So, that makes about 3500 miles for me in 2003 so far. Hope you're all getting in all the miles with smiles you can stand.

Ride Safe!

For Sale

1996 BMW R1100RT - BMW's top boxer touring bike, complete with factory bags, ABS, electric Parabellum windshield and a new BMW comfort seat. Just broken in at 38k miles. Beautiful dark blue. Priced well below market at $7250. Call Bill at 904-730-9719, warrior@aol.com

1987 Honda Hurricane CBR1000. 39K Corbin, Yoshimura exhaust, K&N, etc. Recent tune up, timing chain, sprockets and chain. Beautiful condition. Always Mobil 1. Regret to sell but lack room for two bikes. $3200. Call Alan 850-668-0886 or mericke@attglobal.net

ST1100 accessories. Corbin leather seat $195.00, Ventura Sport Rack w/L brackets $85.00, Hondaline Backrest w/bag $85.00, Gen Mar bar risers $55.00, Haynes Repair Manual $10.00, Lockhart Phillips Tank Bra $10.00, Stock windshield good condition $50.00. Contact: Terry Brown 321-724-4559 or tlbst1100@yahoo.com or tbrown02@harris.com

HSTA Members Save on Riding Into History

The 4th Annual Riding Into History Concours d' Elegance for motorcycles has been scheduled for May 3rd, 2003. The event will once again be held at the beautiful World Golf Village, just north of St. Augustine on I-95, exit 95A.

There will be 100 or more antique, vintage and custom bikes on display, as well as dealers, vendors, clubs, food and exhibitions. HSTA members can receive a voucher that will save them $10, so that two people can attend for the price of one. Just e-mail Bill Robinson at RIH2003@aol.com and request a voucher. He'll mail you one - just be sure to include your return snail mail address. Make your plans now. it's a great destination.

For more information you can also go to www.RidingIntoHistory.com.

Tri-Star - Sparta NC - May 23 thru 25 2003

Event coordinator: Galen Diehl (276) 647-3162 gdiehl@kimbanet.com

Web: http://bellsouthpwp.net/p/i/pippin01/tristar/page1.htm

Come ride the mountain roads at the newest HSTA sanctioned rally in Sparta, North Carolina. If you’ve never ridden the roads in this area you owe it to yourself to come to this event. If you have ridden in the area, we'll see you in Sparta Memorial Day weekend.

"Tri-Star" is located in Sparta, NC at the crossroads of US 21 and NC 18 in northwest North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains, nestled between the New River and the Blue Ridge Parkway, offering scenic vistas, unspoiled landscape and friendly folk. Named Tri-Star because you're only a few miles from the States of Virginia and Tennessee.

So come and enjoy the scenic beauty and miles and miles of great twisty mountain roads. See the web site link above for a registration form, event fees and pre-registration discount.

Join us for a Friday evening cookout and Saturday evening BBQ dinner. Lots of things to do in the area for those not interested in riding. A great way to spend your Memorial Day Weekend.

Helen 2002 - 

The AMA sanctioned HSTA Helen Rally will be held May 2, 3, 4 at the Alpenhof Inn, Helen, GA.

Come and enjoy the friendly atmosphere in Helen
Socialize with fellow HSTA members
Ride some of the great roads in northern Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee.

I recently have been looking around for a replacement helmet for my now 4 year old HJC full-face. Although it has served me well, the HJC fit was always quite constricting in the face, particularly at the lips. In addition to getting a bit uncomfortable on longer trips, this precluded any ability to use a bladder drinking device which I really wanted to use. Also, with the amount of wear it gets here in the hot Florida summers, it needs washing which is problematic at best. With a non-removable liner it is difficult to get this helmet really fresh and one needs to plan well in advance so that it has time to dry out after you do wash it. So there you have two of my requirements in a new helmet—a removable, washable liner and better face room. Also, since I often use a portable MP3 player and/or GPS Voice navigation, I also needed room for helmet speakers.

Now, I have been attracted to the new flip-up helmets and have voraciously read all reviews for some months now. Most got good marks, but the HJC Symax and the Nolan S100 were both on my must try list. The opportunity to do so came when I went over to Daytona for the Bike Week Dinner. Arriving earlier in the day Eve and I were able to make it into the Helmet Shop where I could try on the brands and sizes I was interested in.

My first disappointment came with the Nolans (I tried on three different models). Fit was not very good at all, and most of them required two hands to open. One model allowed one handed opening, but only the left hand. Ugh! I then tried on a couple of the HJC’s and again the fit was problematic. Hmmm… Maybe it’s my fat head! ;-)

At this point I was getting frustrated, but then a Helmet Shop sales person came by and asked me how I was doing. I explained what I was looking for and my fit problems and he immediately had a suggestion. He led me over to a rack of Vega helmets. Now, I know Vega is a low priced brand, but I have owned their half-helmets in the past and had been generally happy with them. The salesman told me that this was a brand new model for Vega and in particular he felt the fit was going to be to my liking. Was he ever right!. Although even this helmet does get very close to my lower chin when closed, the way it’s constructed leaves ample room around my mouth area. Moreover, there is an integrated breath deflector and front vent system that not only leaves me good room there but also you can actually tell when the vent is open because it flows air so well. Because of this, visor fogging is far reduced from any other full face helmet I have ever used.

Now for the really good stuff! It’s got a removable, machine-washable liner. One small drawback is that the speaker pockets are a part of that liner so the speakers must be removed at wash time, but that’s a very minor nit. Where the speaker pockets are, there is ample room in the helmet so no material at all need be removed to make room for the speakers and although they aren’t squeezing your ears, they are locatable so that a good sound volume is achievable. The helmet uses a single button release, located dead center in the front and slightly inside the helmet so it’s not going to get accidentally opened and is operable by either hand. It comes with a clear shield, which is easily changed with no tools and it has an excellent fit and seal which reduces wind noise. Despite the flip up feature, this helmet is actually a little quieter than my HJC solid full face. Oh, and here’s the best part—price for the helmet was just $129. What a bargain. Oh, and one more thing - replacement shields are only $14 for standard clear or smoke or $19 for a mirrored and they come with additional replacement hardware for the ratchet/shield release mechanism (maybe they know something I don’t yet, but time will tell) and a mirrored shield for my HJC is $39.

Though I hadn’t planned on actually purchasing that day, I did walk out with a new flip-front full face helmet that had every single feature I was looking for and for less than $150. I wouldn’t have thought it possible in this day and age. It is DOT certified, though not SNELL (still way better than no helmet at all).

So, if you’re in the market for a flip-up be sure to check out the Vega line. I believe the model name is “Summit– XPV”

Daytona Bike Week Dinner 2003

A rare, custom painted blue ST 
at the Bike Week lunch ride

HSTA member P. “Van” VanSteelant
with his sharp ‘82 Honda CB900F
at the Okeechobee lunch ride

Prospective member, Sandra Ingram
garnering all kinds of attention at the Okeechobee lunch ride