Author: Arthur

Seasoned London commuter, doing my best to stay rubber side down and never stop moving forward.

Aching Wrists, Bad Riding Posture

Post author By Arthur
Post date June 21, 2013
No Comments on Aching Wrists, Bad Riding Posture

I’ve recently found my wrist aching slightly whilst riding. Namely around town, where I’ve noticed my riding posture is all tense and rigid straight arms. Not good. I need to relax my elbows more, use my legs to grip the tank to support myself, and ultimately take my weight off the bars and my wrists.

On the open road I have no problems, but around town, when filtering and doing lots of low speed manoeuvres I keep unconsciously tensing up. Such that periodically I have to mentally remind myself to relax. I guess, with practice I’ll get better.

Some suggestions I’ve read about include gel filled grips and raised bars. What tip do you have do to avoid this?

Uncategorized

The Most Common Causes Of Motorcycle Accidents

Post author By Arthur
Post date June 14, 2013
No Comments on The Most Common Causes Of Motorcycle Accidents

So many of the things we do in life carry unique benefits and dangers and motorcycle riding is certainly no exception. While we savor the freedom that comes with our motorcycles, we must be mindful of the risks we take every time we strap on our helmet. Consider these risks and then please consider the ways that are suggested to make the riding experience safer.

Riding

New Bus Lane Cameras

Watch out, it seems these cameras are the new favourite toy of cash strapped councils. Bolted to lamp posts and enforcing bus lanes, councils can move them about at ease. This one recently popped up on a bus lane along my daily commute, on Lodge Avenue, Dagenham. A spot that used to be covered on occasion by a Smart car with a roof camera. It’s an awkward bottleneck, often in gridlock, with unbroken white lines down the centre, so no filtering at all. Yet the bus lane is invariably empty.

Quite why some bus lanes allow motorcyclists and others don’t had no rhyme or reason. But we can be certain the motivation is purely for revenue generation.

Hardware

Shiny Red Wheels

So a fellow biker pulls up at work with these spankingly shiny red wheels on his bike. Seriously funky and big improvement to his bike, much better than the old grey wheels. However the wheels are not new, he’s just had the bike professionally cleaned!

The top chaps who cleaned this were Over The Rainbow, next door to Ace Cafe, who also do bikes. Done a very good job, cleaned all the grime, chain lube and other detritus and got whole bike sparkly clean. All for a tenner and in 1.5 hrs. After spending ages the other weekend trying to remove the chain lube off my bike, it’s a tempting offer.

Riding

Back to School

It was back to school this week for the kids, after a half term break away. Their blue uniforms match the bike perfectly. If only I had a pair of mini helmets, the school run would be so much easier.

Riding

London Bikers Apple Crumble Pudding

Post author By Arthur
Post date May 30, 2013
No Comments on London Bikers Apple Crumble Pudding

Another Wednesday night, another London Biker meet up at Borough Market. Traditionally home to some of the best food produce, organic fruit, veggies, quality meat, game, hand-cooked meals and deserts. So, of course not to be outdone, Thamer arrives with a home-baked apple crumble strapped to the back of his Street Triple. And why not?!

A little quiet on attendance (bah! you other fair-weather bikers!), but we all had a good chin wag and tucked into some tasty pudding. But what culinary delights can others bring next week?

Tags London

Riding

Shropshire Ride Out, Shrewsbury to Keele

Post author By Arthur
Post date May 30, 2013
No Comments on Shropshire Ride Out, Shrewsbury to Keele

During my recent visit to Shrewsbury I had chance to catch up with two of my sister’s buddies who are also avid bikers. We had a nice leisurely Saturday afternoon ride out, with excellent sunny weather, quiet ish roads (compared to London anyway!) and a decent pub at our destination. I was joined by Blake, riding a heavily customised Harley 883 Sportster that sat barely a hairs breath off the road and Pete on a Honda Transalp adventure style bike. With me on the sports-tourer Fazer, we couldn’t have as far apart from one another in our styles of bike and riding posture.

Tags Ride Out

Riding

Great Ride To Shropshire

I had a half day at work, motorcycle loaded up, 170 miles to cover, time away from kids, lovely dry weather and a pub dinner booked with family in 6 hours time. It doesn’t really get much better than this. It turned out to be great ride up to Shropshire, cross country through the Cotswolds, Worcester and South Shropshire. Here is how I got on.

I left work after lunch and immediately cut straight up across the city via Islington, Highbury etc along the A1, before hitting the North circular and then out of London on the A41. This first leg was a little slow going due to traffic, but later on the A41 was almost empty. A fast dual carriageway with big sweeping bends leading to Aylesbury, a nice easy ride through green countryside, but not the fun country bends I was looking for.

Waddesdon Five Arrows Hotel — Five Arrows Hotel, Waddesdon

Aylesbury is a nice small town, but straight through I went continuing on the A41 to Bicester. The road was mostly single carriageway, but with occasionally stretches of dual carriageway. The scenery was pleasant, highlighted by passing the majestic Waddesdon Manor, but nothing compared to beyond Bicester as I entered the Cotswolds.

Tags Ride Out

Clothing/Protection Gear Reviews

NikWax Leather Care Kit Review

Post author By Arthur
Post date May 25, 2013
No Comments on NikWax Leather Care Kit Review

I picked up this kit a few months ago and have been using it every now and again to clean up and condition my leather motorcycle gear. It’s a pretty decent box of bottles covering, head to toe pretty much everything you need. You get leather cleaner, leather restorer, waterproofing wax, glove waterproofing and visor water repellent. Not a bad bundle for £20.

The glove waterproofing I used on my Gerbings XR12 gloves, as recommended in their care instructions and on my wife’s Buffalo leather gloves. The bottle has a foam top sponge dispenser type thing, which lets you apply and rub the solution all over your gloves easily. Once dry, the solution is completely invisible, but the palms did feel a little slippery on my grips for a day or two. In the wet, it performed exactly as desired, no water leaks, dry hands – job done, big thumbs up.

Tags Waterproofing

Riding

Packed For Trip Up North

Bike cleaned, serviced and laden with luggage, ready for my trip up North this afternoon. Spending a few days in Shrewsbury, Shropshire with family. I’d rather travel light, however I have a funeral to attend so need to pack a suit and shoes.
My plan is to avoid the usual motorways (M25, M1, M6, M54), as although quicker will get very monotonous and tiresome very quickly. I am going to take a more cross country route on A roads, with some interesting scenery and bends. The route is roughly A41, A44, A458 and will take me across the top of the Cotswalds and through the Vale of Evesham.

View Larger Map