Topic: Motorcyclists (Read 45033 times)

cbr900 · « **Reply #50 on:** July 07, 2007, 03:01:14 pm »

Sheerline,

The theory out here is that the reason the English drink warm beer is that Lucas made there refrigerators.........

Works for us over here.......

Roy

roycv · « **Reply #51 on:** July 07, 2007, 04:16:19 pm »

Hi all, I think that motor cyclists and ex-motor cyclists make better car drivers. You are much more vulnerable on a mcy and it makes you more aware of what is happening on the road.
I have not been on a bike since the 1960's, sold it when we had our first child. But, I have never had a moving car accident and I put it down to driving a bike and leaving adequate space etc. Lots of driving in London in the 1970's / 80's and around the country afterwards. About 650 - 700 Kmiles probably, Like others, got hit about 4 times when I was stationary, but thats life!
regards Roy

Bunkerbarge · « **Reply #52 on:** July 07, 2007, 04:44:34 pm »

Colin's point is spot on. If you intimidate car drivers you are going to force them into making a rash and ill advised move however far too many motorcyclists seem to think it is fun to scream up behind a car and sit a couple of feet off thier rear quarter.

The car driver becomes nervous and tries to move over to give the bike room and ends up compromising thier own road positioning. Terrible riding and completely unecessary. Most bikes nowadays have plenty of power to overtake from well back in complete safety and go nowhere near the vehicle they are passing. The skill is in using just enough power to pass without having to brake to move back in again in front of them.

..and how many bikes check thier inside before moving across again!!?

I was once out on a ride with the advanced school in the back roads of North Wales. I was behind a beat up blue Ford Pickup full of straw, blowing all over me, and this guy was going like a bat out of hell, obviously very familiar with the roads, but not as quick as I wanted to go. I waited a long time for a straight stretch then opened up from a long way back and passed him. I was now approaching a sharp left hand corner but I glanced to my side, expecting it to be clear, only to see his front wing!! The guy had accellerated and was hell bent on not letting me back in!! I even saw the dozy old bu**er glaring crazily out of his windscreen through his wheel. My only option was to accellerate past him and go into the corner far quicker than I anticipated.

How I got round it remains a mystery to this day but it made me very aware of the value of that last glance before moving over!!

sheerline · « **Reply #53 on:** July 07, 2007, 07:22:10 pm »

It aint called 'the life saver' for nothing. In busy trafic condition it can even give you neckache but rather that than a broken one!

tobyker · « **Reply #54 on:** July 26, 2007, 11:28:35 pm »

Glad I started this one. Nice to see the pics of the old trumpets. I'm now finding that the SV1000 cramps my knees a bit, and wondering whether to get a Royal Oilfield replica to go with the bus pass, or a modern Bonnie. What has surprised me is the K75 my 70-year-old ex bro in law gave me - you can roll it on or roll it off in the middle of a corner and it stays on line whatever you do! Amazing. The one thing you cannot do is ride it round a corner too slowly as the wheelbase suddenly becomes 12 feet long and it tries to dump you. Oh and with Mrs T on the back it only goes in straight lines - countersteering needs feet jamming against the pegs and a really hearty shove. And I commuted to work (Hampshire to london and then Saltcoats to Glasgow) for 35 years and most of them on MZ250s - you may mock but they were excellent bikes and could be stripped to bits with a knife and fork. I went to the IAM lot for one summer but they all rode to the meet at 140 mph, footled about at 60 for the training rides and rode home at 140. I couldn't do with all the foot-swapping, me. Ride safe but know that white van man will kill you if he can.

cdsc123 · « **Reply #55 on:** July 27, 2007, 07:57:24 am »

Hi Tobyker, the handling of the K75 shouldn't deteriorate so badly with a pillion, suggest you check tires (especially front) for worn profile (i.e. flat across the bottom) and check the headraces aren't notched (put the bike on the centre stand, get someone to hold the back end down and swing the handlebars gently to and fro, to see if the movement is smooth all the way). Also check the pre-load at the rear end, if you can get the rear end up it will help turn-in, if it is already correctly set (approx 8mm sag when you climb aboard) then raise the fork tubes up the yokes by about 3-4mm, the difference should be startling (don't go too far as stability is the trade-off for turn-in).

Bunkerbarge · « **Reply #56 on:** July 27, 2007, 09:09:46 am »

Tobyker, I agree with cdsc123 and I have very specific experience with this.

When I did an advanced training course about 15 years ago the instructor drove a K75. On the first day of the course he wanted to demonstrate the difference in our riding and his so the first thing he did was take each of us for a 20 min ride out as a pillion on country roads around Derby. He scared the living daylights out of me mainly on his approaches to corners. He simply didn't brake and we flew round the corners in a way I would never have thought possible. The bike was bog standard and well used but also well serviced so I am sure there is something in your set up that requires adjustment.

