Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Thanks. Yea, I have road rash scars from longboarding and bicycles, so definitely an ATGATT kinda guy now I have a deathmachine. Daft investing in proper PPE then leaving bare metal ends on the rack.

As for riding, helping at the charity has afforded me some excuse to still be out on the bike, and I’m spoilt for the less busy roads.

Still, be a lot nicer without L-plates and on a bigger machine after all the time and money sunk into lessons on the Bandit. I was 3 days short of the Mod2 when they cancelled all tests, gutted to have missed my window.

Definitely getting my money’s worth out of the 125 though.

At least you learnt from my mistake ;)

Very nice set up and bags. My one comment is keep the bags clear of the exhaust ;).

Thanks.

For sure. Can’t find a photo with the bags full up to show clearance, but this shows with a minimum load in the smaller ones. Fully loaded there’s a good few inches clearance even with the larger bags.

The top straps let me pull the bags up tight, and the closure straps pull any excess at the bottom upward. Didn’t notice any warmth inside the bag after 15-20 miles (longest delivery so far, all country roads and lots of pinned throttle) no melted plastic yet!

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Sorry to hear they pulled the tests. It doesn't make much sense as there's very little social contact involved in a bike test. It would be a very easy time to pass with the roads like this though. Well done for helping out with the charity stuff. I've been finishing a job but I'll be looking to do some riding to help people in the coming weeks.

They closed it across the board, so no special treatment for motorcyclists over cars, or HGV’s or anything. Regardless of helping the charity, the fight for a ‘critical worker’ test so far is no joy. Shame cos as you say, roads are amazingly empty.

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I hope you can get the critical worker test. In the meantime pay special attention to all the side roads, with the roads so empty its a perfect time to get t boned at a junction.

My experience the past fortnight has been that all the competent drivers are now at home and (aside from the professional drivers) only the dangerous drivers are left. So the bad driver frequency per trip hasn’t increased, but there’s nothing else in-between. So many are speeding, and probably 80% or more of the drivers left aren’t bothering to look, let alone give way. Riding defensively is always the way to go, even in my stupid bright leathers.

It’s not just side roads, it’s roundabouts I’ve noticed as the biggest culprit.

Piece by piece my ebay purchases are arriving, and last week I fitted the lower two LED lights. I noticed an improvement in the daytime, where drivers about to pull out or overtake must have clocked the bright light. You can seen on the selfie jacket photo they are still visible in bright sunlight.

After the anecdotal evidence this week, I went ahead and fitted the upper two today but haven’t been out on the road. They’re angled a little downward so shouldn’t dazzle anyone, and all run on an independent switch to the rest of the bike.

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I believe you are right on the bad drivers.

Stay safe.

About the lights and increased visibility, believe there was a study/studies and it was shown that the position of the lights made the vehicle look different to something seen before so the brain would pay more attention to the object as it was something not experienced before. Something to do with how our brain and eyesight work.

You can only try to improve visibility. I've learnt to wait for eye contact while checking vehicle movement very carefully. From what I've seen in London there are a few people speeding but generally everyone is getting to their destination so much more easily that they are not going crazy.

@ElephantBreathlynx @Airhead

Whilst I was trying to check on the legality/whatever of auxiliary lights I came across:

https://www.whitedalton.co.uk/motorbike-blog/2017/05/illumination-for-the-nation/

and

https://www.adventurebikerider.com/auxiliary-motorcycle-lights/

The latter refers to the USDoT 2011 test. I believe that it’s as you say, providing something novel that the eyes aren’t used to filtering out as noise, so the shaping is very important. The triangular shape for example.

I am hoping to have the multiple LED configuration in a useful pattern for conspicuity. I doubt I’ll be trailblazing any deep dark woodland tracks, and expect they don’t project far enough to be useful for illuminating the road surface.

My biggest concern would be having the effect of two single large lamps, where it can and will be confused as distant headlamps on a car, which has been a contributory factor in near misses and crashes for riders with twin headlamps. I can’t find the references now, but I’m sure I had them. A week or two ago someone on the local biker group was asking for help as it had possibly been a factor in their collision.

Generally any time there’s a vehicle on a junction or similar, I’m chopping the throttle to begin to slow down, covering both brakes or applying a bit of rear, and getting ready to stop and give way regardless. If I don’t get eye contact and acknowledgement, I’m already planning my escape route/evasion. Occasionally I’m carving up the lane a little to make myself more conspicuous and to loosen up ready for an inevitable swerve.

Think you'll be alright, as the don't dazzle other road users and are similar to the illumination of day running lights.

My one thing is making sure that the headlight doesn't look like you are 'flashing' your headlight as that does cause people pulling out as you have 'flashed' them.

I was taught to make a lateral move towards the centre of the road which approaching a junction, which draws attention and is more visible than taking a constant line. The other thing is to watch the rotation of front wheels - a vehicle creeping isn’t always obvious as your perspective changes on approach but wheels rotating (or not) isn’t affected.

Some say a wiggle of the bike helps, but anything that increases the chance of being seen and not pulled out on.

Any bright ideas?

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A long succession of safety pins or a keyring ring of just the right size.

Small key ring and a short loop of paracord or similar?

The top hump of a YKK will actually come off but you will find it tough to get a new piece if you mess up the crimping.

Keyring and cord, or just cord. You can re-use the velcro pull tab either way, if you cut the metal fly.

Alternatively replace the entire fly with a new one, but means unpicking the top of the zip (or removing a tooth from each side).

Made a near-identical pack to the side-bags to use as a tail bag.

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Great minds etc.

wiggle

I tend to do the lateral move towards the centre of the road if possible, but on my usual ride in into London a wiggle is often easier with the road space.

Thanks all for the boot ideas. I'm going to try and get a really strong and small split ring.

Pretty gutted as all though there not new, they haven't been used all that much as I was in NYC for almost a year followed by a baby and a winter.

Can't see TCX doing any repair stuff after all this time.

Been using split rings on my Sidi's for about two years, still going strong.

@pdlouche That top bag looks fucking awesome! How are you strapping it to seat? You making? Would totally want one for short trips/day bag.

Got the forks on yet? More updates please

Not yet. It's a massive faff finding the right front wheel that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Funny thing is, I need one from 2001 to 2005. They're just silly expensive. The newer lighter stuff is cheaper by half! Go figure.