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Rental review: Hyundai Veloster

Posted by atomicalex on 2017-02-24
Posted in: Automotive, Style. Leave a Comment

I’ve been trying to get a Veloster as a rental for a while, and Enterprise delivered for me in Altanta this time around. Between the optimistic name and the cool looks, I was looking forward to see what Hyundai brought to the table in the sporty 2+2 segment. Sadly, rental spec is not kind to this silly little coupé. That’s too bad, because the Veloster has some fun elements amid a laundry list of mediocrity usually reserved for lower-budget American cars.

The overriding feeling one gets from the Veloster is “damn, it would be cool if…..” I think the one feature that truly sums up the car is the Veloster logo screened onto the front seat backs: most cars would have embroidery where the little Hyundai has some sort of puffy ink. The entire interior is best described as a hot mess. The front seats are shapely and body-hugging, with solid bolstering, but the lower center cushions are flat and cardboard-y. After a mere half hour, my butt was screaming. And what are great bolsters without adjustable lumbar? Not much. Adjustability was fantastic in all other dimensions, though.

Moving on to the IP, holy underware, Batman. The dash looks like a 2010 Civic got it on with an old Grand Am. It’s actually better in daylight than at night, where the endless array of backlit buttons is also endlessly distracting. The MMI screen is raked back at such an angle that only the lower half is easily reachable. Thankfully Apple CarPlay seemed to work fine. The silver-painted plastic trim is *everywhere*, spilling onto the doors in the form of upper trims and very intrusive grab handles that duplicate the function of the traditional cup pulls set further back and obscure access to the window and lock controls. The controls for the HVAC are decently laid out and took little time to sort. All functions worked, too. The MMI and rear camera setup functioned well and with minimal fussing. I was able to connect my phone via cable and Bluetooth.

The outside of the poor Veloster is part of the problem. It’s overstyled to an artful degree that so overpromises that the car could never really deliver anyway. The rear treatment is, in, my opinion, pretty good. Where the Chrysler Cross(back)fire looked unfinished, the Veloster comes to its conclusion directly and forcefully. The car sits balanced front to back with well-defined haunches and brings to mind some of Renault’s artistry in the Wind. The front end suffers a bit from excessive Canard syndrome, but the whole look is consistent and grew on me over the course of my rental.

Where the outside and inside meet, visibility goes out the proverbial window. Aside from the interesting glass hatch (I like it), there is not much greenhouse in the Veloster, making visibility an afterthough. Particularly bad is the view over the left shoulder, which is simply a wall of black B pillar. The driver’s mirror includes a blindspot viewer in the upper outer corner to help. The right side of the car benefits from the third door, which includes a window that can be opened to relieve wind noise and booming from open front windows.

Rental spec sadly meant that the Veloster I was driving was equipped with the normally-aspirated 1.4l mill and a functional DCT automatic. Oh, man. There is absolutely nothing redeeming about this combination. I spent about 80% of my time in the car thinking “damn, this would be pretty fun with a snail and a stick.” The promise spoken by the Veloster name and the hyper-styled exterior fell dead and cold on the stone-deaf ears of the powertrain. It didn’t even sound good.

General driving dynamics were decent. Road grip was good and for as much as you could push the tiny mill, the suspension was not the weak point of the system. Handling was another area where the car would benefit from an upgrade, but I’m not going to say it needs one, because the available power will never get you in trouble that way.

I realize that it sounds like I think the Veloster is a bad car, and that is not true. This is not a penalty box car (even in rental trim), nor is it a modern Mustang II. It’s actually a fun little way to get around that could do with some upgrades and factory performance options to help it live up to its enticing name. To start with, a high output motor and a decent six-speed manual, along with improved seats. Everything else works fine and is not only functional, it’s largely easy to figure out and use. The rest of it is all style points, and truthfully, if you’re a hot mess of a person, the Veloster will be a great fit for you right out of its hot mess box. You’re trying just as hard as Hyundai is.

Ortega Highway

Posted by atomicalex on 2016-11-14
Posted in: Gluten-free, Motorbikes, Style. Leave a Comment

I’m coming to LA! I said.

Let’s ride bikes! my friend Ronald said.

Bikes! my friend Andria said.

Race bikes in a wine cask! this guy Peter said.

