White Dalton Blog

I have long been aware that wind noise contributes massively to the fatiguing effects of riding a motorcycle; pretty understandable given that at motorway speeds the volume inside a helmet is apparently the equivalent to having a pneumatic drill pounding away at you.

So I had been toying with the idea of getting some personal ear plugs rather than continually nicking from the office stash of disposable freebies we give out at shows . At the Aberdare Road Races I decided to utilise the time spent waiting for it to stop raining by finally acting on this idea, and I had casts taken of my ears to have plugs made which fit me and me only.

The sensation was simply the strangest thing I have experienced in a long time; it is neither natural nor pleasant to have goo injected that far down your lug-holes.

The jury is still out on whether it was worth it. I did get a pretty good deal cash-wise, and I did get to choose bright blue to match my bike and satisfy the girliness in me. However, I’m just not sure .

They are quite solid, which surprised me – I think I expected softer, more malleable rubber. This means my ears now get bashed by my helmet each time I pull it on or off. It also means after a long journey my ears can feel quite tired – really not something I would call ‘normal’.

I have also found them quite a hassle to insert, although I am hoping this is just a matter of technique improving over time. It is definately a two-handed affair, and it is all too easy to get the angle off just slightly, and you will be fumbling for ages, cursing (a lot) and getting less and less likely to fit them with each mini-tantrum. On the other hand, sometimes I manage it within seconds, and wonder what the fuss on the previous ride had been about. Which just confuses me further.

I think the conclusion I am almost at is that when i’m out for a decent spin on my bike then yep, genius, cuts out almost every last bit of wind noise (I chose the filter level for race & motorway use rather than normal road use), and I can hear my bike’s engine crisper than ever, which is great. Definately worth the hassle.

However, when out as a pillion? Or on just a short run-around? No thanks, I think i’d rather just have a little noise and get to where I am going without the extra palarva.

Here are some of the pictures I took at the recent road races – these guys are nuts.

It was a real shame about the weather, but we hope to be back next year when fingers crossed it will be baking hot sunshine!

This weekend, John and I went to Aberdare, South Wales, to man White Dalton’s stand at the Annual Road Race.

The turn out was a bit lower than expected, but given the ridiculous amount of rain which fell over the weekend we were pleased to see there were still a large number of bikers who arrived to provide support to the racers. Speaking of whom, the racers who still continued to compete through the rain were truly hardcore and I take my hat off to them. The bikes still got up to amazing speeds and over so far at corners, despite the wet, making the races great to watch. John got some close-up shots of some of them, so I will get him to post them, and below are some general scenes taken with my not-so-fancy pocket camera.

I was pleased to note our new safety campaign of car/van stickers urging drivers to look twice for bikers before turning went down well, and as usual there was much interest in the CCM Limited Edition Flat-Tracker we are currently giving away.

Oh well, the only thing you truly cannot plan is the weather … I hope we will be back next year in drier climes to properly enjoy this annual event that has built up such a great name for itself.

Having returned last night from the Road Races in Aberdare, I just wanted to pen a big THANK YOU to the (large number of) lads who all assisted John and I manoeuvre the White Dalton Motorhome on the quagmire formerly known as Aberdare Park. I was truly grateful to see real camaraderie, and was impressed at the amount of muscle power offered up from both show-workers and other traders! It was also nice to see that no amount of rain can dampen that welsh spirit Oh – and to those of you who jokingly said we would be lucky to get in for midnight … we made it with an hour to spare!