Sunday, June 24, 2012

Gmax Helmet Surprise - And No More Chain Twiggle

 I've been enjoying my new Helmet. It had been a long time since I'd worn a full faced helmet on the street and I was surprised at how cool this one actually is on the head. With all the vents this one has the airflow inside is like airconditioning. The fit of it is very comfortable, the cheek pads are snug but not overly tight, the noise level is very low and the snap on the chin strap is a nice addition to keep the extra extra strap material from whipping you. At some long traffic lights it did begin to get warm inside but a quick flip up of the face sheild with the thumb tab brought in cooling air again. Going down the road the air flows through and around the head, no more little bugs and rocks or other road debri flying up and stinging my face. I smiled to myself when hearing the bits tapping the helmet instead of my face. Cruising along at sixty five I encountered a large bumble bee but it didn't hit me, it looked like the air current forced the mini B-52 on a fixed coarse to what would have been my forehead to vear straight over me. Wind noise is very minimal to almost nil when the sheild is in the down position; Big difference from the 3/4 open faced helmet I've been sporting.
In the picture you can see the defogging vents at the chin area of the faceshield; there is a little metal screened vent opening in the front of the helmet. With the vent open there is little to no fogging of the shield and air also comes in here adding hugely to the comfort level inside. My old Maxon Helmet, that I still have but not used since 1984, feels slightly lighter, although, the creature comforts are nothing like this new helmet. The old helmet was very hot, fogged up all the time during stop and go traffic, the sheild had to be snapped on both sides to keep it from flipping up and those snaps were very hard to snap and unsnap with one or both hands.
Another good thing is that I can still wear my pugs (small goggles), of which one pair is tinted, easily behind the sheild. This way I don't need to carry the tinted facesheild with me. I feel safer, more comfortable and more at ease with this new helmet over the openface one which tended to want to lift at hiway speeds. The field of vision is really not any worse than the open faced helmet either. That is something I could never say about the Maxon Fullfaced helmet, ever. I've tried to find something I didn't like about this GMAX helmet but it's turning out to be tough to do.   



                                     
Now for my new chain. I had been having a little twitch/wobble/wiggle feel at the rear wheel over the last year especially when going around curves to the right. It would be more noticable when shifting and throttling up in a right hander. I had checked my axle nut, wheel bearings and tire and chain trueness. Checked the swingarm bearings for any side to side movement as well plus my shocks and mounting bolts. Kept a check and oiled up the old chain plus the tension on it in check. I had seen a little side to side flex but not what I thought was to much. As the weather warmed this year when I tried to adjust the tension there was just way to much sagging with no more room to adjust the sucker. The side to side flex was way to much, then when turning the wheel I could see a definate tightening and loosening of the chain. It had tight spots in one section of the rollers.
I put this new chain on and all that went away. No twitch/wobble/wiggle (better known as "Twiggle") as well as less chain noise (guess we can call this Choise) from the rear. It's not good to have choise in mixed company you know. Next thing coming up soon will have to be new rear brake shoes; just about adjusted them as far as I can go. 
Everyone who is anyone will be using these now, Twiggle and Choise, like when I coined the Hardleydavidson in my garagechopper articles years ago for Harley Cloned bikes.

5 comments:

Trobairitz said...

Nice helmet you have there. Back in the day we used to ride with a small beenie type hemet and looking back after years of full face helmets I don't know how we ever did it with all the wind and bugs in our faces.

I have a habit of flipping my visor open at stop lights so I don't get too warm and my Scorpion is pretty bad for fogging when it is raining but it is better than the rain hitting my face if I didn't have a full face on.

Good choice.

And I am glad the new chain stopped the Twiggle for you. Nicely coined term. :-)

WooleyBugger said...

Trobairitz,

Thanks. Most of the older fullface street helmets were hot and bulky back in the day. This was a nice design and much cooler than I'd thought. Before, in my youth full of motocross bikes Bellmoto helmets and then to the street switching to a full facer in 1984, I still would get the plastered down wet mussy helmet hair. Not to forget on both the sweat dripping in my eyes and no way to stop it. Not a big deal now. Went a little over a hundred miles this weekend and felt good and dry.

Baron's Life said...

I shall be back very shortly...sorry for long silence

Jack Riepe said...

Dear Mr. Wooley:

I refused to wear a full-face helmet for years, thinking the overall effect would be claustrophobic.Naturally, they are not. I wouldn't think of getting on the bike without a full-face (flip-up) helmet now. My choice for years has been "Nolan."

The word "Twiggle" is interesting. Riding a BMW, I have a shaft. Problems with the shaft splines are called "fuckle," which is the sensation that accompanies paying for the fix.

Fondest regards,
Jack/reep
Twisted Roads

WooleyBugger said...

Baron's Life,
Can't wait to see what you have been into as of late.

Jack Riepe,
"fuckle" I get that feeling when I need bike parts for my antique motor sickle.

If you ever watch the Isle of man motorcycle races you'll see a lot of bikes doing the twiggle coming over the humps before a curve.