Busted and Broken - Jacobs Ladder

I'm driving on the highway on my 07 GSXR600 and some guy in a beat up pick up truck flys by me in the left lane, and I'm like wow what a douche. So seconds later after he is about 10 car lengths ahead of me I see a 22ft extension ladder fly off his truck, now as its bouncing and fliping around, I'm like WTF so I squeeze the brakes to slow down and hopefully avoid it, but it lands right in front of me the long way so I have no choice but to run over it. I make it over the ladder but lost control of the bike The bike fell to the right side then stands back up and high sides me off the left side. Luckily I was wearing my gear, mostly ICON (Hooligan Jacket, Victory Riding Jeans, and Field Armor knee and elbow pads) I had few brush burns but nothing serious and a few bruises but the gear is really what saved me from serious injury. The jacket had a few tears in it, and the jeans have a small blemish/scrape in the knee but didn't tear thru. I'll always wear gear while riding especially ICON because its the best in my opinion. I rolled on the pavement for 60-80ft and I'm truly shocked how well the mesh jacket held up, only had 2 tears and the rubber icon symbol scraped. also the riding jeans had one abrasion on the knee from the initial impact but no tears that went thru. I swear by these jeans! 

Thanks,
Dave M.
Cheektowaga, NY

 

Starchild

What's that you say? You've got a first generation Icon Alliance helmet that you're looking to spice up? You've been wanting to do a little something different with you're eye makeup? Well Tarina Tarantino has just the kit for you. The Starchild Odyssey Eye Palette has everything you'll need give your peepers a full Ziggy Stardust overhaul. We say lay it on heavy and thick you saucy tart! 

Team Triple

A reader 's Triumph 675 in Team Merc urban camo livery - Nice. Check out the original Team Merc Bikes here. 

F'in Savages

"Someday this war is gonna end" he muttered from behind the chinbar of his helmet. The sweet aroma of petrol slithered up from the increasing large puddle beneath the bike. Gasoline had never really smelled like victory to him. It's heavy bouquet usually indicated yet another rusted tank, failed hose, or stuck float. None of which remotely resembled conquest. But even the threat of a crotch full of gas was not sufficient to abort this mission.

Errand boys sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill - prepping the latest batch of team Icon bikes for the 2011 Spring collection street shoot

Heading up the river with a completely rashed silencer and a precariously mounted gun camera - some would find the Icon method unsound

Rogue

Icon Rogue Jacket - Circa 2006

Words...just words

You'll remember Heather McCoy, editor of Sportbikechic.com. Heather's the woman that modified her Bombshell boots with a platform sole for increased stoplight stability. The following is an excerpt from an interview I did with her about Icon women's gear. Click here for the entire interview.

Bring Out 'Yer Dead

Prior to departing for Europe we reached out for any tips on a few good motorcycle friendly dive bars in Amsterdam. Jeff at COC and Perry at Urban Chopshop pointed us to Excalibur Cafe Bar. During our merrymaking at Excalibur we witnessed all levels of red light debauchery. Dirty thick late thirty something Swedish school teachers making out on the bar with a newly acquired bedazzled silicone friend. An utterly annihilated forgotten son of Wales telling us tall stories of Sean Connery's sister. And a seven foot tall 330lb ex-KGB courier who shot his projectile vomit half way across the canal. This town doesn't exactly want to kill you, but it is up for a little bit of maiming. Needless to say we arrived on foot and left by taxi. Thanks for the tip guys.

Outside there were several indicators that Excalibur may have some club affiliations...

...though the cheery carnival facade seemed inviting enough

Inside Excalibur the walls were decorated with the dead...

...and the bar stools were adorned by those who soon would be

Barkeep Zeed set us up with his preferred elixir, tequila shots with orange slices and cinnamon - unfortunately our money ran out long before our thirst (Rick Steves travel tip - It is VERY expensive to get liquor drunk in Europe)

Busted and Broken - BMW'chowda

Dear Icon,


Here in New England, on Route 1 going north bound, I was going home and was on a stretch of road where the speed limit went from 35 mph to 50mph. I looked in a driveway of this supermarket to make sure no one was going to dart in front of me and all of a sudden this BMW 325 appeared. There was no way I could stop. I hit my brakes, hit the car, and was airborne. I hit the pavement on my right side - sliding and ripping holes in my jeans. Thank God I had on my Icon Skull jacket and Icon Super Duty gloves. I have to say I was a little shaken up but I was physically  fine.  I had road rash on my knee and thigh but my elbow and hands were fine. Thanks Icon for saving me a trip to the hospital.

Achtung Baby!

You know what Falco said about Munich girls, right? No? Well no matter because Mai-Lin isn't from Munich, or any other part of Bavaria for that matter. Nope, she's a northern girl. Northern as in Hamburg, Germany. A dreary port town with little in the way of sunshine or fun. Except for the following article - which is all about the motorcycle 'Fun Faktor' (which literally translates to Fun Factor.) Straight from the pages of Motorrad magazine, the Fun Faktor pits Icon team rider Mai-Lin as the lone stuntpilotin competing against four very serious looking German riders. In other words she is the Farfegnugen to their zeitgeist. Truthfully we have almost no idea what this article actually says...namely because we didn't pay very much attention in German class. Sorry Herr Gerstenslager, you were right, we will actually need to sprechen sie Deutsch as adults. 

Team Icon Talks: Nick Brocha

Team Icon Talks is a short interview series conducted with Icon Team riders. Think of it as a podcast. But without the pod or the cast. A couple weeks ago we featured Eric Hoenshell talking tank topping. This installment features Nick Brocha talking stunt riding. Look for Nick's 'Porn-Face' around the 1:23 mark, it's disturbing. Actually don't do that, in fact forget we even said that. But do stay tuned next month for the third installment where Ernie Vigil will talk about the first two episodes. You just can't get this kind of programming on basic cable.