The friendly "dumb" bike questions thread

[Krikkit]

KTMsm said:

Krikkit said:

Scams are easy to spot though - missing or terrible description, generic photos, locations right in the centre of major cities. And of course being too cheap.

If that was the case (for everyone) they wouldn't keep advertising on there

I regularly see people posting they've been scammed on all my FB groups

Yes not true for everyone, but surely easy enough for a savvy bike dealer like yourself? And most other people with a dose of common sense of course.

There's nothing new about scammers on the internet; if you fall for it you have only yourself to blame.

[PT1984]

lukeyman said:

Works a treat.

Il be honest. After being stuck under the bike pressed against garage shelving after it collapsed. And I still can’t figure out how. I don’t want to chance it and the professionals can do it!

[Bob_Defly]

PT1984 said:

lukeyman said:

Works a treat.

Il be honest. After being stuck under the bike pressed against garage shelving after it collapsed. And I still can’t figure out how. I don’t want to chance it and the professionals can do it!

I get it now. Because it's on the paddock stand, the weight of the bike is still on the shock. The jack takes the weight off essentially. For some reason I was assuming the weight was off already, like jacking up under the frame, but I'm guessing this is more stable.

[Pebbles167]

Axle stands under the footrests (removed and replaced upside down) works.

[Biker 1]

Just had Michelin Road 6 fitted to my z900. All good apart from the bloody rain all the way home! Anyway, what's the consensus on scrubbing them in? Apparently I need to ride super slow for 100 miles. I'm not planning on a track day & am no riding god, but do modern tyres really need this level of sensitivity? I can sort of understand if it was mid winter or wet, but normally I only ride my bike in dry weather...

[Jazoli]

Biker 1 said:

Just had Michelin Road 6 fitted to my z900. All good apart from the bloody rain all the way home! Anyway, what's the consensus on scrubbing them in? Apparently I need to ride super slow for 100 miles. I'm not planning on a track day & am no riding god, but do modern tyres really need this level of sensitivity? I can sort of understand if it was mid winter or wet, but normally I only ride my bike in dry weather...

Just ride them normally and don’t worry about it.

[Krikkit]

Jazoli said:

Just ride them normally and don’t worry about it.

Agreed - maybe take it slightly easy to get used to the new tyre compared to the old one on the first journey, otherwise crack on.

Dunno where this thing comes from of new tyres being death, maybe the good old days?

[Speed addicted]

Krikkit said:

Agreed - maybe take it slightly easy to get used to the new tyre compared to the old one on the first journey, otherwise crack on.

Dunno where this thing comes from of new tyres being death, maybe the good old days?

They used to use mold release agents to get the tyres out of the mould.
It was essentially a slippery layer that coated the tyres and could be fairly exciting if you got tyres changed on a wet day.
Also it’s best to take a little time to get used to how the new tyres feel compared to the old ones and to check everything’s right before giving it the beans.

[TheInternet]

Krikkit said:

Agreed - maybe take it slightly easy to get used to the new tyre compared to the old one on the first journey, otherwise crack on.

Dunno where this thing comes from of new tyres being death, maybe the good old days?

The Dunlops I recently had fitted felt awful for the first few miles with significantly reduced grip, so it's definitely not a thing of the past in all cases.

[Krikkit]

TheInternet said:

The Dunlops I recently had fitted felt awful for the first few miles with significantly reduced grip, so it's definitely not a thing of the past in all cases.

Fair enough, I haven't tried many types/brands of tyres and they were fine

[TheInternet]

Me neither, and I was surprised. I'd be tempted to go with the Michelins in future just to avoid it. I'm at the point where I know most of the tyre is good, but the edges have yet to be scrubbed in. There's something slightly unpleasant about a potential grip discrepancy like that.

[carinaman]

When I collected my new bike in Dec. 2017 the chap at the dealer told me to take it easy on the new tyres riding home.

[carinaman]

Any hints on helmet strap tightness please?

I tried middle and index fingers flat and then turned them 90 degrees so at right angles on both sides between the strap and my throat.

I had a bit of a realisation yesterday that having the strap too tight may have pulled a newly purchased helmet down on my forehead and the last but one lid I bought I took back to the shop as it was giving me issues with my temple area on one side.

I've a bit of Tefal head that seems right on the divide between medium and large helmet sizes. The last but one lid was a medium and it was OK just it was pinching one side of my temple area. Perhaps I'd had the strap that tight that time and it was my fault for trying to get the strap as tight as possible?

The shop I returned that helmet to got me to try several helmets to find one that fits. I bought the helmet they said fitted but from a visibility and being seen perspective the colour is dull with the odd bit of bright colour.


