Sol Power–BrammoBlog.com

BrammoBlog version 2: edition something or another…I’ve kinda lost track.

Ok…it’s been a while. Life continues to be beautifully hectic. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Still, it’s tough to get in some “lets write on the blog today” time.  And I, like too many times before, have no theme for today’s blog. So it is another Mish-Mash Photoblog. As I always say, more photos and less me is a good thing.

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So this winter has been very mild compared to the rest of the country, especially the Eastern part. Little snow and mostly warm days. Heck, next Sunday, Feb 16th, it is suppose to be 70 degrees. That wouldn’t be surprising in San Diego, but we are a mile above sea level and actually get winter here in Albuquerque.

First photos are from a week or two ago. It was in the mid fifties in town, so I thought, “Hey, it’s beautiful here in town, I should take a ride up to the top of the Sandia Mountains.” This was, as my lovely wife pointed out when I got back, a silly idea. The mountain is always 25-35 degrees colder, and usually much windier, making it feel even colder. She said, rolling her eyes (more on that later)**, “Gavin, it’s lovely here in town. Why ride up the mountain when you could have taken a beautiful, and warm, ride along the Rio Grande?” Damn…But she is smart and I am dumb. Plus I wanted some snow photos.

I hit a milestone on the ride. 5000 miles. Now I’m a year round rider…but I have a short commute. So to some, especially those people in California with nice weather and crazy long commutes to work, 5000 miles isn’t a lot. But for me, well I usually put 5000 miles a year on any bike I own. So the Empulse is just like another bike. In other words, I treat my electric motorcycle like I treated my previous motorcycles. And that is a good thing.

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I got a late start on the ride. It was really 3 o’clock…I am horrid at changing my clocks with daylight savings time.

I was about 4 miles into my ride when I stopped to get that photo. I would have to hurry a bit to get up the mountain and back before it got really cold and dark. The backside of the mountain faces East and gets dark well before the west side where Albuquerque lies.

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Snow!

I’m at the Ski Basin parking area at around 8,600 feet. The peak is another 2000 feet…but I didn’t make it that far this day. I stopped here as my start was a bit too late. Maybe next weekend. But I did get some photos.

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Sandia Peak Ski Area. I park where I want. Plus the ski day was over and only a couple of people where left.

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I used a twitter photo treatment here to get the dreamy effect from my iPhone. One day I’ll have to get a nice camera, but the phone is just so convenient.

Sad story…see the people on the stairs? They where helping a young man, 12 or 13, down the stairs. He had a leg brace and arm brace…obviously he had an accident on the hill and was in temperory casts till he could get proper care in town. One of the people, likely his brother, was helping him but was still wearing his ski boots. Walking down stairs in ski boots is hard…walking down stairs in ski boots while helping an injured person is near impossible. He stumbled, fell and took his brother down with him. It was painful to see, and to hear…I went over to help, but there were enough of them helping. Slowly, after much screaming, they got him to the car. After that I really didn’t want to keep going to the top and decided to get home while I was still healthy and whole. Casts and braces and screaming made me realize that going further on the slightly icy roads was probably not a wise choice.

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So, 58 degrees at home. Below freezing at the ski area. Almost 60 miles round trip. Use 75% of my battery. A nice ride. A river ride would have been smarter.

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So that was a couple of weekends ago. This weekend I was at home and I took a ride just before sunset. I thought, “Gavin, you should get a nice sunset photo up in the foothills at the base of the mountain.” And so….

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Up at Elena Gallegos. A nice picnic area. These photos are facing to the East, away from the setting sun.

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You can see the orange of the sunset reflected on the battery support bar.

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Panorama. Click, if on the internet, to make bigger.

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Panorama. I cast a long shadow. Like Peter Pan, I often have to sew my shadow’s feet to mine or it runs away.

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Also facing East…but a bit later as the sun was further down.

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Now facing West.

The iPhone is not great at taking photos into the sun. I had to play with this a bit and it is still grainy. Oh well. Still pretty.

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I got the sunset photo bug the day before taking those photos. I was leaving my brother’s house just at sunset and took a nice sunset photo. Now to get a photo of the bike and the sunset is tough. Usually the bike is way too dark, or the sunset is way too washed out and bright. So what I sometimes do is take 2 photos and merge them. One focused on the bike and the second focused on the sunset. So that day I took two photos and downloaded them to my computer. When I went to merge them I mistakenly added a third photo. So my final merged photo added a little something to my sunset image. This is my Photoshop Fail photo…though I do like it. The Clownfish photo fits in very nicely with the color scheme. Happenstance can be a wonderful thing.

