Tag Archives: Motorcycle

Unit Garage Panniers

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One of my main takeaways from this little jaunt that I did over the summer, was that I needed to figure out a real luggage solution for my bike if I was going to be taking anymore multi-day trips. I had been passively scanning the Revzilla spam emails, and paying a little closer attention to the other bikes I saw with good looking boxes or bags affixed to them. But I didn’t see anything that really stood out to me. A few weeks ago one of my friends from Union Garage randomly sent me a message about the new stuff they had received from the Italian outfit Unit Garage. So many garages!! At any rate, I knew right away that I had found the gear I was looking for. Can’t beat that Italian design!

Initially I ordered only the side boxes, hoping that I could retain the existing rear rack. Soon after I began installation, I realized that the existing rear rack would not be compatible with the pannier racks, and ended up ordering the top case as well. The Union Garage guys were very cool about making sure that I had matching lock cores for the whole set, so that I wasn’t carrying around extra keys (or worse, forgetting to carry them).

Installing the racks to the frame was a piece of cake. Getting the OEM under-tail unit to play nice with them is a different story. Ultimately I had to reposition the indicators a few inches to the rear (the pannier kit included parts for this), and shortened the stocks down to about an inch in length. I also had to take a sawzall to the stock tail light bracket and plate holder. I ended up going with an after market plate holder, but was able to use the original OEM tail light after trimming a few inches of plastic from the original housing.

I am very happy with the way they came out. The boxes are super nice with neoprene liners and leather top straps. Now I just need to plan another road trip!! Here are a few additional photos–

Day off Work Pepacton Reservoir Ride

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Last time I rode across the bridge in the photo above, it was on a R1200GS in 2014. If you would have told me six years ago that I would be living up here, I probably would have laughed pretty hard. Last week I took some time off work for a trip that ended up not materializing. But I was able to capitalize on the time off anyway thanks to some nice weather last Monday and spent the morning exploring Rt. 30, along with all of the little side roads (most of which turn into logging trails if you follow them far enough). It was a really awesome time. I was able to get in just over 100 miles worth of combined pavement and dirt riding. I brought the Fujifilm X100s along with me. Here are some snaps from the adventure.

 

Moto ‘Camping’ Columbus Day 2019

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Columbus Day is one of those weird holidays. When I say “weird” I’m not even referring to the controversy surrounding the question of why it is even a holiday anymore. I’m talking about the fact that, even though the federal government and the banks are closed, only some businesses observe. Further, is the fact that the weather could go either way in the northeastern US. Some years it is still beach weather on Columbus days. Other years, there is snow on the ground. This year was one of those rare times when Columbus Day weekend in the tri-state area had exactly the weather that one would expect it to have; it felt like fall.

One of the local Brooklyn motorcycle shops (Union Garage) put together a ride to rural PA for an overnight glamping trip. I had been on a few rides organized by these guys before, so I knew that I could expect a mellow, no a-hole type of crew. I roped in my buddy Mike (from this ride), who also rides a Monster, to join in.

We met at the shop in Red Hook around 7 AM on Saturday and rode all day, taking back roads and enjoying the fall foliage. We even did a few surprise offroad miles. It wasn’t ideal for the people riding bikes with aging street tires, but everyone made it back to the pavement in one piece and it definitely made for some great stories. Mike and I skipped the last section of the local route and opted for highway, since daylight was fading and he only had a very tinted visor. Mike and I rolled into the campsite with about 30 minutes of daylight to spare. We were the first ones to arrive, and as result, were able to tap the keg and enjoy the sights and sounds of the rest of the group rolling in.

Dinner was prepared and served by the camp owners. This was followed by a bonfire, and a super legitimate firework show. A lot of the guys did full-on tent camping. Others (including myself) opted for the bunkhouse. In the morning, we woke up to the first frost, and it was a thick one. There was a nice coat of ice on everyone’s saddle. After breakfast, the crew split off into smaller groups and headed back east. We had a really great time. It was a great way to cap off the 2019 riding season. I hope I can do it again next year.

Some of the photos from the trip–

Union Garage X Roland Sands

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Because apparently Jake.news is all moto all of the time these days…. Here is a cool little vid that a local Brooklyn shop, Union Garage, made during a recent group ride. The ride was partially to promote their pop-up with Roland Sands Design, and partially an excuse to get a bunch of riders together for a chill Saturday morning cruise. We started from the shop in Red Hook and rode out to the Rockaways by way of Bennett Field (see above aerial shot from their drone). The ride finished a few blocks from my house at Root Studios Brooklyn, where the Brooklyn Invitational was underway. You can see me flashing deuces at the 1:40 mark of the vid. The rest of the footage is also pretty good, hehe. I met some great people and had a really enjoyable time despite the iffy weather. Peep the vid below-

Union Garage X Roland Sands Design Shop Ride from Union Garage on Vimeo.

Midsummer Moto Report

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It’s hard to believe that we only have one month of summer left. I feel so much pressure every summer to make sure that I take advantage of all of the nice days, and make the best of the ones that aren’t so nice (because they are still nicer than the best day in winter). Summer is B’s busy season, including weekends, which leaves me with a bit of free time on at least one day of the weekend. I have been getting a bit of moto riding in, and bought a cheesy bar mount for my old skool gopro hero3. I have been experimenting with it a bit, mounting it in a few different spots on the bike. The vid below is a little slice of one of my usual weekend rides. The segment at the beginning- getting out of the city is sped up to 20x. It slows down to normal speed when I get to Harriman State Park. I have unfortunately been riding solo for most of this summer because everyone is having babies, etc.. Hoping to get the right camera situation dialed in before the next ride with my crew, and possibly upgrade to a gopro that shoots better than 1080p. I feel like that footage would be a lot more interesting to view. Anyway, for those who have 9ish minutes to spare, here’s a nice cross segment of city and country riding–

Basic NYC Weekend Moto from Jacob Breinholt on Vimeo.

Columbus Ride

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Three day weekends are golden. Unfortunately for those who were in the tri-state area over Columbus day weekend, the weather was all over the place. Saturday (the only day of the three that did not have rain), I got on the bike and headed out of the city while the sun was still rising. My friend and I rode up through Rockland County to Harriman State Park, where the leaves are kind of changing, but not really. I’m guessing because it still hasn’t really gotten cold. It felt more like August than October the entire weekend. Anyway, riding through the woods, it was all foggy and seemed kind of twilight zoney. We stopped on Seven Lakes Drive to take these snaps. The last one was a timer shot from the bushes across the road. The bushes framed it nicely, IMO.