We love getting correspondence from the many folks who use AIRHAWK. And apparently some of you folks can write pretty well. Who knew? One thing we can say for sure is that our community makes for some fun, colorful and opinionated characters. That includes folks like “Reddog,” who recently sent us the following story about a long ride on “old iron”!

Greetings,

About your product. Several friends had told me about your product in probably about 2009. There were 4 of us preparing to ride “The Motorcycle Cannonball” on our late model iron. I ordered up 4 of these things. They went on two 15 Harleys and a 15 Excelsior, with the senior member of our contingent electing to ride with his sheep skin watch-a-callit. Well we thought we were the cat’s ass. I had ridden several thousand miles on my 1915 Harley with “The Airhawk.” Holy Mackeral, what a very effective product.

I think the worst part of our journey was after a very long day, right at 300 miles. That may not sound like much to some, but, when the newest bike allowed is 1915, the weather was 90 degrees, the humidity was 90% and we rode into Hot Springs without getting monkey butt. What a product.

Incidently, 3 of the 4 of our team made all 3294 miles, with the 4th missing 90 miles with a magneto failure on one day… not bad for 95 year old iron.

The sad news is that the “Old Bastard,” “Rickter”, didn’t use one. We ended up in a 10 way tie and Rickter won the tie breaker because he was the oldest rider. That really sucked, because it shot me down to 8th. “Stork,” using an Airhawk , pulled off a 3rd on his 15 Excelsior and “Gold Tooth” missing 90 miles was an exceptional accomplishment on old iron.

Now let me tell you about the real pisser.We get to Kitty Hawk, thinking we’re the cat’s ass, with our tush cushes, but noooooooo, Cris Simmons is sponsored by you guys. Annnnnnnnd, the van is equipped with them too. You sexist bastards. Hell, poor old “Goldtooth” has hemerrhoids (is that spelled right?) so bad he couldn’t have made it without the Airhawk. Hell, he couldn’t even load his roll chart.

Now here is my suggestion. I have included the above forementioned individuals in this e-mail. In order to prevent a reverse discrimination lawsuit, I think that a viable solution would be to equip all of our motocycles with Airhawks.

Sincerely,

“Reddog”

We hereby formally consider your request, Reddog!

As many of you know, BMW has finally shipped the much anticipated 2013 R1200 GS Liquid Cooled (some use an “LC” designator, and some “W”). I was fortunate to be one of the first in this country to get my grubby little hands on one, but I decided to wait awhile before giving my impressions of this great bike. You can’t really understand a machine like this until you’ve had an opportunity to put a lot of miles on it in varying conditions.

My lust for the GS started many many years ago, but it was never anything more than a fantasy –  a dream that someday I would load her up and set out for untold adventures in foreign lands. Last March, I rented one and took it on a three-day binge up the Pacific Coast Highway, then over to Lake Tahoe and Reno, before descending Sierra’s backside to Las Vegas and an I-15 finale through the Ivanpah Valley to Los Angeles.  The hook had been firmly set!

Fast forward to the Intermot show in Cologne, Germany where BMW formally launched the LC Boxer.  After handling this sweetheart of a ride for the week, I made the call to my guy Honz at Gateway BMW in St. Louis and asked him if he had a list going — he said he does now.

I now have 500 miles on my new rig – between my travel and dismal weather, it’s taken longer than I’d imagined to log this many miles.  I’ve ridden in rain, snow, wind, and finally a nice day yesterday; so now it’s safe to say that I’ve covered all the bases for a proper ride evaluation.

I will have plenty more to say about the GS, but for now, I will just say this — the GS flat out rocks!  More power, higher revving, more torque, better comfort, suspension and handling.  I guess I could just stop here, because each of these superlatives need their own explanation, but I won’t. Like all bikes, there are a couple of things about this rig that could use some improvement… but I’ll leave that for my next post.

From the road,

Steve

Author’s Note: Paul Brown is an avid AIRHAWK user and recently recalled with us his story of riding from New Jersey to Alaska:

I left Delran, New Jersey on June 18, and made it to Anchorage in 12 days. I traveled on some nice roads and some not-so-nice roads on my journey. Anything from freshly sealed and coated roads of oil, tar and gravel to mud and clay greeted us along the way. The one constant was the beautiful scenery.

I recommend riding Going to the Sun Road in Glacier Nat’l Park; we did it on the first day it was open (July 14). I also recommend the Cassiar Highway in British Columbia and the Beartooth Highway that rolls through Wyoming and Montana. Wyoming has some beautifully scenic routes in the Sunlight Basin and the Shell and Tensleep Canyons. I will also tell you to avoid Chicago. We were going to go to Muskegeon, Michigan to take a ferry across the lake to Milwaukee but it was full. Motorcycles ride free in spring & fall.