We get a lot of orange and pink sunsets in New Mexico.

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Let’s  keep with the theme of random recent photos. I was with my brother and his wife for a bite to eat at 2 Fools. An Irish pub in town. I parked out front like I always do. There is never an spaces as the pub is in a busy area of Knob Hill near the University of New Mexico. But I can always find space between two cars. That nights spot was a biggish space and not at all a tight fit. I parked dead center giving good space for the cars to easily get out without hitting my bike.

I come out and two Harleys have parked on either side of my bike…very close to me. In fact, I wouldn’t have been able to move my handlebars if the bike to my right didn’t have a raised handlebar. No harm, no foul…just hope that if I ever cram in next to them that they don’t get bent out of shape over it.

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It was a bit tighter than the photos shows it. Nothing horrid. I’ve parked that close to friends before. But that was friends.

I was the Street Fighter meat in their Cruiser sandwich.

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Speaking of sandwich…I took a ride on the Range….

Or “to the Range” would be more accurate. Yummy wedge salads and wonderful green chili stew.

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Well that about does it for this blog post. Not as exciting as some posts…better than others.

Till next time….Gavin.

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For more info on Brammo, please visit: www.brammo.com
For more images, photos, discussions and all around Brammo goodness: visit, lurk and maybe join: www.brammoforum.com

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Bonus.

I was riding home from a Farmington clinic when I saw this building. I was pretty sure it was a site used in Breaking Bad…but it looked more run down than I expected. So I grabbed a quick photo as I drove past. I know Breaking Bad is over, but I can now add this to my list of known sites. I will have to jump on the Empulse and get a photo one day soon. It will be the furthest site on my pretend tour.

It is an abandoned gas station near the Zia Pueblo.

Here is an image that shows it in Breaking Bad as a functioning gas station:

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**My wife’s eye rolling is legendary. I once wrote about it in a story of when I was helping a tarantula…well here it is:

Every September during mating season when the male tarantulas are out looking for love I will stop my car on the road whenever I see one of these 8 legged Casanovas to make sure they don’t get run over. One time an especially lethargic tarantula was taking too long, so I took of my sweater and let him climb on it and then dragged him across the road. My wife was sitting in the car, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. Like making a circle on your stomach with one hand and tapping your head with the other, it’s tough to do. But it is possible with practice…and she gets lots of practice with me around.

BrammoBlog Ver 2.0–Number 3.

Walter White gets a bit of kindness from a stranger…or how my bike became Blanche Dubois for a day.

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So I played hookie from work last Wednesday. Actually we were a bit overstaffed and I was a bit over-lazy…so I jumped on Walter and decided to take a bit of a ride.

One of my favorite local rides is going out to Madrid, New Mexico along the Turquoise Trail.

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The ride from my house to Madrid is a fun and fast 45 miles through some beautiful open country. And if I understand how that Math thing works…I take 45 and carry the 2 and do something with Pi and 3 hours later I get the answer of 90 miles round trip.(thanks honey for giving me the answer). Since this is not city driving I grab my charging cable and head out the door.

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My home is on the other side of that mountain in the background. That is the east side of the Sandia mountain.

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It was a partly cloudy morning, with possible afternoon showers. But the ride out was quite nice.

This photos is a panorama facing West.

Click to make bigger (only works on the internet…clicking the image on the email–if you’re one of the three people who get my emails–will do nothing…and yes I’m typing at you Mom…I know your clicking this image as you read the email and I’m asking you not to…so stop.)

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This is the same panorama as above, but facing East.

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After a bit of riding and a few short stops to take photos, I arrived in Madrid….

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And pulled into my favorite little parking spot in front of the Mine Shaft Tavern.

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Outdoor eating and bar. I usually go to the inside bar for a burger as it is wicked cool…but I decided to eat outside that day.

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I like to stop here to stretch the legs and grab a bite to eat and talk to the locals….who are really quite nice and mostly mad as hatters.

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But first things first…I look at my speedo…and no, not that type of speedo. I look at my Empulse display.

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I left my house a bit after noon and stopped a few times for photos. So 45 miles in just under an hour. About right for this trip: 45 miles per hour average speed. 7.5 miles of city driving and then the rest had posted speed limits of 45 to 55 mph. I did the last 22 miles at a pretty even 60-65 mph. So about 5 to 10 mph over the posted speed. A good pace, but not flying down the road.

So doing the difficult calculations: I was half way through my ride and I used 55% of my battery. Which is why I brought the trusty charger. I figured that I could eat a burger with fries, chat a bit with some locals and look at a few art shops and have the perfect amount to get home. An hour of level 1 charging (any standard 110 outlet) and I would be good for the ride home. And I’ve charged the Enertia at the Mine Shaft Tavern before*, so I knew it wasn’t an issue.

