I know I recently picked up some decent Alpinestars Goretex gloves but have still been suffering from cold hands, but I saw these heated gloves for motorcycles on special offer through BuyaPowa. They operate in a Groupon kind of way, where the more buyers who sign up for the deal, the cheaper the deal gets. Either way, I managed to get these Gerbing Heated Gloves for the super price of £100, that’s a good £60 off. They took a while to turn up, after the deal closed, but are definitely worth the wait.
Author: Arthur
Seasoned London commuter, doing my best to stay rubber side down and never stop moving forward.
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Bloody Puncture
Not a good day today. Whilst on the way into central London, I felt a bump and heard a slight clatter from the front wheel. It cleared quickly , so I carried on. Big mistake. When I did finally stop I noticed this big screw protruding from my tyre, and air hissing out slowly I had only ridden several miles down the busy A13, with my wife pillion on the back – eeek! Damned lucky not to have had a blow out.
Being stuck in Mile End, I rang up nearby Pole Position, who sent one of their chaps round to repair the puncture. They showed me poke the ‘strings’ of the rubber puncture kit into the tyre and seal the hole, enabling me to get to their workshop and replace the tyre. It only had a 3-6 months of tread left in it, so replacement seemed best option. On went a nice new Metzeler Roadtec Z6 front tyre, which seems to get good reviews and will hopefully put me in good stead for the coming winter.
Lessen learnt: If you feel something dodgy whilst riding, stop sooner rather than later to check it out.
These were the first pair of gloves I bought, having picked them up in the lengthy summer sale at Hein Gericke, whilst I was still learning. As you know, Hein Gericke UK went into administration in July, but have since been rescued by the German arm of the company and so many of their shops still remain. In choosing these gloves, I was looking for a good all round glove, and had thought an all year round glove would be viable. Oh how wrong I was.
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Two Up – First Attempt Taking Pillion
I went two up on the bike for the first time today. That’s pillion, passenger on the back for those not in the know. With the kids farmed off to friends, my wife and I took off on a ride out into the rural Essex for a slap up pub lunch (sans alcohol of course).
I had been taught about carrying a pillion passenger as part of my DAS training, but the examiner had merely asked a knowledge question on the subject. My instructor had sat on the back of the bike, to give us a feel of the extra weight and highlight how passengers should not mount the bike (step onto one foot peg with all their weight), but today was my first time on the road with a pillion.
So with foot pegs down and feet firmly planted on the floor, my wife hopped on, albeit with a slight struggle due to her lack of statue. The extra weight changed the bikes handling dramatically, I was very wobbly initially, as every learn was exaggerated by the extra weight. My stopping distances were much longer, meaning I had to read the road further ahead and plan more. But after a few miles, I became accustomed to the change in handling and smoothed out my riding.
Key pillion points:
- Passengers must be able to reach foot pegs.
- Passengers should only get on and off when directed to.
- Passengers should hold on to rider or grab bar and not wave to distract rider or other vehicles
- Front braking and steering will be lighter.
- Expect over-steer when leaning, due to extra weight.
We took many country roads and an indirect route to Blackmore in Essex, where there are a couple of great pubs, serving some top grub. Fully sated, we had a good ride around with no set route, before finally stopping over at High Beach in Epping, at the big biker tea hut meet. The tea was stewed, but the weather was good, and there were loads of other bikes to check out. Overall, a good ride out with plenty learnt.
Fuck.
Had my first off this morning. Feel so stupid, was such a novice error. The roads were a bit wet, I was just 5 minutes from home, coming up to a mini-roundabout. All of a sudden a car suddenly indicated to come round the mini roundabout, I panicked and hit the brakes hard, too hard. Locked the front wheel and skidded down. Didn’t hit any other vehicles thankfully, or have any injuries, but I had the weight of the bike on top of me, scratched it badly and dented my confidence somewhat. Had to hit the emergency off and pissed petrol everywhere.
Put a nasty scuff in the fairing, bent a crash bobbin in turn cracking the belly pan and popped the can off. Not too serious, but the bikes’ perfect cosmetics are no more. Everyone says, as a learner you’ll inevitable drop your first bike, but it’s still bloody annoying.
