Heated Gear for Adventure Riding

by WorldCrosser Admin | Sep 22, 2017 | ADV Gear, ADV Riding Gear

When considering heated gear for you overland motorcycle trips, you need to take into consideration the type of weather you may encounter and your threshold for cold. Some rider like a full heated jacket, arms and all, while other feel that is overkill and cumbersome. Many rider opt for middle ground and use a heated vest – this is probably the most popular heated item sold for riders.

Now some of you rich fancy folk have heated grips, so no need for heated gloves for you. But some of us don’t have all those bell and whistles, so an alternative to buying and installing heated grips, you can simply get some heated glove. If you are taking this router, then you should get the full heated jacket and they “daisy” chain on to the jacket for power/heat.

If going to Alaska, you may want the whole setup- gloves, jacket, pants, socks and insoles. You can get it all but it will add up in cost.

Gerbing, Firstgear, Tour Master and Mobile Warming are some of the big names in heated riding gear, and CycleGear has their own line of heated motorcycle gear as well under the Sedici name.

Adventure Motorcycle Dry Bag you wouldn’t typically consider.

by WorldCrosser Admin | Jan 24, 2017 | ADV Camping Gear, ADV Gear, ADV Product Review, ADV Riding Gear, Adventure Tech, Explore

I needed a dry bag for an adventure motorcycle camping trip I was taking, and really liked a few bags from Twisted Throttle, Giant Loop and few others, but they all seemed pretty expensive for what they were– waterproof dry bag. So while picking up some camping supplies at Cabela’s I ran across a perfect bag that works well and was super inexpensive so I decided to share this info. It is not a motorcycle dry bag per se, it is actually a boat bag, but serves the same purpose, waterproof, easy to access, has outside mesh pocket that came in handy on my trips. I am able to strap it through the handles so that worked well. It also has a reflective logo on it, which is always a bonus when riding.

I have used it on a few trips and one trip in particular it saw a ton of rain and kept my clothes nice and dry. Overall it is a great bag and at a very reasonable price and worth consideration. If this bag had a few more straps or handles for additonals options of securing to my bike, that would have been great, but wasn’t a deal breaker and a coule bungees hold in nice and secure.

The bag I am talking about is Mustad Dry Carryall bag, they have them in a few different sizes too. I am sure they sell them in many places as they are fishing hook company that distributes to many reatilers, but overall this bag may make a great dry bag packing solution for your riding adventures.

Here is link to the “ADV” dry bag at Cabelas.

Let me know what you would like to see in an affordable dry bag for your bike. Feedback

Adventure Motorcycle Camping Jetboil Stove – Product Review

by WorldCrosser Admin | Nov 1, 2016 | ADV Camping Gear, ADV Gear

There are a lot of camping or backpacking stoves out there that work well for motorcycle travel and camping. But with a lot of options I decided on the Jetboil Cooking system for my motorcycle camping cooking needs many moons ago and I think it was a great choice.

The Jetboil Flash stove is great addition to your adventure motorcycle camping kit.

I also have the pot support accessory to use my camp pots on it too for eggs or some dehydrated camp food packs that also need to be cooked on a camp pan.

But best of all, I have the French press coffee accessory- I don’t know why but that coffee in the morning is quick and just so delicious. I even used it the one day when we had power outage in the morning but we didn’t have to do without coffee. : )

In short, the Jetboil stove cooks quick, is compact enough to fit in panniers and just works really well.

Some of my logic, when choosing a adventure camp stove: I considered getting a stove that worked of gasoline, I figured why carry propane canister when I have 6.5 gallons with my bike. But propane is cleaner fuel, it doesn’t take up much space at all and the stove was less expensive. And I like to keep the gasoline smell away from my food- they don’t go together. It depends if you are so packed that a small canister is going to make a difference, or if you won’t be able to get another if traveling for months at a time. All in all, I really like my jetboil and believe it is a necessity for camping.

Thanks for reading and enjoy your meals during your adventure motorcycle camping and traveling.

The first product link below contains the Jetboil and French Coffee Press but not the Pot Support attachment. The following link is the Pot Support if needed. FYI

Motorcycle Camping Chair – REI FlexLite Chair

by WorldCrosser Admin | Sep 29, 2016 | ADV Camping Gear, ADV Gear, ADV Product Review

Okay I wanted to buy a relatively small lightweight backpacking or hiking chair for motorcycle camping for a while now, but the lightweight chairs on the market were upwards of $100 and I just didn’t pull the trigger. But then when I was at REI before a recent motorcycle trip I saw REI’s own brand of light hiking chair – the Flex Lite chair. Only $79, which was more reasonable in price, plenty lightweight for motorcycle camping and would fit fine right in my panniers. So I bought it and took on recent ADV outing and damn was I glad I did. After a tiring day hike being able to relax in that chair by the fire was just awesome. The chair packs small, goes together easily, seems strong and solid, has a lifetime warranty, and most importantly is a comfortable nice chair that fit me well. I am 6’1″ and 200lbs. It has the simple to assemble pole technology that you see in modern backpacking tents which has the elastic rope guiding each pole to snap into place, so in short it is a great lightweight camp chair that is a snap to set up (pun intended).