* see previous blog: https://brammoblog.com/2012/09/19/brammo-weekly-blog-some-photos-some-phacts-and-some-phun/

So I ordered a buffalo burger and a Coke.

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And then I went to hook up the charger from my bike to the wall outlet. I always like to ask first and order some food so I’m not just mooching some juice. So food ordered, coat and helmet on table, I grab the charger and walk back toward the bike to the only outside wall outlet–the building is very old  plug it in…and the only outside wall outlet was dead.

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Shame on you Mister Outlet.

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Now I wasn’t overly worried. I know of a few places I could charge on the way home. But I had already ordered my food and I hated to not use that time to charge. If I had known the outlet wasn’t working I would have ridden to Madrid, walked around a bit and then hopped back on the bike and eaten instead on the way back in Cedar Crest at Ribs. They’ve let me charge there before and they also have Buffalo burger and other refreshments. So I kinda just thought, “Oh well, a quick burger here and then off to Ribs for a tasty beverage.” And that is when my super nice waiter said to me: “The outlet didn’t work? Dang. Well you can park at my house and charge. I live about 11 houses down the road and there’s an outlet on the front porch”. Me: “Really? That’s really cool. Thanks.” Him: “No problem. If my roommate asks, just tell him Brian said it was ok. But I doubt he will notice. He’s probably on the X-Box gaming. It’s the yellow house next to the General Store. Just straight down the road.”  And as there is only one road in Madrid, it was pretty easy to find.

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Walter White grabbing some juice.

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And the walk from Brian’s house (Bryan?) allowed me to take a few photos of Madrid to share with my readers…reader…voice in my head.

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Madrid was a coal mining town. Then a Ghost town. Then repopulated with mostly Artists. Some work in stone. Some Metal. Some “Other.”

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Panorama of this Photo Park. I loved it.

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Madrid residents seem to love turning rail cars into buildings. I saw a few.

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Random mixed media art on my walk. Part of me thought it peaceful. Part thought of the Blair Witch.

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I’ve never been through the Museum. I will have to next visit.

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One of Madrid’s claims to fame. Wild Hogs was filmed here.

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Personally I like that the bar scene in the movie “Paul” was filmed at the Mine Shaft Tavern.

A horribly small photo from the movie. That’s the Mine Shaft Tavern. It was renamed Roy’s Roadhouse Bar for the movie. No idea why. Mine Shaft Tavern is a better name.

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A very true sign. The road has a 20 mph speed limit…but it is hard to go faster than 10 mph. Everybody and everything usually walks right down the middle of the road. Thankfully the whole town is about 1/2 a mile long.

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Madrid doesn’t put on too many “Airs”.  The Mine Shaft does have an indoor bathroom for the main bar. This is the bathroom for the outside bar.

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Heading back, this is another rail car turned into business, house. It sits at the southern entrance to Madrid and is very cool.

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A Panorama. Mom, stop clicking on the email image and go to the internet site to see it bigger.

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As I was talking to a local about the bike and getting ready to head home, thicker clouds started to move in. And there was a bit of thunder and lightning. And as I had charged for an hour and bumped the charge up to 55%, I decided it was time to head back to Albuquerque.

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 I did get a bit wet on the ride home. But nothing major.

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See the wispy clouds in the distance above the front tire? I love that we have a name for rain that doesn’t hit the ground. Only in the desert do you name rain that evaporates mid air. Virga.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virga

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Facing West with the Sandia mountains again in the background.

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And I arrive back home. 91 miles of fun. 4% charge left. Thanks Brian for some charge. Thanks Madrid for a nice little day trip.

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Till Next Time…which might be a while. The lovely wife and I are going on a road trip for the next 9 days. There is a good chance she might kill me in my sleep after many many hours riding in her car. But if by some miracle I survive, I will post photos. No motorcycle, but some lovely photos, hopefully, of Death Valley, Mammoth Lakes, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe and Crater Lake. Should be great, but hectic. Kinda like life. See ya.

Gavin

For more info on Brammo, please visit: www.brammo.com
For more images, photos, discussions and all around Brammo goodness: visit, lurk and maybe join: www.brammoforum.com

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Bonus: well maybe a bonus.

I was asked to pose for the 2014 edition of this calendar…but I politely declined.

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Blog whatever: Sometimes I think my head is so large because it is so filled with dreams**….or snot…yeah, definitely snot. 

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It is Blognesday and I had promised a post on the Trinity Site and White Sands etc…Lots and lots of Photos….

