HALOU.

Halou.

Rebecca and Ryan Coseboom.

Pronounced [huh-loo], from San Francisco.

TR

Weekend Corona post - 'holiday in a bottle'

It's like hol-i-day!

TR

mega moto.

Meet Shawn Maffenbeier of Team PerformX. We rode with Shawn down in SoCal(team burrito) in early April, and this kid has skills..

Shawn is 16 and racing pro in the Canadian Nationals. He dominated at the G.R.R.C. race last weekend. At home his dad makes him line up at the starting gate facing backwards, just to give the other guys a chance.

Shawn is super focused, and will likely go far in this sport.

Team PerformX:

Shawn Maffenbeier, Warren Barrow, and Todd Schumlick.

Coolest guys in the bathroom for sure.

TR

micro moto.

We attended a race last Sunday at G.R.R.C. (our local motocross track in Pemberton).

There is nothing like the roar.. errr, i mean buzz, of half a dozen micro motocrosser's, giv'ner for the holeshot!! These guys are 3-6 yrs. old. They just look for their parents to tell them what direction to go, and then just pin it! Imagine a pissed off sounding leaf blower running at redline.. or maybe a blender set to 'puree'.

Check for micro attack position. Cutest thing ever.. 

(until they turn 12 and start bagging 120ft triples).

TR

Rendezvous.

This is an old school classic from 1978. One of the best films ever made. POV cam mounted to the front of a Ferrari 275 GTB, being driven flat-out (illegally) across Paris at 3a.m.! One shot. No music. No lines. No effects. Just the soundtrack coming from the engine. Great ending too.

TR

AETHER BARRIER Jacket.

Introducing the AETHER Barrier jacket, designed and engineered here at FYI. This is a sneak-peak preview, as the production jackets are due to hit retail this fall. This jacket will be in limited numbers, meaning it will be exclusive and hard to get.

This jacket is like nothing else in the marketplace.. The exterior fabric is a robust waxed cotton, combined with premium Primaloft insulation and a buttery soft interior. This combination is totally unique and creates a very interesting feel to the garment.  It has a tailored cut that's very elegant, which at the same time is in sharp contrast to the waxed cotton it's made from. Sort of like Aston Martin making a duck hunting edition Vanquish!

The Barrier is full of sophisticated patterning and construction details, and is truely hand-crafted in every respect. Fabrics from the U.K. and Japan, Insulation from the U.S.A., Zippers from Switzerland; Designed and manufactured in Canada. This jacket is exuding quality and craftsmanship - which is something increasingly rare in today's world of cookie-cutter mass production.

The Barrier has two drop-in external chest pockets, two hand pockets, an internal iphone pocket on one side, and an internal travel pocket on the other. Photo's alone don't do this jacket justice, it needs to be seen, felt, and worn, to be truly understood.

This is one of the most challenging garments we've developed, and one of my personal all-time favorites. It comes highly recommended to anyone that values sophisticated design, attention to detail and quality craftsmanship.

It will be very hard to get. If you want one I suggest contacting AETHER directly. The limited production will sell out very quickly. 

Watch for the AETHER website to update with the fall collection, later this summer. This is just the tip of the iceberg for an emerging label that's defining a new market, and destined to make a real impact.

TR

Weekend Corona post - 'casting call'.

Have a great weekend.

TR

CRF450R Project update.

Ok, i've been lagging on the four-five-oh project update. The bike has actually been done for awhile, and is already broken in. This is one serious piece of motocross engineering. This is actually my second 450cc, however i've been primarily riding a 250cc for the last couple of seasons.

The red RG3 triple clamps help control deflection in the forks for more precise cornering and wheel placement.

The Honda HPSD is a steering dampening system, that allows you to 'tune' the steering characteristics to your personal preference. You can increase the dampening for increased stability or reduce dampening to improve turn-in response in corners. Honda is the only company with a system like this, so far..

The steering dampener is the little widget in the center. It articulates with the steering, and helps control the front end of the bike.

This hour meter tracks every hour the engine is running, so you can keep track of all your maintenance through the life of the bike.

Carbon fiber fork guards don't actually improve anything - they just look cool.

Titanium exhaust by FMF. Sounds good. Looks good. Adds a couple HP.

