C’mon now girls equality works both ways – and in this day and age we have to do our bit to protect the ones we love. After all it’s not fair to ask your partner to do all the work without you taking a bit of responsibility too! I am, of course, referring to the need to care for your wheels (what else would I mean?) 😉
Think about it – day in day out, or at least for about three-quarters of the year, we are out on our wheels through all kinds of weather and what the world throws at us. Usually this involves a bit of rain, the inevitable salt, road mud or silt, possibly some horse pucky and in my case a new one on the list was spit. Yes I actually got spat on (or rather my bike did) by some faceless cager who drove past when I was parked up by the roadside. It’s at times like that that you realise ignorance is bliss and I can’t say I would have behaved responsibly if I’d been aware of it at the moment it happened if you get my drift….
Last month my baby boy, Silvano, was going to get the royal treatment – ACF50 in a spray form was to be applied to his nether regions in an effort to hold at bay the corrosion salt tends to cause to any vehicle used all year round. This was going to be done by professionals – a bloke from All Year Biker. I left him in the care of my big sis, handed over £60 for the company, went off for a weekend and collected him later.
I have to admit to being a little surprised that the bike wasn’t pristine – as I spotted a handful of flies still stuck to the headlights and the forks. I am told this is because they are not valets – they wash the bike enough to get it clean for the spray to adhere, not to pristine eat-your-dinner-off standards. Fair enough 😛 What I will say is whilst not immaculate the Sprint ST 955i has come up a treat – you’ve seen him before so here are just a couple of pics zooming in on before and after pics.
Wheels before and after – yes they really are silver and not black!
Now that we have a hosepipe ban in this neck of the woods I feel I am justified in putting off purchasing my hosepipe and attachments which I was planning to make to keep my boy looking brilliant lol! Instead I shall see how this treatment holds up. If it’s any good I shall continue to use protection and save myself from a nasty surprise a few months down the line… I am of course referring to a bad case of corrosion 😉
There comes a time in every biker’s life when they have a moment of panic – sometimes that’s when a kamikaze creature of the night leaps out in front of you on a country road, a car driver declines to indicate and recklessly pulls into your path, or in my case for one reason or another I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am going to be sick! 😛
That terrible feeling of heat rising in your chest, the sweat popping out on your brow, the frantic checking of mirrors as you hastily try to find the nearest and safest verge to pull over to, the desperate three attempts to get the side stand down and the utter panic as you frantically hurl yourself off the bike, try to get your gloves off, undo a suddenly twisted D-ring and almost rip your ears off to get your full face helmet off your head before you unceremoniously up-chuck your cookies in the nearest bush!
Now I’m not saying this is a regular occurrence with me but I had stomach issues for years, and in almost seven years of riding I have only failed to get clearance once 😦 The reason I was reminded of this – and am sharing it with you, is I bought a new helmet recently as my last good-quality one had to be binned after I took up flying lessons!
Having read lots of reviews of it, with the touring I do, I could not resist a very good deal on a flip lid – the Shoei Multi-tech, which was lowered in price as they have a new model coming out this year, the Neotec. It came with a whisper strip, chin curtain, smoked and clear visors and a Fog City so I was definitely quids in.
Unexpectedly very good – a flippin’ good lid!
I’ve always been of the opinion that a full face is a lot safer than anything else, including a flip, and honestly thought it would just be for holidays to help keep cool, deal with those awkward moments such as passport photo checking, and tolls, when the operator just cannot hear you but then you need to get it and your gloves on quickly to get out of the way of cars behind you!
Having now tried out the Multi-tech, I am a convert to wearing it as my main lid ;-). It feels solid and secure and not likely to flip open in the unfortunate event of a crash landing! It’s not much heavier than my old Arai Viper GT and is a damn sight comfier – the space around my ears is great – it’s been recessed so you can wear ear plugs comfortably yet doesn’t have wind noise. The whisper strip and chin curtain are also fab at doing what they say on the tin – keeping all that cold away from my neck and into the lid. The vents work properly (high praise from a woman who always gaffer tapes hers up). By this I mean that when they are open they are open and when they are shut THEY STAY SHUT!