It seems that in almost 13% of fatalities the helmet comes off. I'd like the ensure the lid stays on.

[TheInternet]

carinaman said:

It seems that in almost 13% of fatalities the helmet comes off. I'd like the ensure the lid stays on.

You probably could've worded that a bit better.

ETA - I don't think I have any significant force applied from my helmet strap, I'd find that very irritating.

Edited by TheInternet on Thursday 23 May 11:04

[RazerSauber]

Anyone experienced J&S Customer services before? I've got a Bell branded helmet and the front chin vent has failed on one side. I thought it would be out of warranty so contacted Bell to see if it's easy to replace. They got back to me literally minutes later and advised it should be under a 5 year warranty and just swap it with the place I bought it. Brill. If I'm going to swap the helmet, does anyone know if they'd let me upgrade at the same time? Obviously to something with a little bit more joie-de-vivre about it.

I'm quite keen on a ruby carbon looking Scorpion unit and wondered if I could use my Bell helmet as sort of credit. I used to do this all the time in electronics retail but not sure if the same applies to crash hats.

[carinaman]

TheInternet said:

You probably could've worded that a bit better.

ETA - I don't think I have any significant force applied from my helmet strap, I'd find that very irritating.

Thanks.

I am not the most physically coordinated of people and I realised yesterday that the medium helmet I took back to the shop could've been OK and that it was my fault for having an overly tight strap.

[Krikkit]

TheInternet said:

carinaman said:

It seems that in almost 13% of fatalities the helmet comes off. I'd like the ensure the lid stays on.

You probably could've worded that a bit better.

ETA - I don't think I have any significant force applied from my helmet strap, I'd find that very irritating.

I'm the same, I usually have it just about resting with tension on the skin, but barely any pressure. As long as I can't lift it off (and have checked that) I don't worry about it too much.

RazerSauber said:

Anyone experienced J&S Customer services before? I've got a Bell branded helmet and the front chin vent has failed on one side. I thought it would be out of warranty so contacted Bell to see if it's easy to replace. They got back to me literally minutes later and advised it should be under a 5 year warranty and just swap it with the place I bought it. Brill. If I'm going to swap the helmet, does anyone know if they'd let me upgrade at the same time? Obviously to something with a little bit more joie-de-vivre about it.

I'm quite keen on a ruby carbon looking Scorpion unit and wondered if I could use my Bell helmet as sort of credit. I used to do this all the time in electronics retail but not sure if the same applies to crash hats.

Probably down to your local store and who's there, but the guys at Northwich seem great. I can't see why if you're returning one for warranty (which they'll get a refund from Bell on) you can't swap to another and cover the cost difference.

[carinaman]

RazerSauber said:

Anyone experienced J&S Customer services before?

A J&S Manager took back the medium helmet that I found too tight on one side, they cut the tags off of it so it probably couldn't be sold as new with tags, I'd only worn it in the house to check fitness and gave me a credit against a more expensive helmet.

It was 2023 but I still don't feel good about being a slightly troublesome customer. I bought the helmet as I wanted it and if it had had fitted without issues I'd have kept it.

[Speed addicted]

carinaman said:

TheInternet said:

You probably could've worded that a bit better.

ETA - I don't think I have any significant force applied from my helmet strap, I'd find that very irritating.

Thanks.

I am not the most physically coordinated of people and I realised yesterday that the medium helmet I took back to the shop could've been OK and that it was my fault for having an overly tight strap.

To be fair the people in the shop should be helping if you’re not sure about fitment or how tight things should be.
I have my strap snug but not overly tight.

I have found that different helmets put the strap further forward or back, if it’s too far back it feels like it’s strangling me when it’s not really tight. It’s certainly worth trying on lots of helmets to see what feels best then picking a colour rather than the other way round.

Edited by Speed addicted on Thursday 23 May 13:08

[xeny]

TheInternet said:

Me neither, and I was surprised. I'd be tempted to go with the Michelins in future just to avoid it. I'm at the point where I know most of the tyre is good, but the edges have yet to be scrubbed in. There's something slightly unpleasant about a potential grip discrepancy like that.

I've recently had a set of Road 6s fitted and it was noticeably easier to trigger the front ABS until I'd ridden maybe a couple of hundred miles. I remember reading somewhere that the first few miles roughen up the tyre surface, so some change in grip level is inevitable.

https://www.michelin.co.uk/motorbike/advice-motorb... says the process happens more slowly in cooler conditions, so maybe there's a chemical reaction aspect to it?

I agree with you about the slight unpleasantness of unscrubbed edges, I heaved a sigh of relief when the weather dried out a bit and I could consciously scrub them far enough to be comfortable, even though as a commuter I rarely have the desire or opportunity to lean that far.