I feel it’s safe to say that Springtime has finally made its way to Tennessee and for the motorcycle rider, this is the beginning of the best part of the year. Sure there are plenty of us who ride through the winter but most will agree that riding is more of a pleasure when you don’t have to be bundled up, plugged in, or otherwise having to take extra measures to make your ride bearable.

This second weekend of April is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. It’s presently 87 deg and sunny outside as I write this on my front porch. There’s the smell of two-cycle oil and fresh cut grass as the neighbors are taking care of their lawns. I have a cold Shiner sitting on my table next to me as I bang away on the keys of my laptop preparing to think back on my morning ride. This is one of those “in the zone” moments. Everything is just right for sitting down and putting thoughts to pixel (except for that guy across the street with the very loud weed-eater) and sharing it with my readers.

Yesterday, Saturday, I looked at the forecast and decided it was time to transfer my Knox back pad from my winter jacket to my mesh jacket. After some bending and twisting the job was finished. Next it was time to break out the mesh pants from their slumber and get them into the action again. Slipping them on and fastening the hook and loop fastener around my boots I was reminded of something that has often plagued me since I started needing to by motorcycle gear. I’m still a bit to round for my height even after losing some weight the past few months.

I stared at myself disapprovingly in the mirror looking at the bunched up inches of nylon mesh hanging between my knees and feet. I remembered that these were always a bit long, but now it seemed I’d moved into the realm of ridiculous. The image of a child wearing his father’s clothes came to mind and with that thought was the notion that perhaps I need to get some pants that fit. Those of you who know me know this could mean only one thing. A trip to Cycle Gear! So still wearing my overly-lengthy mesh breeches, off I rode with perforated nylon material flapping about my ankles.

Arriving at the shop I started checking out the new gear. I’m in there pretty often so not a lot of their stuff is new to me but I hadn’t been looking for summer pants until now. Checking out the mesh gear I was greeted with the typical mesh-textile panel mix I’ve grown accustomed to seeing. Not that there was anything wrong with them but I was hoping for more mesh and less panel. Also the sizing is still of the type that if you are say a 38 waist and a 30 inseam, you’re going to come up short (yep, first pun) and, like my current pants, will be stuck with your ankles swimming in synthetic fabric.

Having given up on the replacement mesh pants for the weekend (I was sure I’d find something on the interwebs) I started looking at some of the leather gear. Now I knew that there were some Bilt leather pants in the shop and that they would be a good price but I never took that close a look till now. Turns out they had a pair of perforated leather pants in my size (well sort of, more on that in a separate review) and they had CE armor in the knees… and they had knee pucks… and they were $129.00!! At this point I’m thinking “Cool! But will they fit?”.

They fit me perfectly it turns out. Now sure they aren’t the top of the line pants and I came in looking for something for summer use but my thought was that even bargain perforated leather pants will most likely protect better that middle of the road mesh pants. I haven’t ridden in perforated leather before anyway so here was my chance to try something new and solve my present long pants problem. In the end I was strapping the mesh pants to the back of my bike and was wearing my new cowhide trousers as I prepared to leave.

By the time I actually left Cycle Gear I had been there for over an hour and now needed to head back home. Seeing as it only takes about ten minutes to do so, I really didn’t get an opportunity to give them a thorough testing. A Sunday morning ride would have to be made!

Fast forward to Sunday morning and indeed it looked like a fine day for a shakedown cruise with the new gear. The temps were in the 70’s and rising and the sun was mostly un-diminished by the few clouds around. I rolled the bike out of the garage around 9:30 and was on my way by 10:00 heading towards the west side of town where River Road meets Charlotte Pike.

Rolling down River Road I immediately noticed that everything was much greener that it seemed just a couple of weeks earlier. I’m sure much of it was there last time but this time it sort of jumped out and made itself known that spring was in full force now. Speaking of full force, that’s how the bugs have arrived as well. I’m certain I didn’t ride 2 miles before several flying insects had found their way onto my visor, their last stop before reaching wherever it is that bugs go when the pass on.

Stopping at Teter’s market on River Road, I surveyed the bug guts on my faceshield, had some water, and took a moment to think about the new leathers. (is it “leathers” if it’s just pants or a jacket or does it have to be both, hmmm) They had so far proved surprisingly comfortable save for the need to adjust the left knee armor a bit and the venting of the perforations did a flow a good amount of air. Everything seemed to be in order so I wiped my visor a bit and continued down River Road on my way towards Highway 250.

Now I mentioned earlier that when I started writing this down, I felt “in the zone”. That tiny sliver of time when everything is coming together and thoughts and actions occur seamlessly with little to no effort. Unfortunately during the ride so far I wasn’t feeling it. I was enjoying it certainly, but even though I wasn’t having any issues, I just wasn’t finding the zone where you are working as one with your bike. Perhaps it was the new gear on my mind or maybe the fresh reinforcements of insects that had kamikaze’d onto my visor once again. I wasn’t sure but I carried on.

