Anything to do with motorcycles, scooter, etc...

[Aloha]

WOW reading thru all the advice given  .  Thank you all for offering life saving info.  Here in SoCal theres a great riding community.  There are however some idiots no the road as well ( from both sides ).  I rode throughout college year round.  Thankfully we have pretty great weather year round.  I love the "I believe in All The Gear All The Time (ATGATT), NO exceptions" from Pieter. 

I had a friend who was an amateur Motocross race and did a fair amount of street stunting.  I rarely if ever rode with him.  He was way out of my league.  I did go down a few times, sand  .  Just like in football, keep your head on a swivel.

I'd also stay away from riding anyone for a whilel.  Get some seat time in and as mentioned a rider course before he adds the responsibility of a passenger. 

Enjoy the bike.   

[MadPlumbarian]

Kids riding over so we can give us a look at it, maybe the Mrs will take a pic of me sitting or leaning on it?
JR

[MadPlumbarian]

Idk why he’s riding in this weather, it’s only 45-49° outside!
JR

[MadPlumbarian]

Well he stopped by and showed the bike off and even let us all sit on it and he pulled the throttle back, of course the Mrs took some pics so I made a little collage for you guys,
JR

[MadPlumbarian]

And of course the two bike ones a little better,
JR

[MadPlumbarian]

The lights on that are led, and the brakes are dual something, so as hard as he pulls he won’t flip it, the key he doesn’t even have to put in the bike, he can just start it, but so long as he’s like within 3ft or else it won’t start, the fork also locks so even if someone was to do something the front is turned so it would keep doing circles, yet if he lost his key there’s some way to put in a pin code and everything unlocks, I thought it was cool too bad his Xmas gift is under the bed and he’s never got any time or else I would have given it to him so I could watch him put the crash/foot bar on!
JR

[Dutch_Tooler]

Late to the party (sorry, RL has a habit of keeping me away of late). Nice bike, especially for a first bike. I subscribe to all the warnings above, but I imagine your son must be tired of hearing them by now. If nothing else, a bright (fluo orange or yellow) helmet is quite effective for making oneself more visible to other traffic.

The Guzzi is in the garage, too cold to ride around here at the moment, and wet leaves are no fun...

[Sea Monster]

Late to the party (sorry, RL has a habit of keeping me away of late). Nice bike, especially for a first bike. I subscribe to all the warnings above, but I imagine your son must be tired of hearing them by now. If nothing else, a bright (fluo orange or yellow) helmet is quite effective for making oneself more visible to other traffic.

The Guzzi is in the garage, too cold to ride around here at the moment, and wet leaves are no fun...

The jury (safety studies...) are still out on whether or not high vis clothing assists a great deal.

Something reflective, particularly at night, is unlikely to be a bad thing - but some evidence is that it is just "meh" and makes you *feel* safer more than it actually makes other road users pay attention to you or give you your space.

ATGATT is a fun to say, but one man's "All the gear" is "basically naked" to someone else. Pick a risk level you are happy with and learn to live with it - if you're worried enough that you won't go on the road without a full race suit, airbag vest, etc etc, then you probably shouldn't be on a bike at all - Cars are safer


the best protection is practice and defensive riding - riding so that everyone can see you, "protecting" your space (in front, to the sides) from car drivers who will act like you're not there, or don't deserve as much roadspace. Keep your bike serviced and well maintained, and know your talent level.


If you've got some money to throw around, the best gift you can get a new rider (or an old rider) is riding lessons.

A nice leather jacket impresses a coupla blokes and zero ladies - having a shattered shoulder, crushed hips, and missing foot because you got into an accident you could have avoided with more skill impresses no one, and ruins the rest of your life.

Single-vehicle accidents are represented highly among motorcyclists, and they can mostly be avoided with corrected maintained vehicles, and good roadcraft.

[Dutch_Tooler]

the best protection is practice and defensive riding - riding so that everyone can see you, "protecting" your space (in front, to the sides) from car drivers who will act like you're not there, or don't deserve as much roadspace. Keep your bike serviced and well maintained, and know your talent level.


If you've got some money to throw around, the best gift you can get a new rider (or an old rider) is riding lessons.

[...]

Single-vehicle accidents are represented highly among motorcyclists, and they can mostly be avoided with corrected maintained vehicles, and good roadcraft.

  with that. It’s just that I must say from own experience that clothing wise, if you do go for hi viz, I find a helmet attracts my attention before any items located lower on the body. And being dressed to be invisible doesn’t help, especially in poor weather.

[Nix]

 

[Sea Monster]

In a classic case of "Do what I say, not what I do"

here's a pic of the brake pad I just pulled off my bike....

Don't let complacency kill you - set a schedule for servicing and maintenance that you'll remember and stick to. I ride every day, so "every time I ride" is a bit excessive, but "Once at the start of summer" is not enough.

Maintenance on a car is important, but often is something fails the worst thing that will happen is you'll slow down and stop - either with enough time/power to pull over to the side, or at worst as an embarrassment holding up traffic until a tow truck arrives.

