The answer is no. I went to the HRPSports website and looked around a little. Hmm. Flak Jak chest protectors.  HRP lightning bolt jerseys. But hold on… On the History page the owners of HRPSports provide a clear explanation of the relationship (or lack thereof) between HRPSports, Hannah Racing Products, and Bob and Terri Hannah. In short, there is no relationship. According to the HRPSports site the owners bought all the assets of Hannah Racing Products out of bankruptcy court in 1989 and have run the company ever since.

In 2007 Bob and Terri established Hannah Racing Products LLC to sell Bob Hannah memorabilia. This created some understandable confusion. The companies seems to have worked out an  agreement whereby they sell similar, but not identical, “replica” jerseys. But that seems to be the only overlap. If you want an updated, “old school” Flak Jak chest protector or other protective gear visit HRPSports. If you want Bob Hannah’s signature or some Bob Hannah DVDs visit Hannah Racing Products.

I’ve never had the chance to ride with one of these things, and they’re only available for modern bikes, but I’m told they are the shizznit — the cat’s pajamas, the real deal, the best thing since sliced bread, etc. One of my buddies — Bill Ramsey of Motorcycle Accessory Shop in Mesa, AZ (2319 West Main Street, Mesa, AZ 85201-6839 (480) 835-6228) — says he tried to talk Al into giving him some parts to use to get one working on a vintage bike, but didn’t have any luck.

That’s too bad, because the new Core EXP clutch kit is, relatively, affordable at $800 — at least compared to the $2,000 these things cost originally. Now I know all you vintage guys are out there going, “What!? 800-freakin’ dollars!? I’ve bought entire bikes for less than that!” But from what I’ve been told these things are worth at least two CDI ignition upgrades and, if you’re on an old points-based ignition system that’s $450 per.

I admit, there’s probably only a tiny, tiny fraction of VMX riders who would shell out for something like this, but it would be nice to have the opportunity. I’m told if you ever ride with one you’ll never go back.

So tune in and see what Al has to say.

I didn’t hear the show but you can read the transcript here. According to Hillier, Cobra employs fewer than 50 people, but there are about 100 companies around the country that depend on Cobra for business (probably contractors for the manufacturing of various parts.)

Hillier also noted that when similar, game-changing legislation hit the auto industry back in the 1980s the industry had years to react and re-engineer. The CPSIA was passed in August of 2008 and put into law six months later. With catastrophic effects.

This is not the last we have heard about this law. This is another fine example of people who don’t know what their doing, passing a law on a topic they don’t know anything about, with absolutely no consideration for its consequences. This is what happens when government “works”.

This post is about helmets and what I learned at the show. The older I get the more interested I am in survival and safety technology. With the recent death of FMX star Jeremy Lusk from a head injury, helmets were high on my list this year. So I made it a point to spend time at the booths of as many major helmet manufacturers as I could — Bell, Shoei, Arai, HJC, and AGV.

These were just a few of the helmets on display. Every major vendor of apparel had at least one rack of helmets, and there were even a few new brands I never heard of before. Mike Metzger, the “godfather” of FMX, was at the show pushing his new line of Kali helmets and apparel.

Here’s a basic rule of thumb — style, color, and trendy design are not the most important consideration when looking for a helmet. Neither is ventilation or how many visor/shield configurations you offer. In my mind, neither is the margin offered to the dealer. But those seemed to be the only things anyone wanted to talk about. Except for Arai.

When I stepped into the Arai booth I was greeted with a wall covered in raw shell castings, cut-away shells, cut-away helmets showing various EPS liner configurations, and a bevy of crash-damaged helmets. I asked the first person I saw to tell me about Arai helmets and what made them different. (This was the first question I asked in every booth.) Immediately the salesman walked me over to the wall and began pointing out the raw fiberglass shell and talking about how helmet technology has evolved.

The salesman was an older gentleman, and in the course of his conversation he mentioned that his son had worked for Arai for 23 years. He took the older, single-layer fiberglass helmet casting (typical of 1980s-era helmets,) placed it on its side on the floor, and stood on it bouncing up and down. Then he explained, using photos and graphics on the wall, the 27–step process Arai uses to hand mold every modern, multi-layer Arai shell and explained the function of the various materials

He showed me the unique, dual-density, one-piece EPS liner that all Arai helmets use. He showed me the emergency cheek pad removal system. Then he began showing me the crash-tested helmets on display.

