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...

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.

More Helmet, Please.

I have a bit of a continuation about helmets... Also known as "Why I wear a full face helmet."

I fully understand that many riders prefer not to wear the same style of lid that I recommend, and that is their choice. However, when I get asked why I wear what I wear I have a simple answer, "Ever seen what happens to a face that meets the pavement?" It may be a slightly brusque reply, but the fact remains that in the majority of impacts the initial point of impact is in the face, or there abouts. This diagram shows the general, statistical break down of impact points:

As you can see, fully a third of the primary impacts are along the chin bar, the next 18% along the forehead, and another 10% in the area of the face shield. In my wreck a year ago, I levered over directly onto my face and got to watch the grass slide by inches from my eyes. My experiences, along with those of people I know and the above diagram, are the main reasons I wear what I wear and why I recommend full face helmets to anyone who asks.

That said, how do you choose the one right for you?

That's just a small sample of what is waiting for you when you go in to buy a helmet. With over 13 different helmet standards in the world, it's hard to know what is right to pick. The answer is short, but hardly simple. The only right helmet is the one that fits you best and that you will wear every time you ride. If a cheaper DOT certified helmet is what feels right, with no hot spots or pressure point, than go ahead and get that one. If a top of the line DOT/Snell/BSI certified helmet is what fits best (and fits your budget), by all means get that one.

The best advice I can give about helmet shopping is have fun with it. Take your time and go to several places. Talk to the sales people while wearing a helmet or two and looking at whatever else they have and don't rush your decision.

Halloween costume helmets

"Cape does not allow wearer to fly."

This label, off a kid's Batman costume, has been circulating on lists of stupid warning labels for at least a decade before Batman Begins, which was the first time I can remember anyone actually showing Batman using his cape to actually fly. With Halloween costumes showing up in every Wal-Mart now, it's time to address a similar type of costume that's sold in bike shops year round, the novelty helmet.

Novelty helmets do have their place - as costumes on the set of a movie, or in a play, or yes, as a Halloween costume. They don't really make much sense on your head on a public road. Your average bicycle helmet provides more protection than a novelty helmet.

Unless you've wandered into a very unscrupulous motorcycle shop, they're easy to spot in the shop by the lack of a DOT approved sticker on the back, and often by a warning label inside it that it's not a real helmet. If you look closely, you can spot them on the road much of the time - they're very thin compared to a real helmet. It's a dead giveaway. There are a couple of somewhat thin, legal helmets, such as the Davida Ninety-One, but engineering a thin helmet that actually protects the head inside it is a major challenge. And many of the novelty helmets you see out there are about a quarter of the thickness of the Ninety-One.

To understand the problem with making a helmet thin, imagine that you've got a choice of diving off the roof of your house onto (1) a stack of four matresses, or (2) a concrete driveway. Assume it's just as far to either one. Obviously, the stack of matresses is going to hurt a lot less than the concrete. The reason a soft object is going to hurt less is that it compresses more. As a first approximation, if that stack of matresses compress 100 times more than the concrete, it'll only have to push you 1/100th as hard to stop your fall. The amount of crash (kinetic energy, if you want to get techincal) the helmet can absorb is equal to the force it pushes back on you times the amount of distance your head can push it. A real, DOT approved helmet is often ten times as thick as a novelty helmet... meaning if you smack your head into concrete wearing it, that novelty helmet is likely to give you ten times the hurting.

I'm a bit puzzled about why people wear novelty helmets on the street. Is it cost? That doesn't make that much sense, as you can get real helmets for only a couple more dollars. Comfort? Not if you've chosen the helmet correctly; the companies that make the good helmets put a lot of R&D into making their products fit comfortably. Style? That may be it. The thing is, what you put on to ride your bike isn't just what everyone sees; it's the only thing between you and that 10,000 pounds of steel hurtling towards you at over a hundred miles an hour in the other lane. It's not a fashion statement. It's not your costume. It's your armor.

Quick tips

Just a couple of quick tips to tide people over as I work on a full post (next topic: helmets)

First, when you get new tires put on the bike, the handling changes. I put some Pirelli MT75s on the Ninja yesterday to replace the stock Dunlop K630s, which you may recall were getting pretty worn. Not only are the new tires rounded, the new rear tire is slightly smaller than the original. The combination of these factors lead to a faster turn-in than I was used. Add to that the fact that the Pirellis have better grip than the Dunlops and you get me grinning in my helmet all the way home from the shop.

