Maul Winter Testing

Happy Holidays!

I’d first like to thank all my customers across the U.S., Hawaii and Canada. Especially you Canucks! I have been getting a small but steady stream of sales to our northern neighbors who ride all the time. Because lets face it, if you wait for sunny hot weather to ride in Canada your bike will collect a lot of dust. Ride on Canada!

And speaking of riding in stupidly cold weather. I just got back from a half day trip to the middle of my state to meet one of my customers in person to answer questions about his mask. No I am not this amazingly great guy who’d go to the ends of the earth for y’all. He was visiting from out of state to see family for Christmas and wanted to resolve harness adjustment questions that couldn’t be done via email or phone call and I was excited to meet one of my customers as all I ever get to see of you’s guys is your invoice number and shipping info. Though some of you have been so cool as to send in pics of your mask. Thanks.

However I digress.

I have been doing winter time testing of the Maul to see how it performs in the cold in an attempt to improve it’s year round utility. So I thought why not make a 140 mile round trip in the freezing cold to see a customer while wearing the mask. If your gonna test something to make it better for bikers then don’t futz around with it. Put it in the fire and see how it comes out. Only in this case I was putting it in the ice water. The ambient temperature all day here in Oregon was just above freezing. Now throw in the wind chill at 70+ mph! Or at least it would be very cold if I was actually doing 70+…which I wasn’t…because that’s against the law…and that would be wrong. But there are places on I-5 in Oregon where the legal speed limit is 70. So I was there…yes that’s it I was there. Er…um…yeah. Anyway, again I am off track.

Now maybe you’re one of those bikers who doesn’t like a lot of practical and bulky winter clothing messing up his Marlon Brando in The Wild One fashion statement. Yeah I’m one of those morons. Always gotta look good on the bike right? I’m an idiot I admit. But at least I looked good. That counts for something right? So now I can say that I am truly deserving of my ass-less chaps. Because I have no ass. I’m sure you can guess why…

Back to the point of all this. I have ridden with the Maul before in cold weather for short trips near home but never this far in temperatures that even your average Canadian biker would say “EFF THAT EH!” Super sub freezing wind chill…now that’s a test! I can say that despite me being fashionably under dressed, resulting in my manhood turning a vivid hue of over heated cheep chrome header pipes, my face was THE most comfortable part on my whole body. The rest of me was shivering, my toes turned to popsicles and my knees gone numb but my face was comfortable. Heck even my forehead under my helmet felt on the verge of an ice cream headache from the cold jet blasting of winter highway riding. But my nose, mouth and cheeks were good to go all day. So the Maul performed like a nuclear powered Russian ice breaker today, wringing Mr Winter by the neck and making him cry “UNCLE!” It even took his lunch money too…

So I would recommend that if you get or have a Maul go get yourself a balaclava and you will be good to go. If you don’t know what a balaclava is Google it on the internet, get one, wear it while you ride and then slap yourself silly for not having gotten one sooner.

And one afterthought. Why does everyone call them ass-less chaps? If they had an ass they would be PANTS!

Happy New Year and may you all be blessed with great riding and friends to share it with for 2010.

Mark

SOLID STATE COVERS