The friendly "dumb" bike questions thread

[RazerSauber]

Krikkit said:

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.

Handily, Northwich is my most local branch. They seem friendly when I've dealt with them buying things so hopefully they're happy enough. The new bogs there are a vast improvement, too.

carinaman said:

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.

I suppose it wasn't technically new and wouldn't want an argument with someone if they found out. Maybe things have changed since Covid? Health and safety etc.

[carinaman]

Speed addicted said:

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.

You're right about fitment over colour(s). I could offset the dull helmet by wearing a high vis. waistcoat.

[Speed addicted]

carinaman said:

Speed addicted said:

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.

You're right about fitment over colour(s). I could offset the dull helmet by wearing a high vis. waistcoat.

I’ve gone out dressed in maximum black for the last 20+ years. If they can’t see a big red motorbike with the lights on I doubt that a bright helmet or jacket will make any difference.
Always ride defensively!

[black-k1]

Speed addicted said:

carinaman said:

Speed addicted said:

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.

You're right about fitment over colour(s). I could offset the dull helmet by wearing a high vis. waistcoat.

I’ve gone out dressed in maximum black for the last 20+ years. If they can’t see a big red motorbike with the lights on I doubt that a bright helmet or jacket will make any difference.
Always ride defensively!

My experience (46 years! ) supports that being seen is about positioning and defensive riding, not about day-glo.

[carinaman]

black-k1 said:

My experience (46 years! ) supports that being seen is about positioning and defensive riding, not about day-glo.

Indeed. A colleague told me it's all very well making eye contact with the driver at the junction, but it's the wheels you need to watch.

If the wheels are moving they're pulling out.

It's an aspiration to achieve an advanced pass, IAM or RoSPA, having passed both in cars, but in reality more pressing issues are likely to take priority for the foreseeable future.

[Pebbles167]

carinaman said:

Indeed. A colleague told me it's all very well making eye contact with the driver at the junction, but it's the wheels you need to watch.

Wise words.

I found this out on Monday for the first time in a while. 18:00 rolling down my street at 10mph having just set off for a ride, a woman a few doors down moving off her driveway looked me straight in the eye, stopped then pulled out whilst looking left as if I wasn't there at all. I stopped with about 2m distance. A reminder for me to be more careful.

[KTMsm]

Speed addicted said:

I’ve gone out dressed in maximum black for the last 20+ years. If they can’t see a big red motorbike with the lights on

I doubt that a bright helmet or jacket will make any difference.

You'd be wrong - there are stats to prove it but I can tell you my personal experience too

I was pulling out of my driveway - it's an NSL and a busy country road

I looked both ways, saw nothing but just had a nagging feeling so I looked again

There was a biker approx 80m away so I wouldn't have killed him but he'd have had to take evasive action (approx 2 seconds from hitting me at 100mph)

His headlight was on but because I wasn't in line with it (as I was in my drive) it was almost invisible, I couldn't tell the colour of his bike

Head on (ish) until it's too late the colour is irrelevant, there really isn't much to see - black tyre, generally black or clear screen - generally any colour is broken up with vents or graphics

Hence I generally rode in KTM orange jacket but that was hard to find so when I succumbed to black gear, I bought a white helmet

Look at the bikers you SEE, the ones wearing white / orange / yellow helmets stand out - the others don't

If you are happy with your chances - fair enough - I play the odds and they improve drastically if you are easy to see

[ThreadKiller]

Buddy had a bright yellow helmet. Always found him much more visible than the rest of our group. I bought a white helmet… not as good as yellow. All completely un-scientific and I don’t want to wear dayglo, but a bright helmet i can cope with and imho it can only help.

Edited by ThreadKiller on Thursday 23 May 17:20

[black-k1]

KTMsm said:

Speed addicted said:

I’ve gone out dressed in maximum black for the last 20+ years. If they can’t see a big red motorbike with the lights on

I doubt that a bright helmet or jacket will make any difference.

