The friendly "dumb" bike questions thread

[jimboy2]

as this is the dumb bike question thread, i feel safe asking this

only been riding for a year and done 3.5k miles on a harley sportster. now i know this is still very low experiance, but i still dont feel very confident riding. i have this thing in the back of my head that the bike is just gonna wash out from under me when in a bend.
im guessing the answer is just gain more experiance. will a bike just wash out from under you? can imagine im not any where near the bikes limits.

thanks

[A500leroy]

depends on the weather conditions, icey/greasy roads and rubbish tyres yes it can wash out from under you, dry warm roads with decent rubber you have to be being very competitive or very stupid to get it to wash out.

what rubber is on your bike?

[WarnieV6GT]

jimboy2 said:

as this is the dumb bike question thread, i feel safe asking this

only been riding for a year and done 3.5k miles on a harley sportster. now i know this is still very low experiance, but i still dont feel very confident riding. i have this thing in the back of my head that the bike is just gonna wash out from under me when in a bend.
im guessing the answer is just gain more experiance. will a bike just wash out from under you? can imagine im not any where near the bikes limits.

thanks

My Brother in law had a sportster a few years ago and he never felt confident on it especially cornering as it never felt great and the pegs would hit the deck very easily. He sold it 4-5 months after and he has a lot more experience than you.

I reckon your confidence would go through the roof on a more capable bike such as a street triple or something similar.

[crofty1984]

jimboy2 said:

as this is the dumb bike question thread, i feel safe asking this

only been riding for a year and done 3.5k miles on a harley sportster. now i know this is still very low experiance, but i still dont feel very confident riding. i have this thing in the back of my head that the bike is just gonna wash out from under me when in a bend.
im guessing the answer is just gain more experiance. will a bike just wash out from under you? can imagine im not any where near the bikes limits.

thanks

You didn't have to ask it twice! :-p

Firstly, it's better to be under confident and ask for advice than over confident and find out the expensive hurty way, so well done you.

That said, I can tell you from personal experience that you can scrape the exhaust bolts along the road on a Sportster. More and more riding will of course be good, but maybe make a conscious effort on a road you know. Take that corner just 1% faster than you did last time intentionally, see how the bike feels. No need to go from 20% to 100% in one hit.

Also, from racing (cars) one of the most valuable pieces of info on tyres I got was:
You have 100% of grip to spend, but it gets spent forwards, backwards and to the side. So you can be using 90% of the grip to hold the car into the corner, which means you can add 10% in acceleration before you lose traction. Similarly, you can be braking with 50% of the available grip, which gives you 50% to spend on turning before the front or back loses grip.

I've not worded it well, but hopefully the point of thinking about how what you're doing is affecting the tyre and grip is useful.

[Lukas239]

Morning all,

Best place for service parts (oil/filters/coolant/plugs etc) typically online?

I use eurocarparts religiously for my daily as they always have deals, near enough instant delivery/pick-up and good stock. Unless I'm being stupid they don't stock bike bits.

Ta

[Prof Prolapse]

Wemoto is the nearest equivalent I believe.

Depending on the bike you may find more specialised dealers better suit your needs, for example David Silver spares is one I go to for parts for old Honda.

Just bear in mind quality of pattern parts is as per cars, don't expect a £12 Wemoto fuel pump to last you like a £80 OEM part.

Most bikers I know go back to the manufacturers for most parts for this reason.

[DirtyHarley]

jimboy2 said:

as this is the dumb bike question thread, i feel safe asking this

only been riding for a year and done 3.5k miles on a harley sportster. now i know this is still very low experiance, but i still dont feel very confident riding. i have this thing in the back of my head that the bike is just gonna wash out from under me when in a bend.
im guessing the answer is just gain more experiance. will a bike just wash out from under you? can imagine im not any where near the bikes limits.

thanks

Hi mate,
I ride about 15K a year on a Sportster in all weather and have done for a fair few years now. I understand where you're coming from with the confidence issue, after not riding it for a little while or having been on something else, I find the single front disc to be the cause of my fears of a 'wash out' as it has a tendancy to 'pull' a little more than anything else I have ever ridden - I find using the rear brake much more and then dragging the bike through tight corners maintains stability rather than using front to slow and then corner. The other thing is, although it is personal preference, get yourself forward controls: I find sporties with forwards tend to corner much easier than those with mid-mounts as you tend to ride to the natural dynamics fo the bike more rather than trying to treat it like a sportsbike or traditional naked.

Also, and this is a pretty big one, tyres: ditch the stock dunlops, they are absolute dogturd for our roads (you couldn't pay me enough to put those pieces of crap on my bike ever again!), get yourself some Michelin commander 2's or Avon Cobras and you'll really notice the difference in how it sticks.

Best bet though is to get out on some roads you know well and give it some practice, then slowly start exploring a few roads you don't know so well and build from there. Eventually you'll find yourself reading the road and adjusting to it as you've gotten comfortable with how the bike handles.
Good luck and safe riding!

[gland]

This is might sound like a dumb answer, but why not practice cornering with your Harley on a highly controlled (and slow) track day environment like Superbike School? There was a fella on a Diavel at my Level 1 and he came on leaps and bounds. Won the rider of the day.

[bogie]

Regarding riding confidence, it sounds like you just need some more advance bike handling training where you learn how the bike works, and how inherently stable they really are at speed.

Try some courses at i2i here https://i2imca.com/About.asp

its great vfm training, and I bet you will be surprised just what your Harley is capable of, in trained hands, and how you can ride it yourself when you have had some practice.

When you have the confidence in it you will be scraping the pegs through the bends, and be ready for something more capable

[CousinDupree]

WarnieV6GT said:

My Brother in law had a sportster a few years ago and he never felt confident on it especially cornering as it never felt great and the pegs would hit the deck very easily. He sold it 4-5 months after and he has a lot more experience than you.

