Motorcycle Rain Gear

Product Description
Dedicated to making the best outdoor equipment possible, TAIGA WORKS® is a model of excellence in innovation, quality and price. Well-known across Canada and distinguished on numerous expeditions around the globe, the name TAIGA® has come to mean Canada’s Best Gear to many.
TAIGA Tantalus 700 – Men’s European Goose Down Jacket, Black, MADE IN CANADA, X-Large

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Harley Davidson Men’s/Women’s Rain Gaiter Lug Sole. Made to keep you dry and comfortable with wider slip-resistant soles, elastic stirrups around the bottom to keep the rain gaiter in place, Nomex® heat shields on the legs and a reflective Bar & Shield logo. 98349-07V
Harley Davidson Men’s/Women’s Rain Gaiter Lug Sole. Made to keep you dry and comfortable with wider slip-resistant soles, elastic stirrups around the bottom to keep the rain gaiter in place, Nomex® heat shields on the legs and a reflective Bar & Shield logo. 98349-07V

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Product Description
Dedicated to making the best outdoor equipment possible, TAIGA WORKS® is a model of excellence in innovation, quality and price. Well-known across Canada and distinguished on numerous expeditions around the globe, the name TAIGA® has come to mean Canada’s Best Gear to many.
TAIGA Tantalus 700 – Men’s European Goose Down Jacket, Navy Blue, MADE IN CANADA, Medium

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Product Description
Dedicated to making the best outdoor equipment possible, TAIGA WORKS® is a model of excellence in innovation, quality and price. Well-known across Canada and distinguished on numerous expeditions around the globe, the name TAIGA® has come to mean Canada’s Best Gear to many.
TAIGA Men’s Val d’Isere “All-Season” Gore-Tex Ski Jacket, Olive, MADE IN CANADA, XX-Large

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Product Description
Dedicated to making the best outdoor equipment possible, TAIGA WORKS® is a model of excellence in innovation, quality and price. Well-known across Canada and distinguished on numerous expeditions around the globe, the name TAIGA® has come to mean Canada’s Best Gear to many.
TAIGA Women’s Chamonix Gore-Tex Jacket, Windbreaker, Rain Jacket, Ski Jacket, Teal, MADE IN CANADA, 10

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Product Description
Dedicated to making the best outdoor equipment possible, TAIGA WORKS® is a model of excellence in innovation, quality and price. Well-known across Canada and distinguished on numerous expeditions around the globe, the name TAIGA® has come to mean Canada’s Best Gear to many.
TAIGA Women’s Chamonix Gore-Tex Jacket, Windbreaker, Rain Jacket, Ski Jacket, Teal, MADE IN CANADA, 6

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Product Description
Dedicated to making the best outdoor equipment possible, TAIGA WORKS® is a model of excellence in innovation, quality and price. Well-known across Canada and distinguished on numerous expeditions around the globe, the name TAIGA® has come to mean Canada’s Best Gear to many.
TAIGA Women’s Chamonix Gore-Tex Jacket, Windbreaker, Rain Jacket, Ski Jacket, Teal, MADE IN CANADA, 8

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Product Description
Dedicated to making the best outdoor equipment possible, TAIGA WORKS® is a model of excellence in innovation, quality and price. Well-known across Canada and distinguished on numerous expeditions around the globe, the name TAIGA® has come to mean Canada’s Best Gear to many.
TAIGA Women’s Chamonix Gore-Tex Jacket, Windbreaker, Rain Jacket, Ski Jacket, Teal, MADE IN CANADA, 12

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Harley Davidson Men’s Gore-Tex® Paclite® Rain Jacket. Made of waterproof, breathable Gore-Tex® Paclite® material and has a zipper closure, elastic cuffs and helmet-friendly hood. Seam sealed, with two zippered hand-warmer pockets and reflective piping. Harley-Davidson® reflective graphics on back. 98306-07VM
Harley Davidson Men’s Gore-Tex® Paclite® Rain Jacket. Made of waterproof, breathable Gore-Tex® Paclite® material and has a zipper closure, elastic cuffs and helmet-friendly hood. Seam sealed, with two zippered hand-warmer pockets and reflective piping. Harley-Davidson® reflective graphics on back. 98306-07VM

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All work and no play make for a dull boy, but not a dull Dodge—at least not the all-new Ram 1500 pickup truck. But since work isn’t everything, we decided to put this new big and brash full-size pickup to another true test—a weekend of driving, hauling and play.

