Gear

The REV’IT! Stratum GTX is the Dutch brand’s newest adventure travel kit and has been positioned by the company as its “halo product.” The jacket and pants feature a modular design meant to tackle the wide variety of scenarios one might experience on a proper adventure. Essentially, what we have here is a Gore-Tex outer shell and an inner mesh jacket and pants with armor built in, but there’s plenty more to talk about.

If you haven't read our new 2023 Honda SCL500 Review, we strongly suggest you check it out. It's a hoot to ride!

I prefer to test my gear in a slightly unconventional way: Order it last minute, open the box the day before I depart, and try it on once before immediately leaving on a multi-week cross country roadtrip. Luckily for me, the sizing was accurate, and the jacket choice was impeccable.

I love a simple-but-good idea. In today’s ever-increasing climate of distracted drivers, we need something to attract attention to motorcyclists. Like many riders, I’ve relied on bright-colored and/or reflective gear to increase my conspicuity. However, they all depend on light striking them, particularly retro-reflective materials. Additionally, riding gear says nothing about the current dynamic state of the motorcycle and its rider. That’s why the Brake Free Helmet Brake Light initially caught my attention. Further inspection made me want to give the product a try.

I love technology, and as such, I’m very excited with the potential of smart helmets. We are just at the very beginning of what helmets can do for riders other than just protecting us from the elements when riding or impacts in a crash. Naturally, when Forcite approached me about reviewing the new MK1S helmet, I was immediately on board. The technology looks to be a great step along the path of smartening our lids. The Forcite MK1S offers the Bluetooth-smartphone integration many riders have become accustomed to and features a clever integration of LEDs to signal the rider important information without having to take their eyes off the road. 

We’d like to introduce MOpinions, a new series of reviews which are conducted by real riders and not motojournalists. To find qualified motorcycle riders for this task, we looked at our parent company VerticalScope’s wide range of motorcycle forums and found a group of forum administrators who we felt could give the gear a thorough testing. Scott Faulk is an admin for BMW Luxury Touring,  Ducati.ms, and Ducati DesertX Forum. He has been riding for 49 years, has owned 27(!) motorcycles, and prefers sport and sport-touring rides. The one fact he felt we should know about him is that every May, he spends a week on The Tail of the Dragon and other roads in the area.

I might as well just come out and say it: In my years as a motojournalist, I’ve had the pleasure of testing dozens of track leathers, from ill-fitting, inexpensive off-the-rack items to full-on custom-sized suits, and the Alpinestars Fusion Race Suit is the most comfortable and best breathing one I’ve ever had the pleasure of donning. Since that’s my opinion, I figured I shouldn’t string you readers out. However, if you want to find out why I feel this way, I’d be happy to tell you. 

Shoei is known for producing premium motorcycle helmets, and the newly released in the United States Shoei X-Fifteen helmet represents the current state of the company's helmet art. When you have racers of the caliber of Marc Marquez wearing your helmet, you know that the helmet is one of the best in the world – as befits a six-time world champion. The big news for track riders is the 6.1% reduction in drag and 1.6% reduction in lift compared the the previous generation. During the development of the new shell, the helmet was tested at speeds in excess of 218 mph. So, we mere mortals should be OK during our track day exploits. Since these typically take place during the summer months, the seven intake and six exhaust vents will help to keep riders cool. Finally, the rider's field of vision has been improved.