Biker News: Dillon Brothers

What’s up everybody.

Well, we went on a ride last week, and there were no problems with anyone going off the road……so that’s good!

We will meet tomorrow night (Thursday) at Clancy’s on 114th and Miracle Hills Drive. It’s a pretty cool place, and they have good food. 7PM if you are interested. See below my Story for the KEN RIDE 2011!!

As promised, here is a story about buying a new Icon helmet from Linjo.

Those of you who know me, know that I love to ride. What you may not know is that I am also satisfied with the way my face looks. When I saw the damage to Linjo’s helmet after she had to ditch the bike, I noticed 2 things…..the helmet did it’s job, and Linjo was still cute. Both are good things. I also realized that if I had to ditch my bike, I might not be in quite as good of shape because I wear a half helmet. I had an old full face in the garage, so I put it on and went for a ride.

Immediately, I thought it was heavy….but I wear a Hybrid half helmet which is designed to be light and easy to wear. (Got this one at Dillon Brothers too.) After a while, the weight got burdensome, and the wind noise was not to my liking. I wear ear plugs with my Half helmet. I also noticed, that I liked having a shield this time of year for bugs, and that in the cool weather it is nice to have something on your face. I decided it was time to pitch my 10 year old full face helmet and get a new one. When I say pitch it, that’s exactly what I did. I threw it in the garbage. Normal helmet life is 3-5 years, so I didn’t want anyone using it thinking they would be protected. Over time, the padding material drys out and breaks down. You can’t see it, but it happens. I didn’t want to donate to Goodwill or put it in a garage sale for that reason.

What did I do first? I did what most everybody with a computer does, I went online. Now, there are literally thousands of helmets available online. The problem for me was that I couldn’t tell how they would fit. It’s a bit like buying shoes….different manufacturers interpret sizing differently, and in the case of heads, there are MANY more differences in the way things fit.  I decided that no matter how long I looked online at pricing and colors, nothing would help me out as much as trying a few on.

I went to a local shop and tried on a few from the very limited selection. All of them felt just OK, but that is not what I wanted. The prices ranged from $69 all the way to a few hundred. Not satisfied with anything I tried (Which were by the way good enough that I could have bought them and been less than satisfied) I decided to go to Dillon Brothers to see what they had. Once I started looking, I realized that Dillon Brothers Motorsports has the $69 helmets in full face, but they also have Shoei’s that are several hundred dollars. Being one of those “I ain’t paying for a fancy name” guys, I tried on the few models that I liked in the lower price range. Dillon Brothers has a good selection of colors and styles in the low price category. Truly skeptical and not wanting to spend a ton of cash, I decided to look into one of the entry level ICON helmets. Again, I am not a pay for name guy, so it was going to need to impress me.

Well, I am here to tell you that it did impress me. Not only was the helmet comfortable it was fairly light, very well built with good quality materials and probably most impressively…..had HUGE peripheral vision. My eyes stop being able to see before I run out of peripheral space on the shield. The interior is removable and hand-washable, and all sorts of shield colors and tints are available. The other impressive thing was the price. I had never seen this quality of helmet for under $200, and I went everywhere to look. It was actually in the $170′s for price and comes with a bag to keep it from getting scratches when not in use. Mine is the flat black, but a ton of cool colors are available……and Dillon Brothers has most of them. I went ahead and bought it thinking I might be able to get a better deal online but not caring…..remember that I am also a buy local guy. To my surprise, I was also wrong on that. I looked online and the reputable places were right about the same after shipping, and every helmet fits differently…even same size same manufacturer, so it was a great deal that I was sure fit before I bought. Nobody takes back used helmets. Once it leaves the store, it’s your for safety reasons.

Now, I know that cruiser guys “aren’t supposed to wear full face helmets”. Whatever dude. It’s my face, plus my son said I look “Bad Donkey” when I am wearing it on the bike…….he’s not supposed to say bad ass….he’s 12. If you still aren’t convinced, tell that to some of the bad donkey cruiser riders you will see at every rally you go to sporting a patch and a full face helmet. Riders ride, and it’s not about looks as long as you are comfortable with your gear. I was skeptical, but have been converted to a full face guy for this weather. I am sure you will see me in a half helmet at 100 degrees next summer, but for now my face and my “rugged good looks” are safe behind the Icon Alliance Rubatone helmet. Linjo can give you the straight scoop on what fits, how it should fit, and what features are built in. In the case of Icon at least…yes, it’s a brand name, but you are paying for quality materials, good design, and light weight. In my humble opinion…..it is worth every penny. Few pieces of gear have had this much impact on my riding experience, but a good jacket and a good helmet are worth their weight in gold during the fall.

THE KEN RIDE 2011!!

Damn Ken likes Ice Cream…..and really, who doesn’t? Let’s head on up to LeMars Iowa to the Blue Bunny factory. The Harley Owners group will be going up there as well. They are leaving at 11 AM, so we should leave about 11:15. Their times aren’t moving targets, so they will be kickstands up gassed and ready to roll at 11.  We can follow along behind, but we can’t ride with them in the same group. They have group insurance so you have to be a member to ride in the formation. Still, I think they are cool with us tagging along behind, and are a really great group that does a lot to support the Dealership, the MDA, Omaha Beef, and each other. I know many of them, and they are great riders…..but when it comes to Ice Cream, we have the advantage….KEN! We will ride up, get ice cream, and ride on back. Not slow, but not fast. We are aiming for a good formation in this ride meaning we will spend some time talking about following distance and keeping the group tight before we take off. It’s not a preference, it really is safer if we stay a bit tighter than we do now. Here’s what you are in for:

Dessert of the month for October: Brown Derby (We start with a warm cake doughnut, add a scoop of Blue Bunny Vanilla Ice Cream and then top if off with hot fudge, nuts, whipped cream and a cherry.)

Ride to LeMars,Iowa to Wells Blue Bunny.   Meet at Dillons at 10:45am with kickstands up at 11:15am.   Wells Blue Bunny 115 Central Ave NW Le Mars, Iowa.   Exit 118 Highway 75 to downtown Le Mars

Hours of Operation: Mon – Sat: 9am – 10pm Sun: Noon – 10pm

Rubber side down everybody….