But my head is a big balloon right now and all I want to do is sleep. Sadly I’m at work, so no sleep. But I can somewhat rest my head…but no energy to do a massive blog post that the weekend trip demands.

So, instead a much much much smaller post…

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This morning I made a slight detour on the way to work. It is Balloon Fiesta time and that means 9 days of balloons flying around the town.

Now we always have a few balloons going up most mornings…but only a couple of days a year do we get this:

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I always think it looks like the sky has chicken pox.

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The Balloons were kinda far away. The winds were from South to North and only a couple of miles per hours, so the balloons were moving slowly to the North away from where I live and work. Sometimes the winds are from North to South and we have the balloons drifting over our house. The dogs love it…if by “love it” I mean barking insanely at the sky invader moving ever so slowly above our backyard.

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So I thought I would try a Panorama view. It worked so well at White Sands and the other places I went this weekend.

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And I found that Panorama mode, rightly so, does not like cars moving on a highway. Confuses it somewhat.

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And now I am putting my head on the desk and silently weeping for a while….and by silently weeping I mean wailing like Banshee from the X-Men.

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Till Next Time

Gavin

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Bonus:

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funny cars, little clown cars all in a row.

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And Bonus Teaser:

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White Sands Panorama. One of many to come.

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Bonus update….

Lady Bug Balloon gets caught on a lamppost

Blog 45: A quick photo blog and a tease or 2 about upcoming blogs.

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I have a few photos I took the other day and planned to use them for next weeks blog…BUT….

Next week’s blog is already titled (Quiet Bike/Loud Helmet*) and pretty much worked out.

The blog for the week after that is also already planned.

So….

Bonus Freaking Blog baby!

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I was riding home the other day and there were rain clouds in the distance. So I found a little place to pull over and grab a picture or two. I wanted to include the Volcanoes off to the West of Albuquerque. There are about 5 of them, all very small and extinct. They last erupted around 200,000 years ago. So a few years before Brammofan was born.

It is impossible to get lost in Albuquerque as the Mountain is to the East and the Volcanoes are to the West. Well almost impossible. My sister in law can get lost in a Target parking lot. So she is the only one I know of who has gotten horribly lost while driving around town. But I digress. (for a photo blog, I sure do write a lot.)

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I found this strange little area. Not sure what it is used for. I had to ride down about 5 stairs. Don’t tell Brammo. Luckily they don’t read this blog… 🙂

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A bit more of a close up.

So a bit or rain off in the distance to the West. The three largest volcano cones are seen as small bumps on the otherwise flat horizon. The Volcanoes are not really all that impressive. Small. Dead. But still cool to have Volcanoes on the outskirts of the city.

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I live on the side closer to the Mountain. Riding home (first day using my new Icon helmet on my commute to and from work) and I find that it is also raining on “my side” of town…and we have a bit of a rainbow. Not the best rainbow…we have some truly amazing rainbows out here in the high desert… but I will take almost any rainbow photo.

We get a lot of rainbows because, though it rarely rains, it is almost always sunny. So when we finally do get rain, well we also have a high chance of the sun shining too…and Sun + Rain = Rainbows. It’s Science.

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I increased the contrast and saturation a bit to bring out the Rainbow.

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and another one with a bit of extra contrast and color in the sky.

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Those three photos were taken a couple of houses up from ours. I was getting rained on, so I decided to get back home and inside…and stopped in front of our house to get a couple of more photos.

Nice…and nice with the flag. But a bit dark…so…

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Still dark….The iPhone is not a fan of dusk. Still nice, and very patriotic with the Flag standing so straight and tall.

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Grrr. Dark and oversaturated in the sky.

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The sun coming out a bit helped get it a bit better…well that and merging two photos together. Of course I think I need to work on the photo a bit more. Notice the double image of the back tire and bits of white around the tree line…I truly do suck at Photoshop.

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Anywho…a short blog. Next week is my review of my new Icon Airmada Stack helmet (the first one sold in New Mexico…or so I was told) and of the Enertia Plus.

The blog for the week after that is “Top Secret”. So NO HINTS. 🙂

Well I will say it is not that I got a Plus or Empulse of my own…just another trip blog. But a fun and interesting trip is planned for Oct 6th.

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Till Next Time…

Gavin

For more info on Brammo, please visit: www.brammo.com
For more images, photos, discussions and all around Brammo goodness: visit, lurk and maybe join: www.brammoforum.com

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*Quiet Bike/Loud Helmet. Icon should use this slogan in their advertizing of the Airmada Stack HiViz Yellow and HiViz Orange helmets. “Loud Helmets Save Lives”