If you have a mechanical failure on a bike, it could very well be curtains,

[pietervn]

G'Day,

Today was an excellent day in the Sydney Region, so off we went for a full day ride. I covered 580kms for the day, mostly tight twisty stuff. Three bikes went out and three bikes came home, with breaks in parks and honouring the Fallen today, as it is Remembrance Day in Oz. We stopped in Lithgow at the memorial site for the HMAS Lithgow, a minesweeper Corvette in WW II. I include a pic of the history of the ship.

I was on the R1150 GSA, Ian on the R1200 GSA and Kelvin on the R65 LS. We ride often together and today was one of the days where we rode like a well oiled machine. We took turns to lead and rode a brisk pace. We had a lot of rain the last two weeks and the roads were beautifully washed and clean. Only two patches of dirt in corners made for some interesting cornering techniques. A black snake made his way across the road and we all missed him. I don't like riding over them, my motocross boots have bite marks from a black snake which the mate in front clipped. The snake reared up and I was the closest to him. Thankfully the boots took the whole bite. ATGATT!!! even for snake bites!!!

Enjoy the pics, Pete

[pietervn]

Some more bike pics, Pete

[BleaKrytE]

Some more bike pics, Pete

Beautiful. I always thought the older GSs looked weird, but they're starting to grow on me. Simplistic and practical.

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[Wspeed]

Beautiful. I always thought the older GSs looked weird, but they're starting to grow on me. Simplistic and practical.

Enviado de meu Moto E (4) Plus usando o Tapatalk

They look bulletproof as well 

[Altis]

The jury (safety studies...) are still out on whether or not high vis clothing assists a great deal.

Something reflective, particularly at night, is unlikely to be a bad thing - but some evidence is that it is just "meh" and makes you *feel* safer more than it actually makes other road users pay attention to you or give you your space.

Perhaps it varies a bit depending on where you're riding, but at least here in Canada, it's made a colossal difference for me. In fact, I cannot state enough how big of an improvement I've seen. Consider that we also only have seasonal riding and motorcycles in general are pretty uncommon, so that might affect its, err, effectiveness.

With high-vis (bright high-vis-yellow vest, white helmet) has made riding so much better. Vehicles often give me way more space than I need, and don't pull out even when they would have time. I used to get cut off quite a bit when I had mostly dark gear, a black bike, and only a single white light on the front.

Even as a motorcyclist, there's often times where I notice bikes that are very difficult to see or judge their speed/distance -- and I'm looking out for bikes FAR more than the average driver around here.

While motorcycling is inherently riskier than driving a car, I do think that the risk can be reduced to an acceptable level for me by the following:

- High-vis gear (vest and helmet)
- Protective gear (level 2 armor, proper riding gear, gloves, full-face helmet with thorough testing)
- Good light setup (2 headlights, both amber lights illuminated... this gives distance and speed perspective and registers as a vehicle instantly to other drivers)
- High beam on during the day
- Zero alcohol
- ABS (in an emergency situation, being able to go full hard on the brakes the instant you need to, in any road condition, is absolutely essential)
- Riding a bike with good rider position for agility and visibility (helps to have it in a visible color, like red)
- Good tires in good condition
- Always being aware of lane position and choosing the best path to be safe
- Practice emergency maneuvers, take rider training (you need to know how the bike will feel and respond)
- Ride at reasonable speeds! There is a time and place for performance
- Knowing when it doesn't feel right to ride (tired, poor attention/distracted, poor weather/road/traffic conditions, etc)

Might be forgetting something but I feel like, at least where I live, these measures reduce the risk to an acceptable level while having little to no impact on the joy of riding for me.

After all, I don't want to die or be seriously injured just to enjoy riding. I'd wager a number of people who talk about weighing the risks don't genuinely put themselves through the scenarios of things going wrong. Some people lament the high cost of safety gear but will happily spend thousands on rather pointless mods.

Anyways, just my thoughts and experience. Have fun and ride safe 

[pietervn]

Beautiful. I always thought the older GSs looked weird, but they're starting to grow on me. Simplistic and practical.

Cheers, Mate.

I think the 1150 is the best looking one of the lot. It was the Original Adventure model, they got it right the first time. They do look a little weird, but tough as nails!!!

Pete

[pietervn]

G'Day,

Sydney was just beautiful today and riding time it was. I took the boy-child and a Mate down to a little town Berrima to have smoked brisket burgers for early lunch. The ride there was excellent but very windy. With a 6'3" pillion I felt the wind around every corner. A bit of dirt and long sweeping bends made to trip there really nice. Berrima is a small town to the south of Sydney catering for the day traveller. There are fantastic eateries and small stores with good quality food stuff and other small goods. The cafe we went to, Schmokin' Cafe, is a bike friendly mob. They have an open workshop, cafe and a sales area catering for the discerning biker. This is the second time we went and it was better than the first time. The coffee and food was first class and we left happy and full. The ride back was just as good as the one going down. No motorway, lots of bends and more wind...

All in all a very good Sunday out.

