Pbassred

On 21/04/2022 at 20:42, Ian Frog said:

I seem to remember around the same time signs that said "No Blacks or Irish".

Fortunately we live in more enlightened times !

......except for helmets.

yes, but that not the point.  its discrimination.

On sports bikes the mirrors fold in, but not on bikes with a solid handle bar. The thing is my wife just bought a Honda rebel.  Our bike storage is down a narrow ally.  I currently need to use a spanner to swivel the mirrors and reduce the width.  Does any one know of a swivel mount or extension?

I have been google and searching the Home office web site and have yet to fine any evidence of petrol theft as a particular feature of Motorcyclists.  I did find a Bennetts article about insisting that Motorcyclist removing their helmets because of crime in the general area.

I have though been told that I couldn't pay for my fuel until I removed my helmet! Tesco also insists that I remove it.  Its policy! 

Moving on ....

Thanks Tiggie.  You would think so and in fact I ordered some on Amazon yesterday.  They arrived literally 10 minutes ago.  Unfortunately, as I started work on this thing, well ..."no plan survives contact with the enemy".  The bars have sealed ends AND they are 1" AND the grips that I had intended to fit are for 22mm.  I have sent my wife off to sports bike shop for a cruiser set.  now I have a new set of problems:-

I still need to cut the bars but when the grips arrive I think they are sealed at the end, so the thread goes away.  The new issue is that the mirrors are as wide as the bars.  As a sports bike rider I am used to FOLDING mirrors.  These buggers are fixed so I need some kind of folding mirrors. ..... New thread?

Possibly but I also have another problem  (that no one accepts is real): We have limited width access. I may need to cut the bars as it is. I want to avoid adding length if I can. Unless there are super slim bar ends out there.

Dumb question but I'm only 5 years and 3 bikes in. My wife bought a new Honda Rebel 500 and on my job list is heated grips. But the grips on it are just completely enclosed rubber. So the normal Oxford kit would just leave a hole. I haven't seen that before. What do I do?

Why? seriously, What happens after 5 years? Why 5? not 4 or 6? Is it miles dependent? or actual time? What causes it? what gives out?  Is this marketing or in there any hard science?  As a Manufacturing Engineer I have come across a wide range of materials and I can't come up with a logic that explains it. 

Motorcycles magazines and web sites seem to quote each other as an established fact, but attempts to explain it are a bit of a stretch.  "Its to do wit hair oils", or "UV light" or the best one:- " Every time you put it on you stretch it a bit".

There have been Fiberglass powerboats for 50 years. Carbonfibre composites have been used in aircraft for nearly as long. Both of those live in more harsh environments than a Shoei bucket.  What about the EPS or as we used to call it polystyrene foam? This stuff is hated by the environmental lobby because it NEVER breaks down.

This is not about being cheap or about denying that technology upgrades with time.  If I spend £500 on a lid is it really trash in 5 years? Could I spend that money on other safety upgrades?  If they don't really degrade, is it all a scam and we are throwing helmets into landfill? If the helmet companies were taxed on that they would probably be motivated to find a solution.

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Does the title mean, 'Bring your motorcycle to a halt by application of the rear brake'

OK Mr Bullfrog what I should have written was; "stop relying on ONLY the rear brake".  Obviously for slow speed manuvers, rear is best, but emergency stops cant be a lazy action.

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The suspense is killing me. 

You should get a suspense upgrade.

Filtering time and the traffic on the dual carriagway was creaping when I joined from the slip road.  I threaded my way across lane 1 and stopped short of the centerline.  I couldn't see anything comming so I eased myself out onto the dotted. As I did that a Harley came past and positioned him self in the middle of lane 2 just infron of me.  I hung back so he could pull in in front of me, but he carried on in the clear space. This is all happening at less than 20 MPH I stil in first gear.  The car in front of him slows to a stop, he rides into it and falls over. Such a small impact that the car doesn't even notice!

I put the hazzards on and stop the traffic. I helped him pick hs bike pick his bike up and he says: "I didn't see you". Light coloured bike, bright yellow helmet, extra tail lights and LEDs shinning sideways and he didn't see me?  Even so he has positioned in the center lane  nice and stable and Still hits the car. There is no fork dive. its like he didn't even try. If he braked at all it must have be all rear.

What's the mindset with the cruiser riders? I see this cool arogance in my daily riding and in Dan Dan's crash videos.  Is it a freedon from skill thing?  A freedom from basic paying attention? Do they sit in their comfy arm chairs and watch the world go by?  I dispair.

Riding into the back of cars is avoidable and so not cool! 

