My Leathers - A Bikers Poem

My Leathers

My leathers have been with me since I started motorcycling,

I tend to wear them whenever I’m riding.

They are faded from the elements, stretched and saggy from use,

but they still keep me from taking abuse.

My leathers bare the scars, scrapes and abrasions from a few slips and some spills,

and my leathers still keep me warm from those morning chills.

Despite them being my body guard we have become old friends,

going on long rides together taking on hills, valleys and bends.

My leathers have sheltered me from the rain and from the fog,

they even have blocked the bite of an angry dog.

They have protected me from flying rocks and from bugs,

and have been on the receiving end of many hugs.

My leathers have shaded me from the blistering sun,

on a long, dry and hot Texas run.

Over time they have become supple and comfortable like a well broken in boot,

as a bonus, there’s a place for my gun in case I need to shoot.

My leathers are getting old, wrinkly and are slightly tattered,

but they continue to protect me from getting battered.

They have screened me from the wind,

and they will stay with me to the end.

But at the end of this long ride,

it’s not just a cows hide,

It’s my skin.

© 2012 - Torch

Ride on,

Torch

Cheek Chillers, Not Just for Fetish Seekers

STREET & STEEL Heavy Duty Deep-Pocket Leather Motorcycle Chaps Review

Last year when Old Man Winter came into town and started blowing cold air around, which, I might add, happens earlier in the year for those traveling on two wheels, I started looking for a way to keep my legs warm. I did not have the funds for a fancy coordinated one or two piece Sport Tourer technical style outfit. I thought that a good pair of leather chaps would work sufficiently and were within my budget constraints. I decided then it was time to go shopping for some Cheek Chillers.

I started riding around to all the local area motorcycle gear shops looking at leather chaps checking features, benefits, and prices. Cycle Gear’s Street & Steel brand, made by FMC I believe, seemed to have the best value, features and they were on sale. I tried on several and decided on a larger size in case I needed to layer other clothing underneath on really long cold rides.

The Street & Steel Heavy Duty Deep-Pocket Leather Motorcycle Chaps differ from the regular Deep-Pocket Chaps in that they have a removable Thinsulate quilted liner. This is real nice to have on cold days. The YKK zippers have held up real nice, even after one of the zippers accidently got caught in a dress pant leg once. The Snaps are all heavy duty and surprisingly, have also held up to all my yanking and pulling. I have seen one leg edge seam that the stitching didn’t quite get it held down all the way but this has not affected their use in any way.

The buckle is also good quality. They do take a bit of getting used too to be able to put them on and take them off efficiently. The hardest part is being able to snap the snaps at the bottom of the legs and it is hard to do for this old fart without a place to sit down. I use the right side running board of my V-Star 1100 Classic motorcycle as a step so I can reach the buckles easier.

The deep pockets have been very useful in holding odd stuff while riding. I have used them for all kinds of junk including, but not limited to, keys, Palm Treo (phone), dew rags, receipts and stuff purchased while shopping. Interestingly enough, the insulating properties of the chaps also keeps the heat of the engine off your legs while riding in the summer. Keep in mind in the winter they do not help keep your derrière or crotch area warm, but that’s what your Pillion is for, right?

Here is a video of Stephen Young of First Manufacturing discussing the features of this classic bit of 1.3mm cowhide cruiser apparel that is meant to be worn over your jeans. He shows the thigh pockets, the gunmetal YKK side zippers, the removable Thinsulate liner and the secondary liner:



So far I have been very happy with these chaps. They keep light rain, bugs, rocks and other road debris off your legs and pants. Torch gives the Street & Steel Heavy Duty Deep-Pocket Leather Motorcycle Chaps a M.M.M Rating of 9.0 on a 1-10 scale.

Ride on,
Torch

Yamalube Black Leather Polish Review

Yamalube Black Leather Polish Review

When I first got my V-Star I noticed the Custom Classic Hard Leather Bolt On Saddle Bags needed some attention. The leather was drying out and the black color was starting to fade. So, I went shopping for some leather treatment.

The first thing I tried was some Blue Magic Leather Cream Conditioner. It is a watery liquid in a spray bottle and the leather bags just soaked it up almost as fast I could spray it. However, this did not help with the fading issue. Next I tried some Pro Clean Leather Lotion. It is the same watery liquid but is dispensed from a squirt bottle. It too helped with the moisturizing the leather, but not with the bleached black issue.

After a year of commuting to work and my Mistress being parked out in the hot Texan sun for 12 hours at a time the black fading got even worse. I was browsing my local Yamaha Dealer when I spotted some Yamalube Black Leather Polish on a shelf. It came in a small round container about the size of a tobacco dip can. I bought it to try it out.