One thing that catches a lot of people out is the condition of the front tyre. Unfortunately they should be replaced long before the tread is approaching it's legal limit, which always seems a waste, depending on how hard you ride it. If you look at the tread on the edge you will notice that it starts to wear in a slight wedge shape. The leading edges of the tread pattern will be slightly raised and the trailing edges will be worn away. The harder you ride corners the faster this will happen.

Once you see this effect happening you should really change the front tyre. When I first had this explained to me I noticed the effect on the front of my VFR so I made a point of going out for a hard ride to get a feel of the bike then I went and had a new pair of tyres fitted. (Yes I always fit both at the same time.) The new tyres made a significant and very noticeable difference to the handling, mainly in mid cornering when it felt a lot more stable and less prone to wandering off line.

Just another smiler from this time. There were three of us on this course and we were all on big bikes. Mine was a Ducati Paso, one of the others was a Pan European and I can't remeber the last one. Half way through the week the instructors K75 developed an electrical fault in Wales and he had to ditch it for the next days ride. He turned up on a 250 trail bike with knobbly tyres and we collectively thought "At last, we are going to be able to make him look silly for a day"

I kid you not we could not keep up with him on country roads, I followed him a few times and specifically watched his technique. He never used his brakes!! He made us look even more useless on that day!!

cdsc123 · « **Reply #57 on:** July 27, 2007, 11:43:21 am »

At an advanced track riding/racing school with Frankie Chili we were told to go and do 3 laps without using the brakes at all.
It is very, very difficult to do, the urge to brake into the tighter corners was so strong (I didn't manage to stay off them).

tobyker · « **Reply #58 on:** July 27, 2007, 12:04:07 pm »

The handling does not so much deteriorate with the pillion, as need a very firm shove to change direction. Incidentally the tyres are so new they've still got the whiskers on, and the pressures are the (revised) correct ones. I agree about braking - they only unsettle a bike going into corners and the thing to concentrate on is the line going in, not the brakes. There is quite enough engine braking on twins and threes - Tho not so much on whizzy fours. I have been pondering dropping the yokes a bit - I did it on the Caponord and it improved things a fair bit.

Bunkerbarge · « **Reply #59 on:** July 27, 2007, 02:09:19 pm »

A usefull exercise to practise with regularly is to overtake without using braking to pull back in to the gap. If you need to brake then you didn't get it right and probably the overtake wasn't on in the first place.

Don't forget that you should allow for a third of the visible distance to complete your overtake in. That's a third of the distance you are going to travel, a third of the distance another vehicle could travel towards you if he enters your sight as you commence the manoeuvre and a third for a safety margin to allow for the other guy coming towards you a lot faster than you are going. I would say that very few motorcyclists pay any attention to this and go hell for leather at any gap irrespective of whether anything is coming the other way or not, then slam the brakes on and dive into the gap in front of the car you have just overtaken.

It also has the very significant advantage of not upseting the car driver that you have just pulled in front of and making them nervous and trying to ride with as little use of the brakes as possible is very good at making you think about what you are doing a lot more and mproves your riding significantly. I'm not so sure I could manage it on a race track though, the last time I had a go at that, about 20 years ago, I ended up in a sand pit!!

cbr900 · « **Reply #60 on:** July 27, 2007, 02:26:23 pm »

Tobyker,

Just a point on the set up of bikes, on my old Kawasaki Gtr1000 after about three months it started to head shake when easing of comin into towns or slowing to stop at lights, went back to the dealer and he put 50 kpa of air in the rear shock, then said try that, I went for a ride thinking this guy is nuts, but regardless of what I tried it would no longer shake, setup is very important..........

Roy

Colin Bishop · « **Reply #61 on:** July 29, 2007, 05:52:00 pm »

I was driving back from Norfolk this afternoon (Sun 29 July) and we saw a huge rally of motorcyclists heading from Norwich to Great Yarmouth. There must have been a thousand or two of them at least as the procession went on for a good five miles or so. Quite spectacular with many dressed up in wacky costumes (Spiderman, Santa etc.) on the three wheelers leading the parade.

Anyone know what it was all about?

catengineman · « **Reply #62 on:** July 30, 2007, 07:29:30 pm »

It is the Eastern Motorcycle Cavalcade (I think) but it ends up here at Lowestoft and parks on the front where all the onlookers gather to see the riders and machines
Update it is called the EASTERN LIGHTS CHARITY CAVALCADE
I myself do not attend I'm sorry but Lowestoft is hard enough to get into in normal times let aloan when there is an event going on! ???

Tug-Kenny RIP · « **Reply #63 on:** July 30, 2007, 09:10:46 pm »

The Motor cyclists hold summer meeting and gettogether at Poole in Dorset every Tues night. It's quite a show , with hundreds of bikes gathering om the sea front

Here are a few pictures. I did fancy getting a Harley, by SWMBO didn't approve.

Ken

cbr900 · « **Reply #64 on:** July 31, 2007, 04:49:33 am »

Tug-Kenny,

Your wife must be a very smart woman, she must have known that if you bought a Harley you would also have to buy a van to bring it back when you went for a ride........