Lessons learnt: be smoother on the brakes, weight the back brake more in the wet and I can actually lift the bike! Oh and put it back in neutral, before wasting ages trying to work out why you can’t push the bike to the side of the road…
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Lowered Seat for Fazer
This evening I picked up a second hand lowed seat for my Fazer (from a chap on the Fazer’s Owner Club). My wife used to be a keen biker and wanted to take my Fazer out from time to time, however she is only 5’1″ tall and found the Fazer too high to manage. This replacement seat is essentially a standard seat that has had the leather cover peeled back and much of the foam padding cut away, then restitched up again. It brings the seat height down an inch or so and is very quick to swap on and off.
My wife is still struggling a bit with the Fazer, but can at least get her toes on the ground now. Hopefully with a bit of practice, she’ll get the confidence and balance to manage it.
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R&G Racing Superbike Rain Cover
Unfortunately, I don’t have the luxury of a garage or shed to store my motorbike, I have to park the bike on our driveway, open to the elements. There are no two ways about it, a bike will never last as well stored on the drive like this. But a decent rain cover can mitigate this somewhat.
But which cover? It seems you spend anything from a tenner to nigh on a monkey for a top-notch cover. But what is really worth it?
I was looking for something durable, waterproof (duh!), not going to melt on the exhaust and easy to put on and take off. Going through the reviews, the general verdict was an Oxford Stormtex or R&G Racing Superbike cover, which come in at £40 and £60 respectively. The Oxford cover has the edge in the heatproof stakes but costs more. However, R&G has an outlet store on eBay, where I managed to pick this cover for a measly £25! No contest.
Edit: The cover is a little tight-fitting, particularly so since adding the Givi top box rack, which juts out a bit at the back. As to heat from the exhaust, I’ve never had a problem, by the time I’ve chained up the bike and removed the top box, the can is plenty cool to pop cover over the top.
When it comes to protective clothing on the bike, leather is still one of the best choices. Maybe not as waterproof as Goretex, or hard wearing as Kevlar, but on balance, it tends to be best overall value for the money. The other advantage, is there is loads of leather gear available second hand, often it very good nick. A fine example of which was these Alpinestars Bat Leather trousers.
I picked these up from a chap off the London Bikers forum, for the princely sum of £50. I already had some Hein Gericke leather trousers, I had picked up new in their recent closing down sale. However they were a loose cut style and a tiny bit big in the waist. Pulling the tabs in on the waist causes the leather to ruck up and becomes uncomfortable after a while. Moral of the story: buy what fits, not what’s a good price.
Anyway, back to the Alpinestars Bat Pants; they are quite low down in their range, but still normally retail for about £200. Protection wise, they just feature some layered leather knee pads – no knee-down sliding in these. They are a slim fit, with stretch panels and zips in the calf sections. They’re snug to get on and need a bit of wiggling to pull them up, but once in, they fitted me very well and were very comfortable, even after long periods of time.
Only a couple of down sides: Firstly, the single pocket on the right thigh, fine for a phone, but too tight for a wallet. So, once I take my jacket off, I’m stuck for pockets to keep my keys and wallet safe. Secondly the knee protection has a habit of folding over when putting your feet in, so needs flattening before zipping up the calves. This can be a bit awkward and annoying, however it may be down to the age of the leather and having lost some of its original rigidity.
Overall, I very happy with the trousers, much prefer the tight cut style. They’re very comfortable and I’ve not worn my old Hein Gericke trousers since.
Rating 5/5
Bike security is essential in London. It’s a sad state of affairs, but bike crime is rife and only a fool would skimp on security. A good solid chain is one of the best measures you can take, but it is only as good as what you chain the bike to.
→ Check out our full Motorcycle Security Guide
Your chain should have at least 16mm thick links, anything less is a waste of time. As many would be thieves favour 42″ bolt cutters, which generally have a mouth that can only accommodate ~14mm chains. Even better, opt for a 19mm chain. The best brands out there are Almax and Pragmasis. Price wise there is little difference, however I opted with Pragmasis as their ground anchor appeared to have the edge slightly. The downside of these big chains is weight. Since I would be carrying the chain to work everyday, I opted for the 16mm chain, which at 2m and with lock, weighs in at about 15Kg!
And there she is. Damned she’s nice. I only hope I can keep her looking this sweet.
Found this on Gumtree, it was a little more than I initially wanted to spend, but it’s great condition. Owned from new by a fair weather ride, who has kept it in a shed and only put 13K on the clock. I took a good friend along, whose been riding bikes for decades, to give it a once over and confirm there’s nothing dodgy about it. He told me to buy it quick, otherwise he would!