Making the turn onto highway 250 by the Greenbrier fire station I was presented with another complication. Two slow moving cages were in front of me trundling down the road as if experiencing the sensation of locomotion for the first time. This part of the road has plenty of curves and also has plenty of driveways so I resigned myself to follow suit and leisurely cruise along behind them.

I did take the opportunity to practice what I had just had a refresher course in during the previous weekend, that being the steps for entering a turn that are taught in the Total Control course we had in Old Hickory. I have no doubt that I looked rather silly approaching turns around 35mph, tucking my feet in and pulling my upper body against the tank looking like I was making an attempt to smooch my mirrors as I began each turn. Practice is practice though so and I made the most of the low speed I could carry through each curvy stretch.

Practice time aside, I still was no closer (perhaps even farther now) from the coveted “zone”. As the curvy bits of highway 250 were disappearing in my mirrors the cars in front of me did likewise. Excellent timing fellow travelers, you got out of my way just in time for the tarmac to straighten out. (sigh)

As I approached the train caboose that marks Stringfellow Road and the beginning of the ride into the Narrows of the Harpeth I once again pulled over at a corner market for some more water. It really was starting to heat up outside and turning my attention to my gear once more I was pleasantly surprised how comfortable the new Bilt pants were. I was actually feeling hotter under my mesh jacket than the pants which spoke well for the pants and at the same time rather poorly of the jacket (yes, a new jacket has already been ordered).

I didn’t linger long and was soon back on the road heading through the Narrows of the Harpeth with its eclectic mix of turns ranging from tight to sweeping, climbs and drops, and the occasional decreasing radius turn that can play havoc on the initiated. I arrive at Hwy 70 having not met much traffic till the very end and put on my turn signal indicating my intention to continue my ride up to White Bluff.

The ride up 70 to get there contains a very nice set of long sweeping turns and I was able to maintain a decent pace through a couple before I was snagged again by more drivers who didn’t seem interested in actually reaching their destinations. “So much for that stretch” I thought to myself as I reached White Bluff and the aptly named White Bluff Road which would carry me over to Hwy 96.

The next fifteen minutes or so were rather uneventful as both White Bluff Road and Hwy 96 are rather uninteresting for someone looking for the road to bend a bit but at least I was able to move at a reasonable pace. As I crossed over the bridge at exit 182 I debated whether to stop at the Horizon station or continue on to make an assault on Fairview Kingston Springs Road. As I approached the rather large gas station I saw a red machine that looked familiar. I started thinking “What are the chances?” as I slowed and turned into the parking lot.

Seated at one of the tables outside the station was John and parked in front of him was his red BRP Spyder complete with a large rubber spider attached to the Spyder’s “hood”. John waved at me as I pulled up between his Spyder and his friend Neal’s maroon Goldwing.   As I was pulling off my helmet I heard John saying “How’re you doing?”. I walked over and shook his hand telling him him I was well and that it had been a long since I had run into him last.

It had been a long time too. Last year I was coming back from a friend’s house in Burns, TN and I stopped at this same gas station on the way home that evening. John and Neal were there at the same spot as now and I had introduced myself to them and told them about the website you’re reading now. I started talking to John about his Spyder and what he thought about the red three wheeled machine sitting there bathing under the sodium vapor lights of the station. I promised him at the time I would write something up about the Spyders and meant to go to a demo ride to check them out for myself, but unfortunately I never got around to it.

Back to the present now and I sat down with John and he introduced me to his wife Margie sitting next to him. “I look at your website every day, Brandon” John told me and this was a great compliment to me. I was rather pleased that since the brief meeting last year he had taken the time to check out what we have going on here and kept coming back for more. He then reminded me that I had said I would make some mention of the BRP Spyders on the site and that I had neglected to do so.

“I’ll make sure to remedy that this time, John”, I told him and also said I would make sure and mention this meeting on the site, which now I have. I hung out there with John and Margie for about 30 minutes and listened to John talk about why he had moved from two wheels to three, about a classic Gibson guitar he once owned and the tragedy that befell it some years earlier, and about his considering trading the red Spyder for the new touring version of machine.

It was a good time hanging out with them but as all good things do, it had to come to an end. John, Margie, and Neal were heading out to Lynchburg and I needed to head on back to the homestead. I grabbed a photo of John and Margie on the Spyder and started to grab my own gear together to get back on the road. Again I had to clear more bug guts from my visor before taking off, a true indication that spring has arrived which is nice, but kind of a pain at the same time.

I crossed over Hwy 96 and made my way onto the I-40 ramp, I realized that I was feeling better about the day. As I weaved my way around a couple of semi’s and some slow moving cars and realized that now I was getting into the zone. Not the best timing as the interstate doesn’t offer the sportbike rider much in the way of challenges (OK, different sorts of them, but not what I was looking for) but it was good to find myself there nonetheless.

Continuing down I-40 with the wind roaring around my helmet I realized that knowing what we do here on the site reaches more people than I thought really made my day. It helped put me a bit closer to that elusive zone that I was trying to catch up with. I think that what I’m trying to say is that.. Crap!!!! another @$!#’ing bug!!

Happy Spring Nashvilleriders. May the road ahead be clear, as well as your visor.

-Brandon