Occasionally you get a work trip that goes somewhere really nice, like southern California. I have quite a few friends there, and like to take the opportunity to spend time together whenever possible. Friend Ronald and I make the effort to ride motorcycles together when we can, and my recent trip to Long Beach and Compton was no exception. We were privileged with loaners from Kawasaki and the Motorcycle Industry Council – I spent my day putting the new  Ninja 300 through its paces and Ronald bounced around on a nicely kitted Versys. We ended up riding with a bunch of friends, new and old.

My trip started on arrival at SNA where I picked up a Ford Fiesta with the laziest torque converter in the world. Oh, you want to accelerate? Let me think about that. Absolutely killed the fun part of the car, even in sport mode. My gf Suzie had warned me about taking the 15 (the north route) and suggested the south route instead. I peeked at the map  ahead of time – the south route was CA74, the Ortega Highway. While hardly an Alpine run, it’s a tight, twisty run over a 2665′ pass that takes you from the coast to the valley and on toward the desert. Roughly 20 miles of fun, even in the recalcitrant Fiesta.

I arrived in Wildomar and was met not just by Suzie, but friends Teri and Richard! A great surprise for me. We dined at a Mediterranean restaurant and shortly after, I flopped over, sound asleep in a nice, comfy bed. I needed to be out of the house at 0530 in the morning to head back over the Ortega to meet my riding group.

I was joined by friends Ronald and Andria at the Motorcycle Industry Council, home also to the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. Andria had arranged for the loan of two Kawasaki motos for Ronald and I – the delightful Ninja 300 for me, and a Versys 650 for him. Thankfully the Versys had big panniers, because we couldn’t get the seat off the Ninjette so I could mount my tank bag, and Andria’s beautiful Indian Scout had no storage, either. We teased Ronald a bit about carrying two women’s purses. From the MIC, we headed off to Schubert North America to pick up Peter Meade and his big GS. Peter had arranged a day loan of Schubert’s C3Pro Women for me to test out. I’m desperately in need of a new helmet, so…… He also had arranged for us to visit MotoDoffo at the Doffo family vineyard near Temecula.

We headed out the way I’d come in – over the Ortega. Every road looks different on a bike. No matter that I’d come over it in a car, all I’d learned was the basic layout. On the bike, the twisties took on new looks and lines. The little Ninja was flick-flick the whole time, limited more by its rider than its mechanicals. We stopped at the top of the road at the Overlook, a classic bikertreffpunkt like I used to go to in Germany. Tons of gorgeous sportbikes everywhere, and a great view of Lake Elsinore.

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We headed down into the valley to Temecula for a late breakfast at the Swing Inn. It was filling and yummy. We discussed the next phase of the ride – we would visit MotoDoffo, a collection of older racing bikes displayed at the Doffo family vineyard. We would also meet Suzie, Teri, and Richard. It turned out that Suzie knew the Doffo family through her experience in racing and wine, and if Marcelo wasn’t home, she’d rope son Damian into taking us around. We rode out of Temecula into the sun and wine country.

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Arriving at Doffo, we parked and began wandering around while Peter hunted down the family. Suzie&Co arrived and introductions were made. From there, it was BIKES!

The Doffo family have been racing motorcycles and participating in the racing community for multiple generations. Once the winery was up and running, they decided to install a homage to 1970s motorcycles and mototechnology in the form of a museum. Featuring everything from your basic SuperCub to a big cube KZ, it’s a love letter to two wheels with autographed pictures from Ducati. My favorite bit was a light-up sitting Bibendum figure, as I have now seen two of them and am convinced that they are real. I love Bib and all things Bib.

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Damian Doffo guided us around the display and pointed out some of the more significant bikes, including a particularly rare early Ducati owned by his father. I gawked at the parts in a display case. We learned about the Doffo family’s experiences racing both bikes and cars, and I chatted up Damian about our shared experience in the 24hrs of LeMons. Imagine that, two LeMons racers in a room full of bikes. We tried valiantly to explain it all to the others, but I guess you only get the LeMons if you get it.

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We visited the back shop, where the restorations take place in between pressings. More Ducati, including a Ducati rototiller (!), which is right up there with MI friend Ben’s Lamborghini orchard tractors. A lap around the dirt loop outside of the ship (in a golf cart) had us holding on for dear life.

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Richard led us back to the Ortega on a beautiful back road around the “back” side of town, climbing up and over a mountain range that reminded me more of the Angeles Crest than the Ortega. It was over too quickly – we found ourselves back at the Lookout at the end of the day. From there, we decamped to the MIC office to hand over the keys and retrieve our purses, and wound ourselves down from the joy of a great day of riding.

