Basics for Motorcyclists Who Upgrade

This article was initially written in 2014 addressed to a particular group of riders., most of whom were new to the genre of 'Big Bikes' with ample torque and horsepower are their disposal and then with brakes which did nto really suit the habits of the riders or were just not able to compensate for the riders 'newness' - and lastly but not dismissed are the allegations that the brakes were just useless. No matter how that argument proceeds, I felt that the new riders- from Shine to Pulsar, CB100 to KTM390, from RE Bullets to Harleys- I think this article provides some points from my perspective. Please send in your comments- I would love to add them to my article update.

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Over the past two months, along with Raghav, we have been watching a disproportionate number of incidents involving Street 750s- and in particular their rims.

We have had quite a few bent/broken rims and this post is meant from that perspective for all riders, not just the 750s- as disproportionate the numbers may be, the incidents are not restricted to them alone.

I will list a set of issues first and address the possible corrective measures in a bit

1. A lot of new riders have graduated from smaller bikes, engine capacity as well as performance envelope- wise and the one thing that riders need to keep an absolute control on is the acceleration that their bikes have, as compared to what they were riding earlier. Coming off corners, dropping gears on completing overtaking and turning on the power- etc. This is being coupled with not adjusting your stance and eyesight focus for the new motorcycle is a set up for disasters.

2. Deceleration on seeing an obstacle, be it a goat, truck, pothole, speed breaker- due to the acceleration being of a few degrees higher- more often than not, the riders are 'entering' these conditions faster than they are used to, faster than their bikes can handle and resultant- they either collide with the obstacle, or 'hit' it with force- that it results in deformation of rims and/or other vehicle body parts. Stance and focus again are to be worked on

3. Traditionally tires for Indian motorcycles are of larger profile, due to their experience on Indian roads. As it seems to many, the rubber of the bikes we ride seems to be of softer compound, not to mention of a lower aspect ratio- much needed to ensure safe acceleration and braking, as opposed to having harder compound tires which would result in a disastrous skid in either condition.

Many riders got good exposure with the group rides to Igatpuri just befor the monsoons, and especially on the way down the 8-10Km downhill from Manas to Latifwadi. Gear control, less use of brakes and the proper head position while entering curves, and while riding fast on straights. ( All locations are on the Mumbai-Nashik Highway, providing an elevational increase of about 1000-1200Meters in about 12km of super tarmac)

I will try and elaborate on a few procedures that we feel would make an impact on your quality of riding Let me begin with the smallest but oft ignored technicality first.

1. Check your tire pressure every week or two weeks at the least. This ensures proper aspect ratio of the tire and therefore the best possible protection on impact, optimum tread while riding- meaning safer acceleration and maximum contact while braking.

Most basic air compressors do not remove water vapour and that results in minor heating issues on tires- Nitrogen based air compressors/tanks are usually better maintained, and scrub water vapour better therefore resulting in lesser heating of tires. The difference is marginal and I will be free to argue about this offline. Make sure you have the correct tire pressure saved for your bike on your phone. 

2. While riding- please start making it a habit to use your front brakes more while braking. Most riders we see, use the rear brakes and you simply have to start front-biased braking. Begin to use this at lower speeds, and work your control upwards. For bikes without ABS- learn to pulse the brakes, to prevent seizing the front wheel under heavy braking. Learn to work the front suspension and dramatically lessen your braking distance. While shifting bias forward- ensure that you use the rear to maintain rear wheel directional control and prevent the bike from coming out under your seat.

3. The single biggest issue for new bike riders has been the issue of braking- this being handled in the above point- should be practiced every time you leave your building, and on every ride you do, as only practice will change the way we have been using bikes, with mostly non-existent front brakes till now... 

4. Eyesight- stop looking down in front of your wheel- its too late to do anything about it, except brace for impact if its in front of you. Chin. Chin. Chin.
Its not a song or chant- lift your chin, force yourself to look up- start looking 50-100 meters ahead of you... The faster your go, practice looking at the horizon. further away from the bike. For many that use their bikes in the city, this is a  notoriously difficult exercise- but you have no option, like the front braking issue- similarly this chin-up riding.

The best road to practice this is that Igatpuri-Latifwadi stretch, where all the time, you will be on the throttle, with the power on the rear wheel all the time, and with your eyes looking as far ahead as possible, into the next turn to check for your line and for any aberrations in the road surface.