I reckon your confidence would go through the roof on a more capable bike such as a street triple or something similar.

Yep, I would agree with this. The lack of ground clearance, poor suspension, chassis, basically everything doesn't help on UK roads. I'm usually quite confident, but did get a bit spoked riding a forty-eight on a test ride. It grounded out way, way to early and the suspension just couldn't cope with moderate speeds over crest, even leaving a cambered roundabout.

I'm sure you could get used to it and it's not without it's charms, but I think there are better bikes for the beginner looking to cut his teeth. Maybe keep it and get another bike to practice on for now? Or get a triumph?

I wouldn't bother with a track day on it. Diavels are much more capable, zero comparison.

[FK]

jimboy2 said:

as this is the dumb bike question thread, i feel safe asking this

only been riding for a year and done 3.5k miles on a harley sportster. now i know this is still very low experiance, but i still dont feel very confident riding. i have this thing in the back of my head that the bike is just gonna wash out from under me when in a bend.
im guessing the answer is just gain more experiance. will a bike just wash out from under you? can imagine im not any where near the bikes limits.

thanks

Motorcycling is greatly affected by confidence (specifically for me confidence in how much front end grip I have). I've seen a couple of Harley riders embarrass a couple of gents on sportsbikes so if you were to chuck on a better set of tyres, you would be in business. the low ground clearance does limit lean but it's something you could get used to, becomes part of the bikes character if you like. With more experience, you will feel more comfortable, and in the majority of cases, a decent set of tyres will enable most bike to be ridden significantly faster than we should be riding on the road.

[Berz]

Crash bungs/sliders. Is there any benefit to spending £60 on branded ones versus a cheap set for £10? In case it's relevant, with my track fairings the engine mount bolt is already exposed so I don't need the even-more-expensive ones that come with the little extension bracket.

https://www.rg-racing.com/browsetype/Crash_Protect...
vs.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Motorcycle-Sport-Bike-U...

Warmers. Anyone got/used Biketek Pro warmers? I want a decent set that will last a few years so happy to spend a little extra to get something above the budget end, but I'm not flush enough for Diamond and Capit!

[cbmotorsport]

Berz said:

Crash bungs/sliders. Is there any benefit to spending £60 on branded ones versus a cheap set for £10? In case it's relevant, with my track fairings the engine mount bolt is already exposed so I don't need the even-more-expensive ones that come with the little extension bracket.

https://www.rg-racing.com/browsetype/Crash_Protect...
vs.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Motorcycle-Sport-Bike-U...

Warmers. Anyone got/used Biketek Pro warmers? I want a decent set that will last a few years so happy to spend a little extra to get something above the budget end, but I'm not flush enough for Diamond and Capit!

I might be wrong, but I would have thought that R&G have actually put some R&D into the materials/strengths/forces of their bungs, to provide maximum protection and minimum chance of frame damage. Perhaps not with the cheaper ones? I dunno. A crash bung can bend your frame to buggery if it doesn't break/give/bend when the forces exerted on it are too high.

[Mr2Mike]

cbmotorsport said:

I might be wrong, but I would have thought that R&G have actually put some R&D into the materials/strengths/forces of their bungs, to provide maximum protection and minimum chance of frame damage. Perhaps not with the cheaper ones? I dunno. A crash bung can bend your frame to buggery if it doesn't break/give/bend when the forces exerted on it are too high.

The mounting brackets are main difference IME. The cheaper ones are often very weakly mounted.

[cbmotorsport]

Mr2Mike said:

cbmotorsport said:

I might be wrong, but I would have thought that R&G have actually put some R&D into the materials/strengths/forces of their bungs, to provide maximum protection and minimum chance of frame damage. Perhaps not with the cheaper ones? I dunno. A crash bung can bend your frame to buggery if it doesn't break/give/bend when the forces exerted on it are too high.

The mounting brackets are main difference IME. The cheaper ones are often very weakly mounted.

Tensile strength of the bolts used will also be important.

[Berz]

R&G ones bought. Nice of them to include VAT in the price, NOT!

Anyone used Biketek Pro warmers?

[axgizmo]

Not a question but...

I have been using my trusty AGV for 2 1/2 years now - have got used to holding my breath or lifting my visor at traffic lights as my visor fogs up if I don't, something made me google this over Christmas as I figured there must be something that can fix this, low and behold AGV's come with a pinlock in the box (mine was no exception) - Fitted that and hey presto, no more fogging!

1. Winning - Don't half feel stupid for that!

[Lukas239]

Recommended reusable earplugs?

Been using some laser lights which are actually ok but fall out, get super dirty and itch like mad.

Seen Alpine Motosafe and NoNoise but wondered what people used?

I don't use any sort of com system so don't need any compatibility.

[bogie]

For ear plugs everyone has their own favourites. Buy a sample pack, try them out and find some you prefer then buy a box of them

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Disposable-Variety-3M-Hon...

[gland]

If your laser lites are falling out it's highly likely that they weren't inserted in the first place. You'll be amazed at the difference in noise reduction when you figure it out. I'll see if I can find a video.

Here: https://youtu.be/gajb4bOu4Rs bit there's a ton of videos.

The biggest problem I had was angle of insertion: I had a misconception of the angle of my ear canal. It pretty much is at right angles to the side of the head. I also found pulling the left ear with the right hand from behind the head was essential. When doctors/nurses examine the ear drum they pull the ear in exactly the same direction to straighten the cartilaginous parts along the first part of the canal when viewing ear drums. You might be be surprised how deep the canal goes.

Edited by gland on Saturday 12th January 12:39

Edited by gland on Saturday 12th January 12:40