A downside would be that the traditional fog insert sits too low in the visor with the top edge right in the line of fire when riding with a tucked down head. I solved this with the racers insert – risking that it might compromise the seal as it comes up much higher, but am pleased to say it has not impinged on the lid’s performance.
And yes – whilst generally hale and hearty, having recently caught a bug I’ve been prone to some strange coughing fits that have necessitated quick stops for a bit of stomach excavation! And that’s when I realised just how flippin’ good a flip lid really is 😛 😛
I’m pretty certain that when I bought my bike in April 2011 he was silver. Yep I’m pretty certain that was supposed to be his colour 🙂 Which is why I found myself looking with dismay at him just before we got our latest dumping of snow. I know that when I picked him up from the show room he was immaculate. I also recall that I have washed him at least once as that involved messing about with a greasy rear wheel from an over-active Scottoiler. Yet that doesn’t explain why Silvano looks like I’ve been throwing mud at him or worse still – using him as fly paper! (Looking around at the bikes about I can see I’m not the only one which is why I’m polling opinion – see the end of the post to take part 😛 )
When I had my Fazer I was rather pedantic about chucking a bucket of water over him on a regular basis, lots of soap and plenty of degreasing the chain before spraying it again. I always finished up with a healthy spray down of ACF50 – that wondrous spray for stopping aeroplanes rusting! It certainly explains why after four years of riding all year round the bike was only just starting to show signs of corrosion.
Yet my beloved Silvano has been left to his own devices! It’s not that I don’t love my bike – it’s more a case that with the full fairing on I just don’t see the dirt and whatnot building up 😉 It made me wonder just how often bikes do get washed properly. Upon asking a few mates I was met with everything from blank stares “wash the bike? why would I do that?” to ” a clean bike goes faster!!”.
Yeah and I’m Valentino Rossi! To be fair I do remember my CBT teacher telling me it was easier to spot a fault if the bike was clean as you weren’t trying to peer through inches of dirt.
I’ve decided that my beloved Silvano is in need of specialist care (ok I just want an easy way out!) and am having him professionally cleaned and then misted with ACF50 by All Year Biker! I’ll let you know how we get on. In the meantime, here’s a poll – why not take part and share your thoughts on how often you get all scrubbed up … or not.
OK I admit it – there is at least one thing I am not that great at! Yes I know, it’s a real shock, but the truth is that I just cannot sing! – “What the hell has that to do with two wheels?” I hear you ask. Well anyone who’s been on the back of a bike for more than an hour will probably agree that at some point you get a bit bored… the mind wanders…. you begin to talk to yourself – and if the journey’s really boring or you’re cold and miserable, you may even start to sing to cheer yourself up.
Hmm does any of that sound familiar lol? Well I can only take so much of my own high pitched warblings and for my sanity use my Ipod on my bike. I’ve always used ear plugs since hearing on CBT all those years ago about the dangers of going deaf or worse still tinnitus developing in my old age!
At first I had those soft squidgy plug things that always seemed to pop out of place if I even yawned and definitely came out when I pulled my helmet off. Then I moved onto in-the-ear head phones from various websites including ones you cut down to fit your own ears. These were a disaster as I have never felt anything so painful – if I ever get round to remembering where they were from I will be sure to let you know.
Ear plugs complete with lead for mp3
Fortunately I was introduced to the wonders of custom made ear plugs from Ultimate Ear by someone who had bought them to sleep at night as her son snored the house down! On researching their product they also did various products for bikers including my beloved ones for using mp3 players.
Ok they are not cheap – the bikers squidgy starts at £59 and a whopping £170 for those who want audio on the go. But the amount of miles I do on my bike, coupled with the cost of constantly trying to find a good alternative made these bad boys a no brainer! And let’s face it – if you enjoy biking that much, and believe in good quality kit for your body and your head, then surely it makes just as much sense to take care of your ears 🙂 There’s lots of science stuff on their web page to explain sound ratings!
Something for the weekend!