This note is by no means comprehensive nor is it a accident-proof-your-bike essay. Practice your new bikes, air pressure, front brakes, chin-up.... make a better rider out of yourself. We are looking at a wonderful riding season from now till April-end atleast.

Help make the group riding experience a better one.

How to introduce your child to the world of motorcycling

How do you introduce an 18-year old to riding.

In all my writing about safety, I have met quite a few peers with sons and daughters approaching 18, including my own son- many of whom had this worry on how to introduce their kids to the world of motorcycle riding.

The topic broke up into three view points, all equally important. View points arranged upfront looked like this

From the Parents:- A single paramount worry seems to be the increased ‘rashness’ of riders on the road these days, and the growing indiscipline seen.

From the 3^rd party:- Kids who ride rashly, and break rules, get into accidents and bring grief to their parents

From the Kids:- the need for freedom to travel, the ability to be untraceable for those few stolen moments- the increased ‘Area of Operations’ with the wheels under them.

I do believe I have been a reasonable influence on a few riders through my blog and my interactions on group rides over the past 4/5 years that I have taken this ‘Promote Road Safety’ campaign that I run in my brain.

In my minds eyes, motorcycle discipline is always a part of the upbringing- the safety, the road discipline that children imbibe from their parents first and then their riding partners. So what they watch, writes half their riding DNA, and then thats severely challenged by their peers.

I find that if the parent/elder friend/family member- decides to take the youngster under his/her wing, then group rides are usually the best way to start. Group riding usually enforces a decent speed discipline, and eliminates the rush of wanting to reach some place fast and then wait for the others.  The group offers riding safety, covering the front and the rear of the new rider and that makes for a very good starting environment. I would assume that the guardian knows what kind of a group to align with for starters. There are reckless Pulsar Riders and very safe Z1000 riders, so I find that there is no point in talking about bike categories in regards to this topic.

On group rides, the simple things that fellow riders do- be on time, greet fellow riders, gear up properly, all of this gets imbibed and that slowly becomes becomes habit. Gloves, jeans with knee guards or riding pants, boots, and most important- the full face helmet, all get automatically enforced and the benefits of that will be evident- no strainto eyes, less wind fatigue, less noise in ears, protection from the sun and most important, protection from the tarmac.

A long time ago, on a wall of store selling safety gear, I read the sign-' There are two kinds of riders, those who have fallen and those who will.' I strongly believe this. Nothing I say prevents a fall. What it does is it prevents injury. Preoperly worn gear dramatically reduces the extent of the hurt, and therefore the dismay at home, the fear quotient of family members- and also the fact that you get back in the saddle sooner.

Helmets prevent other than grievous hurt to the head region- the dust and other particles from entering the eyes and distracting the rider. Evening riders are plagued by the problem of bugs as also trucks that carry debris or sand/mud and cause havoc for the ill protected riders in their wake.

Gloves- the best example I use is the fall in the parking lot, or the fall at 2kmph at a traffic signal because there is scree or oil or some other substance on the road- that causes a fall at a minimal speed- and then the lack of good gloves results in a skinned palm.

I don’t like to present high speed accident stories and then have teenagers tune out half way through the narrative. I prefer these sand-in-eyes and skinned-palm-a@2kmph stories that they find palatable, relatable- and more importantly avoidable. 

The one thing that did not work, was negative pressure- the threats of 'don’t ride, else…' 'If you ride I/we will...' from parents. That funnily had a poor response, where the kids then borrowed bikes and then in an effort to maximize the pleasure, rode fast/furious and obviously had no proper fitting gear to protect them and minimize collateral damage when the spills ended the thrills. I would think it is better to give them the leeway and monitor that rather than blanket ban activities. Parents have no idea how their kids travel by train, or board running buses. Parents have no idea how kids climb into other kids houses using drainage pipes and neighbours balconies. All this happens, like it or not. These activities are far more dangerous than letting our child have a bike and then taught the responsibility that goes with it.

Talking to kids- they see bikes from two very important points- one is the absolute freedom from the limitation of public transport, and the vagaries of the taxi/auto drivers. The ‘instantness’ of the ability to travel is what propels most of them into riding- and possibly %’age wise a greater ‘driver’ of the need to ride. Imagine at 8PM to want to meet a friend 3km away- you could just be there ina flip of a switch and click of a gear or two. 

