It's All About the Bike » thomas cooke

Product Review: Ricochet Skid Plate for BMW F800 GS

moto — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 08:00:41 +0000

I get a lot of questions via IAATB and my twitter account as to what is the best skid plate (bash guard) for the BMW F800 GS. The plastic unit that comes stock on the bike is a joke, and doesn’t protect your engine, particularly the exposed oil filter, oil cooler, and exhaust manifold pipes from rocks that you might encounter while riding the F800 offroad. I settled on purchasing the BMW brand (made by Touratech, but only sold through BMW dealers) last season, and have about 3,000 miles of mixed riding on it.

I am now testing out a locally-made product from Ricochet Offroad Armor, based right in Salt Lake City, Utah. Let me disclose that I approached them with the opportunity to try their product out and provide a review, and was generously supplied with a demo unit. Below are my thoughts on ease of install, comparative weight, likes and dislikes thus far. This will be a long term product review, and I will do a follow-up post after some miles off the beaten path. This is the only way to truly test the worth.

A little history on Ricochet: founded by motocross racer Don Gibbs, Ricochet Offroad Armor has been making aluminum skid plates and armor for motorbikes and ATVs for 30 years, originally under the Utah Sport Cycle name. I saw a little tiny ad in a dualsport digital magazine, and noticed they were here in Utah and a product for the BMW, so I gave Don a shout. I also learned they make skid plates for Toyota FJ Cruisers. How convenient, because I have one of those too.

The first thing I noticed about the Ricochet product; it’s black anodized finish is going to look sweet on the bumblebee. The next thing I noticed was the weight. Noticeably thicker aluminum than the BMW Touratech skid plate, but also heavier. In fact, below are the actual weights of the stock plastic guard, the BMW Touratech, and the Ricochet (all weighed by me, and including necessary hardware:

Stock plastic: 1.4 lbs (600 grams)
BMW Touratech: 3.8 lbs (1,700 grams)
Ricochet: 4.6 lbs (2,100 grams)

Why is this an issue? A pound here, a pound there. These bikes start getting less nimble in the dirt every time you add a farkle or doo-dad. But in this case I am willing to let it slide, because you really do need good protection to your engine.

The last thing I noticed was the amount of hardware required for the Ricochet: 20 pieces of hardware including nylock nuts, washers, bushings, brackets and bolts. The stock plastic plate only uses 6 pieces of mounting hardware, and the BMW Touratech uses only 5 of the 6 stock parts. Something tells me less is better, and although the install was easy despite all the parts on the Ricochet, I was still blown away. The Nylock nuts are a nice touch, and we’ll see if they loosen up. The hardware pieces on my BMW Touratech skid plate were not much more than finger tight when I went to take them off, which means I was probably one good ride away from losing a nut. If I put that one back on, I’ll have to use some Locktite.

That’s about it for first impressions. Below are some photos. The BMW model wraps around more of the engine casing in the front, but the Ricochet is sturdier and feels more solid in general, even with all the extra hardware. The Ricochet is far cheaper at $129, versus the $275 or so for the BMW. You’ll notice the BMW Touratech has taken a beating, all dented and scratched up. Imagine what your engine casing, oil filter, etc would look like after the same amount of riding and no skid plate! Grim.

Ricochet, BMW, and stock skid plates for BMW F800 GS

BMW Touratech skid plate has taken a beating.

Ricochet Offroad Armor aluminum skid plate for BMW F800 GS

The Ricochet skid plate uses thick aluminum plate and burly mounting hardware.

