Etymotic Research ER6i headphones update
Well I've been using my Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator In-Ear Earphones for a few weeks now and I can report back with some longer term opinions. First off, as far as sound suppression goes, they work just as well as earplugs at keeping the wind and road noise out and as long as you don't have the music cranked, you'll hear what's going on around you just fine.
Now with regard to sound quality, it is absolutely top notch. Because outside sounds are essentially eliminated, you get clean, clear audio with crisp highs and nice deep lows. The earphones themselves fit comfortably into the ear canal and the rubber baffle piece slips off with ease for cleaning under warm water. And while inserting them into the ear is as easy and straightforward as inserting earplugs, a fairly obvious design flaw however, is that no provision is made for getting them back out, with specific warning to not remove them by pulling on the cord. Once inserted into the ear, they go in deep enough that you cannot realistically grab the body of the headphones to pull them out. I have discovered a little trick however, by using the end of my fingernail I grab the edge of the rubber plug and I'm able to extract the headphone with some downward motion. I did however read one user's solution, which was to make a loop from some fishing line to hook over the body of the plug, so they can be removed by simply pulling on the line, something which I will employ soon.
Otherwise they are relatively comfortable as long as they are not inadvertently inserted too deeply and they provide excellent sound. While somewhat expensive for headphones at $75, they prove their worth on the first ride.
Labels: fzr600, gear, opinion, xt225
PermaLink / Posted by: Tony
2008 Starting mileage
Got the idea from someone else, thought it was a good one. So here's the starting mileage on my two street bikes.
1991 Yamaha FZR 600
2002 Yamaha XT225
Labels: fzr600, motorcycles, xt225
PermaLink / Posted by: Tony
Wet weather riding attire
I thought I'd throw my wet weather riding setup out there in case anyone else is looking for a reasonable way to stay dry without shelling out a grand for a custom suit. I know the preferred and really the ideal setup is an Aerostitch, but at about $750 for the one piece suit and about $800 for the two piece, it is a tad excessive for me as when the weather is good I just wear a leather and "riding" jeans so it would see limited duty.
My current setup is a 2-piece arrangement with a total cost of just over $100. To keep my legs dry, I wear a black Carhartt rain bib and because it is pretty heavy .5mil PVC over a polyester fabric, it does a fairly good job of cutting down/out windchill in addition to keeping me dry. The Carhartt rain bib goes for about $40 pretty much anywhere and has pockets in the knees which you can use to insert knee protection and it comes in yellow, orange or black, I happen to have the black ones.
For the top, I have the matching PVC rain coat which has a double storm flap arrangement where it buttons up and does a good job of keeping you dry. If I want to ride with protection, I can wear that over my textile or even leather jacket if I wanted, although it has no reflective tape so I'm not afforded any extra visibility. You can also get it in yellow, orange or black.
When I don't want to double layer the raincoat and or am not concerned about adding crash protection, yeah say what you will, I think we've all done triple digits in a t-shirt a few times... I wear a LaCrosse Industrial Mountain Pass jacket which offers pretty good warmth, neck protection from the wind and rain and extreme visibility. I wear this when I'm concerned with being seen, but not so much about high speed crash protection as I'm generally under 60mph on the DS.
The LaCrosse Industrial Mountain Pass jacket goes for about $75.
LaCrosse Industrial also offers a non-insulated jacket that is more like the Carhartt PVC styled one that has the same ANSI approved bright yellow with super reflective tape if you wanted to put something bright over your textile or leather and they generally go for about $50
The items above can be found almost anywhere and a quick Google search will yield several online vendors. Anyway, I just thought I'd throw out an alternative to the high priced 'stitch in case anyone out there is riding wet because they either don't have one or plan to get one. And while a $10 plastic rainsuit from Wal-Mart will likely keep you dry, I wouldn't expect to get much use out of it.
Labels: fzr600, gear, motorcycles, outdoor, xt225
PermaLink / Posted by: Tony
Well I've been using my Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator In-Ear Earphones for a few weeks now and I can report back with some longer term opinions. First off, as far as sound suppression goes, they work just as well as earplugs at keeping the wind and road noise out and as long as you don't have the music cranked, you'll hear what's going on around you just fine.