The bike handles brilliently! After five hours of track time though, I've concluded I still prefer a 250cc for a couple of reasons. The 250cc can be ridden high in the RPM's and 'on the throttle' most of the time, where as the 450cc requires pro level skills to be ridden that aggressively. Another factor is the increased crank mass of the 450. It feels like a 250 until you start to roll on the throttle in a corner (the crank mass makes the bike want to stand up in corners) and then it feels like the 'big bike' that it is. I prefer the more playful feeling 250cc for my style of riding. A 450 with 50+HP on a motocross track is serious; grab a -tiny- bit too much throttle and next thing you know you are flying 120ft on a 90ft jump. It demands respect, and requires precise throttle control at all times.

Bottom line is a 450 is 'serious' while a 250 is 'playful'. And a well ridden 250 can be as fast or faster than a 450 on some tracks. So now that i've finished the 450 project, I've decided to hit the restart button and start over with a 250!?.

Anyone interested in a race ready, mint 2009 CRF450R, contact FYI ASAP.

TR

It's hard to be a dog.

TR

Dog 'o' matic washing machine.

Finally!

TR

Problem Bear.

So you're relaxing in the hammock with your eyes closed, and....

This guy has actually become quite annoying. Trying to get into the garbage 5 times a night. He just takes whole garbage cans and drags them into the woods. We retrieved 4 cans from the woods yesterday, and he managed to steal another one last night. This is becoming something like 'Caddyshack' with Bill Murray and the gophers...

TR

Weekend Corona post - 'high tide/ low tide'

TR

Humming birds.

Humming birds are the smallest birds in the world, weighing as little as 2 grams (a u.s. penny weighs 2.5 grams!). While in flight, they have the highest metabolism of any animal on earth, with a heart rate of about 1220 beats per minute. To save energy at night they can enter a state called 'Torpor', in which they lower their metabolism (slowing their hear rate down to 50 beats per minute), to conserve up to 95% of it's energy.

This is the 'Bee' hummingbird. The smallest, of the smallest birds in the world.

Humming birds are also the only bird that flies by beating it's wings in a circular motion, which allows it to hover, fly backwards, sideways or even upside down. Most humming birds beat their wings around 20 times per second, but the smallest birds can be up to 70 beats per second! This allows humming birds to fly at speeds over 50 km/h, and even up to 100 km/h during a dive. They are like little F1 cars with wings.

Humming birds are also smart. They are said to remember every flower they visit (which is about 1000 a day). Although for some reason they get trapped in our skylight, and can actually fly until they die - if they don't fly down to get out. I helped three tired birds out of the skylight this week. Once I even had to feed one before he could fly away. They need to eat constantly - a few times their body weight every day.

These little guys can only be found in North and South America. They actually migrate every season over 3000 km, from as far south as Chile to as far north as Alaska. Including over 700km non-stop flight over the gulf of Mexico! Hard to imagine such a long trip for such a little guy. Soo far!

TR

Mercedes F-Cell Concept

Seems like everybody is downsizing these days. 

The F-Cell Roadster is driven by a fuel cell, through drive by wire technology, via a joystick instead of a steering wheel. It has a top speed of 25 km/h, and a range of up to 350 km/h. The point though, is that it's emission free.

An interesting design study that draws on a broad range of engineering era's. Some elements tie back to the early automotive industry of the late 1800's, while other elements share genes with modern F1; and still others are looking ahead to incorporate future yet-to-be-commercialized technologies. 

And just imagine what will happen when AMG gets ahold of this...

TR

Armstead Snow Mo-bile.

This is actually pretty impressive tech.

TR

Weekend Corona post - 'SPF 9 1/2'

TR

Big Ass Fan Co.

Introducing the Big Ass Fan Co.

My Uncle, Rick Oleson, is an Industrial Designer / Engineer at Big ass. He's an engineer with a sense of humor, which is a bit of an oxymoron...  and a great fit with Big Ass corporate culture.

The Big Ass Fan Co. was originally called HVLS Fan Co., yet every time someone saw one of their huge industrial fans (up to 32' feet in diameter!) the universal comment was 'wow, that's a big-ass fan'. In a bold move of marketing genius they changed their name to Big Ass Fan Co. and never looked back. The name defines the company and the product, in a most unforgettable way. Anyone offended by the name needs to stop taking life so seriously; you can take your job and products seriously, and still make fun of yourself at the same time! I like their style..

I love the industrial 'Powerfoil' models. No question, we will be installing a Big Ass Fan in the next [new] design studio at FYI. We may even need to design the building around our Big Ass Fan!

Check out this pic; [Amazing] (there is a airplane in the pic too).

They didn't reinvent the wheel, just the fan.

TR