July Wyoming Moto Weekend

moto — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:20:21 +0000

A wet June kept many plans at bay for a proper summer moto trip, but our crew finally got one together in mid-July, starting from Park City, Utah, and venturing up into Wyoming and Idaho. I’m always a little scrambled when we do these trips, trying to get the gear ready for the agreed upon roll-out time. Darth always seems to have his stuff ready to go. This time was no different. With a rather new BMW F800 GS under me which was fresh off its 600 mile break-in service (had it done the morning of departure), my plan was to strap all my gear on the back of the bike in a dry bag. Get home from work, throw the gear in the bag, and strap it on the back. Which normally works fine, but isn’t nearly as convenient as packing all your stuff the night before in boxes. On our first dirt road out of Coalville, Utah, at the top of Chalk Creek Canyon, one of the straps let loose, and I had to stop and redo the whole thing. Would have been easier to take my time and do it right the first time, and would have been a lot easier to throw all my gear the night before into side-mounted boxes. Oh well. The debate will continue over costs vs. convenience, adding weight to the bike vs. keeping it as light and nimble as possible. You get clarity on these issues after a weekend away from civilization. I’ll probably get some boxes. Check out some of the photos below. More can be found on our Flickr page, as well as Darth’s Shutterfly. We welcomed two new members to the crew on this trip, and nearly had a third who was ready to go Thursday night before departure, but canceled early Friday morning. Maybe the photos below will give you guys a taste of why you need to make it on the next one!

How To Convince Your Wife To Let You Get A Motorcycle

moto — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:39:18 +0000

This only works for adventure motorcycles, definitely not Harleys, sport bikes, or motocross bikes. But if you really want to get into adventure riding and you don’t quite know how to open the dialogue with your wife, do this. Borrow or buy a copy of Long Way Round, a documentary about traveling the world on BMW motorcycles starring Ewan McGregor and his buddy Charley Boorman. Your wife will want to watch it because it stars Ewan McGregor. That’s the Trojan Horse. That’s what you use to wheel the conversation about getting a motorcycle within the gates of “categorical NO.” As you watch episode after episode, you will imagine yourself being the crafty Odysseus, on a seemingly never ending journey home. Home is when your wife gets to the end of the DVDs, and says, “that looks pretty cool, I bet you’d really enjoy that, honey.” Not exactly a “yes,” but sort of an implied OK. Home is that spot in your garage that you start clearing, long before you have made your purchase, where you will eventually wheel in your new ride. It also can work when you have already had the conversation without a definitive green light, and you are in a sense taking your own “Long Way Round” to seeking your wife’s approval. You waive the element of surprise, because if you bust out LWR at the very end, she will know what you are up to and be suspicious. But it stars Ewan McGregor, you keep telling her. At this point, you might as well be throwing a hail mary pass into the endzone, in which case, this is the only play you’ve got left. So what do you have to lose?

Joe Parkin Interview

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 15:22:46 +0000

After a glorious week of spring weather, we’re back to snow on the rooftops here in Park City, Utah. Which means I am sitting at the computer, slugging back yet another cup of coffee, trying to figure out a motivational strategy for bundling up and doing some sort of bike ride today. It also means procrastination turns to justification for catching up on some online reading, including this revealing sit-down with Joe Parkin. I agree with Joe on Greg LeMond. I disagree with Joe on Master of Puppets. I agree with Joe on Tyler. Disagree on Floyd. And hell, everyone loves Tim Johnson. Happy reading.

More On Tyler from Emanuel Betz

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 13:41:20 +0000

My old cycling sensei and college racing buddy from the UNH days submitted this as a comment, but I am entering it here as a post. This is a letter Emanuel sent to Velo News in response the recent news of Tyler Hamilton’s retirement due to a positive dope test:

“…submitted to Velo news-you were on that ride I think…”

I found the Tyler Hamilton story really sad. As one who wanted to be a professional cyclist through the same era as Tyler I find his story difficult to fathom, and his sadness resonates with my past. I remember him riding past me 20 years ago near the backroads in Exeter, NH. I was on the UNH cycling team at the time and remember asking, who is that? My teammates said this young guy who was going to be New England’s best rider ever. I then went to Europe as an amateur, read Paul Kimmage’s book, read each weekend in the paper about another Dutch cyclist who died of EPO, returned home, and quit. 20 years later I am happy and have a healthy happy life. I am glad I didn’t make it, live the harsh life of a pro cyclist, do drugs or punish myself so hard that it would have resulted in the same. I hope Tyler can be happy. Life is precious; it’s the only life we have, and we have to make the most of it.