You'd be wrong - there are stats to prove it but I can tell you my personal experience too

I was pulling out of my driveway - it's an NSL and a busy country road

I looked both ways, saw nothing but just had a nagging feeling so I looked again

There was a biker approx 80m away so I wouldn't have killed him but he'd have had to take evasive action (approx 2 seconds from hitting me at 100mph)

His headlight was on but because I wasn't in line with it (as I was in my drive) it was almost invisible, I couldn't tell the colour of his bike

Head on (ish) until it's too late the colour is irrelevant, there really isn't much to see - black tyre, generally black or clear screen - generally any colour is broken up with vents or graphics

Hence I generally rode in KTM orange jacket but that was hard to find so when I succumbed to black gear, I bought a white helmet

Look at the bikers you SEE, the ones wearing white / orange / yellow helmets stand out - the others don't

If you are happy with your chances - fair enough - I play the odds and they improve drastically if you are easy to see

Great story bro ...

But only relevant if you know the bike was explicitly positioning to be seen and riding defensively.

You can ride with poor positioning and bright colours may help others seeing you.

[Krikkit]

You won't settle this argument with one anecdote, might as well leave it alone

[KTMsm]

black-k1 said:

Great story bro ...

But only relevant if you know the bike was explicitly positioning to be seen and riding defensively.

You can ride with poor positioning and bright colours may help others seeing you.

He was just riding along the road as the vast majority of bikers do

I don't suppose he wanted to die that day as the vast majority of bikers don't

The evidence is clear, if you're too ignorant to read it or understand it, then perhaps you could get someone to explain it to you

[Bob_Defly]

I tend to agree. I had a white helmet for a couple of years, rode exactly the same as always. There was a noticeable reduction in drivers pulling out on me whilst wearing it.

[black-k1]

KTMsm said:

He was just riding along the road as the vast majority of bikers do

I don't suppose he wanted to die that day as the vast majority of bikers don't

The evidence is clear, if you're too ignorant to read it or understand it, then perhaps you could get someone to explain it to you

What evidence? There are a number of anecdotes suggesting different things. The only clear evidence is that there is no clear evidence!

I still have some of my old day-glo kit in my spare kit cupboard up stairs. I've tried white helmets, orange helmets, red helmets and dark grey/black helmets. My view remains that positioning and defensive riding is far more effective at getting you seen than any amount of coloured kit.

If that experience makes me ignorant then I'm happy to be ignorant but that's not how I see it.


ETA

A proper report that may be of interest: https://www.ghsa.org/sites/default/files/2019-06/N...

While the report is Motorcyclists’ Attitudes on Using High-Visibility Gear to Improve Conspicuity it clearly shows the two sides of the coin:

[i]Some participants who wear high-visibility gear do so because of a personal experience of being in a crash or knowing friends who experienced serious
injury-producing or fatal crashes. The participants who wear high-visibility gear generally believe that it improves their safety[/i]

and

Some riders said they do not wear high-visibility gear because of the belief that it will not make any difference for their personal safety. Furthermore, they indicated that their skill as riders precludes the need to wear high-visibility gear

Edited by black-k1 on Friday 24th May 11:00

[Pebbles167]

I think it's fair to say that both positioning and clothing visibility can increase the likelihood of being seen, and both should be recommended.

It's also fair to say that some people won't see a bus that's 2 metres in front of them, anecdotally evidenced by the fact that I once saw someone pull out into a stationary bus that was 2 metres in front of them.

Random chance plays a big part, and you have no say in that. Decreasing the level of your controllable personal risk is up to you alone, and personally I'd sooner quit biking than wear fully flourescent kit.

Fair enough to those who do though.

[xeny]

ThreadKiller said:

Buddy had a bright yellow helmet. Always found him much more visible than the rest of our group. I bought a white helmet… not as good as yellow. All completely un-scientific and I don’t want to wear dayglo, but a bright helmet i can cope with and imho it can only help.

Edited by ThreadKiller on Thursday 23 May 17:20

Other handy thing is a helmet is more likely to stick out above the top of cars etc - I ride a lot in London, and it seems that since I started wearing a brighter one(white in my case, so maybe reminds people of a police rider?) to help with pedestrians when filtering through traffic.

[horsemeatscandal]

Anything I should know before removing an ECU?

Sending off to adjust a map before I sell the bike.

[Krikkit]

horsemeatscandal said:

Anything I should know before removing an ECU?

Sending off to adjust a map before I sell the bike.

Out of paranoia I'd disconnect the battery, otherwise no

[horsemeatscandal]

This isn't really a dumb question but not worthy of it's own thread...