A few days before I tried it out I sprayed the saddle bags down real good with the Leather Cream Conditioner to let it soak in and moisturize the leather. Finally the day came when I gave the bike an extensive cleansing. After it was dried off I got out the Black Polish out and started the application. The Yamaha website says:

Black Leather Polish

Use to restore black leather to its natural luster by putting color back into the leather. Can be used for black leather jackets, boots, bags, etc.

I opened the small container of Black Leather Polish and found that it resembled black shoe polish in color. In consistency it was a lot thinner paste than shoe polish, more like a cream. I applied it using a soft cotton rag, translation, old T-Shirt. After rubbing the Black Polish into the leather I immediately noticed the black color was back on the section I had applied it.

Wow, what a difference the Yamalube Polish made in the color of the bags. I was really impressed with the difference from before and after. I really wished I could have found the camera that day to show you, but it was in one of my other vehicles, not at home at the time.

The soft consistency of the Leather Polish made it really easy to apply, even into the leather braiding my bags have. The Yamalube Black Polish sure surprised me with how well it made the saddle bags look. Torch gives the Yamalube Black Polish a M.M.M. Rating of 9.5.

Ride on,
Torch

FieldSheer’s Expensive Shoddy Gloves

FieldSheer’s Expensive Shoddy Gloves or FieldSheer 57 Bob Perforated Glove Review

I bought a pair of FieldSheer 57 Bob Perforated Black Men’s Size XL Gloves and used them for my commute to and from work for two weeks. They cost around 1/3 more than my Motoboss Airflow Gloves, which I am still using. The FieldSheer gloves functioned, fit, and felt great, until they started falling apart.

The shell of these gloves is constructed of 95% Goat Skin and 5% “Other”. It’s that 5% “Other” that ruined a perfectly good pair of gloves in short order. The goat skin leather is comfortably soft and supple. There is an extra padded section for your palm. These Bob gloves have the back side perforated, including on the fingers and thumbs, for air flow. The wrist section of the FieldSheer model 57 is constructed out of an elastic stretchy material, comfortable, but extremely short lived. They fasten with a two inch strip of hook and loop on the back of the wrist.

After two weeks of driving I noticed some stretch marks on the elastic cuffs and after closer inspection found the stitching coming apart on both gloves in several areas. In fact, there were already holes formed between the elastic cuff and the leather part of the gloves.

I went to the FieldSheer website and read all about how they care about quality so I decide to send off and email to their Customer Service Department, but I guess they do not have one. Here is a copy of my email:


Dear FieldSheer,

I recently purchased a new pair of your FieldSheer 57 Bob Perforated Black Men’s Size XL Gloves from a local Yamaha dealer in Hurst Texas. I have used them off and on for my commute to work for about two weeks. Today when I was removing them I noticed some strange striations in the elastic cuff area of the left glove. Upon closer examination I found, along with the striations, the stitching coming out where the elastic attaches to the leather. I also looked at the right hand glove and it already has a large hole where it has come apart.

I had been looking for a pair perforated gloves for some time when I found these. The rest of the glove has been flawless and I really like the fit and I thought at first they were worth the premium price compared to other gloves. This has been my first experience with FieldSheer products. Honestly, I think after this experience it would be doubtful if I would recommend or purchase any FieldSheer products in the future.

Your website claims that you want, “…to make certain our products will perform…” So I wanted to make you aware that these gloves do not.

Ride on,
Torch
Midlife Motorcycle Madness

It’s been a couple weeks now since I emailed FieldSheer and still nary even an apology.

As stated in my email to FieldSheer this has been my first experience with any of their products. Because it was bad, undoubtedly, it will be my last. These gloves are extremely poor in quality. On top of that, they won't even respond to a customer who tells them about their quality issues. I will avoid all FieldSheer products in the future. Torch gives the FieldSheer 57 Bob Perforated Black Gloves a M.M.M. Rating of 0.

Ride on,
Torch

FMC Classic Side Lace Leather Motorcycle Jacket Review

FMC Classic Side Lace Leather Motorcycle Jacket Review

When the weather got too cold to ride in my OSi Cool Mesh Jacket for my commute to work, even with the liner installed, I started looking for a leather jacket. My quests lead me to Full Boar in Hurst Texas. Unfortunately, due to the economic times, they have since gone out of business. They had the FMC brand Classic Side Lace Leather Jackets on sale. I tried a couple on for size and decided to get one a little larger than I needed. Having a larger size would allow me to dress in layers if I ever needed to ride in extremely cold weather.

The FMC jacket is manufactured for First Manufacturing Company Inc and, according to the label, made in Pakistan. This FMC jacket has the classic motorcycle styling. The outer shell is made from Top Grain Cowhide and feels very substantial. The zippers are all stout and function well. There is an abundance of pockets including two hand pockets with zippers, a small pocket watch style pocket with snap on left side, an upper zippered pocket on left side chest, (great for gun concealment), and lastly a pocket on the inside left chest panel.

