On the bike, we have to continually keep our wits about ourselves, be ready for whatever surprise pops up. This was a bit of a close call, a bit higher and it could have screwed up all visibility.
Wednesday night means one thing – London Bikers Borough Market meetup or LB BM as it’s often more succinctly known. With all the chaos on the roads due to the prevailing tube strike, it was a welcome opportunity to chill out for a bit and let the carnage dissipate a little before undertaking the commute home.
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Spotted: Kawasaki KZ1100R
Spotted out and about, this funky ’83 Kwak KZ1100R, a replica ‘Steady’ Eddie Lawson super bike from an by gone era. Great to see nice bike out and ridden.
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Fazer Owners Club Ride Out April 2014
Had a great ride out yesterday with the Fazer Owners Club (Unofficial). The weather was a bit grey and rain was hinted at, but luckily we escaped it all and had a great ride. Starting out at the Silver Ball Cafe on the A10 just South of Royston, we made our via some back roads to Finchingfield in Essex. A picturesque village with a super little cafe and a popular pitstop for lots of bikers. Once sated, we set off South down to High Beach tea hut in Epping Forest.
Overall a chilled out ride, with some good company, top stuff all around.
There’s very little question about it, when it comes to protection on a motorcycle, leather is where it’s at. Which is all well and good, until it rains, and that happens an awful lot here in the UK. Leather just isn’t very waterproof and soon becomes water logged, heavy, cold and pretty miserable to ride in. This is where this little tub of wax named Mr JoJo comes in.
I picked up this Mr JoJo wax up at the MCN show a couple of months ago, cost me a tenner for a 200g tub, with a few sponges thrown in. The sales chap demonstrated it on our boots with a spray can of water. Seemed worth a punt. It’s name, Mr JoJo, doesn’t seem to have any relation to a certain Madame JoJo’s of Soho fame, but is a leather waterproofing and conditioning wax from URAD, which contains Jojoba oil. This oil comes from the little Jojoba shrubbery that grows around Mexico, Arizona and California, and is a popular alternative to Whale oil. The wax is white in colour and has a distinctive sweet smell.
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Childrens Motorcycle Gear
My daughter has been dying to ride on the back of my motorbike for ages now. The legal requirement being only their feet can reach the foot pegs and the wearing of a helmet. Since my daughter is rather tall, there’s been no problem there, however from a maturity point of view we have held off for some time. With her 8th birthday later this year, we have decided she is now old enough to ride on the back of the bike and hark back to the days when she was a nipper and would ride on the back of my bicycle.
Of course, safety is a paramount concern, so we have been keen to kit her out in some decent gear to protect her. A tricky prospect considering the price of motorcycle gear and the rate she will grow out of it, and so we hit ebay with a vengeance to find decent gear without breaking the bank.
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Sixth Sense Skills – Tip 10 (SMIDSY)
Did you manage to guess what happened? A classic SMIDSY, that just leaves you wondering how on earth they didn’t see you, your headlights, hi-vis, or anything past their nose. Thankfully, they braked at the last second and I resisted the urge to panic brake and managed to swerve. Breaking those panic reactions is not easy, it takes time and is something that new riders often struggle with. It’s all too easy to grab a fistful of front brake, lock up and hit the deck. Of course, it helps a lot if you have ABS.
Another example of some fine driving by a young man in a small hatchback with his companions. Happily enjoying a quiet drive and making best possibly use of all lanes of the carriage way.
Maybe. See if you can spot where the reality deviates a little.
Filtering the UK is perfectly legal. On a motorbike. Filtering in a car is just plain dumb.
Good news for London bikers, the TFL has just announced a new campaign to increase motorcycle safety in the capital with the aim to reduce injuries and casulties by 40% by 2020. A bold ambition, but I think we can all agree something needs to be done about the disproportionately high number of motorcycle incidents. 21% of those killed or seriously injured on the capitals roads in 2012 were on a motorbike, yet motorcycles only make up 2.3% of road users.
The plan highlights a number of key factors that need addressing, including improving rider skills (e.g. through BikeSafe), educating other road users, greater enforcement of traffic offences for all road users (e.g. speeding, red light jumping) and promoting the use of proper protective clothing. It also includes a move to add rear facing average speed cameras to the A13 (planned for 2015) and elsewhere.