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full emergency stop and for once I found the pathetic horn and kept finger on it, 

In over 40 years of driving I have never seen a horn move a car. Even if the driver could hear it over their JBL subwooffer pumping "Mantovani's greatest urban dance hits", the horn isnt directional, so you don't know where its comming from.  Its like the "louder pipes saves lives" and the "POLITE" vest myths - figuring out what it is takes attention from actually driving the car, so its counter productive.  I tend not to use it for the reason you described. Interestingly: later model Hondas are fitted with the largest horn button you have ever seen.

Anyway, congratulations on following the safety rules of  "Halo"/"Call of Duty" :- "If its a place where you could get hit, dont be there". (or, "throw a frag grenade in first").

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So unless you've been with them 11 months you'll be in the same position

Even so, I accrued 3 year's NCB with MCE. so they owe me a cert.

With my MCE insurance policy dead since 31st of January I am still waiting for my Certificate of NCB.  Is anyone else in this position?

I have no idea when the 90% of my partial refund will be issured.  Still less idea why anyone would continure to deal with a company that behaves like this.

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Have you looked at the Dan Dan the Fireman channel on YouTube. He gets a bit repetitive because he focusses on common accident situations, one of which is people who change lanes without looking. If you watch a few episodes you'll see the pattern developing. Often it's how we avoid being in that situation or spotting it before it develops which is helpful.

 

The other point he makes time and time again is how to respond when you're in the red zone - ie the brown stuff is heading for the fan. Locking wheels happens for reasons and often we can avoid those reasons developing. So, for example, a rear wheel will lock as the weight shifts forward when the front suspension compresses. In an emergency you use the rear lightly and let if off as soon as the front dips. The front needs to be loaded before any hard braking is done or the tyre will slip - so it's about progressive braking rather than grabbing a handful suddenly.

 

He's a bit annoying but he does make the point that common situations can be avoided before they happen if you know what to watch out for and how to be constantly planning how to respond.

The most anoying thing about Dan Dan the fireman is the he has a never ending supply of videos to talk through.

The idea of which brake to use is one of those things that doesn't get taught.  Even in my Mod1 I had a minor rear lock-up on the emergengy stop because no one told me how lightly to use it.  The harder I need to brake, the less weight I will have on the rear.  Now my rule is simple: I do not use the rear brake above 30MPH ... EVER!

All sold out!

I have just let my IAM membership lapse.  My observer was a nice guy. An ACTUAL ex police rider. The examiners group riders and forum menbers seem very exclusive. I met another ex-police rider who defined it for me.  "They want to do all the important fast open road "police" things but they are not allowed to exceed the speed limit."

That's why they are obsessed with "progress" within 2mph of the speed limit. They are also discurage filtering. Trail braking, or even pressure on the lever is right out!

I'm sure that actual blood bikers don't give a sh!t.

On 14/10/2021 at 21:15, Fish said:

Never knew there was a 12st

Its before the 13rd. Muppet!

Mind you, Im writing this on the 3st of Febember so its all in pasture now.

On 15/01/2022 at 16:44, Stu said:

You can use any coolant as long as its aluminium safe and you are doing a full change but always stick to the same type of coolant as mixing them can cause them to turn in to jelly! 

Its only OAT (organic acid technology) that does that. its orange.  GM used it in cars but it didn't work as planned.  For bikes you will have a choise of PolyEthylene Glycol or Monoethelene Glycol.  Mono flows better so it cools better, but kills wild life and small childern.  That what I use in my VFR.

Also, keep it in a lower gear to stop wheel spin. I like to take my weight on the pegs so if it starts to highside its not just pushing up on my backside. Less unsprung weight too= more traction.

But yeah. Its like riding on honey.

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On 01/02/2022 at 08:23, Bender said:

Not really the fault of compression sites, think of them like a dating app, if it looks to good to be true it probably is  

 

I know. You wake up with a smile, your bike's gone and you wallet is missing.

I don't know who is the body that govens this, but lets get it done. I don't know what about the EU capped this.  different contries in the EU still have different rules.  In Spain the minimun age is different. In Sweden, progressing from A2 to A is a single road test.  I believe in Germany its an upgrade course.

I'm been banging on about doing this for months. I missed this story from last Novenber but stumbled on it just now. It sets out (nearly) everything I've been saying .... including my post from yesterday about how 2013 didn't work. 

https://www.britishmotorcyclists.co.uk/motorcycling-licensing/

I copied this graph from another thread because of something other than pedal cycles.  The number of Motorcycleist deaths steadily fell from 2007 to 2013.  After which it stopped falling. 2013 was the year that the A1, A2, A license and test structure was adopted.  Actually ALL road deaths did that as a trend, but bearing in mind that the 2013 change was suposed to be a safety measure and the deaths did not fall after that, it failed, didn't it?

PS Those who work with graphs will recognise that a smoothed line graph is wrong for this data.  It should be a bar chart.

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As equal road users cyclists should have insurance and a number plate for red light infractions.

Not really the argument though, but keep the hate going. Its impressive.

However, you can't actually buy the new highway code until 16th April.