Helmet Reviews
ILM-313 Helmet Review: A Season of Weekend Rides Around Tulsa
A Tulsa weekend rider puts 2,400 miles on the ILM-313 across Route 66 and the lake roads, and reports back on noise, fit, heat, and the two visors.
One loose strip of gravel, one eleven-year-old helmet, and six hundred miles of weekend riding on the replacement.
A Tulsa weekend rider puts 2,400 miles on the ILM-313 across Route 66 and the lake roads, and reports back on noise, fit, heat, and the two visors.
Two DOT full-face helmets at the budget end, ridden back to back on Oklahoma two-lane. One wins on what comes in the box. The other wins on fit.
I wore a half helmet for ten years. Here are the ten things that finally moved me to a full face, in the order they actually mattered.
One loose strip of gravel, one eleven-year-old helmet, and six hundred miles of weekend riding on the replacement.
Twenty years of weekend riding and one badly sized helmet taught me the order of operations. Here is the measuring, the chart reading, and the home test I run before I trust a fit.
A thousand miles in an ILM-313, including the two weeks where I almost boxed it back up.
Gary Lockridge rode the BYKR mesh jacket through a full Oklahoma summer, about 1,400 miles of heat, crosswind, and one fast storm. Here is what held up, what did not, and who should buy something else.
A weekend rider in Tulsa puts both jackets on the same 150 mile loop and gives away the rows the mesh jacket loses.
A weekend rider in Tulsa spent a full Oklahoma season in a mesh jacket instead of the t-shirt he used to wear. Here is what actually changed, mile by mile.
Twenty years of t-shirts, one low-speed slide on gravel, and the mesh jacket Gary Lockridge now wears from a cold morning start to a hot afternoon finish.
A weekend rider's practical system for hot-weather riding: the jacket, the fit, the base layer, the schedule, and the maintenance that keeps the air moving.
A weekend rider in Tulsa puts the BYKR mesh jacket through Oklahoma heat, wind, and fit checks, and names the one detail the listing leaves out.
Plain leather, a gel palm, and a closure that works with one hand. After months of Oklahoma weekend miles, here is what held up and what did not.
One glove is built for a long day in the saddle. The other is built for a short ride in traffic. Gary Lockridge put a season of Oklahoma weekends into both and came back with a clear answer for cruisers.
A weekend rider in Tulsa on what a gel palm actually does over 180 miles, and the four things he would skip.
A weekend rider in Tulsa on two seasons with the plain leather pair he did not expect to keep.
The glove is one piece of the setup. Here is the order I do the other four in, and why the pad has to land in one specific spot or it does nothing.
A weekend rider in Tulsa on what the listing does not say about sizing, break-in and where the gel palm actually helps.
One year, about four thousand miles, one soaked spring ride. What the Brake Buckle boot does well, and the two conditions where it stays in the garage.
One is built for a foot peg. The other is built for a job site. I rode about 240 miles in each to find where that line actually falls.
A weekend rider's honest list, built from a year of 150 mile Saturdays on Oklahoma two-lane.
A Saturday ride, a gravel lot, and the pair of boots that made every stop less eventful.
No trick shortens break-in without costing you the leather. Gary Lockridge, 51, of Tulsa, on the two to four week process that actually works, done in the right order.
A weekend rider's honest take after a spring and most of a summer in these pull-on leather boots. What breaks in well, what does not, and the one spec that should decide it for you.
Months of Route 66, lake roads and one hailstorm later, a weekend rider's honest read on Cardo's simplest Bluetooth helmet headset.
One rider, one helmet, two headsets, and a lot of two-lane Oklahoma highway. Here is where the Cardo Spirit earns its place and where the LEXIN G2P is the smarter buy.
Ten things a helmet headset actually changes about a Saturday day ride, from a rider who was skeptical for about 20 years.
Twenty years of riding Oklahoma back roads, and the thing that finally fixed my navigation was not a better map. It was being able to hear the one I already had.
Half a turn prompt at 60 mph is worse than none at all. Here is the setup order that gets the whole sentence into your helmet.
Two hundred miles of Oklahoma two-lane, one irritated evening in the garage, and a straight answer on whether the Spirit earns its place on the helmet.
A Tulsa weekend rider puts 2,400 miles on the ILM-313 across Route 66 and the lake roads, and reports back on noise, fit, heat, and the two visors.
A thousand miles in an ILM-313, including the two weeks where I almost boxed it back up.
Gary Lockridge rode the BYKR mesh jacket through a full Oklahoma summer, about 1,400 miles of heat, crosswind, and one fast storm. Here is what held up, what did not, and who should buy something else.
A weekend rider in Tulsa puts the BYKR mesh jacket through Oklahoma heat, wind, and fit checks, and names the one detail the listing leaves out.
Plain leather, a gel palm, and a closure that works with one hand. After months of Oklahoma weekend miles, here is what held up and what did not.
A weekend rider in Tulsa on what the listing does not say about sizing, break-in and where the gel palm actually helps.
One year, about four thousand miles, one soaked spring ride. What the Brake Buckle boot does well, and the two conditions where it stays in the garage.
A weekend rider's honest take after a spring and most of a summer in these pull-on leather boots. What breaks in well, what does not, and the one spec that should decide it for you.
Months of Route 66, lake roads and one hailstorm later, a weekend rider's honest read on Cardo's simplest Bluetooth helmet headset.
Two hundred miles of Oklahoma two-lane, one irritated evening in the garage, and a straight answer on whether the Spirit earns its place on the helmet.