cleaning your pipes or have experience with Blue Job, please leave comments on this post as we would like to hear about it.

Tags: Product Reviews, Technical Stuff, The way I roll: Stories by Jay Green
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If you ask me who makes great riding gear I will tell you that I love First Gear and I like Tour Master. I bought a pair of Sierra Rain Pants from First Gear through eBay for about $45.00 which I thought was the right amount of money to spend on a pair of rain pants. I guess I was wrong. My advice to you is spend the extra money on a pair of rain pants with a heat shield on the leg to prevent melting. This will put you in the $70 range. For example, the Tour Master Sentinel Pants come with an optional Nomex heat shield for $22 over the same pants without this option. I like the Sentinel because it comes in a womens version which I bought for Diana. A good pair of rain pants specifically made for a women was not easy to find!

My Sierra rain pants look pretty cool to me. They look like a normal pair of nylon sweat pants with a reflective stripe down the leg. They have an extra long zippered cuff to put on over your boots.

I wore my Sierra Rain Pants today for the first time because it was supposed to rain. Of course the weather report changed and there was only a 30% chance of rain when I left my house this morning. I wore them just in case. They were easy to put on at home. I have not had to put them on yet standing on the side of the road hopping on one leg in the rain. I hear this takes practice. It didn’t rain so I can’t comment on their effectiveness in the rain.

Tip: you can wear your rainwear to keep the wind out. It doesn’t have to be raining to wear rainwear.

Towards the end of the day I noticed the right pant leg melted on my exhaust pipe a little. It must have happend while at a stop light or stop sign when my feet were on the ground. Now my new rain pants have two small holes in the right leg and there is melted black plastic on one of my pipes. I hope I can scrape the crap off my chrome. I’m disappointed in the heat resistance of the First Gear pants. It’s not like they were in direct contact with the pipes for an extended period of time. This sucks!

Tags: Product Reviews by Jay Green
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The U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration National Scenic Byways Program began in 1991 to recognize roads having outstanding archaeological, cultural, historic, natural, rereational and scenic qualities. In 1996, the first roads were designated by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation as national Scenic Byways and All-American Roads - recognized today as America’s Byways.

The U.S. Secretary of Transportation recognizes 126 distinct and diverse roads as National Scenic Byways and All-American Roads.

For detailed information and maps on each of the 126 Scenic Byways visit www.byways.org where the byways are listed by state. Be sure to order your free brochure which is really a 124 page paperback book listing all 126 scenic drives. This is a very extensive website and should be a key resource in your ride planning.

The Bureau of Land Management has designated several adventurous routes within public lands as Back Country Byways. These are typically unpaved and more remote than other byways.

Follow America’s Byways into the heart of the remarkable landscapes of National Wildlife Refuges to catch a firsthand glimpse of soaring bald eagles, stampeding bison, and snoozing alligators.

For even more information get a copy of National Geographic’s Guide to Scenic Highways & Byways, The 275 Best Drives In The US. This is a high quality glossy book listing the best roads in America with pictures and information on each. They include All-American Roads, National Scenic Byways, State Byways, National Forest Service Scenic Byways, National Park Roads and more. I bought it at Borders for $25. You can buy it from Amazon.com at $16.50

Tags: Books & Movies, Trips & Places To Go by Jay Green
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Those guys over at Cycle World are probably having a fit. I know they like Buell, but they love the Ducs! They can’t write more than two pages without mentioning Ducati. Check out the story at The KneeSlider. Go Buell! America’s Sportbike kicks red Italian motorcycle butt!

Click here to read about the new Rotax engine.

Tags: The way I roll: Stories by Jay Green
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Myrtle Beach Bike Week 2008 coming soon

May 9th to 18th

For detailed information about Myrtle Beach Bike Week visit: www.myrtlebeachbikeweek.com

You want to do some riding in Myrtle Beach but don’t know the area; problem solved! Buy this informative Rally Map from Amazon. Click Here For More Info. It doesn’t cost much and could make your trip!

Tags: News & Announcements by Jay Green
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