Febuary

Another cold month out of the way means spring is nearly here and our weekend bike trips will soon resume.

 The last weekend of Febuary was into the double figures on Saturday but cooler on Sunday.
Rich, Jon and Me decided to have a ride out on Saturday morning. It was the first time Rich had been out with us so he wanted to try group riding. We decided the Petrol Station was going to be our first stop which was a good idea as my fuel light came on just as we entered Bridgnorth and Jons had been on from home. I couldnt believe how much it cost to fill the tank. £18.45 I ve not spent that much in one tank before, 3 years ago I struggled to get more than £13.00 in there.
  After a quick coffee and the usual text of aggrevation to our less fortunate biker mates who were stuck at work we decided on a ride along the B4363 & B4199 a local favourite route of ours, with a good mix of corners, gradients, farm hazards and 3 hairpins for good measure. Smiles all round!
  I noticed the other day Rich still had the bung in the exhaust on his Kawasaki so suggested we remove it, the difference in sound was impressive. The bike gave a much deeper growl and sounded proper sporty.

Rich's ZX6R, Looks and Sounds great.

 The following morning Col suggested a ride so I thought great lets go. Rich and Jon unfortunately had other plans. I backed my bike out only to find it wont start, after a bit of experimenting I found I could start it if I pulled the clutch in and everything seemed fine until the stand went down and the engine cut out. (See Post Below)
 Because of this problem, I was busy thinking of all the grief this could cause me so ended up more of a cruise rather than the usual hunting for the best lines.

Can You Hear Me?

     Myself and Col have always ridden using Ear plugs since reading an article on the subject of hearing loss in a growing number of motorcyclists in a bike mag in the late 90s. It has been proved that riding a motorcycle at 60mph has enough of the engine noise,exhaust note but mostly the wind noise rushing past your helmet to produce more than 90 decibels which is enough to cause hearing problems like tinitus and hearing loss. Recently I was talking to Rich about this so thought I would do a post on the humble but hearing saving ear plugs.


 So with that in mind hear are our findings. (see what I've done there? hear, here,Oh forget it!)


Plugs
There's lots of them to choose from ranging from little bits of round foam or sponge, the longer spark design types, one's that look like mini Christmas trees, to specially made silicon types and even ones that can be made to fit by taking a cast of the inside of your ear so it fits perfectly.
We have tried a number of types but the best ones we have used are coincidentally the cheapest ones, which are called E.A.R. Plugs Classic. These are supplied in abundance on ebay, you can get 20 pairs for £3.50.

Our Favourites

Fitting the Ear Plug.
     We found rolling and squeezing between your fingers the one end so that it looks like a Y shape. Stick the thin bit into your ear, wait about 60 seconds while it expands and everything starts to go quiet. Shh!
Sometimes the one side might need re doing as it hasnt expanded properly, the technical term for this is the ear plug has failed to aggrandize (yeah it is a word).
We prefer the shorter ones that dont rub on the inside of your crash helmet as those that do will eventually work loose and you can feel off balance when that happens.
 When your happy, helmet on and away you go.

Using the Ear Plug
    What you ll notice is you can still hear the engine, exhaust and wind, not to mention the cars around you, the rain on your visor, dogs barking, sheep shagging and horns blowing.
Just quieter than normal, any odd rattles and hums instantly disperse when using the plugs, with the visor locked down, its like stepping into a luxury car and closing the door! #

 When ridding along motorways or boring types of roads something that I like to do is find the speed and engine note that when using ear plugs make the bike almost silent, its is between 65 and 70 in 6th gear on my bike, all you hear is the whine of the gears.
I imagine it could be a taste of the future and how electric bikes may sound, well maybe! 

Fits nicely

Some of the others

What will we be riding in the future?

Every year around January and February we talk about upgrading our bikes, either replacing the bike or changing some of the bits, this got me thinking ?? What would we be riding in the future? and would Col still have the same old fireblade as his had for 9 years already? but converted to steam?
Who knows?


 Fuel is becoming more and more expensive, the world is running out of oil and theres becoming more and more traffic on the roads, so transport as we know it needs to change to survive.
 The biggest immeadiate innovations seems to be coming in the form of the electric vehicle, more importantly to us the electric superbike has arrived. Its not exactly main stream though, but has insipred its own racing series's, one called the TT Zero, which is a 1 lap race of the Isle of Man TT circuit and the other a Motogp style series called TTXGP. Some of these machines can do speeds of up to 160mph, weigh in around 300kg and some can cover 100 miles.
 Thats good but not quite far enough to get to our favourite cafe and back on a Sunday Morning.
 The good or bad news depending on your opinion on the electric motorbike is the technology is trickling down in to road going electric bikes, and not to far in the future battery life, weight and size can only improve and these bikes could become more common place. There is plenty of videos on youtube of Electric bikes below are a few to have a look at.