He noted that every rider had walked away without significant head injury. Some of the helmets were not just damaged, but destroyed. That the rider had survived was astonishing. But the helmet did its job.

After his demonstration I walked over to the shelf of new helmets and found a new XD3 Supermoto/Adventure helmet. I love this helmet — the look, the feel, the fit, the balance. Even though it is noticeably heavier in your hand than a Bell Moto8 or the more-comparable Shoei Hornet-DS, it doesn’t feel heavier on your head. There’s no top-heaviness at all.

As soon as I put the helmet down another salesman walked over and began asking me questions. He also started explaining the differences in Arai construction and pointing out features and considerations that the first gentleman had not gotten to.

In fact, everyone in the Arai booth appeared to be extremely knowledgeable about their product. Moreso than any other helmet vendor I visited. I had a similar, but not quite as thorough, experience last year when I talked with the marketing director at Bell. But everyone else, not so much. They pretty much wanted to show me the new graphics, the new vents, or talk about the margins I make as a dealer. I know that’s important, but it’s not what I asked about.

The AGV rep did talk briefly about the industry-wide discussion over whether Snell is the right standard, and whether Arai helmets are, in fact, too stiff. He mentioned that there was actually a Snell meeting at the show to discuss some of these issues. The AGV helmets are noticeably less stiff than an Arai.

There is a legitimate argument about how to rate and construct helmets, and there is real concern that Snell may not be the right standard. There is significant industry debate over this issue, with competing standards in the US, Europe, and the UK. I wrote about this last year.

In that article I noted that, in an informal survey of several riders, there was general agreement that a $250 helmet was probably 2x better than a $100 helmet, but there was doubt that a $500 helmet was actually 2x better still.

I still don’t know the answer, but I do know this — the Arai folks are fanatical about helmets, and it’s very hard to argue against a company that is so committed to protecting your head. They are not making a fashion statement. They are not bowing to trends and fads if it compromises what they believe a helmet should be. They are 100% dedicated to making the very best helmet they know how to make. And this passion shows in everyone in the company.

I might still say the Bell Moto8 is my favorite off-road helmet, but I’m not sure. I know I love the Arai XD3 and will replace my current street helmet as soon as I can.

According to this Oligopoly Watch post “Getting hosed“, the EU competition commission recently issued $173 million in fines to six global corporations for conspiring to fix the price of marine hose. Included in the list:

• Bridgestone Tire and Rubber (Japan)
• Trelleborg SA(Sweden)
• Manuli Rubber Industries (Italy)
• Dunlop Oil and Marine (UK-based, but a part of Herman conglomerate Continental Tire Group)
• Parker ITR (Us/Italy)

Any of those names sound familiar? Getting credit for an also-ran position is Japan’s Yokohama, which chose to expose the cartel to avoid fines. These companies control the great majority of a world-wide commodity product — rubber — that is used for a lot of motorcycle parts besides tires.

According to the article, there is some hope as the UK appears to be moving more aggressively toward criminal investigations of complicit executives. It’s about time. After a dozen years of letting companies do whatever they want we need a serious redirection of anti-trust action.

As a side note we, as motorcyclists, need to be extremely cynical that global corporations have our best interests at heart. They do not. Not Honda. Not Suzuki. Not Yamaha. Not Kawasaki. Not BMW. Not HD. None of them. And we need to be extremely vigilant that these companies do not co-opt our rider organizations for their own goals just because they have the money.

Ricky Carmichael is not a 5-time winner of the Daytona Supercross by Honda (well, maybe Honda actually was the title sponsor every year the GOAT won, but that’s not my point.) Jeremy McGrath is not a 7-time Monster Energy Supercross champion. Mr Daytona Scott Russell is not a 5-time winner of the Daytona 200 by Honda.

I am sick and tired of reading that every past champion won some event sponsored by this or that company or product. It completely destroys continuity and rewrites history. Scott Russell won the Daytona-freakin-200. Not the 200 by Honda or Yamaha or whoever the color of the month is. Monster Energy didn’t even exist when Showtime was racing and he damn sure never won a Monster Energy Supercross title.