The FMC Leather Jacket half belt and side leather laces make it very adjustable. The Action Back makes it much more flexible when moving about and stretching. The sleeves are long to cover your wrists when your arms are stretched out holding handle bars. The sleeves also come with a four inch zippered cuff section to open up your wrists for more room or to let more air in.

When it is cold out you can zip in the Full Size Quilted Thinsulate Liner, unsnap the collar and fold it up, and zip the jacket all the way up. If you have something to cover your face, either full face helmet, neoprene face mask, or balaclava, the only other spot to worry about is your neck just under the Adam’s apple. If your balaclava goes down far enough it might work, otherwise you will need something else to cover that spot that the FMC Jacket does not.

The FMC Classic Side Lace Leather Motorcycle Jacket is constructed very ruggedly and is a very heavy jacket to wear. This jacket is thick, black and, in my opinion, too warm to use for rides in the Texan summer months. For Fall, Winter, and Spring commuting and rides the FMC jacket served well. The hardware is solid and I have had no issues with it through its first season of use. Torch gives the FMC Classic Side Lace Leather Motorcycle Jacket a M.M.M. rating of 9.5 out of 10.

Ride on,
Torch

Sweaty Palms Revisited

Motoboss Airflow Glove Review

When I was getting together the gear I needed to take the Motorcycle Safety Foundations Basic Rider Course, I had picked up a pair of Motoboss Airflow Gloves from the local Cycle Gear. I ride in Texas and I wanted some gloves I could wear even in the summer. Texas summer temperatures range from 80-100+ degrees. These gloves have a mesh backing to let air in. So, I thought I’d try them out.

The Motoboss Airflow Gloves were priced reasonably enough that I had concerns about the quality. I have large hands and it is hard to get gloves that will fit comfortably. I tried on the XL size Airflow and they felt just right. They were not tight and I had full maneuverability of all my digits. This was partially due to the stretch-nylon finger inserts running around the edges of the fingers. The label on the inside read, “Outer Shell 50% Leather 40% Nylon”.

These gloves do have nice air flow cooling your hands through the nylon mesh back while riding. They even performed well soaking wet, like when I took the MSF Course. The palms of the gloves have a padded layer, albeit thin, for comfort. They have an extra layer patch of leather on the inside of the thumb where your thumb grabs around the motorcycle grip. There is also a protective layer of suede leather across the knuckles on the back side. The Airflow Gloves fasten with a hook and loop style fastener around the wrist. The stitching appears of good quality and so far I have had no problems with them.

If you have been riding long enough, your hands have been hit by debris. Bugs, rocks, and the like can hurt at highway speeds. Gloves offer nice finger protection while riding and in the event of an accident. In the summer time in Texas, you can’t even touch parts of your bike without some kind of protection. If you need to make some type of roadside repair you will need a good pair of gloves. The Motoboss Airflow Gloves offer an alternative when riding in the heat to full leather gloves and provide more protection then leather fingerless gloves. Torch gives the Motoboss Airflow Gloves a M.M.M Rating of 8 on a scale of 1-10.

Ride on,
Torch

Who Would Wear A Jacket In The Heat?

OSi Cool Mesh Jacket Review

When I first got my V-Star 1100 and started riding I was using a regular, non-motorcycling, leather jacket. Summer came fast in Texas and I wanted to ride with some protection on, especially being a new rider. I decided I needed to find a mesh jacket soon. Not long after that, I received an e-mail, (I had subscribed), from Value Accessories with a nice looking mesh jacket for sale in it. What really caught my eye were the color choices. They had a titanium color that would match the color of my Mistress, (my bike), and my Vega XT Half Helmet.

OSi Sports manufactures this jacket overseas and is sold through several retailers. I liked their slogan found on their website, "Designed by Riders for Rider Safety and Comfort." The Value Accessories sale price was extremely nice and they had my size in stock, so I ordered one. I choose the least expensive shipping so it would be several days before it arrived. I continued the hot commute back and forth to work sweating all the way.

The jacket arrived as promised, was undamaged, and my debit card had long been debited. I opened the package like a little kid at Christmas time and tried it on. It fit perfectly. Designed for the motorcycle rider, the sleeves were longer than on a regular jacket. I stretched my arms out reaching for some make believe handlebars and the sleeve lengths were just right. I also notice that this jacket had Velcro arm adjustment tabs on the wrists. A lot of jackets I had looked at lacked this feature.

The Cool Mesh Jacket had waist adjustment straps on both sides. The waist adjustment straps use Velcro also. Combined with the side expansion panels it was very easy to customize the fit at the waist. The rear of the jacket also has six-inch gusseted zippers with expansion panels as well. I unzipped them.

