As a relatively new rider (just over 1 year) this is all very sobering stuff.
I’d advise not riding with the visor open more than a smidge.... I once had a bee ‘back into’ me at about 70. Clearly I hit its sting before anything else, which was dangling from my nose when I next stopped. Ended up with a clown style appearance for a good few hours. I might also mention that it throbbed for a good while too. I should count myself lucky, as a hit to an eye would have been many times worse...
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Absolutely. I have a clear pair of these.
Precision safety glasses.
Perfect for wearing under a dark visor.
About a tenner. fantastic value for money imho.
Was stopped for riding with a black visor several years ago at Bala.
Cop asked how I was going to see when it got dark, I showed him them (similar pair) and said I'd ride with the visor open.
He was happy enough, let me off with a warning.
Indeed, I was riding with a pair of tinted safety glasses, with a clear visor when I hit the bee. I have now migrated to a Schuberth C3 helmet with integrated tinted spec/mini visor; the best of both worlds in my view. However hot I feel, I am very wary of riding with the visor up......
OK....now we've (sensibly) done the protect the eyesight bit....who has experienced the bee or a wasp into their helmet?
Four stages:
First...wtf was that?
Second....was that a bee????
Thirdly....STOP the biiiiike!!!!!!!!
Fourth........Can I get this helmet off before it stin....ARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!
Bastids!!!!!!!
No step 1 is wtf, step 2 about 1/2 second later is stinging, step 3 is how do I slow down. I was stung last year despite a big screen and Shoei Neotec visor up. But being a cyclist I carry antihistamine cream so within 5 mins off we go:)).
I think as soon as you hit a bee , it will sting you, scariest thing I heard was when a guy at work was driving with his father and a seagull flew in the window of the car. For a few seconds it flapped around inside the car shitting everywhere!
I’ve had a wasp somehow get down my collar and inside my jacket and t-shirt.
They can sting more than once - unlike a bee - and it decided to do just that!
I must have looked hilarious to anybody nearby, as I had to carry out an emergency stop and pull over to the side of the road. I then jumped off the bike (almost dropping it in the process) and ripped my jacket and t-shirt off. I think I was stung about five times on the back.
The wasp survived...
I had quite a few BM's a few years ago - I've kept 2 .......a R90S and a R100RS Motorsport - keep thinking of selling them as I'm in my 70's and won't ride them anymore - but I keep saying I will - but there's always an excuse - both have done under 5,000 miles as I always preferred GS's
but at least I enjoy cleaning them, in fact I had my eyes on a R69S a few weeks ago, but my wife said no! - but she is happy with me buying watches as they take up less space
Last edited by BillN; 10th September 2019 at 22:28.
Cal Crutchlow wasp down leathers
https://youtu.be/OcZq7jHiyPI
A mate had a bat hit him in the chest once. The only reason we know it was a bat was because it escaped when he unzipped his jacket in the pub. The landlord was not happy.
Dopey?
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Time to up the ante...........
Two years ago the missus and I were riding back from a firework display in Blackpool at 9pm, when we joined an A road at a fork doing appx 35/40mph. As we left the fork along bounded Bambi a small deer. It hit the right hand side crash bar on my F650GS, then knocked my wifes foot off the rear footpeg. Between seeing it and it hitting us was less than half a second. Fortunately it was a glancing blow and just left its hair on our crash bars.
I have never felt so lucky in all my life, one second earlier and it would have been head on and both myself and the wife would have been thrown off. Shook me up for quite some time, and makes me cautious riding at night on country roads around us.
Ironically the GS was running 2 spotlights and a HID headlight so we were flooding the road with light and the deer may have seen us at the last minute, but it still ran across the road.
Keeping with the theme and a very similar experience too.......
About 15 years ago (I can't believe it was that far back, but it was) I was out for a ride with a good friend. As we had both recently bought new bikes we were riding each others around the local country lanes. I was on my friends Suzuki GSXR1000 (very nice it was too) and he was riding my Gilera Fuoco 500........you might not have seen one of those... so as if by magic, I happen to have to hand a photo from that very night (I can't quite believe that either!).
Anyway, zooming along the very quiet country lanes with my friend out in front I suddenly saw a full sized stag leap out of the bushy roadside heading straight for my friend....I wasn't sure who was the most scared, the stag, my friend....or me! Thankfully the stag and my friend swerved away from each other at the last second so only made the very slightest of contact. The stag in its terrified state did however carry on running along the road right alongside my friend for about 50 yrds before returning to the bushes. We were both able to stop, hearts pounding and have a laugh about something that could have been so much more serious. I like to think that it was the extra front wheel as well as my friends riding skills that enabled him to take such evasive actions....5 seconds later I'm not sure how well I would have fared on the GSX.