My day ended with a nice, quiet tapas dinner with Ronald in Long Beach. It was a perfect start to my week of training in California, something I apparently need to do a lot more of!

Kawasaki Ninja 300 & Schubert C3 Pro Women

Posted by atomicalex on 2016-11-09
Posted in: Motorbikes, Style. Leave a Comment

The venerable Ninjette gets a re-do and earns its place in the books all over again. Photography by Ronald Ahrens.

I was headed to LA for some work training, so I started calling friends to see who wanted to hook up and hang out for a while. One thing led to another and the prospect of borrowing bikes got floated. Then, a chance meeting with the US rep from Schubert and a ride plan started to take shape. This is where it sometimes goes to hell, instead, it went closer to heaven: 2665ft closer, the notch at the top of the Ortega Highway in California.

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The newest bearer of the Ninja name is a little parallel twin displacing 300ccs of volume. There is nothing about this bike that is big – from the exhaust ports that are barely an inch (25mm) in diameter, to the seat height at about 29″, to the standard riding position is almost sitting up for my 5’6″ frame. Even the graphics are small. The whole bike screams starter. And you know what? That is entirely ok. Because small means party time in Kawasaki-speak.

I admit up front that I consider myself a sort of lover of small bikes. I used to own a CBR250R that I considered illegal levels of fun, and currently turf my lawn with a beat-up old KL250G Super Sherpa. Smaller is lighter, more nimble, and easier to overpower. I am in charge of the bike, not the reverse. The little 300 is a logical step forward on the itty bitty bike path.

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Kawasaki lent me the Ninja 300 through the Motorcycle Industry Council and I put 200 miles on it over the course of a day, exploring the Ortega Highway and Temecula wine country. Schubert North America lent me a C3Pro Women helmet to test out while exploring the desert on the Ninja.

The Ninja 300 is, despite its very sporty looks, a standard. The rider takes a slight lean forward, just enough to feel your core working to hold position. It’s a natural fit for my 5’6″ frame, my 32″ legs are more than enough to have both feet down and some air under my butt when standing over the bike. This means sure stops and standing while waiting for lights to turn green. The controls are sized for average to smaller hands, although my big mitts are not the best measure – I wear a men’s XL glove simply to get the length I need in the fingers. The seat is surprisingly comfortable for a stock plank, far better than the foam brick on my old CBR250R and wide/shapely enough to offer decent butt support and comfort for longer (2hr+) rides.

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The transmission is a weak point – the six speed has the traditionally smooth shifting I associate with Kawi and their wonderful positive neutral finder, but first gear is completely useless and the entire range could do with a drop and new top cog to take the green machine up to modern highway speeds with a bit less buzz. Riding home, I became convinced that I’d broken something when I was unable to shift up at the behest of the upshift light – it’s apparently not locked out in sixth. I eventually had to downshift and figured out that everything was fine in the gearbox.

Schubert’s top-of-the-line ladies’ lid is an engineering marvel. Lighter than my RPHA-Max from HJC and closer-fitting, it is also quiet and cool. Several vents and a visor that will remain cracked open provide excellent air flow. The wide and tall eyeport has plenty of room for glasses. I’m stretching to find things that haven’t been said about this great helmet – even at the price, it’s as good as it gets – if it fits, of course. The inverted cheek pads modify the interior shape, bringing it closer to the female bone structure. This helps to keep the helmet in place on the rider’s head. Proper fit is best assessed by a professional, and after fitting by the Schuberth rep, I found that I wear a different size in Schubert than HJC. No surprise as head shape does more the determine helmet fit and comfort than head circumference, which is best used to size the shell.

The instrument cluster is offset and features a huge tach with a digital speedometer and assorted warning lights. The lights are clear and bright in daylight and easy to see. The information on the panel flows and is clear and legible. A multi-bar fuel gauge does require the bike to be mostly level to read properly – tilted back down a hill leads to false full readings. The bike returned roughly 60mpg in spirited riding.

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The wheels are cast and painted to match the bodywork, in this case, black. Colored deco strips add some attractive and sporty highlights. The wheels are fit with IRC tyres that I was never comfortable with on my CBR, on the heavier and slightly more powerful Ninja, they performed satisfactorily and I would consider leaving them on for the wear cycle. They lent reasonable plant on the dry pavement and were generally predictable under load. I didn’t push them to breaking loose, my previous experiences with them weren’t good enough to test that out. Regardless, the interface with the road is competent and fully acceptable for the power generated by the 300cc mill.

