Riding Route 66 on a Motorcycle!
You can either join an organised tour to ride Route 66 across the USA – or you can organise your own. To take your own bike you will need to contact at least two or three container shipping companies several months ahead to check the costs- depending on how many friend’s bikes there are to take you will need different shares of a container so costs will vary. You can ride Route 66 across the USA either way, but usually the purists will start in Chicago and finish in California. Your itinerary will include passing through McLean and onto Springfield Missouri passing Homer Simpson’s Springfield Illinois. [Read More...]
Kitting up for motorcycling riding
No one can pretend that motorcycling is not dangerous, or that there is risk attached to riding a bike – however careful the rider it is not possible to predict what other people, more protected in their cars, will do on the road. Getting the proper equipment can save a motorcyclist’s life. Some of the gear you may buy may be second hand, but some items should always be new if it is a major safety items.
Helmets: A used helmet is no good at all as there is no way of knowing if it has been in and accident or damaged or the shell undermined or damaged in some way in a part you can’t see. The more of the helmet there is, the more protection it is giving you – so, a full face helmet (or a flip up full-face helmet) protects the whole of the head, neck, ears, eyes face and chin, and keeps out rain and insects and is the safest of all the different types. But it does, however, muffle outside noises, and cannot be worn by those wearing glasses. When you buy your helmet check that there are approved safety stickers.
Jackets and trousers: though riders may fancy themselves romantically in black this is a bad idea. As a motorbike has such a thin profile to traffic either behind or in front then motorcycle gear that keeps high visibility in any weather conditions or time of day is essential. Motor cycle jackets are designed to protect the rider from impact on the road or other objects, from abrasion and puncture injuries. Both leather and textile will do this by using thick material, heavy stitches and Kevlar reinforcement and foam padding. Jackets will set you back anything from £300 upwards, but a good quality jacket is essential.
The rise of the silver motorcyclist
There do appear to be more motorcycles on the roads nowadays – especially groups of two or more riders at the weekend taking their motorbikes on a Sunday run for pleasure. Though some folks will choose smaller bikes to get around to work or for cheaper every day transport, there is a tendency for the bigger bikes to be for touring and pleasure riding. Another observable phenomenon is the rise of the silver motorcyclist – if you see a gaggle of the Sunday riders on their British Triumph, Italian Ducati and Japanese Kawasaki big bikes collecting at their favourite road side cafe and watch them as they doff their helmets you will often find a grey or silver head revealed. Many of these Sunday pleasure riders are part of the aging 60’s generation of baby boomers. But why is it that there are so many in this age group enjoying the activity? The answer is easy – so few younger men can actually afford the cost of these massive machines – not many credit card will stand the price and the pension lump sum generation are more able to stump up the cash for the pleasures of a vicarious youth experience. There are also clubs full of older sport riders racing the motocross classics of their youth in Vintage Motocross and Scramble events – and enjoying again the thrill of competition often in thick winter mud and rain.
Italian motorcycles versus Japanese motorcycles (and others)
For many fans of the Italian motorbike there is only one make – the Ducati and there is such passionate fandom support that no criticism is entertained.
Followers of the Italian bike will say it is superior because the road bike has been developed from the successful racing motorcycles.
Followers of the various types of Japanese motorcycle will argue that as Japanese motorcycles were developed for a specific purpose e.g. road bikes developed for road performance, and then race bikes adapted from these and that will mean a much more attention to road rider’s needs. (They might also point out that Ducatis have had, in the past, a reputation for poor reliability though thousands of satisfied riders refute this,)
Ducati has a longitudinal L twin cylinder and is a four stroke machine, whilst Japanese bikes, especially track machines, are often made as 2 strokes. Aficionados of each will argue loyalty and advantage. Ducati fans will argue that the engine has good torque (pulling power) though to be truthful, so do Japanese bikes.
Though fans of the different makes are unlikely to change their minds the truth is that the Japanese manufacturers such as Honda, Kawasaki and Yamaha dominate the sales market in the motorcycle industry (though Harley Davidson has its niche market in the USA). However, other brands such as the German BMW, the British Triumph and the Italian Ducati have been building up popularity and sales or the past few years.
Motorized Trike – bike or car with a difference
People will have seen Billy Connolly riding on his motorized tricycle though its true not many are seen on the roads – perhaps because they tend to be home built or custom built and the market is not large. There is much discussion by motorcycle cognoscenti as to whether a delta motorized trike arrangement is superior (or otherwise) to a tadpole configuration. The delta trike (the most common design) has one wheel at the front and two wheels at the back, whilst the tadpole design is the opposite (that is, two at the front and one at the back). Three wheeled vehicles are inherently less stable than four wheel ones, so when considering the problems of motorized trike design stability is an issue. When a four wheeled vehicle corners to the left there is a weight transfer to the right corner – not a problem in a car but a delta trike has no wheel to stabilise it and so if the driver brakes hard whilst cornering the trike rolls over. So with the tadpole design the problem is the opposite – under acceleration and cornering the trike can flip over backwards, so a tadpole trike tends to suffer from understeer and a delta trike from oversteer,
Motor trikes are good for those who are unable to ride a two-wheeler because of balance problems or when built as a three-wheeled car, for carrying passengers on a cheaper motorcycle license but also because (perhaps like Billy Connolly) they prefer to wear a headscarf instead of a helmet, as these machines are exempt from the rules to wear a helmet.