I have now taken the camp chair on a few overnight motorcycle adventures and it is by far my new favorite item in my ADV and Dual-sport motorcycle camping kit. I just love! And now I’m trying to figure out how I managed without it in the past. It’s a definite keeper.

Weight: 1lb 10oz

Seat Height: 11″ off ground

Back Height: 26″

Capacity: 250lbs

Sedici Heated Vest from CycleGear Review

by WorldCrosser Admin | Jul 17, 2016 | ADV Riding Gear, ADV Gear, ADV Product Review, Adventure Tech

The Sedici “HotWired” heated vest from CycleGear is an affordable heated motorcycle vest that is worth consideration.

My experience is fair with this vest, I tried on the XL size and it seemed very short in the front. I realize when I am riding my legs will be bent bring the vest lower to abdomin, but it looked short. I am 6’1 and around 200 pounds. I then tried on the 2XL and that fit much better in length. So I bought it on sale for $99, normally $139, and it came with a “free” controller, which I think it should, but they sell it separately for $60!

Installing the connector to the bike’s battery and then plugging in the controller, was a simple task. Now it was time for testing out this baby, I used it couple times, and it worked fair but not overly impressed with the heat output, I must say. After some investigation, I realized the issue was that the vest was not tight enough up against me so I was not real snuggly and warm when it got cold late at night. There is a draw string on it to tighten bottom to stop air from getting under the vest, so I did that but it still wasn’t tight to my body and was below my expectations.

After a week or so, I went back to the CycleGear store and figured I am not a 2XL guy and would try the shorter length XL size hoping it would be a little tighter or more snug on my torso, but it seemed to be the exact same diameter or snugness, just shorter in length. So I ended up keeping the XXL size. The salesperson suggested I take it to a tailor and get the elastic sides hemmed in. Which would probably work, but I am a busy person and haven’t had the drive to investigate that yet and I wouldn’t want an internal wire in the vest to get sewed over and cut in the process rendering my new vest unusable, which would just be my luck. ; )

Don’t get me wrong, the vest is not horrible, it does the job but it definitely has room for improvement and could do the job better with better design or some straps or something to keep it snug

Also there are a few setting for temp on the controller, but I have never taken off high, as it never felt too warm for me, probably because it is not snug as I mentioned. It is on high or off for me. Maybe once I get it snug on my torso the levels of heat may come into play and I’ll update this post, but for now the heat settings are useless.

The big benefit is the vest is priced fairly, especially if you get it on sale, but all in all the Sedici Heated Vest leaves me wanting more from it.

Thanks for reading and ride safe and warm!

Cyclegear – Sedici Maximo Waterproof Adventure Motorcycle Boots

by WorldCrosser Admin | Oct 24, 2015 | ADV Gear, ADV Riding Gear

Sedici Maximo Adventure Boots – Product Review

Right Adventure Boot – Cyclegear’s Sedici Maximo

I bought these boots from Cyclegear, which I believe is the exclusive reseller for Sedici brand. Here are the benefits that Cyclegear touts on their website:

Features and Benefits

Full grain leather upper
Oil resistant molded rubber gripper sole
Stepped heel for riding and walking comfort
100% waterproof and breathable HIPORA lining
Reinforced shin and ankle protection
Thermo-set molded heel counter
Reflective upper heel panel
Molded rubber gear change patch
Stretch panels for maximum comfort
Locking multi-point fastening adjusters for a customizable fit
Hook and loop calf adjustment
Padded upper cuff for ultimate comfort

Left Adventure Boot- Sedici Maximo

For the positives first: I really like the size of them, meaning they are not too tall like motocross boots or too short. These motorcycle boots have two easy to use latches or fasteners that work well to get comfortable snug fit. They fit my feet pretty well and that is big for me as many shoes just don’t jive with my unique size and shaped feet. They are waterproof, look pretty cool and they are at an affordable price point. I think I paid a little over a hundred dollars, although their site is currently selling them for $149. but still a good deal either way.

Adventure motorcycle boot insole after only half season of light use.

Now for the negatives: I have read that they are not all leather, just the upper part- they do say that in the features but one would think they were all leather except the rubber sole- this is not the case. A little marketing spinning going on here. The sole, on my pair at least, seem to have faded or is light black color and doesn’t look great- I’m aware it not a fashion show but wouldn’t mind the sole matching and not looking faded. I don’t know if I got them that way, but it’s not that big of deal but thought it is worth mentioning. Take a look at pics (click on them to see them larger) to see what I am talking about. I pretty much just ride in these boots, maybe walk into a store to get something, but not a whole lot of walking in these to say the least, with that said the insole has already came apart so I had to buy a new pair of insoles for the boots, no big deal but they shouldn’t have gone to crap that soon. I have not even had them for a full season of riding.

Hopefully this gives you some insight into these boots, overall I am glad I bought them and think they are decent value. Time will tell if I still feel this way.

Here is link to their product’s page

Good luck with adventure boot shopping and I hoep the product review has helped- thanks for reading!