The second being the 'cool' factor- the smart wheels where a Duke wins over a Pulsar and Ninja wins over Duke - something like that, without getting offensive to any brand. I have been asked about what bike for a starter- that article comes up next.

Fine, I say, but then two things that make a better rider, is the removal of the word ‘urgency’ from the riding and then the small but religious habit of wearing safety gear- helmet and gloves for sitting on a bike, immaterial of distance, cause or immediacy.

How does one tackle this? Various means worked for various folks- and a few methods did not work. So there is no perfect rule or set of rules that will teach your ward to be dressed for the crash.

In 1987, my father refused to let me accept delivery of the then prized Hero Honda CD100, after a wait of 6+ months because I dilly-dallied on buying a helmet.  Day One was with helmet, and I never rode without a helmet after that. In 2013, a full 26 years later, I was flung over my handle bars on the picturesque Kaas Plateau, in broad daylight, in clear weather, in an ‘single-vehicle-accident’- into a laterite rock wall at about 45Kmph. A very poor imitation of Superman, if you can imagine, the entire point of contact with the rock face was my temple and the helmet saved my life. Thanks Dad.

Kids from colleges that we met at a recently concluded Castrol-initiative meet, told us how ‘skinned’ colleagues often went home and hid their injuries from their parents. Lucky they were to get away without requiring hospitalization- else imagine the horror of the parents.

To sum this- I feel that a healthy exposure to good riding habits is primary, and the parents/elders can and must play a significant role in taking the lead in arranging rides with groups of riders who have reasonably good safety beliefs and records.

A healthy respect for the law goes a long way in making a good citizen and a good rider too.  Early knowledge of what is good and what is not-riding habits goes a long way from staying away from trouble.

Eventually, your child will meet riders who are either gifted, or foolish, or both or neither. It is at that time, that your efforts in inculcating these habits of proper riding, and safety gear will stand by them and tell them what is not to be done.

Bungee jumping, horse riding, paratrooping, trail running are just as exhilarating- and as you treat them- with healthy dose of respect, so should you treat motorcycling

Other safety related article are available at--
http://beagoodrider.blogspot.in/2015/09/learn-to-lean-your-motorcycle-part-1.html

Budget Helmets- and how to buy them.

Last evening and early this morning- I was chatting with a few youngsters on helmets/ and the topic was budget-but good. A tough topic till we did some reading, brain storming - and here is the essence of our discussion. In no means even the start of a topic this huge.

MT, SOL, Lazer, LS2 (originals now available again), are all very good helmets.
Being in that 4000-13000 range - they all have some niggling drawback or the other yet at the same time, all have one or two star performers that transcend these problems. Helmet noise, auto opening visors, poor quality lining, bad ventilation- being the major cribs.
Then come along-
MT- Revenge.
SOL- SF5.
For example are brilliant in the 4500-5500 range. With 'Carbon' models from mostly all touching 13000.

Another star mid-range performer is the AGV k3- starting at 9000- and going upwards.

Finally at the end of the day you need to get the fit figured out.
I found all of them reasonable in terms of fit and finish but my GT-Air has spoiled me so much that even the Arai Corsair V that I have at home feels either tight or just too wide an visor that causes sun burns after 2 Days of nonstop riding ...
Now I was told that Bell helmets- price $150-700, are better than Shoei for fit and a particular Bell Qualifier is a spectacular budget buy. I looked at them and find that they are really good for the money they charge.
Likewise.
Caberg, is an Italian brand not sold in the US but wildly popular in the EU and the UK and the Caberg Duke model- 10000 range, is supposed to be an awesome modular buy. I do not like these kinds- but it's well acclaimed/ and hence here. It/Caberg helmets meet EU rules (PSB) but no US DOT and due to two visors- no SNELL, either. But it's a beautifully made helmet- for example their Stunt, Ego or Drift models- all in the 13000 range. Having seen their fit and finish on XLs, quite possibly my next buy- if I can find one for sizing my own head. Till then it's academic.
Every once in a while I get asked about Schuberth- which to the best of my knowledge make top class modular helmets- given the propensity of chin injuries in bike crashes- I am just unable to make peace with that design. Besides the good Schu's are from 500-850USD and I leave them alone. But so many people talk about this - they must be good.

My final two bits on a helmet buy/ 

Keep going on rides with fellow riders, keep trying helmets- keep asking for reviews. Ventilation, air noise, lining ease of washability, visor/ too big or too narrow, but what finally matters is the fit. It's always the fit.

