Modern Buddy

I thought we could use our own thread for this. Don't want to annoy the guys LOL

Continued from topic21314.html, so as not to hijack that thread any further....

Mutt the Hoople wrote:I've already ordered a modular helmet after I we t to several places and tried them on. I like it a whole lot better than the regular full faced helmets and my only complaint is that at all the places I went to a small had to be ordered and that there was very little choices in gear for women. But both my jackets and one pair of my gloves I ordered from Corazzo. My other shorter gloves ce from a local place.

I never considered wearing a T shirt or flip flops or tennis shoes. The Doc Martens are heavy, they just don't cover my ankles. I always wore Docs or Danskos to work in because I can stand in them all day plus being a metalsmith I'm more protected if I should drop a piece of metal I just soldered on my foot. In 26 years of metalsmithing that oh happened once and it didn't even do much damage to the shoe. But I hear what you are saying. I teach and I tell my students the same thing.

I love this site and the members because it is so informative and people are so willing to share information and their own experiences.

But it has been an interesting few weeks since I started scooting. I've quickly found that streets that have plenty or room and lower speed limits (35mph or less) that should be a joy to ride on are. Or quote that because the cars are not only going a good 10 miles over the speed limit (even though their are lots of people walking their kids and/or dogs, joggers, bicycles, scooters... Some people just don't care. One guy passed me on the right then
made a left hand turn in front of me, thankfully I had my eye on him because his first move (I was already in the right hands lane, he went over the curb and I was doing th speed limit), showed that he was a complete ass. I've seen enough already to be armored to the hilt so to speak.

My meighbor's brother has a big Harley. We came out last weekend at the same time and all 5'4" of me looked like Robo Cop going to my little 50cc Buddy, and he had jeans boots and a T shirt going to his huge hog. Had I been wearing the helmet I just ordered I would have missed the comments from the people at the building next door about what seemed to be a visual oxymoron.

I've never understood the thought process of Harley riders with those little soup bowl helmets on. They may laugh at us with our full face helmets on, but who is going to be most likely to get up and ride again right away after a slight mishap?

A friend of mine in Ohio was riding his Yamaha Majesty 400 on a country road with a posted speed limit of 55, when someone pulled out of a cross road right in front of him. You don't need to read the whole thread, just the intro to it to see why I don't care if anyone laughs at me for wearing a modular full face helmet.

We became friends after I saw his thread and we started cooresponding. He and his wife are good people. Unfortunately, he was still going through surgeries even as recent as a couple of months ago....but he's still with us, still able to walk and get around...and he's not brain damaged or dead (thanks to his helmet).

Maybe the Harley riders with their tiny helmets should read that post, huh?

Ride safe!

For those who stumble upon this thread via search, some earlier threads on this topic:
topic18605.html
topic20651.html
topic17410.html
topic20268.html
topic19964.html

Thanks Eric. Lots of great options in the reposted threads.
Now... How to wash a white riding jacket after a DB in an SUV splashes city street rainwater all over you???

Is it the Corazzo? If so, you can machine wash and hang dry. (Remove the armor!)

That's good to hear. It's white, so I knew when I bought it that I'd be washing it more than the black but I figured it would be easier to see. I did not think some jerk would purposefully spray me with wet road gunk the third time I wore it. I have to say, since I got my scooter I have met some of the nicest people and I really enjoy riding around the city. However, I have also seen up close some of the biggest (and most dangerous) jerks I have ever come across. They are like the creeps that swerve to hit cats.

I've found that ordering stuff online isn't terrible as long as you, and the gear company, have all of the measurements right. Most places have reviews sections where people tell future buyers to buy a size up, or a size down, or how it fits in the hips, or the chest, etc. If it's not totally correct it can be hit or miss, but most places have a decent return/exchange policy for those instances.
I'm 5' 2", 150-ish right now, and a medium fits me well in most jackets. I also like to have jackets with as much adjustable straps, velcro, zippers, and buttons as possible, as my weight fluctuates a lot more than a normal person due to a crazy thyroid gland that can never be happy (I was about 130 in January and 115 for most of last year, it really sucks having to buy clothes all the time).
Anyway, the medium Corazzo Women's (armored) Hoodie that I bought from MattGordon in the fall is a bit snug right now but not uncomfortable... I'm sure in a month or so it will fit perfectly, with a little room to spare, again. I wish they had more adjustable stuff on 'em

