bike motorcycle magazine: review

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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Yamalube Black Leather Polish Review

Yamalube Black Leather Polish Review

When I first got my V-Star I noticed the Custom Classic Hard Leather Bolt On Saddle Bags needed some attention. The leather was drying out and the black color was starting to fade. So, I went shopping for some leather treatment.

The first thing I tried was some Blue Magic Leather Cream Conditioner. It is a watery liquid in a spray bottle and th

e leather bags just soaked it up almost as fast I could spray it. However, this did not help with the fading issue. Next I tried some Pro Clean Leather Lotion. It is the same watery liquid but is dispensed from a squirt bottle. It too helped with the moisturizing the leather, but not with the bleached black issue.

After a year of commuting to work and my Mistress being parked out in the hot Texan sun for 12 hours at a time the black fading got

even worse. I was browsing my local Yamaha Dealer when I spotted some Yamalube Black Leather Polish on a shelf. It came in a small round container about the size of a tobacco dip can. I bought it to try it out.

A few days before I tried it out I sprayed the saddle bags down real good with the Leather Cream Conditioner to let it soak in and moisturize the leather. Finally the day came when I gave the bike an extensive cleansing. After it was dried off I got out the Black Polish out and started the application. The Yamaha website says:

Black Leather Polish

Use to restore black leather to its natural luster by putting color back into the leather. Can be used for black leather jackets, boots, bags, etc.

I opened the small container of Black Leather Polish and found that it resembled black shoe polish in color. In consistency it was a lot thinner paste than shoe polish, more like a cream. I applied it using a soft cotton rag, translation, old T-Shirt. After rubbing the Black Polish into the leather I immediately noticed the black color was back on the section I had applied it.

Wow, what a difference the Yamalube Polish made in the color of the bags. I was really

impressed with the difference from before and after. I really wished I could have found the camera that day to show you, but it was in one of my other vehicles, not at home at the time.

The soft consistency of the Leather Polish made it really easy to apply, even into the leather braiding my bags have. The Yamalube Black Polish sure surprised me with how well it made the saddle bags look. Torch gives the Yamalube Black Polish a M.M.M. Rating of 9.5.

FieldSheer’s Expensive Shoddy Gloves

FieldSheer’s Expensive Shoddy Gloves or FieldSheer 57 Bob Perforated Glove Review

I bought a pair of FieldSheer 57 Bob Perforated Black Men’s Size XL Gloves and used them for my commute to and from work for two weeks. They cost around 1/3 more than my Motoboss Airflow Gloves, which I am still using. The FieldSheer gloves functioned, fit, and felt great, until they started falling apart.

The shell of these gloves is constructed of 95% Goat Skin and 5% “Other”. It’s that 5% “Other” that ruined a perfectly good pair of gloves in short order. The goat skin leather is comfortably soft and supple. There is an extra padded section for your palm. These Bob gloves have the back side perforated, including on the fingers and thumbs, for air flow. The wrist section of the FieldSheer model 57 is constructed out of an elastic stretchy material, comfortable, but extremely short lived. They fasten with a two inch strip of hook and loop on the back of the wrist.

After two weeks of driving I noticed some stretch marks on the elastic cuffs and after closer inspection found the stitching coming apart on both gloves in several areas. In fact, there were already holes formed between the elastic cuff and the leather part of the gloves.

I went to the FieldSheer website and read all about how they care about quality so I decide to send off and email to their Customer Service Department, but I guess they do not have one. Here is a copy of my email:

Dear FieldSheer,

I recently purchased a new pair of your FieldSheer 57 Bob Perforated Black Men’s Size XL Gloves from a local Yamaha dealer in Hurst Texas. I have used them off and on for my commute to work for about two weeks. Today when I was removing them I noticed some strange striations in the elastic cuff area of the left glove. Upon closer examination I found, along with the striations, the stitching coming out where the elastic attaches to the leather. I also looked at the right hand glove and it already has a large hole where it has come apart.

I had been looking for a pair perforated gloves for some time when I found these. The rest of the glove has been flawless and I really like the fit and I thought at first they were worth the premium price compared to other gloves. This has been my first experience with FieldSheer products. Honestly, I think after this experience it would be doubtful if I would recommend or purchase any FieldSheer products in the future.

Your website claims that you want, “…to make certain our products will perform…” So I wanted to make you aware that these gloves do not.

It’s been a couple weeks now since I emailed FieldSheer and still nary even an apology.

As stated in my email to FieldSheer this has been my first experience with any of their products. Because it was bad, undoubtedly, it will be my last. These gloves are extremely poor in quality. On top of that, they won't even respond to a customer who tells them about their quality issues. I will avoid all FieldSheer products in the future. Torch gives the FieldSheer 57 Bob Perforated Black Gloves a M.M.M. Rating of 0.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

2009 Dallas Cycle World International Motorcycle Show

2009 Dallas Cycle World International Motorcycle Show Photo Log

We got to the show fairly early, parked, and went right in with the steady flow of arrivals. I sat on several different bikes worried that I would find one that felt nice and catch new bike fever. However, that did not happen. None of them really felt that great to me. The closest in comfort to me was the Star Stratoliner.

Browsing the venders that were present I made several small purchases. Some thin leather non vented gloves for cool riding. Another pair of winter gloves with built in zip out rain covers. Lastly some clear goggles for riding in the rain and at night. Oh, and one cotton bandana.

We signed up for all the drawings and missed most of the shows and got out of the Dallas Convention center shortly after lunch. I’m not much of a photographer so bear with the photos. There should be some eye candy for every one, sport bikes, cruisers, vintage bikes, custom bikes, etc. Click on the photo for larger size.