BigShot

More time. More money. More barriers to entry. More rules from a political system that would rather motorbikes just ceased to exist.

Thanks for that, Scoot. I'll see if that'll do the job. Does anyone know of one that mounts with suction cups? I've seen one for sale in the US (and it's what I was asked to get) but nothing here.

Hi folks, I've been tasked with finding a pillion pad. Looking for a suction mounting pad for the rear fender of a Kawasaki VN900 Classic that's had its rear seat removed. Primary use will actually be a place to lash luggage to, but definitely looking for a pad, not a rack. Can anyone suggest a UK supplier?

Rubber hoses? Could be that they had perished and stuck on? I have the feeling Mr Haynes bases the instructions on a bike that's just rolled off the line where everything is fresh and non-stuck. http://www.themotorbikeforum.co.uk/view ... w=previous

If you were after an answer about what happens differently in the engine as opposed to what it means in terms of actual riding/maintenance... 4-stroke: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/engine1.htm 2-stroke: http://science.howstuffworks.com/transp ... troke2.htm Put simply, in a 4 stroke engine for the 4 "strokes" of the piston (a stroke is the piston moving up or down) there's one ignition of fuel (down, up, ignition, down, up) The first down draws in fuel and air, the first up compresses the air and fuel mix, then the fuel is ignited and drives the piston down as it burns, and on the final up the exhaust gases are expelled. In a 2 stroke engine the ignition and exhaust strokes are combined into the "down" stroke of the piston and the intake and compression are combined into the up stroke (that's a crude explanation, but it's fit for purpose). The 2 stroke has an ignition of fuel every 2 strokes, the 4 stroke has an ignition of fuel every 4 strokes. That's why argentum40 says "2 strokes are faster size for size than a 4 strokes". For a given size of engine, the 2 stroke burns twice as much fuel and so gives more power/speed... of course, it's a bit more complicated than that. Some 2 stroke 125s have fewer horsepower than some 4 stroke 125s (and vise versa) and either way you're limited to 14.6hp as a learner anyway. I dunno if that helps, it's dead easy to understand once you can visualise what's happening, but I have a feeling it might not be so clear otherwise. Hopefully the links above will help you understand.

Nice work, DocB. Stuno - there's ya proof that it can be done. If it's what you want and you feel good about learning things like that, maybe it's right.

If you're a regular on 2 wheels you're off to a good start, I think. I think regular (read: all-weather) cyclists know how riding in the wet affects steering and stopping with far more clarity than do car drivers. Learning to ride on slippy roads means you're prepared for that kind of riding from the off whereas someone who learned in fine, dry conditions may not be. Again, in my opinion. Does the fast track you're looking at start with the CBT or would it be an idea to do the CBT and see how you feel after that? Heck there's even a chance you won't like riding bikes. Maybe get the CBT out of the way sharpish before you sell the cage. Then again - maybe you'll be 3 days into a DAS and getting bored and wishing you could take the test early. Who knows? To my mind the smart move would be getting the CBT done and then chatting with the school when you have an idea how you are. It'd be a bummer to book onto a fast track and then find you'll need a couple of weeks when the whole thing is set up to culminate with a test on day 6 (I believe that's often the case). Good luck whatever you do though. Oh, and I just realised your question hasn't been answered. I think being riding on a full licence by next year is totally realistic if you learn quickly and perform well in the test. But that's a big if.

http://www.cafemotos.com/johnnyrack/ May they'll ship this way.

I've been known to tow a bicycle with a bicycle so I'm probably well placed to offer some sort of input. I can't promise it'll be any good, but I'll offer it anyway. That thing that clamps the bike up as if it was a pillion passenger looks decent to me. Far better than my bodged-together method anyway. (I bungee strapped the front wheel of the towed bike to the left side of the rear triangle and rear rack of the towing bike, stuff a few tissues between to stop scratching and ride with the towed bike basically doing a wheelie down the road.) Crap for reversing (the towed bike lays down on the road if you try) but I'm inclined to think the system with it strapped on would be pretty good and FAR less problematic for balance than a pillion. I expect. Think about it - compare the weight of a bicycle that's well secured in place (and if you're a roadie, crosser or cross-country race snake it's probably a featherweight anyway) to the weight of a person who moves independently of both you and the bike. My main concerns would be bored coppers (they'd have to be, really) and the effects of bits of bike hitting you hard in the event of an off. I doubt I'd even consider the latter and just find out about the former. As for giving up cycling - they don't know what they are missing. Ride a bike and you can eat pretty much anything without worrying about weight or health. You can ride with plenty of booze in you (if you're sober enough to control the bike, you're sober enough to ride legally), riding to and from a good pub with good ale is one of the finer things in life. Then there's the efficiency - converting fuel (petrol [1 gallon = 31,000 calories] or an equivalent quantity of food) to calories, cyclists get over 500mpg. The fun part is that you get to eat all that food. EDIT - the article I read with the figure that was over 500mpg didn't account for baseline calorie use by the resting human body. MPG for a push bike is more like 800+. Not bad. EDIT AGAIN - it did account for base metabolism, but apparently his calorie counter is known to overestimate use which makes the mileage as much as 900+MPG. Even less bad.

I can't understand anyone spending that kind of money on a lid and leaving it on a shelf to gather dust. IF there was a fortune burning a hole in my pocket and I was so inclined, I might get one and enjoy having a nice, light lid on my bonce. I don't think I'd be in any hurry to save up for one though.

