Trip to Iowa City Motorsports Inc.

As my motorcycle riding class at Kirkwood is approaching soon, I decided that it was time to get the required gear for the class. All that is required for the class is a pair of motorcycle gloves, and I was looking for ones with good knuckle protection. I was going to order the gloves online, but I decided to give the local motorcycle showroom a try. Boy am I glad I did that. I soon as I approached the showroom I was greeted by a large array of motorcycles, with everything from all wheel drive ATVs to cruisers. Before I could ogle at all the motorcycles I wish I had, I had to buy a pair of good motorcycle gloves. I bought these:

Shift barrier gloves with composite knuckle protection. They fit pretty well and are pretty comfortable. I haven’t starting using them yet, so I cannot comment on how they perform.

Iowa City Motorsports also had a bunch of closeout helmets on sale. I tried a bunch of helmets from companies like HJC (didn’t fit my head), Scorpion and Shift. Sadly I had to choose between a dirt bike helmet and a street bike helmet, and the dual sport helmet from Shoei, the Hornet DS was way beyond my budget. I ended up buying a Shift Agent helmet and Oakley googles that fit over prescription eyeglasses.

After shopping for the gear, I had a little time to look at some motorcycles before they closed for the day. I was particularly drawn towards the Aprilia Dorsoduro, a 750cc V-twin supermoto from Aprilia. I’d definitely like to test ride it after I get my motorcycle license. I also spotted the RS125 (track day motorcycle, non-street legal), a two stroke single from Aprilia in an entirely different section of the showroom and I could not get a closer look at it because they were about to close the showroom for the day. If I had the money, I’d get the RS with my eyes closed. According to my friend Owen who has been racing two stroke singles for six years, this is the kind of motorcycle you ride to improve your riding skills.

The showroom had a plethora of interesting motorcycles including the Suzuki DR-Z 400, Aprilia Tuono, Aprilia Shiver, Aprilia Mana, Yamaha R1 (the new one with the cross-plane crankshaft), but the most interesting motorcycle to me was the B-King. This motorcycle was… uhh…. substantial ? I didn’t expect it to be so big ! I looked at pictures of this motorcycle when it first came out and I wasn’t impressed, but I am completely sold after looking at it in the flesh. Maybe I should rob a bank ? 😛

Someday I want to go back with enough money for the RS125…