The OSi jacket comes with protection for the rider. It has built in dense foam armor at the elbows, shoulders and back. I am not sure how much protection that would give me, but it beats the alternative. The back and shoulder pads are removable and I have never taken them out. It feels nice knowing I had some protection at these critical points. The newer model version jackets available now have no pads in the back. The neck also has a Velcro closure for when you have the jacket zipped up all the way. There is also a zipper at the bottom to attach to OSi pants if you get some.

Something I was not expecting was that this jacket had a full-sleeve thermal liner that is waterproof. I unzipped it out to store in my closet for winter. While removing the liner I also noticed two additional surprises. The fist was a medium sized pocket inside the jacket located at the bottom of the jacket in the fanny pack area. The best surprise was a hidden pocket just inside the zipper on the left side. I unzipped it open and felt inside. Hmmm, just about the right size. I reached in my right front pocket and pulled out my Kel-Tec P3-AT in the Uncle Mikes pocket holster and slipped it in the jacket pocket. I’m no criminal; I do have my Texas Concealed Handgun License. It fit nicely in the jacket pocket and you cannot tell it is there.

The jacket has two layers. On the outside is a mesh outer shell with reflective piping. I like jackets that have reflective material on them. It increases the odds that the driver of another vehicle will see you at night. The Cool Mesh Jacket also has a mesh inner liner. The only issue I’ve ever had with this jacket is the outer mesh jacket material is real easy to snag. I stored the jacket in my saddlebag during the day at work. Being as careful as I could it still would snag on something every now and again. I finally resided in not being careful with it so I would not be so concerned over how well it looked.

Riding with the Cool Mesh Jacket on is almost like riding with no jacket on at all. Once you get moving it feels like you have turned on the air conditioner in a caged vehicle. Riding in the Texas summer heat it felt much better than riding in the leather jacket I was using which had no airflow. In fact there was no comparison at all. Do yourself a favor. If you ride in the heat without protection because you think a jacket is too hot, get yourself a mesh jacket. You can really feel the air coming through all the little holes in these Cool Mesh Jackets.

This fall when the temperatures started getting cooler I zipped back in the waterproof thermal liner. It changed the OSi jacket into a completely different jacket altogether. It is like having two jackets in one. It really kept the cold air out. The Cool Mesh Jacket functioned so good I used it well into winter until I could afford a real leather motorcycle jacket with a quilted liner. The OSi Cool Mesh Jacket is an extremely versatile jacket. Torch gives the OSi Cool Mesh Jacket a M.M.M. Rating of 9 on a scale of 1-10.
　
Ride on,

Torch　

More Thoughts on Leather…

More Thoughts on Leather…


I was laying in bed last night, unable to sleep…I had been lying there four hours, letting my brain run amuck with my sleep time. Not that I could have done anything about it anyway…that’s just the way things go, and anyone who says different, well they just haven’t grown up yet! But, I’m tellin’ ya, I lay there in the bed, with my mind simply roiling with words, thoughts, ideas, and schemes.

One of the things that struck me was this thought. What would we do as a civilization if not for leather? From the dawn of time, when we first realized we needed something to cover our hairy (but not hairy enough,) asses…the first thing we learned to cover ourselves with…(except in tropical climates?) was animal hide.
I’m not sure, but from what I read, one sure way of tanning a hide from the earliest time, was to simply tack the hide to something flat and let it air dry.



Now this really only worked well with small pelts, you know stuff like rabbit and other vermin type of animal. When it came to larger hides like buffalo, deer, or what ever the heck those cave man types would hunt for fur in order to keep their hairy asses warm (would the woolly mammoth do the trick for this?)…the people (anthropoligists) who look into those kinds of things from that period seem to think that perhaps these people had discovered the properties of salt curing. Perhaps later the introduction of Hardwood Ashes and lime water, as a way to remove the hair came into being, allowing for more flexable and ultimately more uses for the hide!



Throughout the ages, peoples from different regions and time periods have found more ways to skin a cat…then we can swing a kitty at! Interesting….

Now don’t forget, in order to cut the hide off the carcass, the primitive man would have had to come up with tools! So in order to keep his ugly, hairy ass warm, he would have to develop hunting weapons, as well as tools to scrape the hides clean of tissue and fat! So all of a sudden, because of man’s need to keep himself covered and warm, he’s discovered how to hunt, how to make stone tools that will make his job easier on him.



Crimminy! Now wonder we started developing so fast! OK so in the meantime…we start to discover all the great uses for leather aside hanging it off our shoulders and hips! We discovered we could carry water in the bladders, we learned we could cover our feet...

,

we could make very decent and warm housing with it!

We could make ropes and tethers with it …the list just keeps on going! We learned to make hardware out of leather. I remember seeing leather used for door hinges!
I’m willing to bet, through out our history…there isn’t a thing that leather hasn’t been used for…or tried to be used for!