Seasoned London commuter, doing my best to stay rubber side down and never stop moving forward.
Booked myself onto the BikeSafe course run by the local police force. Everyone I speak to recommends it, and at just £35 for a days tuition, whose to argue? That said, that’s Romford price, in central London it’s £45.
Why not book yourself in today and see what you can learn: www.bikesafe.co.uk.
Watch this space for my report following the course.
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In an effort to improve my riding I have picked up this book. Universally well regarded and the manual for police motorcyclists. It is jammed packed with advice, tips and lessons to rider better and safer, in all manner of situations.
I managed to pick up a second hand copy off the Amazon Marketplace for less than the price of a couple of beers. There’s a lot to read and learn, with many lessons backed by simple diagrams. I’ll report back, once I have finished reading it, but do check it out yourself in the mean time.
Buy Motorcycle Roadcraft: The Police Rider’s Handbook to Better Motorcycling from Amazon
As of 19th January 2013, the rules around motorcycle tests in the UK have changed considerably, Trying to fathom how this affects you is no mean feat. Today I’m going to attempt explaining the changes in a clear and simple way.
Hopefully you will be able to choose the best route to get riding, as taking the wrong test could cost you more in the long run and limit the choice of bike you can ride.
Just had a good night down at the Ace cafe, for the London Bikers newbie, and stumbled upon this. It’s a Brough Superior SS100 Pendine Racer from 1928.
Was a great night out, and if you’re new on a bike in London, well worth popping along to have a natter with other in the same boat.
With the crappy weather and roads covered in salt and grit, it’s not just your bike that needs plenty of washing and TLC. Leather clothing can also damaged by the salt. So give it a good wash, apply some leather conditioner and waterproofing. It will cost you a lot less in the long run.
Last night was a work social do, over at the Bincho in Exmouth Market. It was a great Japanese grill house and a thoroughly good night. The key thing, was everyone left the office on Bermondsey Street at the same time, myself on bike, everyone else on tube. Always figured I’d be there first, but most striking was the time difference. They took 40 minutes and I took 15 minutes (including getting bit lost and going long way around St Paul’s)!
Hence chilling out with a lovely pot of Gyokuro green tea and big smug face, when everyone else turned up. Of course, no Sake for me, but I did have a enjoyable ride back, along the quiet moonlit East London streets. Quite a novelty.
I’ve found wind noise is a big issue on the motorbike. Not so much around town at low speeds, but as soon as I get above 40 mph it becomes more and more of a problem. A jaunt on the motorway is literally quite deafening, above 60 mph I can no longer hear the engine, wind noise just overcomes everything else. This is not good, as I have other interests are in music, hi-fi and home cinema. Going deaf or suffering from severe tinnitus will stop me from enjoying these.
A study by the University of Southampton found that at 70 mph in-ear noise can hit 100 dB. To put this in perspective, British law dictates that anyone exposed to more than 85 dB in the workplace, must be provided with and must wear ear protection, to prevent permanent damage. At 100 dB, permanent damage can occur after just 15 minutes!
So, the moral of the story here is to wear some ear protection. There’s a multitude of different products on the market, from cheap foam inserts to custom moulded plugs. I’m currently using the Laser Lite foam earplugs. Cheap, simple and actually pretty good. A big bag of them on eBay set me back just a couple of quid. At this price, you can get enough that you always have some handy and not too fussed if they get lost or dirty. They work surprisingly well and quite markedly reduce noise, which at first gives a strange sensation of isolation when riding. Go careful, as this isolation and reduced noise can make you inclined to ride faster than you think you’re going. Around town, I tend not to wear the plugs, as I generally don’t go fast enough to warrant them and I like to use all my senses for awareness of those on the road around me. But out on the motorway, they are essential.
Spent the afternoon giving the Fazer a damned good clean and wax. Washing off all that bike eating salt that had accumulated over the last few weeks. Looks much better now.
I was hoping to put some fresh ACF50 on it to help protect it from corrosion, but I was totally out and on visiting Halfords, they had never heard of the stuff! Very annoying. As you can see them downpipes really need some ACF50 on them. Otherwise I can envisage myself replacing them with some new stainless steel ones in the not too distant future.
A little parcel arrived today, my replacement Gerbings heated glove controller. Top stuff, much quicker turn around than I was expecting. Their return form said 4-6 weeks on it, so I had purchased another controller to tie me over. But I had only posted the old one off on Wednesday, so big thumbs up to Gerbings!