Second, a little something I discovered on my way to get the tires replaced. I had not warmed up my engine enough to turn off the choke, but I did it anyway. Meaning that I stalled coasting to a red light. No problem, I thought, I'll just put the bike in first and pop the clutch to pop-start it. Bad idea. I should have remembered to put the bike in second gear to pop-start. Instead I locked the rear wheel and slid the back end out momentarily before I engaged the clutch and allowed it to turn freely again. Slightly embarrassed, I just turned the choke back on and hit the starter button.

Tourmaster Rainsuit review

When I woke up for work this morning, the rain storms from last night had not come to an end as I had hoped. Starting the day by worming my way into a one piece rain suit is not a pleasant method. I picked up a Tourmaster Elite II one-piece suit about a month and a half ago when it became apparent that I would be using the bike as a primary transport and I would need something to keep me comfortable on rainy afternoon (a fairly common occurrence during the summers here.)

My experience today is as follows: The suit is top notch when it comes down to construction and material and features. They have a range of color options to suit you, mine is head to toe bright yellow for high visibility. Add to the color a fairly impressive amount of 3M reflective piping and I feel as good about being noticed as I do with my Icon vest. The suit has several large pocket, water proof and easily accessible, for me to put things like keys to the office in. It also has a comfortable liner and a very nice microfiber neck. The final feature that is noteworthy is the under-the-helmet hood that Tourmaster puts on most of their rain gear. It is a great way to keep the back of your neck dry when you have to move your head when riding in the rain.

As far as comfort, it's fairly good once you get on the bike, I may have one slightly too small for me, but the crotch to shoulder length is just short enough that it becomes too tight to crouch into a riding tuck. The under foot elastic stirrups are fantastic at keeping the leg from flapping around and the aforementioned microfiber neck liner is good at keeping water from seeping down as well as keeping your neck warm. The full front zipper is a little difficult to open after riding for a little while, but I think I discovered the trick to that this morning, hold the neck closed when going to unzip and that releases pressure on the zipper allowing it to move more freely.

My only complaint, and this may be to my lack of experience with properly sealing the suit, is that water leaked through either at the seams of the crotch or at the base of the front zipper, where the suit bunches up while seated. I noticed this after about 15 minutes of only moderate rainfall on the highway. As a note for clarity, what I consider moderate the Weather Channel marks as bright yellow on their storm tracking Doppler. However, rather wet jeans and a comfortable ride in are far better than a very wet me and a chilly ride in. I'd venture to say that even with a leak, this suit is more pleasant than my last one, which had zero breathability due to its PVC construction and became a sauna within minutes of putting it on.

Overall, I would recommend the suit, but you may be better off looking at Tourmaster's two piece suits that may not bunch up and collect water at the seams. Though in a storm, it may be that any suit will leak some.

Here is Tourmaster's stock picture, mine is fully yellow, even where this one has black legs.

One last thing to add, I really need to pick up some water proof boots. My feet are freezing as my socks dry. (I should probably also wear wool socks when I know they will get wet.)

Tired Tires?

I've known for a while that my tires are beginning to wear out. 9000+ miles on the original rubber is not too bad, but it is getting up there and the age of the tires is beginning to worry me. Yesterday, I got a look at the tread and noticed the wear bars on my rear tire are beginning to show through. For those of you who don't know, wear bars are raised sections in the grooves to show when the tread is getting so thin that it is time to replace your tire. You can see the flat spot in my rear tire's center groove in the picture below as an example of what I mean.

I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to do a little post on motorcycle tires and taking care of them. I think it almost goes without saying that maintaining your tires is probably one of the most important things you can do as an aid for safe riding. Properly inflated, good tread, soft rubber tires are vital for keeping good traction on a ride. Obviously, all three aspects I mentioned play important roles in braking, cornering, and accelerating. Proper inflation means the tire will not flex under strain (as is the case with under-inflation) or (in the case of over-inflation) be so inflexible as to promote slides and low traction. Good tread means better contact patch and traction, especially in the case of wet roads. Lastly, by soft rubber I mean tires that aren't too old. Old rubber hardens and dries out, leading to cracking and drastically lower traction.

I hope this serves as a good reminder to all riders to be mindful of their tires, and to new riders I hope this gave a bit of insight into what to look for and to think of.