The motor is free-revving and buzzy, with the drama-free response typical of parallel twins. The engine suffers the transmission poorly – it’s eager to go and the gearset does it no favors with 1st gear hitting all of 20mph at 9K. The torque is more than sufficient to give up on first completely and treating the drivetrain as a five-speed rewards the rider with a very willing bike. A major plus are the brakes – I needed nearly no adjustment to my rote braking behaviour to bring the Ninja to heel. Smooth and effective, they held up well throughout the whole trip and during several runs up and down a steep section of the Ortega where my co-riders and I stopped for pictures. I place a lot of stock in braking, and it was quite a relief not to have to even think about it.

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The entire experience is pure Kawasaki and that’s a very good thing. The need to differentiate in the small displacement segment is high and the CBR300R is serious competition. Honda’s absolutely drama-free entry is just as capable, but lacks some of the little quirks that make the new Ninjette more of a family member than a hired hand. BMW and KTM leverage their more exotic packages to cater to smaller segments of the small bike market and are not ready for prime time in the starter bike market. The baby Kawi is a solid entry and should be considered by all small bike buyers.

Throttle Rocker vs.Kill Switch

Posted by atomicalex on 2016-10-22
Posted in: Motorbikes. Leave a Comment

I have been looking for a throttle rest for a while, and finally found time to hit up the IronPony and check out what is available. I decided on a left-handed Throttle Rocker and fit it to my bike.

Here, I digress, sort of. I have big hands for a girl. Not just big, but long. Gloves are a total joke, and I usually end up wearing a mens’ L or XL just to have room for my fingers and thumbs. This turned out to be a problem.


As you can see, my hand fills up the grip where the Throttle Rocker isn’t.

I tried my favorite waterproof gloves that mostly fit – a sweet pair of Racers:

Then I tried my everyday gloves, some IXS RS200s (mens’ XL!):  


You can see where this is headed. I went ahead and rode with the Throttle Rocker for about a week, during which my bike kept shutting off on me. Knowing the history of my poor old GS, I was starting to wonder if I was headed down the bad path again, but quickly realized that I was shutting off the bike myself as my gloves were hitting the kill switch when I rolled off the throttle! Yikes is not the word for it.

So, while I really do like the comfort and the function of this sort of palm rest, I don’t think it’s going to work out for me

Grass grows in Detroit

Posted by atomicalex on 2016-10-21
Posted in: Style. Leave a Comment

Grass grows in Detroit.

Someone asked me

what is so good about Detroit? 

I said: Grass grows in Detroit.

When bad things happen,
Grass grows in Detroit.

Between the houses.

On the ground.

Fresh green life, exuberant and ready to play.

A network to protect the stressed surface and give it time to recover.

Renewal.

When humans wreak destruction large,
Mother Nature renews her command
and grass grows in Detroit.

When other cities riot and loot,
When their denizens tear at the fabric of decency,
Does grass grow? 

No. 

Do empty lots turn to meadows of green and gold?
Do wildflowers reach for the sun?
Do people rise?

Only in Detroit.

Time moves ever forward.
Which way do the people go?

When fires burn and flames ravage,
The ground is prepared anew,
and grass grows in Detroit.

When spirit wanes and strength fails,
When rivers flood and trees fall,
When the very earth boils in pain,
Time passes.

And grass grows in Detroit.

Extreme Commuting

Posted by atomicalex on 2016-10-14
Posted in: Food, Gluten-free, Motorbikes, Style. Leave a Comment

I’m a moto-commuter about ten months a year, in Detroit, no less. My job requires me to work with two sites outside of the Detroit area, so sometimes, my commute involves some distance. Most recently, it found me trying to figure out how to manage a site visit that needed to happen immediately after a long weekend trip to the Dragon.

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My trip to the Dragon is an annual affair that I run either with a group of other riders I know or with my old car club, most of whom I have known for fifteen-plus years. Both groups hole up in a rental lodge for a few nights and run day excursions to the various excellent roads around the area. This year, we visited Helen, GA, and ran the Dragon, the Moonshiner (to Fontana Dam and Bridal Veil Falls), and the Blue Ridge Parkway. My necessary stop at work afforded me the opportunity to ride northbound somewhat east of my usual track and I added in NC 209, the Rattler, and the Cumberland Gap tunnel on US 25E. This turned the normal 200 miles of distance into about 1200 miles.