Roy

Roger in France · « **Reply #65 on:** July 31, 2007, 06:05:24 am »

As a "non-biker" can I ask the bikers on the Forum a question, please?

When I am driving my car and a motorbike appears in my rear view mirror I always make great efforts to keep tucked well in to the side of the road to allow the biker to pass me. Frequently as the bike passes the biker takes his foot off the rest and extends his leg straight down.

Does he have cramp; is he saying thanks; is he saying something rude (e.g. "Put your foot down")?

My experience is largely driving in France where I live and so this may not be an international convention.

Just intrigued!

Roger in France.

Sub driver · « **Reply #66 on:** July 31, 2007, 11:00:43 am »

Dont know about that one....the French i understand can have strange customs ..

.....just probably stretching their calf muscles, i think, but who knows

Some folk over here move to the MIDDLE of the road to try and stop you passing them ??? especially when THEY are held up in a traffic jam !!! (futile gesture).

cbr900 · « **Reply #67 on:** July 31, 2007, 01:31:20 pm »

Roger,

There are several ways of saying thanks on a bike and that is one, usually safer then taking hands from bars........

Roy

anmo · « **Reply #68 on:** July 31, 2007, 01:45:00 pm »

Quote from: Tug---Kenny on July 30, 2007, 09:10:46 pm

The Motor cyclists hold summer meeting and gettogether at Poole in Dorset every Tues night. It's quite a show , with hundreds of bikes gathering om the sea front

You're right, and it's usually one of the better behaved nights on Poole Quay, the leatherclad bikers seem to frighten off the usual louts & troublemakers. The problem is though, how the bikers ride on the way home, a few months ago, only about half a mile from where I live, one of them rode into the side of a bus at a roundabout. The police estimated that he'd been doing at least 80 (in a 30mph area), apparently he almost came out of the opposite side of the bus. This info came from a Plod friend, none of the gory details were printed in the local paper.

Edit, I'm not having a go at bikers in general here, most of the more mature ones are very good, it's only the small number of nutters as always, usually the young ones who think they're bulletproof. The one who tried to ride right through a bus was married with two kids. Sad, but at least he didn't suffer, it's the ones he left behind and the bus driver who needed counselling.

anmo · « **Reply #69 on:** July 31, 2007, 01:55:23 pm »

Quote from: cbr900 on July 31, 2007, 01:31:20 pm

Roger,

There are several ways of saying thanks on a bike and that is one, usually safer then taking hands from bars........

Roy

Thanks for the explanation Roy, that's something that's often puzzled me as well, I never realised they were thanking me for moving over to give them an easy passage. At least I'll know in future.

On sub driver's post, I was stuck in a two lanes into one at some long term roadworks last night, most drivers moved into single file around the 600 metre sign, but the usual to55ers (cars) sped down the now clear outer lane to force their way into the queue further along. After a while, a few of the patient ones started straddling both lanes to stop this, but the one in front of me moved to the left a couple of times to let a biker past, as did most of the others further down the line. I didn't think that anyone was too bothered about bikes queue jumping in this way, surely that's a large part of the reason people use them for commuting anyway?

cbr900 · « **Reply #70 on:** July 31, 2007, 03:50:59 pm »

Anmo,

Some may use them for commuting that way, but I would hope they always pass on your right I hate the ones that do it on the left, even in stopped traffic conditions, I think it is illegal anyway, but to many car doors have opened on the passengers side, not pretty.........

Roy

tobyker · « **Reply #71 on:** August 01, 2007, 09:53:23 am »

I was furkling about in tne bottom of my motorcycle files a couple of days ago and found a kit to convert my Ned Kelly into a jet. As the sun was out I did so and went for a ride, and it was brilliant! I haven't worn a jet helmet in 30 years. How do you tell a happy motorcyclist? Squashed flies on his teeth!

Tug · « **Reply #72 on:** August 08, 2007, 01:03:18 am »

Well the first message went ka'put,

The dip of the foot is indeed an acknowlegment for your grace, accellerator being on the handlebars and self closing?

The road to Le Mans the day of the 24 hour, (only got stuck once) is a real eye opener.

It also serves to relieve trapped naughty bits when you get a bit sweaty.

so here is another attempt at the picture, (I get it right then forget how the next time)

(Roger, on 23 July, I got the giant keys to my castle, you won't get those re cut at Mr Minit!)
[[ Mr Minnet is one of those heel repairers/dog tag engravers/ and 5 min. key cutting go back twice emporiums]]

Roger in France · « **Reply #73 on:** August 08, 2007, 06:37:09 am »

Sorry Tug but the reference to "...keys..." means nothing to me. Am I being dense, as usual?

Roger in France.

Tug · « **Reply #74 on:** August 08, 2007, 08:44:22 pm »

Roger,
Re: personal massage 13 July 2006, My profile now gives the game away altogether.
And would I dare to even suggest....... Tug

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Author Topic: Motorcyclists (Read 45033 times)

cdsc123

cdsc123

catengineman

Roger in France

Roger in France