The two mesh jackets that I am looking at for this summer are both mostly white, and another light color (one golden yellow, the other light blue), so those being machine washable is a big deal. I usually try to make sure that all of my jackets (scooter and non-scooter) are as such so I can wash them as I see fit without it being costly, or a hassle. I have lipstick stains on the pink stripe of my early spring-late fall jacket that I just cannot get off with my darn tide pen... so that's going in the wash tonight as it's supposed to be in the high 70s-low 80s for most of this week. (In MARCH, in Upstate NY! It's nuts! )

Red lipstick. I got some on a top when I did not realize my
Makeup bag wasn't zipped up on a trip. The tide pen did nothing.
Try Fel's Naptha soap. It is really old school. Ace Hardware has it in my area. It is an old fashioned laundry bar soap and it got the lipstick out completely and did not fade or damage the fabric in the least. Wet the garment and run the soap directly on the spot. I love that stuff. When I used to oil paint I used it to clean out my brushes.

Mutt the Hoople wrote:Red lipstick. I got some on a top when I did not realize my
Makeup bag wasn't zipped up on a trip. The tide pen did nothing.
Try Fel's Naptha soap. It is really old school. Ace Hardware has it in my area. It is an old fashioned laundry bar soap and it got the lipstick out completely and did not fade or damage the fabric in the least. Wet the garment and run the soap directly on the spot. I love that stuff. When I used to oil paint I used it to clean out my brushes.

Great tip, thanks. I live a hop, skip and jump from our local Ace Hardware, so I'll stop on my way home to see if they have any!
I'll stick with gouache, watercolor and inks, they're a little easier to deal with. I never got into oil painting, way too messy for me

I haven't oil painted in years ... Too much stuff and since I have a very small apartment my "studio" is what used to be my dining room. I figured since I live alone (I have a dog but he is informal and is happy with no dining room) it was a waste of good space to have a dining room. So I have a small jewelers bench, a drawing table and a roll away cart with my stuff on it. I use both oil and soft pastels and prisma colors the most. I love guache.

The Fel's Naptha soap is great and really I expensive. Sometimes the old school stuff is still the best.

I thought this was worth posting, and remembered this thread.

I purchased a new helmet, gloves, and jacket for myself because I found some really good deals online.

The gloves are Cortech, they're summer weight with a lot of mesh and have pad/armoring in all the right places- actually a men's style but I really like the style, and have hands large enough that a woman's XL is too tight sometimes, depending on the brand. These gloves, I ordered in a men's medium and thye fit PERFECTLY.

The helmet is a Scorpion Exo 200, in a design called 'Paradise Sky'. Apparently they literally only had one left, in a size Medium, and I wasn't positive it was going to fit as my last helmet was a large in a different brand, but I chanced it anyway because it was $30. They made me pay for the faceshield separately, but that's still $60 for a Scorpion Exo helmet in a light-colored (read: more visible than my old black helmet) design that I really liked. Unbeknownst to me, it's hard to see that there are butterflies on it in the pictures- a silver one on the left and right side, and one on top. And it says Scorpion on the back. A little cliche for me. But at least it's not pink skulls or something, and I still like the colors a lot. It ended up also being a perfect fit- score!

The jacket is a cheapy jacket. Jafrum.com, the website I ordered from, seems like they sell some off-brand jackets, some of which are on super-clearance; this no-name jacket was $35, and I have to say, for the very little I paid for it, I'm impressed. I expected crap stitched together with CE armor stuck inside, and got what looks like a very decent mid (maybe warm weather... warm, not sweltering) jacket.

The collar looks like it MIGHT get uncomfortable in the cold if I have it closed all the way, not sure- and I think it's a unisex jacket because it's a tad snug in the hips- reminds me of trying on guys jackets. Despite this, it fits (I ordered a 2XL- the tag, when it got here, sure enough says 18 ) in the bust and I have a little extra room in the shoulders; the sleeves are long (sleeves are always long on me) but the elbow armor is where it should be.

The quilted liner is an easy zip-out. Lokky and I could only find 2 vents, but it seems pretty light without the liner. There's a waistband and a cinch at the elbows for adjusting, too (although for me, personally, they don't help much.

Overall, I think with a dose of Nikwax to be sure it's waterproof, it'd be a good lightweight/kickaround jacket, once I get the money to replace my Kilimanjaro.