I soon got rid of the Fuoco though as it used to draw too much attention for my liking (think Batbike) and I had a Charlie & Ewan phase approaching, but that's another story.
Thank you I had no idea what the Gilera Fucco looked like. I had similar I was riding a Pegaso at night and a deer ran alongside me coming out of the woods and on a course where we would surely converge. I braked whilst repeating "don't do it, don't do it" in my head and determining not to swerve and crash. Finally the deer just clipped my handlebars (bar protector) and went back towards the woods and although I wobbled having slowed considerably it ended up as a scary experience rather than an accident but if the deer had appeared at a different point or on a different course it could have been very different.
Strangest encounter was with a huge hay bale (one of those massive round ones not the little square ones) in the middle of a dual carriage way, it was easily avoided but took a while for my brain to process it as a hazard. I soon after saw a lorry with 2 drivers running up the road looking for the missing bale.
The new Triumph North London dealership - now part of the Lind group - had a grand opening yesterday... a series of group rides, a lovely hog roast, music and general frivolity. They had struggled to find group ride leaders and tailgunners/marshals, and called me a few days ago to see if I'd be prepared to help out with the latter. Naturally i said yes, so as well as enjoying a really fun day I ended up going out multiple times on both a Bobber and Street Cup.
I loved the Bobber in terms of comfort and its relaxed riding position, and its certainly a torquey thing with plenty of power throughout the band (nowhere near as pokey as my 9T, though). However, on the twisties when I was trying to keep up with the pack I repeatedly found myself scraping the pegs, and I was certainly not pushing it particularly. My conclusion is that - for me at least - it would have to be a second bike, used only for genteel cruising. I kind of felt like I was on a Harley or something, though... very much enjoyed trying it out.
The Street Cup (which is a cafe-racer styled Bonneville with the 900cc HT engine) was a completely different experience... much more aggressive and a beautiful ride at speed. However, I didn't enjoy the clip-ons at all when poodling around in traffic, and the bike required much more input at slow speed than I'm used to. It certainly made me think about the lust I currently feel for the Thruxton R and - again - I'm thinking that the Thruxton might be better as a second bike. I'll have along test on one when I can.
All in all the day made me realise how much the R9T is the right bike for me - riding home on it was a joy after spending hours on the others. It was a great day too - the manager and sales team from the old Hertfordshire Triumph all came across to Lind, and they're a really good bunch.
Haven't ridden anything yet today, but have installed a Scottoiler eSystem on the lad's bike
Probably doubled its value
Last edited by Gyp; 15th September 2019 at 15:57.
Picked this up this week - 2018 Tiger 800 XRT:
Loving the bike and all is going well. Except.......
I did not measure my driveway before hand and with some horror realised that to turn the bike around to reverse in to my garage and point the right way to ride out was going to require a 25 point turn. On gravel. With a tall reasonably top heavy bike. Shit.
Frantic head scratching and thinking I had made a huge error and was going to have to return the bike I stumble online across a discussion about a motorbike turntable....Hmmm. Could that really work?!
Well yes it bloody can! Ride in, drop the centre stand on the turntable and spin the bike around with minimum effort required. Takes seconds. What a fantastic invention!!
All is now well in my world.
I went up the Wrynose/Hardknott pass yesterday, in the dog vehicle as we took our two dogs. There were quite a few bikes going over there as well, mainly the ‘adventure’ type. I fancy doing it on my Street Triple, but some of the inclines, bends etc were pretty hairy in a car, nevermind a bike. The road surface leaves a lot to be desired as well, but it is a narrow mountain pass. Its lovely scenery up there with a fantastic pub at the far end for a nice dinner. We had a good few miles walk on the tops. Has anyone on here done this on a bike, thoughts, recommendations, etc most welcome.
Stuart
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Great bit of kit. You can turn a bike around using its mains-stand , by pulling it slightly over and then pivoting the bike around its centre. Not recommended for daily use but can be useful if you are stuck somewhere. Remember it will drill a hole so don’t try it on your tarmac drive
If memory serves, the nastiest couple of hairpins are at the Eskdale end heading up if you're going East, or down if you're going West. If you're worried then I'd suggest going Ambleside to Eskdale so you can simply trail the rear brake on the way down, but to be honest, as long as you're sensible it's fine either way. I've happily done Hark Knott then Wrynose then turned round and ridden back the other way.