Emanuel Betz
Richmond, VT
05477

Tales from Medieval Times of Bike Racing

moto — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 04:48:04 +0000

Thanks to Facebook, I have reconnected with a whole tribe of long lost souls I met back when I was racing bikes in college at the University of New Hampshire. Back then, the only people I knew who had email were computer science majors or research assistants. These were the early days where I was cutting my teeth on the New England scene, trying to see how far I could go on the bike. College racing was really early spring training for the full schedule of summer racing that would follow, but there were some studs back then who could turn a crank, even while taking full course loads. Of course, also thanks to Facebook, there have been the occasional “friend” requests from guys I rode with who I’d have to think twice to not ride into the curb if given the chance. One bloke I was lucky to know back then is Emanuel Betz. When I was a freshman at UNH and a shitshow Cat 4 on a purple Cannondale with pink Benotto bar tape, Manny was the pro-in-waiting who rode for the Richard Sachs team: powerful, intellectual, and not too self-absorbed to take me under his wing and help me clean up my act. I never would have gone on to race bikes in France if I hadn’t been inspired by Manny to do so. I am happy to announce that Manny will be writing some guest posts for IAATB, recounting tales from his experiences racing in Europe back when few Americans did. You had to be tough back then. We’re talking steel frame with downtube shifter tough type stories. We’re talking pack your duffle bag, fly to Belgium, and live upstairs from a smoky bar tough type stories. Those stories which I knew all to well from long training rides with Manny almost could have disappeared forever, but we’re going to do CPR and bring them back to life on the blogosphere. I for one, can’t wait for Manny’s first installment. I may be the only one, but WTF. It’s my blog.

Is Adam Myerson a Punch Magnet?

moto — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 04:04:10 +0000

What is it about Adam Myerson that causes other riders to want to punch him? Read this story on cyclingnews about Jonathan Baker getting suspended for punching Myerson at this year’s National Cyclocross Championships. Two of the three suspensions mentioned in the story were incidents where Myerson was slugged by another rider, resulting in a suspension. The third incident involved Roberto Gaggioli hitting Jonny Sundt with a piece of wood. I don’t get it. Sundt is a pretty nice guy, and I have known him for a long time, since he went pro in mountain bike racing and I was sponsoring him when I worked at Arnette sunglasses. Sundt had talent to burn, maybe that’s what pissed “Rob” off. Gag owns some crazy statistic as the winningest bike racer, but that’s only because he’s raced for 80 years. He only got suspended for 6 months FOR HITTING SOMEONE WITH A 2 x 4?! I think he should have been deported, but I don’t think Italy would take him back. Oh well, you can’t have enough Spinning instructors in Southern California, so I think Gag is still stateside. Back to Myerson. I always knew Adam to be a pretty nice guy, except for the fact that he raced for UMASS in college, which would pretty much make you want to punch him, or anyone else who raced for UMASS back then. But we never did. Then again, The Pixies came from UMASS. Maybe it was just the UNH vs. UMASS rivalry we had back then. I rolled up beside Adam in the Downer’s Grove National Criterium championships a few years ago, after not having seen him since college days. We were the lettuce and tomato in one of those 24′ long sandwiches they used to make for office parties, part of 200+ rider field, trying to move up on a course that was suitable for about 80 riders. He was friendly and cordial, and I was astonished he remembered me after I disappeared from the New England scene and moved west. Maybe it’s all just a coincidence for Adam. We’ve all thrown an elbow or a punch here and there. T-Mac and I went after it once, then ended being being team mates and good friends. I think we made our peace after driving to the Elko 4th of July Criterium, listening to Van Halen the whole way there. Littlefield and I have had our differences in the past. He kicked me once in a training race, all the while we were in a breakaway and he might as well have been pedaling with one leg. He ended up winning, even though I was so jacked up after the incident. He was so fricking strong that year he would have won anyway. I wanted to punch him afterwards, more for winning than for kicking me, but thought better of it. I allegedly head butted him, but we both had our helmets on, so it was kind of silly. I ended up getting revenge my revenge by kicking his ass in just about every RMR for the next 3 or 4 years. I don’t think I ever forgot that incident until I stopped going to silly bike races. But I still consider him a friend. What happens at the RMR stays at the RMR. I’ve got nothing but love for the guy. Seriously, guys, punching another rider at Nationals, whether it happens to be Adam Myerson or not, should get you kicked out of the sport for more than just three months. Just sayin’.

