Re: Keeping cool in the Dog Days of summer

["Steve Makohin" <wateredg@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Robert,

Robert Silas <robert.silas@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Thanks for the write up, interesting.
> Is there any chance to find a helmet which offers some kind of cooling 
> system???
>
> On my way from Montreal to Detroit, I got into a traffic jamb at Kingston 
> on
> the 401.  One lane was closed and the open lane blocked solid.  We were
> standing without any rolling for 25 minutes.  Of course I turned the boxer 
> off
> and eventually I took my helmet off too, to prevent fainting.  It was 
> bright,
> sunny weather and 33-35 C.  (93-96 F.); I have a thermometer on the bike.
>
> I hung my full-face helmet on the mirror.  Slowly, we started to crawl, 
> 5-8
> feet at a time. As lucky as I am, a police car was parked in the closed 
> lane
> in the middle of the construction.  A young and eager officer turned on 
> lights,
> flashers, sirens, jumped out of the air-conditioned police cruiser and 
> pulled
> me aside, thinking that "I'll get this 79 years old bustard".
> He gave me a $110.- ticket saying: "today you rode without a helmet".
> He carried the law to the extreme.  I could have used a cooled helmet.

I don't know if an unpaid US ticket or a conviction on a US ticket will have 
an impact on your Canadian record, or on you subsequent visits to the 
States. If they do, consider challenging the case as follows:

o Show up in court! I recently got a ticket (my first in over 15 years).
  The charging officer never showed up, so the charges were
  dismissed due to "no evidence". Interestingly, around two thirds
  of the charges that occurred in the two hours I waited in the court
  room for my case to come up, were similarly dismissed for the
  same reason.

o If your accuser is actually present to give testimony, listen carefully
  to his *exact* words. A possible defense is that your vehicle was
  in stopped traffic without *any* movement for close to half an
  hour in 96'F temperature. During that time, you removed your
  full-coverage helmet and shut your engine off. After waiting for
  almost half an hour, the traffic moved forward approximately 10
  feet, so you *pushed* your vehicle forward that distance, at
  slower than walking speed, only to wait again for another ten
  minutes (or some other specified time). This process repeated
  for over an hour (provide an approximate time), during which
  the accusing officer charged you with riding without a helmet.
  Ask the court to consider these extreme circumstances in light
  of the charge that is being presented, and the purpose for which
  that law was created.

I believe that when the court hears your testimony, and it comes from a 
well-spoken, polite, "elderly" gentleman, they will hopefully take these 
facts into consideration and recognize that the charges are truly unmerited. 
Good luck.

- -Steve Makohin
 '01 R1100S/ABS
 Oakville, Ontario, Canada

------------------------------