I am on my second set of them since I managed to stand on one in my heavy motorcycle boots and this was shortly after zipping the cord up into my jacket and shredding it. AND I had also noticed that one wasn’t fitting quite right after I had a whopper of an ear infection about four years after they were made that seemed to change the way my ear was shaped. Fortunately Ultimate Ear continually evolves their product and has introduced kevlar into their cords so that it has a lot more protection. They also recommend that you get new ear plug moulds made if it’s more than three years I think. Anyone who knows me has probably heard me rave on about how good this product is and, in my opinion, definitely money well spent 🙂
Now there are two schools of thought regarding ear plugs with access to music. One is that shock horror – they are a distraction and you can’t possibly be concentrating on the road. The other is that they are an excellent asset adding to your relaxation, help to pass the journey – oh and those of us who use them don’t tend to be stupid enough to have them up so loud they can’t hear the traffic, sirens or even the engine going tits up!
I’m amazed at the people who have seen fit to lecture me about using ear plugs, let alone ones with music – da da dah😨!! Get with the times people is my response. After all what the hell are gadgets like Autocom, StarCom, or even blue tooth systems for? Hmm let’s think about that one – rider to rider or rider to pillion conversations, listening to directions from the satnav, music from the radio or an mp3 player and even responding to a phonecall! (Personally I don’t answer my phone on the bike, but that’s more to do with the fact that I just don’t like using phones in or on moving vehicles.)
Of course it behoves one to ensure that one’s choice of listening material is appropriate to one’s style of riding 🙂 I do find a little rock and roll can have an effect on the throttle lol! Just as well I tend to go for ballads and easy listening ;-). I do recall being stopped by an officer of the law when filtering past a line of solid traffic – and a solid white line!😱 He did point out that I wasn’t going to get in trouble because I was doing it very smoothly, very slowly and in control of my bike. The kind man then asked me what I was listening to … and with complete honesty I replied “A bit like my riding Officer. It’s Whitney Houston with ‘It’s not right but it’s ok’ !” I do recall he was chuckling as he sent me on my way 😂
Ride safe
(September 2023 – the above post was written many moons ago and I’m still a fan of Ultimate Ear. I’m just about to get my fourth pair so I’ll update on them when I get them sorted. – Prendy.)
HOORAH! I am back – did you miss me? As you’ve probably realised it’s been a fair while since I last regaled you with my exploits. And no – I have not been incommunicado due to any bike accidents! I’ve just not had any time due to personal issues. I’m still not quite with it (when am I ever!!) but thought it was about time I got back to the keyboard 🙂
Not actually been biking too much as been busy for the afore-mentioned reasons but was surprised to find I racked up 4,000 miles enjoying the new man in my life :-P. In the first four months that we’ve been together, Silvano, my newest love, has turned out to be pure joy – I haven’t stopped grinning since we finally clicked. Mind you it took 2,000 miles for me to get my act together and he’s to be commended on his patience and coping with things like me dropping him….twice lol!
So what have I been up to? Well recently it involved a road, four wheels instead of my usual two, not quite being on the ball and a camera! Need I say more? The long and the short of it was I was offered an AA Speed Awareness course for which I had to pay the princely sum of £95 in return for four hours and no points. Bargain and I was frankly relieved to be offered it!
Smile – you’re on camera!
I’m mentioning the course here (despite it being brought about by car rather than bike) because it opened my eyes to some startling facts that I thought I’d pass on – hope I’ve remembered them correctly!:
If you run into an adult at just 32mph in a 30mph zone the impact will be enough to break their legs – (pray you don’t hit a small child at what seems a teenie speed increase as their major internal organs, or heads, are obviously a lot lower!)
If you run into anyone at 40mph in a 30mph you will probably leave them brain-damaged.
More people are killed or injured on small country roads than the motorway.
If you are travelling along a minor road in the late evening or early morning, come off and land in a ditch, you are more likely to die of your injuries simply because no one will find you till there is more traffic about!
If you fall asleep at the wheel and kill someone you can now face around 14 years in prison for what is effectively manslaughter.
Last but not least – secure things in the boot of your car and keep those rear passenger seat belts belted up even if no one is using them. Items in the boot can become missiles, break through and cause you serious injury or death.
So here’s hoping I can stay out of trouble – and now that the clocks have gone back, that half awake numpty car drivers can think about something more than rushing home for a can of Stella and avoid endangering me and my biker mates! (mini rant over!!)
A bird's eye view to biking! 