Do read this article as well-
http://beagoodrider.blogspot.in/2015/09/helmets-and-how-to-buy-them.html?m=1

Upgrading your Harley.- Updated 01/2017.

UPGRADES

*Some sections updated- Jan 2017*

With the monsoons approaching/receding, the long zonal rides are upon us. It is time to get you bikes out of their hiding places and put on some miles or start thinking what you could do when you take them out after the rains.

A few riders on the last ride were asking me about the various upgrades and accessories available to us. I have broken this into four parts for this writing:

a.       Lights.

Upgrades on the main headlight is usually to the preferred Daymakers from HD. A direct fit, and a quick job. The light beam is very powerful and lights up the road pretty well. An added benefit to most of our daytime warriors is that it increases your visibility to oncoming traffic by a thousand times- and also makes you very easy to track, when you are in a group ride. There are afew riders who have complained about the dawn/dusk hours and the effectiveness of the same when its raining. Do not throw out your old headlight, if the rains bother you, then switch to the regular lights for 3/4 months of the year.
Additional Fog or Auxiliary lights are a boon in our kind of traffic allowing for more light to be ‘laid’ on the road making it safe to ride. These can be mounted along side the headlight or on the crashguard. Always make sure that you use these with a relay and get your wiring checked by someone at the workshop. This is the weakest link in the reliability of HDs.
Cheap Chinese made ones are available, and then there are some super gorgeous ones like the Clearwater Simple faults and shorts cause bikes to fail on highways- and your little effort towards saving money can result in a huge loss of riding opportunity and the cost of getting your bike shipped to a nearby service station.
HD engine management system is very smart and the new CANBUS detects the drop in wattage and equates that with a bulb being fused. Hence if a 15W signal light is replaced with a 3W LED light, the EMS could register that as a fault and keep prompting you to check an error code. Moany HD LED light fittings come equipped with a resistor and therefore work more on brightness and safety rather than trying to protect your battery.
The Fat Boys alternator system is 439W @ 13V,- and you can get upgrades to a 50 Amp alternator for about $600- so when adding lights, we find many bikers run short on juice to sound the horns and find the battery prematurely wearing out- many a times this is because of the load of the 55W from headlight, twin 60W (total 120W) Erica Clearwater fog lights etc that tax the electrical charging systems, while maybe a cheaper 36W+36W Krista would have helped.
Hence it is important to know some basics of your bike, or ask around till you get some reasoning behind your bikes limitations on upgrades.

b.      Exhausts

This is a tricky one. Choose an exhaust that you have heard on the same bike as what you own. Do not buy a particular exhaust because it sounds good on a Sportster. The Sportsters are the nicest sounding bikes, in my opinion but on the FatBoy, the same brand could sound just like distant thunder. So do not choose by name/style or recommendation. Choose because you heard it. Slip ons are changed at the far end of the header pipes, while ‘full system’ ones are ones that change from the exhaust port. Make sure that the full system pipes have Oxygen sensor ports drilled in, as if you have to do it, you could drill too close to the exhaust port and you could burn off the sensor filaments.
The usual suspects for an upgrade are V&H’s, Arlen Ness, Cobras to the more exotic SuperTrapp and Covingtons. The pride of Indias HD was a CFR on a Night Rod- which won any exhaust battle, hand down, till the police surrounded the owners house at 4AM on a Sunday- but that’s another story. Unless its radical change in exhausts, the slip on do not usually need a fuel management system.

c.       Air intakes
Stage 1 from SE is the best upgrade to a better breathing air filter element. Also, it comes with a very long life and only needs regular maintenance (as opposed to replacement for the OE air filter.) Various other more aggressive breathers are available like Heavy breather Screamin’ Eagle of HD, VO2/Drake/Duke from V&H, and the Big Sucker from Arlen Ness. These are the ones that protrude out into the oncoming air and feed the engine with more air, almost like ‘forced air induction.’