I know most of this crap comes from lame-brain PR people who’s only job is to shill for one company or another. And I know the bosses love to see the sponsor’s name in every piece of crap that goes out the door.

But can we at least pretend that we have a modicum of respect here. Can we at least make believe that there is something more important about the history of event than just today’s title sponsor? I throw up in my mouth a little bit every time I read that junk.

Now this Detroit Free Press article on Cobra features Cobra as an American manufacturer who is growing sales, even overseas, despite the recession. According to the article Cobra sold 1,100 combined motorcycle/ATV units last year. That’s nothing compared to the Japanese. But since when does that matter?

1,100 units is nothing. The Big Four plus KTM sell about a quarter million dirt bikes a year in the US across their entire product lines. If you knock it down to just the 85cc and under size it’s a lot less, but still more than 1,100 each.

Yet 1,100 units is enough for Cobra to make a profit, have employees, manufacture in the US, and keep growing. What’s more, they win races.

In dirt bikes winning on the race track is what matters. And Cobra does that.

Cobra bikes already boast an impressive racing record, winning dozens of amateur motocross national championships. Chief competitors include motorcycles from Austria’s KTM Power Sports AG and Italy’s Polini Motori.

The company has 100 dealers across the United States, including Waterford, Jonesville and Ludington in Michigan. Last fall, Cobra hired its first employee in Europe, where it is signing up distributors.

Cobra bikes gained a following in the mid-’90s based on their performance. Bud Maimone, an owner of a tool and die shop near Youngstown, Ohio, created the bikes for his son to fill a niche that he didn’t think anyone was serving well.

Hilbert, Cobra’s president, and seven other investors are buying the company from Maimone, a process expected to take a few years. Half of Cobra’s investors, including Hilbert, are former auto engineers.

A small American motorcycle company owned by reformed auto engineers. Selling bikes, winning races, and pushing forward. That’s the kind of innovation we need to get the country back on track, not $1 trillion bailouts so corrupt bankers can buy new corporate jets.

One thing that caught my attention was a brief mention from Tony Wenck as the second hour began about the FIM MX1 World Championship being shortened (again) with the postponement of the planned USGP round. I usually check the MotocrossMX1.com site a couple of times a week, but had not heard this yet. This cancellation comes on the heels of the cancellation of the South African round due to financial difficulties.

What Tony talked about, and what I want to discuss, is the overall trend of downsizing in industry, what it means, and what we should expect. There were 40,000 layoffs in the US this week as US companies cut back. That sounds devastating, and it is if you’re one of the 40,000.

What we have to remember is that business is cyclical. Companies that are flush with cash, booming with business, and running as fast as they can — which is what many US companies were doing between 2004 and 2007 — wake up one day and realize they’ve made a mistake (or several.)

They’ve hired too many people, taken on too many new product lines, acquired too many companies, or expanded too fast. Often the easiest way to solve a problem when you’re growing is to throw more people at it. Unfortunately, this is not the most efficient way, and often far from the best way, to solve a problem. As long as things are great everyone ignores it. But when things get tight it’s time for everyone to readjust to reality.

This readjustment process is what politicians call a recession. It’s when everybody backs up, re-evaluates what’s important, what works, and what doesn’t. Ultimately, the smart companies come out better than they were. They focus on where the money comes from, and they dump, at least for a time, the arrogance that makes them think they are infallible. The market speaks very loudly in a recession. That’s good. It hurts for a while. That’s bad.

The motorcycle industry has a lot of smart, resourceful, entrepreneurial people. These people will find new markets, lean out their business, improve customer service, and find ways to grow. They won’t be swayed by scare stories on the news every night. They’ll keep working and learning and adapting.

In a year or two we’ll look back and see the industry stronger as a result of the current problems. The motorcycle is a great way to forget your problems for a while. It’s a great way to save on gas. And it’s a great hobby for families and friends. Just hang in there. It will get better.

This little video has been around since 2006, but I just found it. It’s hilarious, and was no doubt quite cathartic for Dave. I’m sure his call screeners purposefully select the biggest train wrecks for the show but still, it has to be tough to listen to some of the crap he hears week after week after week.

Even if you’ve seen this before, it’s worth watching again. Don’t we all wish we could do this.