The turntable is a great idea.
My GPz has been getting harder to start, I was convinced it was the carbs and didn’t relish stripping them down yet again.
Anyway, I checked the plugs and whilst 1 and 4 were fine, 2 and 3 were pretty gummed up. A quick delve into my spares box for a new coil, twenty minutes replacing it and she’s as good as new. Starts on the button every time, hot or bond.
I’ve been toying with the idea of a pair of Dynatek coils and leads and I tinker this has now convinced me to go for it.
Downer speaking as a little bloke on a biggish bike plus pillion who has done lots of Swiss Italian passes its not weather its traffic.
Bill in his Ford XYZ will cause you chaos when he clocks another car coming on a tight left hander. He stops, totally stable, you stop , off camber , uphill slipping the clutch.
Top tip is select a high gear, in my case 2nd on a 800 cc Bmw, low enough to pick up from 5/10 mph but not too urgent and cause the bike to lurch. Wait until the road is clear and just flow it. In my case on European roads right hand hairpins were the worst as I tended to drift left on the exit.
If you see traffic building up just slow or stop on a straight bit and wait for them to clear, car drivers genuinely don’t realise the balancing of throttle gears and steering we do on tight hairpins as they can do multiple stops with no ill effect.
Thanks. I’ve done a few hairpins on (very) minor roads in the peaks etc, and yes, the car drivers who expect you to stop on a mix of camber and gradient are the ones who cause difficulties.
Hopefully, on a Tuesday in mid September it will not be too busy.
Regarding the weather, if I’m going all the way up there, I want to actually see something, as all too often I’ve gone to spectacular viewpoints and been surrounded by low cloud - most memorably once in the middle of Kauai...
Dead right about the weather, last Christmas we went to a famous viewpoint near the south downs way. Many locals complimented us on going up there. On the day the visibility was 50 yds! We could have been in a town centre or the London tube for all the view.
Enjoy the ride
Steve
On the ferry to Spain, it seems 199 other bikers decided to join us...
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
A lot of money for the E-model. I have one on my S1000xr, but do have to question the economics (got mine for £120 s/h). Cheaper to buy decent chain-lub sprays and change chain and sprocket every couple of years - I think. That said - the Scottoiler certainly minimises chain wear and adjustments are almost a thing of the past. Don’t be tempted to use chainsaw oil, though - a pal used that while claiming “It’s all the same” - and the whole of the back of the bike got splattered with the stuff.
I also got down there late Saturday afternoon with Dylan on the back. Was really impressed with the new space it's great! Obviously too late for any hog-roast through. I had a sit on the new Speed Twin and was very pleasantly surprised just how compact it is.....looks like it's quite light too (only being a little fella myself I'm aware of these things). Think I might have to book a test ride as competition for the Ducati Scrambler Full Throttle as my next bike ;o)
another one off to Spain...getting the Santander crossing from Plymouth tomorrow evening and then heading to our base in Zaragoza. Planning to get to the Aragon Moto GP on Sunday and have mapped out a few day tours as well as a trip to Madrid when we'll probably take the train.
Had some new tyres fitted (Pirelli Angel GT II) and picked up a new key fob from S/C too. Weather looks good too and as we're a bit further in land the recent floods shouldn't affect us.
IMG_20190915_184256_731 by Steve Bolt, on Flickr
Had a couple of days in Normandy
Back to animal strikes....I was hit on the shoulder by a pigeon - the main thing I remember was the incredible shower of feathers I saw in the mirror - it looked like a pillow had burst!
The man that taught me bell ringing in the 70's had rounded a corner on hit bike during the war and ran smack into a cow. The cow died and George took several years to recover from back injuries. Watch out on those rural roads..
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Completely agree, however I picked this one up second hand for a lot less than you paid for yours, which, whilst it doesn't change the argument, means it's not quite so bad.
It's also on my lad's bike, so it's one of those things that tends to get overlooked (and it would be me that ends up doing the lubing, chain and sprockets)
Thanks, each memorial and battle site is thought provoking enough individually, but when put in the context of all the memorials and battle sites in France and Belgium it is almost unbelievable.
The Kriega is 10ltrs, supplemented by the tank bag which expands from 5 to 9ltrs.
Enough space for an overnight and the usual essentials (tool and puncture repair kits, rok straps, hi vis, spare gloves etc.)