Two of the longest riding days were from Delran, NJ to Milan, Ohio (540 miles) and Cheyenne, Wyoming to Altoona, Iowa (680 miles). I also rode from South Bend, Indiana to Delran which was 703 miles. The only incident occurred on day one when the heel shifter peg fell off my bike; we had to stop and replace the part in the parking lot of a Harley dealership in Dubois, PA. I needed a new rear tire in Anchorage due to the above mentioned “roads”. The other riders, both on Goldwings, needed both tires replaced. My bike ran fine and using octane boost helped when only regular unleaded was available in Canada.

People were friendly and helpful throughout the trip and oohed & aahed over our riding roughly 10,500 miles in 35 days.

It never got totally dark in British Columbia, Yukon Territory or Alaska. I celebrated my 58th birthday in Anchorage, but I never felt older than 17 the entire trip. I was tired some days but no back problems, the usual aches & pains from long rides and of course a sometime sore hiney (monkey butt). We dealt with a myriad of elements; it was sunny, cloudy, rainy, poured for the entire ride some days and we had high winds on the prairies and it definitely rained sideways with marble sized hail.

We saw a ton of bears, deer and antelope through Yellowstone, along with the occasional elk, moose, mountain goat and Stone sheep. Bison roamed the prairies of Canada. We dined on the freshest salmon and halibut I’ve ever had while touring British Columbia and Alaska.

I took a mess of pictures, saw the Icefields Parkway between Banff & Jasper, revisited Alaska and Wyoming band other parts of the West.

So now I’m home and back to work and will have my pictures and memories to remind me until the next “GREAT’ road trip. Ideas anyone?

10,568 miles in 35 days – it’s good to be home.

We love getting letters and emails from AIRHAWK users who rave about how much our products help “save their asses.” Well, one letter really stood out to us and brings a whole new meaning to “saving your ass,” because that’s what Peter Pelayic does for a living.

Transporting vital personnel and parts to support coalition troops on the ground in Afghanistan, Peter often spends the equivalent of an entire work day flying in his Bell-212 twin engine medium-lift chopper.

“I’ve had a lot of fun flying this helicopter,” Peter said. “It’s a workhorse, but it’s very reliable and stable.”

Speaking of a reliable and stable workhorse, Peter never jumps behind the controls of his Bell-212 without his AIRHAWK cushion.

“If not for this AIRHAWK pad, I would not be able to fly the 8+ hour-long days over the mountainous terrain in my 212,” Pelayic said.

All of us at AIRHAWK are proud to help service members like Peter. It puts what we do in a little bit more perspective. We appreciate and salute our brave men and women and uniform.
If you know of anyone using AIRHAWK during training or deployment, we would love to know about it. If you have a story or photos of how you use your AIRHAWK, please post them to our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AirhawkSeats

If the final ride on your bike last season ended with you hopping off and throwing a tarp over the bike (if even), here’s a checklist for making sure the reconnection with your bike this spring isn’t a case of poking the sleeping bear.

Check your owner’s manual:
If you don’t have one, find one online.  Beyond the legalese, it thoroughly explains how the bike works and how to keep it running well.  Read it.

Check your oil:
Did you change the oil shortly before storing it away for the winter?  If so, you’re probably okay.  If you didn’t, maybe a change is in order.  Same goes for the oil filter.

Check your fuel:
Did you put your bike away with a full tank?  Likely not.  If you didn’t, drain the tank.  It’s possible that condensation has formed in the tank, especially if your area had those odd 60 or 70 degree days between freezing temps during November to February. Draining all the remaining fuel and replacing it with fresh gas is the prudent move.

Check your battery:
If there’s no or low juice in your battery, try a trickle charger. Check the fluid levels and give it a slow charge. If you aren’t getting any juice, it’s probably time for a new battery.

Check your tires:
If your winter has had extreme temperature swings, the pressure in your tires has likely responded accordingly.  If you don’t have a pump in your garage, please drive carefully on your trip to the nearest compressed air source. Also check tread depth and sidewalls for dry rot.

Check your brakes:
Check the brake fluid levels, but also think about the last time you changed the fluid. If it’s been a couple years, it’s probably time for a change.  It’s also a good time to check the brake pads.

Check your shine:
If your bike’s been sitting all winter uncovered – or in some case, even if it’s covered – chances are it’s collected some dust.  Give the mirrors, gauges, leather and painted surfaces the once over with a chamois or microfiber cloth.  Better yet, pull out the hose or take it to the local car wash for a full bath. Soak dried-on bug splatter with a hot wet towel to loosen prior to washing.  It will ease the elbow grease required for a thorough cleaning.

If you haven’t already, maybe this is the season you treat yourself (and your buns) to an AIRHAWK.  You can learn how to make this year’s rides a lot more comfortable: http://www.airhawk.net/.  If you already own an AIRHAWK, make sure the pressure is adjusted for best fit and comfort.  See the video story in this e-newsletter for more information.

Here’s hoping for an early spring in your area.  Happy and safe riding.