Mixing Business with Pleasure

moto — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 19:33:48 +0000

In the past, I have always tried to keep itsallaboutthebike, well, all about the bike. Whether moto or bicycle related. I once have written about a backcountry ski strip one time (Natoconnect 2008), but since everyone on that trip was some sort of biker, I justified it. Since the origins of this blog were really an SEO marketing experiment, and since there is four feet of snow on the ground here in Park City, Utah, I am going to deviate from the mission statement and include a link to my December 30th, 2008 blog post on Utah CEO Magazine. It’s marketing related. I think it makes sense. With the economy looming large on everyone’s mind, we are all going to have to get smarter about how we do things.

Trust me. There is nothing I would rather do right now than saddle up the KTM, head south into the desert, and get a good head-clearing that only an adventure moto trip has the ability to do. Those days will come in 2009. And we’ll write about them next year. Happy and healthy New Year wishes to our readers, all three of you.

DZNUTS makes Outside Mag 100 list

moto — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 06:23:17 +0000

The Outside 100 list is an annual editorial piece the magazine does every year highlighting their favorite things, featured in their current December 2008 issue. We thought it was noteworthy among the people and events that made up this year’s list (among the top 100; Phelps’ 8 gold medals, Lance’s comeback, and some other crap), Dave Zabriskie’s homegrown product launch for DZNUTS (pronounced DEEZ NUTS) chamois cream to help protect the dark and damp places of a cyclist’s body, comes in at #47 for “Ballsiest marketing language of the year.” If you know any cyclists who ride and race way too much, and you haven’t figured out the perfect holiday gift yet, go to dz-nuts.com and order them a few servings of Dave’s favorite sauce. They might not exactly thank you right away, but they will think about you at some point down the road. This segues into an interesting conversation I once had with former pro bike racer and now author of “A Dog In a Hat” Joe Parkin. Joe once told me to never use chamois cream of any kind, because it softened up the skin and made it easier for saddle sores to develop. I’m sure this advice was well-grounded in the old myths of the Belgian Kermis circuit, and may now be passed off as an old wives tale or just a crazy Belgian superstition. It does remind me to give a plug for Joe’s book, though. A Dog In a Hat chronicles Joe’s time spent racing underground in the dark underworld, before carbon fiber, SRM power meters, altitude tents, and all this junk that people think they need to win bike races. It’s a quick read, and helped me make sense of why I was so attracted to bike racing when I started back in the dark ages of the late 80’s. Buy it from Velopress or Amazon, you won’t be disappointed.

Sully is One of Santa’s Elves

moto — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:52:33 +0000

Or maybe he is just a big leprechaun. I had a friend who always used to say Leper Corn. She thought that was really funny. Regardless, Sully has been cranking out t-shirt designs for the Tribe, and probably not doing much wrenching in the shop. I feel bad for him in that respect. The good news is, we have another design to share. This one I think is going to stick for a while. Check them all out at our Online Store.

This is the back of the “It’s Not About The Shirt” Shirt. Another Sully original.