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One of the biggest challenges of extreme moto-commuting is packing. Most recreational motorcycling trips that I take involve at least some camping, so my kit needs to include a 25L dry bag full of camping gear. I take a 1pp tent from REI, an appropriate sleeping bag, a sleeping pad, and a few odds and ends depending on my eating plans. I’ve recently discovered state park campgrounds, where for $25 you can get a decently private spot that includes power and flush toilets. I added a 10′ extension cord to my kit, along with some USB LED lighting for my tent. High living! But the camping kit wasn’t the big issue – it was the fact that one of my side cases was full of laptop, work notes, and the assorted safety gear required by your average garden-variety manufacturing site. Without that side case free for extra gloves and other motorcycle-oriented PPE (personal protection equipment), I was down to one box for clothing – the usual three days of liners and undies and a pair of sneaks fits fine, but now I needed to add two days of work clothes on top. Thank goodness for mechanical latches and locks, otherwise I think my poor old Vario-box would have exploded.

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One thing I didn’t expect was the food challenge brought on by the packing challenge – I have Celiac disease and usually would pack a fair amount of gluten-free snacks and bread in my now-full-of-laptop side case. Normally, this is offset by being in the Meijer-zone – Meijer is a Michigan-based market chain that is a very reliable source of all kinds of allergen-free food and have stores all over the upper midwest. Instead, I found myself hopping from convenience store to convenience store, trying to find edibles that fit with my diet. Leaving Kentucky, land of no highway rest stops, I entered Tennessee and discovered the glorious Cheesewich. Behold, the ultimate in biker lunches: the only thing missing was a Ducati-themed SP bottle. Sadly, I did not find any more Cheesewiches along my route. It tasted a lot better than it looked.

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Spending roughly 1000 miles of my extreme commute having fun put me in a great mood for work – no matter what plague and misery were awaiting me, I was full of miles of sun and rain, pavement and dirt, and it all showed. I call my I’ve-been-out-riding look “homeless construction worker chic”. Throw in the unbelievable amount of bugs stuck to everything and it’s not what I would call a particularly professional look, even if it is a contagiously happy one. Thankfully, the presence of a motorcycle seems offset the ugly for most people. Several of my coworkers ride, so my arrival by bike is something of an event and gets the site ready for whatever it is that I am there to do. The bike seems to turn most of the staff into little kids, and it’s a welcome change from the serious nature of our work.

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A big advantage of the extreme moto-commute is that it ends in work, which means hotel room, and usually a pretty decent one. Hotels mean two things – warm and dry. In my case, it really means “dry out the camping gear before you put it back in the closet”. Convenient, it is. If you are really with it, you book a hotel with a laundry so you can catch up on wash before getting home. The travel agency can get confused when you are hundreds of miles from home and have no transportation booked.

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My trip ended up going really well, with a very uneventful final 200 mile leg of boring old I75N. The main thing I would do differently is ship my work gear to my site and take more food. I’m still hungry.

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Are you ready for an extreme moto-commute?

One of those days….

Posted by atomicalex on 2016-09-20
Posted in: Automotive, Motorbikes. Leave a Comment

I’m a stickler for good brakes and Constant Vigilance! Of their condition. You just never know when you will need them.

The ramp from NB Mound Road to WB I696 is a great flyover. It widens out to two lanes to accomodate slow trucks and is banked neatly. You crest it and swoop down into a five-into-two merge that is not for the faint of heart, but everyone knows it’s there, so, no big deal, right? It’s a nice example of a half-Iron Cross type interchange.

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The ramp closes from two lanes to one lane about halfway down, and then that lane merges into two lanes coming in from Southbound Mound on the right. Visibility is arguably not good, but it’s also not too bad. You have a great view in your side mirror for both cars and bikes, assuming you know how to use it. Shortly after that merge, the final two into one merge onto I696 to the left completes. Again, it’s visible from a fair distance. 

The merge into Southbound Mound traffic was apparently too much for the driver of an SUV on Monday. I hang back when cresting the ramp because you never know what will be on the other side, and this time, my reserve was rewarded. I came over the top to see the driver slowing down. Then really slowing down. Then… STOPPING. Yeah. Needless to say, I was praising the gods of Brembo and EBC, although I’m not sure the words I was using would qualify as traditional prayers.
I’m not sure what they have been teaching young drivers over the past few years, but I hope no one has ever said that stopping on an on-ramp is a good idea.