Saturday, November 13, 2010

Just for Fun

Just a few things I want to show to readers.

First, a set of pictures detailing the building of a wooden Vespa has come to my attention.

For the full set, go here.

Second, I want to make the comment that modern innovations tend to develop over a long time frame. Eric Buell's fuel-in-frame designs are wonderful. I love his designs. But, they are not as innovative as might be thought. In 1910, Pierce was manufacturing motorcycles with the fuel and oil contained within the frame.

Lastly, in case any readers are interested, go over to Hack-a-day for some info on making carbon fiber parts.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Crazy Fast

I mean that not as in being crazy on the street, but being crazy to even want to ride a motorcycle this fast.

For your viewing pleasure...

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Lessons in the Conservation of Momentum

So, here is the physics lesson of the week: objects in motion tend to stay in motion , unless acted upon by an outside force.

I was on my way to work early Thursday morning and the following story happened.
There is an intersection less than a mile from my front door that I take across a very busy main road which has a gas station on either side of the intersection. As I cross the main road, I observe a Honda Accord pulling up to the exit of the gas station on the far side of the road, far side but also on the right hand side from my direction of travel. So, as is proper when you see a vehicle coming up to a place where it could potentially jump out and bite you, I rolled off the throttle a little. Then I realized that the speed of the car was not slowing enough to allow it to come to a stop before exiting the parking lot.

I hit the brakes.

The car continued into the roadway, making a left turn directly across my lane.

I really hit the brakes.

Then I really hit the car.

The sequence of events directly following the impact is a little faster. I see the surprise on the face of the car's driver. Then feel the impact of my front tire on the car's rear door. This is followed by the sense of being flipped over the trunk of the car and falling to the road on my right shoulder and back.

Thankfully, I can report that my gear (full face helmet, mesh jacket, over-pants, gloves, and boots) all performed the job of keeping me intact admirably. I felt to be in remarkably good shape for having just hit a car. A feeling that an ambulance ride to the ER confirmed after several x-rays, just to be certain. That is the first lesson from this encounter: wear your gear. Even if you don't think you'll need it. Wear it.

The second lesson is one of visibility. Many of you may already know that, in addition to my other protective apparel, I wear Icon's military spec high-visibility orange, reflective vest. Even with that vest and the headlight on (not only a legal requirement, but also an automatic feature of most modern bikes) the second thing I heard the other driver say was, "Did you have your lights on? Because I didn't see you." This statement is precisely why I reduced speed when I saw the car. I didn't trust him to see me.

You may want to know what the first thing I heard him say was. To his credit, the first thing out of his mouth when he got out of the car was, "Are you ok?"

I hope this little lesson in physics is helpful to those who ride, and to those who share the road with us riders. Ride safe.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Maintain your chain: Please learn from my mistake!

Yesterday's ride did not go well. I had noticed the chain looked slack, and last time I'd adjusted it, the wheel was almost at the end of the adjuster. So I had intended to get it replaced Saturday.

Saturday wasn't soon enough. The chain had worn to the point it jumped off the rear sprocket while I was climbing a hill in bumper to bumper traffic. I tried to get it back on, but it jumped off 50 feet down the road. I looked in my pocket for my cell phone - and realized the cell phone was missing. This was officially going to be a bad day.

I was able to borrow a phone from a passing driver and give Philip a call, and we got the bike back to the shop I work at. I've got a new chain on order. Things could have been a lot worse.

If your bike has a chain, you need to keep it in good working order. It needs to be oiled every 300 to 600 miles, depending on who you ask (and no doubt on what oil you use). Even O-ring or X-ring chains need lube. You also need to adjust the tension any time they go slack. And if you run out of adjustment... get a new chain and sprocket, right away. I'd been doing the first two, but failed to realize just how dangerous my chain situation had become when it ran out of adjustment. For the record, the chain lasted 16,000 miles.

Another lesson: It is possible to get a motorcycle into the back of a Chevy Suburban without too much effort. Getting the motorcycle out of the Suburban is considerably harder. Next time I'm using a trailer even if I have to rent it.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Spring Awakening

So, with spring in the air, I realized that it has been far too long since I've posted anything. You'd think that five months out of work would mean more time to blog, but it just so happened that winter really cuts in to motorcycle time. With the weather turning nice again, I knew it was time to get the Ninja back on the road. So that means it's time to change the oil, put new gas in, and clean the chain of the corrosion of a few months of disuse. Naturally, that also means that I just had to warm up the engine. So after a short ride to get the kinks out of the system and drop in at Quick Trip, I got around to readying the bike for commuting usage once more.

Just a friendly reminder to everyone that you should check all your bikes systems out as we take them out of storage finally and get them running again. This also means we need to remember to make sure we get back into practice and take it to a parking lot and work the kinks out of our systems before we do any real riding. Happy Spring, and ride safe.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Amusing British public service announcement about motorcycle safety

The British sense of humour sometimes leads them to create the sort of PSAs you never see in the US - like this one done in the style of a classic silent film. As renting a tank is not all that practical, better to keep a lookout for the kind of motorist shown in this film and your hand on the brake when in their natural environment. Which is anywhere there's an intersection of any sort...

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Winter Woes

With the chill hand of winter on our backs, not many people are riding too many miles right now. The coldest I have ridden in is the mid-30's and that made me realize two things, the gear I have isn't warm enough for those temperatures and cold can be very dangerous.

The rule of thumb I grew up with about windchill on motorcycles is the 30/30/30 rule. At 30 degrees and 30 miles per hour, exposed skin will freeze in 30 seconds. Now, that isn't saying that the rider will get frostbite at that time (see the NOAA Winchill chart I've copied at the end of the post for that particular information), but it does mean that the nerves will go numb. I don't think I need to go into why that is an unpleasant sensation for a rider to get. Another reason I find cold to be dangerous to a rider is that it makes the rider less mentally sharp. When I get very cold, the way one can on a bike in the winter, I find I concentrate more on getting warm or how cold I feel than on what I am doing. That is a distinctly dangerous mental state to be in on a motorcycle, especially when added to the slowed muscle reactions and clumsy nerves.

So, what can a rider do to combat all this? Layer. It allows you to adjust the amount of warmth you have on to fit the changing temperatures over the course of a day and the air in between the layers helps to insulate you further. When it comes down to the outer layer, I of course recommend a padded motorcycle jacket and in this instance highly recommend one that is both insulated and water-proofed. The water-proofing on the zippers will help to keep the wind out. Finally, don't forget the feet. Cold feet are just as bad as cold hands on a ride, unless you have linked brakes and an automatic transmission, of course.

Ride safe, and ride warm.