I had a chat about DAS with my local rider school and they guy was really straightforward and honest. In short, there's absolutely no way anyone can make so much as an educated guess about how long you'll need to be test-ready until they've seen you ride. According to my guy, 70 to 80% of people who've driven cars for a while are safe enough to get a CBT certificate at the end of the first day. The others need to come back for extra training (it's all one price at that school, so I actually don't think they are playing games). If you're a natural, 5 or 6 days from CBT to test might be plenty*, if you're not you probably won't be ready for the test. Notice there's a lot of "might" and "probably" in there. Until you've been on a bike you just can't get a worthwhile answer beyond "it depends". * I ride a push bike on the road as my main transport so two wheels are second nature; I have had a full car licence for about 12 years so road use in the flow of traffic is second nature; and I really don't have any issues with motorbikes, but I'm not doing a fast-track DAS. Personally I don't think they are a good idea, for the most part. In my opinion (and it's just opinion, of course) the best bet is to do your CBT, and have a lesson or two on a 125 (or get a 125 of your own and use it for a bit - selling it after your test to get most, if not all of your money back) and then have a chat with the school about doing Direct Access. Bear in mind that with winter coming you'll need to be ready for some proper cold and wet like you may not be used to as a car driver. Nothing wrong with that, but it can come as a bit of a shock when you're used to warm air piped in around you while you drive.

At the moment, Alien Swarm. Free (on Steam) - brilliant game, if a little short at the moment.

Nice babygrow.

For feet there's the old cyclist trick. 2 pairs of socks with a plastic bag between them. Some folk I know swear by it. Personally I hate plastic and try to use as little as possible - particularly when it's disposable stuff - but it's meant to be a good, cheap solution.

I believe the old trick was newspaper to cut down the wind. Perfect excuse to buy some new leather? I'd probably be looking at waterproof overpants.

Have you put your head into any of those lids? Fit is always the most important thing. Safest is probably the Lazer lids with PHPS "superskin" - designed to mitigate rotational forces (which are the real killers). Can't vouch for them personally but the logic seems sound at least. You won't get any fancy graphics or race replicas on them, but I'm not so sure you'll find a safer lid.

For anything cold and wintery I strongly recommend wool. Warm when wet or dry and you can practically live in the stuff without stinking (synthetics tend to stink in a few hours). Merino wool is soft next to the skin so no prickly feeling like other kinds of wool can give. Ideal for base layers like thermals. Personally it'd be the first thing I'd try and I'd use them even just walking around in the winter.

Firstly "I don't think so, no." Secondly "You'd look a bigger tool in jeans and a teeshirt." Thirdly "I'm sure plenty of people who own a one-piece would wear a textile jacket when the rain/winter rolls in." Finally "Who cares? What what you've got and ride."

Nicely done - Polecat. There was a very brief moment where I thought "but... Kangaroo leather is stronger than cow leather" before I realised what was going on.

Re: home-fitting. Am I right in thinking you're talking about using tyre irons/levers? It's been a long time since I've used some (not since I learned to fit bicycle tyres bare handed) but do know how to do it on bigger wheels. If that's what you mean, I'll post a link to a pretty comprehensive video of a dirt bike tyre being removed and a new one fitted (using irons) on YouTube. I assume road tyres would be essentially the same anyway.

Don't forget 10/10/10 01:01:01 That'll be the symmetrical time in the wee small hours. (Yes, yes... I know / and : aren't symmetrical. ) Dunno what I'll be doing (probably out on the allotment or careening down a hill on a mountain bike) but while I may not mark it, I'll sure as heck notice it passing.

I think that's probably the idea. If instructors start teaching people to pay attention properly, or even put the "follow signs to..." thing into the basic lesson format it could lead to less stupid "it's OK to signal half way into a move, without any mirror or blind-spot checks as long as you're trying to make a turn you'd almost missed" type driving. I do wonder if it'll mean more observation for road signs and less for cyclists though. I already see some horribly bad driving from students and instructors (passing WAY too close to cyclists or at bad moments) so half expect this could make things worse. Oh I dunno. Cars suck. That'll do. I still think time on 2 wheels (a couple of years, preferably) should be a prerequisite to getting a car entitlement.

I accidentally caught a snippet of the news the other day (I don't like my blood boiling so I tend not to listen to/watch/read the news at all) and heard about this addition to the driving test (didn't know it was bikes as well) but I'm half inclined to think it's a really good thing. It could actually be a step towards testing where students need to learn to ride/drive than to learn to pass their test. Could this be the beginning of the end of people suddenly changing lanes to make a turning because they missed the previous 3 signs? Well, maybe not, but I'll be glad to see the whole thinking and driving thing find its way into the test.

Ingah - Unless I'm very much mistaken, I was trying mainly the Alpinestars jackets. A size or so up from small they were OK around the shoulders but even the smallest was like wearing a leather tent with hard bits in it. Josh - You feel the pain then eh? How much attention did you pay to fit? Is it as snug as it should be or is it a bit on the loose side? BB3lions - I wouldn't say money wasn't a worry, but I'm happy enough to pay a bit for gear that's not going to ride up, will hold the armour where it belongs and generally do its job when (assuming the worst) I end up going down the road without a bike. From what I've seen so far that might be tricky to manage with off the shelf gear. Know any makers other than Hideout?

Maybe that's the answer. They'd have to be blind, deaf, be eating a takeaway, talking on the phone (I know) AND applying makeup (male or female) in order to miss someone coming at them like something out of Star Wars! New aftermarket mod, reduces insurance premiums by reducing your chances of being in a crash, lasers.