I've been recently thinking about downsizing bikes for various reasons (mainly to free up cash for a house move and because I hardly use my current bike) which ultimately led to the decision to sell and not have a bike at all for a while. However, man maths has taken over and I'd like someone to identify the flaw in this logic....

Trade in current bike, use part exchange money to put maximum PCP deposit down (~£3k) on a new Transalp with a couple of options. Pocket rest of cash (~£2k), put that towards house bits. PCP will be around £140 per month, which as it happens is the same amount as my Cyclescheme which is due to end in a couple of months (during which time I've managed perfectly fine financially). Plus, from July I'm covering maternity leave for my boss so will have a bit of extra cash. I might not use the bike properly until next year but they're not going to get any cheaper and it's there and ready to go when I want it.

If I'd just sold the current bike, I'd have left it until next summer before I got a new one. I'm after something for longer trips; if it's a few hours on a sunny Sunday (which my current bike is perfect for), then I'm reaching for my bicycle. I actually no longer get any joy from short rides out; I thought I did, but that's just because my bike was good at it. I want to be able to do big(ish) miles, explore our isles and hopefully Europe. It would be great to get the other half on the back too. While I'm not useless with a spanner, I prefer to do other things than work on bikes or worry about other people working on them, hence opting for new. The only thing that might not work out is insurance as I currently pay less than £300, anything more than ~£600 might put me off. I need to check this. New mortgage is an increase on current but I think most people would still say it's pretty low.

Anyway, that's everything, talk me into/out of it as you see fit.

[Speed addicted]

horsemeatscandal said:

This isn't really a dumb question but not worthy of it's own thread...

I've been recently thinking about downsizing bikes for various reasons (mainly to free up cash for a house move and because I hardly use my current bike) which ultimately led to the decision to sell and not have a bike at all for a while. However, man maths has taken over and I'd like someone to identify the flaw in this logic....

Trade in current bike, use part exchange money to put maximum PCP deposit down (~£3k) on a new Transalp with a couple of options. Pocket rest of cash (~£2k), put that towards house bits. PCP will be around £140 per month, which as it happens is the same amount as my Cyclescheme which is due to end in a couple of months (during which time I've managed perfectly fine financially). Plus, from July I'm covering maternity leave for my boss so will have a bit of extra cash. I might not use the bike properly until next year but they're not going to get any cheaper and it's there and ready to go when I want it.

If I'd just sold the current bike, I'd have left it until next summer before I got a new one. I'm after something for longer trips; if it's a few hours on a sunny Sunday (which my current bike is perfect for), then I'm reaching for my bicycle. I actually no longer get any joy from short rides out; I thought I did, but that's just because my bike was good at it. I want to be able to do big(ish) miles, explore our isles and hopefully Europe. It would be great to get the other half on the back too. While I'm not useless with a spanner, I prefer to do other things than work on bikes or worry about other people working on them, hence opting for new. The only thing that might not work out is insurance as I currently pay less than £300, anything more than ~£600 might put me off. I need to check this. New mortgage is an increase on current but I think most people would still say it's pretty low.

Anyway, that's everything, talk me into/out of it as you see fit.

Seems ok to me if you want a new bike and the monthly costs are ok.
I’d make sure that the transalp is something that would keep you amused before buying it.

I’d also add that many bikes are pampered toys, doing little mileage in nice weather.
You may be able to get something 3-5 years old with minimal mileage for much less while still giving you a warm fuzzy feeling about reliability. More so if the current model has been facelifted. Then you could just buy it outright and have no ongoing costs.

Assuming a three year PCP you’re still dumping £8k into the transalp with potentially no return, best case it only costs you £5k.
If you’re more worried about cash and know you won’t be using it much a paid for bike in the garage could be a better long term option.

My Triumph Explorer (for instance) is now 10 years old, I’ve got 4 other bikes so it’s more a long distance bike.
Apart from servicing and tyres it’s needed one fork seal. Older bikes may be perfectly fine rather than the maintenance nightmares you imagine.

[Krikkit]

Most reasonably modern bikes aren't scary for maintenance at all, I'd be looking at selling the current bike and buying something older for the days you might fancy it - something that won't really depreciate, so it can sit unused and you can cycle instead without feeling guilty.

The transalp looks good but very dull, it's a tool for a job really.