Recommend a commute motorcycle brand/model.

[maroonandwhite]

Took it out for a longer ride this evening and can confirm that a taller windshield will add to the comfort 100%. As it is now, the wind buffeting is pretty rough at highway speeds. 
 

Since my helmet is a few years out of date, I’ll likely just get a moderately price full face. After some research today, I agree with you folks. Full face is better for the health of my face. 

[BigK]

13 minutes ago, maroonandwhite said:

Since my helmet is a few years out of date, I’ll likely just get a moderately price full face. After some research today, I agree with you folks. Full face is better for the health of my face. 

I wear glasses, so I find a drop-down sun screen is a minimal requirement for helmets for me. When you go shopping, try on a Scorpion, if you can find one. It's the comfiest moderately priced brand I've tried. HJC makes good helmets in that price range too but my noggin isn't round, so they don't fit.

13 minutes ago, maroonandwhite said:

Took it out for a longer ride this evening and can confirm that a taller windshield will add to the comfort 100%. As it is now, the wind buffeting is pretty rough at highway speeds. 

Have you tried one of these clip on visors? They can sometimes be just the little extra height you need to send the wind over your head and is quite a bit cheaper than a tall screen.

Edited Saturday at 01:58 AM by BigK

[1gewehr]

Go to a good bike shop and try on helmets.  You need to get the head shape and size right to be worthwhile.  Also, I ride with a modular helmet.  It's all the protection of a full-face helmet, but the chin bar flips up to allow you to talk, drink and eat without taking off the helmet.   It also makes it easier to put it on.  Also, in hot weather, being able to flip it up at a stoplight and get more breeze is a very good thing.

FYI, the Cycle Gear in Madison has a pretty good selection.

[Smith]

On the helmet side, I'm fond of the LS2 Copter or Versa. It does everything that a full face does with the convenience and ease of a half helmet. Good in winter and summer and it doesn't make me look like a pumpkin or mushroom. I ride year round commuting and traveling.

Even had one get slammed into the ground with my head in it at about 35-40 mph and did a fantastic job of not getting any head or face injuries. One of the reasons me and the wife use them. They also aren't super expensive. LS2 Helmets Copter Open Face Helmet (Matte Black - Medium) https://a.co/d/gndhgDJ

[gregintenn]

https://www.jpcycles.com/product/hjc-i10-helmet

[maroonandwhite]

So I went to a local shop and looked at each of the helmets you guys mentioned above. I had actually settled on an HJC i100 modular but they only had one left in my size (the display) and it was a few years old. The owner talked me in to trying on a Shoei GT Air II which felt amazing. Since the Air 3 is out now, he made me a great deal on it. I am still in the break in period but am really liking the way it fits and love the ratchet chin strap system. For $100 more than what the HJC cost, I am very happy. 
 

I do wish it was modular but I couldn’t pass up the deal.

I’ve also got a short list of a few more items I’d like to get for the daily commute but I rode it in this morning and loved it. 

[BigK]

That GT Air is a great helmet especially if you got a deal on it. congrats

[Frog4aday]

@maroonandwhite

Getting a Shoei helmet for a good price was a major score. Their quality is top notch. Fullface was also a really good decision. Hopefully you never test that helmet's protective abilities but should the day come, you'll be so glad you got what you did.

Hopefully you are having fun on the bike & enjoy commuting with it. Riding everyday, even if just back & forth to work, really helps keep the skills up. The KLR650 is a versatile, go-anywhere ride that should be a reliable tool for many, many years. 

Since those tires have tubes, I would suggest putting in some Slime to keep you from getting a fast flat from thorns or nails & screws. Tubeless tire lose air more slowly (i.e., more safely); Slime kind of gives you a similar safety margin in a tubed tire. Just a suggestion based on hard-earned experience.

[maroonandwhite]

1 hour ago, Frog4aday said:

@maroonandwhite

Getting a Shoei helmet for a good price was a major score. Their quality is top notch. Fullface was also a really good decision. Hopefully you never test that helmet's protective abilities but should the day come, you'll be so glad you got what you did.

Hopefully you are having fun on the bike & enjoy commuting with it. Riding everyday, even if just back & forth to work, really helps keep the skills up. The KLR650 is a versatile, go-anywhere ride that should be a reliable tool for many, many years. 

Since those tires have tubes, I would suggest putting in some Slime to keep you from getting a fast flat from thorns or nails & screws. Tubeless tire lose air more slowly (i.e., more safely); Slime kind of gives you a similar safety margin in a tubed tire. Just a suggestion based on hard-earned experience.

Good stuff! I had no idea they weren’t tubeless. The Shoei is definitely requiring some break in but I’ve been told it will get there. 
 

The ratchet and strap seem to hit right on the adams apple.

Edited Tuesday at 11:57 PM by maroonandwhite

[Frog4aday]

Speaking of break-in for the helmet, I always found Shoei helmets gave me a 'hotspot' (red area from too much contact) right in the center of my forehead. I'd have to get a spoon, and using the back rounded part I'd compress the forehead styrofoam a bit at a time until the hotspot was gone. But I'd keep getting Shoei helmets again and again because they were such great quality.

Come to find out I have an Arai head, which is to say a "long-oval" head! Specifically the Signet series helmets. (Arai makes helmets for "round heads", too; the Quantum series). Now I wear Arai helmets and they fit right from the get go and that's nice. But dang if they aren't really proud of their product and price it accordingly.

If you are getting a sore spot in your forehead, try the back of a spoon trick to work the styrofoam a little flatter and eventually you'll get it the way you like.

I can't really help w/the ratchet strap to the Adam's apple conundrum. Hopefully you can figure out a way to sort that out.

Edited 21 hours ago by Frog4aday
removed a doubled word (help)

[Tom B]

I have a couple of new, old stock Shoei helmets I'm selling for $125 each

Size medium

RF800

X-Eleven Airtrix

 

 

Edited yesterday at 12:01 PM by Tom B