c.      Fuel Management Systems

Once you have altered the exhaust profile (mostly making your exhaust a freer flowing one) and given your bike more air than it could handle with its basic ECU, the air intake and exhaust sensors start to keep correcting this imbalance that is beyond their parameters to handle. So what?
SEPST from HD is the factory choice for FMS. The SEPST comes with a orange coloured interface that gets mated to ONE HD. One specific bike, not the owner. So when you sell that bike, you give the SEPST away. Given that its an authorized product, it is used to flash the ECM with no moving parts to ‘hang around under the seat.’ The drawback is not this- the drawback is if you mix components like a V&H exhaust with a Heavy Breather, you are essentially out of depth and you will need a Dyno to tune in your bike. This mix and match is very possible and finding a Dynamometer with a SEPST trained tech will be impossible. Which means you are jammed. Call your workshop advisor for pricing on this item. If not the service center tech geek, you need to be like this ‘tech head’ mariner from Pune who could really work wonders with the SEPST. Incidentally the SEPST was declared illegal and HD paid a whopping million dollar fine and no longer can you see the SEPST on their website- atleast I could not locate it.
With the SEPST attached and in recording mode, you will need to run the bike with throttle position from 0-100, and thru ever gear, which means that in 6th you could touch about 160- which is why the Dynamomter was needed in the first place. OR you can take a few riding lessons on how to ride with it atached and then ride your bike and ride it to whatever your speed on the highways is. Then return and use that SEPST software to flash the new curve onto your ECU.
FP3 from Vance and Hines is a very popular upgrade, relatively cheap, easy to install, and with a huge database of products to mix and match.  This takes the map from a table that will come with your FP3, or if you have some eclectic mix of parts, then you email them, and in about 72-96 hours V&H will email you the new maps, which again- can be done by yourself.
Power Commander would be the more advanced version of a piggy backed system that alters the ECU output and based on preset maps that you key in, the bike runs. A lot of people are happy- globally with this PC-V, which is the current version on sale.In case of any engine issues, or for instant comparison you can just unplug it in literally 5 minutes and get your bike into stock condition again.
Power Vision – is possibly the most vaunted of the lot. It takes your maps from the dealer, and flashes the ECM with its new maps. There are many plus points to this like recording your ridng data and almost everyone who is tech’ interested in fiddling with the bike would have this. IF flashing your ECM worries you, then this is not for you. If you are going to be upgrading your bike on completion of warranty and the likes, then you should probably plonk in the dollars and get this.
*UPDATE- Jan 2017*

There are two HOGs now in western India, one in Mumbai and one in Nashik who offer the PV Tuners service. You buy the licence off the internet and approach them and they flash the 'tune up map' appropriate for your bikes set up (engine, air intake and exhaust) from PV onto your ECU and probably charge you a little extra as labour.
Now one step further in this would be to remove the narrow band O2 sensors and put in wide band sensors and run the bike while recording data (recorder available with the Tuners) and then use their software to 'iron out' the algorithm and flash it on your system and then refit your old sensors back. This again would entitle you to run your bike at all speeds while the recorder does its work. This 'whole treatment' would be the most ideal, but it does entitle some cost to offset the wide band sensors offered by the tuner/s.

What happens if you don’t do this FMS. The ‘out of syllabus’ oxygen intake (due to volumetric increase in breathing capacity) and ‘freer than before’ exhaust will cause your bike to start running lean and will cause ‘blueing’ of your exhaust headers. This is the first sign that all is not well in your bike. You will continue to ride it hot till one fine day you will burn your exhaust valve.

The article was written some time ago- and could be seasonally-challenged. I write this from various inputs- printed material and fellow riders mainly. I could be off the mark and would welcome questions or corrective feedback, if there are new tech developments on the FP3- like the now easier interface, and the super pricing as well as the portability (meaning you could sell it to another bike in your category and not be bound like with the SEPST or the PV), I could be blissfully unaware.

Also remember, when you do your homework- HD often does have warnings on its online and paperback P&A catalogs of what parts are necessary to be purchased with some parts.A small example would be you would need to buy rear foot pegs with the rear seat for a Sportster, and likewise a SEPST or an EMS would be recommended or made mandatory with certain air intakes and/or exhausts. Likewise you would be surprised that Sportsters need not have (though its a 'good have') an SEPST with upgrades to its exhaust system with a SE Shorty Mufflers, but just upgrading the air cleaner would need an ECM calibration.

Check under 'Description'- 

http://www.harley-davidson.com/store/se-stage-1-sportster-air-cleaner-kit-pa-18-2978207--1
http://www.harley-davidson.com/store/se-shorty-dual-slip-on-mufflers-pa-06-8050307--1

Questions are always welcome, and so are shortcomings.