The Electric R1

The Electric TTXGP

The Electric IOMTT

 The exhaust noise is whats missing for me, not to say the electric motors wizz isnt a noise that could be got used too, but if its a choice of no exhaust noise or no bike then the noise begrudgingly could go.
Below are some images from the web of some of the latest electric superbikes, what do you think?

Chroma, Mission 1

NGR Arbarth

Debut Electric Superbike

Mavizen Electric Superbike

Shavit Electric Superbike



Robrady Vectrix Electric Superbike

Honda Electric Superbike

Italy Ebike

ARC EV Racing UK team in TTXGP

Aprilia RSV4

Col on the Aprilia RSV4

Aprilia RSV4

 The Aprilia RSV4 was 2nd favourite of ours when we went to the 2010 bike show.  Aprilia have priced it quite highly at around £14200 but is similar to Yamahas R1 and Ducati's entry level Panigale.
 The engine is the same as the World Superbike Championship and race winning bike ridden by Max Biaggi and Leon Camier but missing the electronic wizardary needed for the track, it still boasts the super slipper clutch ride by wire throttle, 3 engine modes and Brembo Brakes.

 We all agreed it was one of the nicest looking superbikes at the show, commenting on the 3 headlights, nice angles and chunky but short exhaust pipe. Unfortunately we all agreed that it felt very small and would get uncomfortable on long rides. The rear light design finished the rear of nicely.

 Personally I like what some of the bike manufacturers are doing with front indicators, moving them into the back of the mirrors which Aprilia have done here.

Owners forums report miles per gallon are around 24 and have to re fill the tank at around 85-90 miles.

The RSV4 with me onboard, it felt small but looked good

 Unfortunately we dont have an Aprilia dealer in the area so as yet we havent been able to test ride one.

  Stats

• Engine size  -  998 cc
• Top Speed  -  180mph
• Power  -  180 bhp
• Weight  -  203kg
• Fuel tank capacity  -  17ltrs
• Av MPG  -  24mpg
• Tank Ramge  -  85-90 miles
• Ins group -  17
• Tyres  -  F 120/70/17   R 190/55/17
• Suspension  -  Fully adjustable



2010 World Champion Max Biaggi's RSV4



As New from Aprilia

So you want to get your bike licence?

    Our friend Rich has been talking about doing his bike test and getting out on the road with us for just over 18 months, and in December 2011 he passed his bike test 1st time.

 This is what he had to say about it.

There are 5 parts to passing your bike test and loosing the L plates.

CBT (Compulsive Basic Training)
You need this to ride a bike on the road, whether you want to do your bike test or ride a small capacity bike for up to 2 years.
 The CBT involves riding round cones and riding out on the road with an instructor.

Theory Test
 This consists of 50 questions about all aspects of riding, highway code, basic 1st aid and bike maintenance, you need to correctly answer 43 or more of them.

Hazard Perception Test
 This is 14 video clips where the candidate has to click the mouse/ press a button whenever a hazard looks like it could occur out of a possible 75 points you need to score 44 or more.

Module 1

Wheeling bike from a bay facing forward to a bay next to it, facing outward.

3 cicuits of a slalom then into a figure of 8

Riding for about 20 mtrs at walking pace.

Do a 'U' turn without going over lines or putting a foot down.

Ride through cones and stop in a designated box.

Emergency stop after being recorded at over 50km/h (30 mph)

Avoidance test, again after riding over 50km/h

 

 

Module 2

Answer show me/tell me question.

Answer question on the effect of carrying a pillion.

Eyesight test

30 minutes riding assesment while being followed by instructor.

includes a section of independant riding where you are told to follow signposts for a certain place until being told otherwise by instructor.

Getting on the road

Heres a rough guide to the costs of getting through the test and getting on the road:-

£120 CBT+ bike hire

£31   Theory/Perception Test

£450 2 days lessons fees for Mod 1+2

£150 Helmet but pay what you think your head is worth

£100 Jacket, look for leathers with the armour facility

£100 Trousers

£50   2 pairs gloves, 1 for winter and 1 for summer

£150 Decent pair of boots

£XXXX your looking at a 4 figure price for a decent bike 

£60   Bike Tax

£20   MOT

£60   Various warm clothing

£50   Chain lube, disk locks and bits and pieces

Upwards of £200 for Insurance

Also if you dont have a garage

 £999 gets you a secure metal bike garage/shed.

Rich