Cheers, Pete

[pietervn]

And a few more pics

[Wspeed]

Excellent 

[pietervn]

G'Day,

Holidays!!! I am officially on holidays. And Sydney is wet, has been very wet for the last few days. We were supposed to go on a two day trip today and tomorrow but called it off with predictions of serious rain. Instead we had a decent day today and went for a quick ride across the ferry following the Hawkesbury River. Hot and very humid after all the rain we had the last couple of days. I went with an 'ol mate on his Kwaka Vulcan. The roads were very pretty slippery in the morning, but dried out as the day went on. Not a big day, just a tad over 250 km for me, but a good one.

Breakfast was fresh scones for me and a pork belly breakfast burger for Kim. The place we went to is famous for the pork belly burgers, and they are very good!!! Walking into the café we were greeted by the smell of fresh coffee and scones, it was downhill after that for me 

And as I type, the rain has returned once again. Our next ride is planned for Sunday and a second dirt ride on Monday. That one may change, I think trying to manhandle a GSA in mud on a 70/30 tire will be more than I want to do. Plan B will be a good road ride, that is if the weather holds. Pics to follow...

Cheers, Pete

[Aloha]

Glad you got out.  Sweet bikes.  Is it weird I can smell the pork belly and scones 

 

[pietervn]

Glad you got out.  Sweet bikes.  Is it weird I can smell the pork belly and scones 

 

Not at all Mate!!! If you have the opportunity to try one, do so, they are fantastic.

Pete

[Dutch_Tooler]

I am feeling just the slightest bit jealous. Temps here atm are around 3-5 °C around early pm and subzero at night, meaning roads are being copiously salted...

[pietervn]

I am feeling just the slightest bit jealous. Temps here atm are around 3-5 °C around early pm and subzero at night, meaning roads are being copiously salted...

We are lucky here in Sydney. No snow and certainly no salt and I ride all year round. I would HATE to have to ride on salted roads. We do get around 0 °C, but not ice on the road. I have to add another jersey for those morning. Thank goodness for heated grips!!!

We have a ride planned for tomorrow and Monday. I'll post a few pics of that.

Pete

[Altis]

We are lucky here in Sydney. No snow and certainly no salt and I ride all year round. I would HATE to have to ride on salted roads. We do get around 0 °C, but not ice on the road. I have to add another jersey for those morning. Thank goodness for heated grips!!!

We have a ride planned for tomorrow and Monday. I'll post a few pics of that.

Pete

Riding in the salt isn't really an option here as the salt will rust out parts of the bike in no time (especially the chain).

It's tempting some days, though. Very envious of those of you who live in places with year-round riding!

[Dutch_Tooler]

Me too. I have no chain (the Guzzi is shaft driven) but there are plenty of other parts which would start rusting...

[BleaKrytE]

A little day trip I did a couple days ago to Holambra, a city known for its flower production and for the dutch immigrants that moved there.

What's not in the photo is the absurd rain I was greeted with on the highway.

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[pietervn]

That is a nice pic, Mate.

MMM, rain. We had lots here in Sydney the last few days. We rode yesterday and today and both days were wet. Yesterday soft drizzle, about two hours all up, today was hard rain the last 180 km of the day. Good gear kept me completely dry!!!

Love riding in the rain!!!

Pete

[pietervn]

G'Day,

Riding again? Off course, this is holiday time.

I spent the last two days riding!!! Sunday a few of us went to a country café in the bush for breakfast. The "real" reason was that Shuberth was selling their helmets at 50% discount, and that is a very good discount for excellent helmets. My son needs a new one as his 2 year old Shark is getting to small. He managed to find one he liked, but they did not have one there. "No problem, Sir, we will have it shipped express post to your door at no extra cost on Monday morning." That should be here in Wednesday. How good is that. That crossed Sunday's ride off the list.

Today was a big day. I did 600km for the day on the R9T. The GSA developed an electrical gremlin, and I did not want to chance it on such a big day and being far from home. It is going in on the 5th and I should have it by the end of that week. I really enjoyed the R9T today. I has new tires on (Pirelli Angel GT II) and I changed the fork oil to a lighter weight. This made a big difference on the handling and overall comfort. The R9T suspension is basic, but this changed was very noticeable. I'm planning on replacing the suspension with Wilburs next year. I am VERY happy with the tires. I could not get a matching Michelin Road 5 set due to the virus chaos. Tires are coming into Australia at a very slow pace and out of ordering sequence. I could get a front but the rear is still somewhere on the water, 2 months later. The Angels are good in the wet. We rode 180km is heavy rain this afternoon and I did not need to slow down at all. A very confidence inspiring tire. I think I prefer them over the Road 5's for MY riding style. Speaking of rain... I invested in a Klim Latitude riding suit last year. I was tired of getting damp / wet to or from work. The gear was not cheap, but works very well. The rain over the last two days did not get into the suit at all. I was bone dry from head to toe. Goretex are not cheap, but it works!!!

A single pic only, sorry  we were riding!!!

Next ride is on Wednesday, weather is supposed to be dry. I'll try to take a few extra pics.

Cheers, Pete