We put the 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie model, the top trim level, to the test by packing up and heading for a weekend of camping and vintage motocross racing in California. With its crew-cab body configuration, Hemi engine and soft leather interior, the Ram was ready.

Room for Gear

You’d think that a weekend of motocross would require almost nothing in the way of gear. Not true. Between a helmet, giant boots and body armor, a race bike and pit bike, tent, chairs and camping gear, tools and supplies, a gas can and cooler and loading ramp, plus a passenger and cold-weather clothes, virtually any pickup will fill up fast. Thankfully the Ram provided an array of convenient storage solutions inside the cab. Twin glove boxes, generous door pockets, a broad center console and covered storage bins under the flip-up rear seat augmented the cab’s large interior dimensions. We filled up the rear seating area and then some, but left the front of the expansive cab open for the 160-mile drive from the So Cal coast to Tulare, in the state’s central valley.

What remained impossible to store in the cab, namely the folding chairs, gas can, the loading ramp, etc., were secured in the pickup bed. Secured as in with straps—because as generous as the crew cab is in storage volume, the 5.6-ft. pickup bed remains too short for motorcycles. So with the tailgate down, which incidentally confuses the ParkSense backup warning system, we hit the road early on a Saturday and pointed onto the Interstate 5 freeway.

Power and Performance

The Dodge powertrain guys got the Hemi powertrain right. Rated at 390 hp at 5600 rpm and 407 lb-ft. of torque at 4000 rpm, the V8 sings down the open road at just 1800 rpm at 70 mph. Smooth and responsive, it made short work of the infamous Grapevine, a long uphill grade known for its blistering summer heat and slippery winter snows. The sound levels are just as we like them: a whisper-quiet cab at all but the highest cruising speeds, plus a muted rumble out back.

And speaking of the language of power, the Ram has giant 20-inch chrome wheels and massive 275/60R20 tires. Hip-high to an elephant, these rubber-covered steamrollers provide a giant footprint while easing the Dodge’s ride over road imperfections. En route, we saw 13.4 mpg on the onboard rolling fuel-economy readout, and later separately calculated 13.7 mpg for our trip. That’s tolerable at $1.60 a gallon but downright agonizing at $4.50. Time will tell where gas prices actually stabilize.

Likes and Dislikes

Some overall likes: The effortless power and highway capability, and the comfortable and roomy cab that heralds a new breed of quality materials for Dodge. While the previous-generation Ram used cheesy plastic components even in the high-end models, the 2009 Ram is significantly better in every detail, an A+ improvement that makes the vehicle genuinely inspirational. So do many user-friendly features such as both 7-pin and flat-4 receptacles for trailer wiring, the rear under-seat storage, a DVD player with 9-inch screen, an outstanding Alpine audio system including XM Radio and MP3 capability, and a super-handy 115-volt AC outlet.

Not too many dislikes except for the truck’s aforementioned thirst, an egregious $45,300 MSRP, its lofty bed height and the lack of a standard bed liner, which renders the paint scratched and unsightly after only minimal use. We also don’t need the macho front-end styling and a dozen ram’s head logos to confirm our manliness, but to each his own.

By the way, it rained Saturday night and, while the big Dodge sat majestically nearby, taunting us with its cushy leather Laramie interior, we suffered in a cold, flapping tent outside. And so after a troublesome race day on the track, the best part of the weekend truly was climbing back into the Ram for the trip home, which proves that sometimes the journey really is the destination.

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