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5 Common Wear and Tear Items on Motorcycles
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cyclenoviceParticipant
If I’m riding a motorcycle instead of a car, that means I’m not in a hurry. Trouble comes when you try to make an aggressive move to save time. Don’t! The near misses I’ve had in a car have sometimes been because I was in a hurry to get somewhere. On a bike, slow down, and enjoy the scenery! And for goodness sake, leave a big margin of safety. Trouble occurs if you have to slam on the brake.
cyclenoviceParticipantIf you read the statistics further, you realize that 25-50% of the fatalities involved alcohol, at least 30% of the operators had no license or an invalid one, 47% had no helmet, and 33% were speeding or going too fast for the conditions. So if you wear a helmet, have a valid license, don’t drink, and don’t go too fast, you’ve cut your risk of dying in a motorcycle accident by at least 50% or more. Now your odds look better!
Thanks, Elias. Interesting report.
cyclenoviceParticipantOne the one hand, it would seem riding is less dangerous. You have only a 2.5% chance of getting into an motorcycle accident in Arizona (3,464 crashes divided by 141,158 registered motorcycles) VS. a 2.83% chance of getting into non-motorcycle accident (133,335 crashes divided by 4,706,704 registered non-motorcycles). But when you compare fatalities, you realize that motorcycle deaths realize 15% of all traffic deaths (135 divided by 893), yet motorcycles represent only 2.9% of all vehicles on the road (141,158 divided by 4,847,862). In other words, car fatalities are 5.5 times more common than motorcycle fatalities, but cars are 33 times more common than motorcycles. Although you’re no more likely to get into an accident on a motorcycle than in a car, you are more likely to die if you do get into an accident on a motorcycle. That’s what makes it more dangerous.
cyclenoviceParticipantThere was too much oil, and it overflowed. It wasn’t a problem when I was doing lots of shifting and keeping the rpms low. But once I started my new, high rpm regimen, the oil overflowed. Now I know that it has to stay between the two marks. Live and learn. It’ll cost me some money and some riding time, but no harm, no foul!
cyclenoviceParticipantFate. I wonder about it every time I ride. I’d never set foot in a dealership in my life to look at bikes, until one fateful evening at my son’s school at a fundraiser auction in Feb. 2009, I bid on and won a $10,000 Kawasaki ZZR600 that is less than a year old. I got it for $3,000. Good deal, right? Only if I never get in an accident. If I do, I’ll sell the bike in an instant, and never ride again. I’ll tell myself that although God wanted me to buy that motorcycle, He obviously didn’t want me to ride it anymore. Were the good times I had on the motorcycle worth the accident? No.
cyclenoviceParticipantMy bike’s in the shop. On my way to work on Friday – and I really enjoyed only having to shift into 3rd gear to go 50 mph – the motorcycle started pouring out blue smoke, so I knew I was burning oil. Actually there was a pretty bad oil leak from some spot in the engine (I’m not sure where), and there was a cloud of blue smoke around me when I stopped at a traffic light. So I made the decision to take it to the dealership rather than go into work. At least two guys said that I was lucky to have made it there. There was oil all over the back tire. I now know the dealership has a free pick up service for inoperable motorcycles, which I’ll take advantage of next time. Fortunately, the bike is still under warranty so it should be covered, but I missed a weekend of riding (although it was either wet or windy all weekend). BTW, the guy who donated it to the charity auction I bought it from paid $10,000 in June 2008, and I paid $3,000 for it. That’s why I’m bound and determined to learn how to ride it! I think the hardest thing to adjust to – other than shifting – is the speed. And the buffeting from the wind is unnerving too. That’s why I avoid windy days.
cyclenoviceParticipantWould the dyno charts be helpful? Anyone know where to get them?
cyclenoviceParticipantThanks for the advice Elias. I’ll give it a try! And I’ll stay well below redline!
cyclenoviceParticipantI’ve probably taken the owner’s manual a little too literally without the benefit of experience. Generally, if you want to go faster, in addition to giving more throttle, you upshift, to more closely match engine speed with actual speed, I believe. What do you mean by “blip the throttle”? Give it a little goose while slowly letting the clutch out?
cyclenoviceParticipantThe owners manual warns against downshifting at too high an rpm (5000 rpms+) to get extra acceleration, which can lock up the rear wheel. I’m nervous about trying it. Logically you’d think upshifting would give you a boost.
cyclenoviceParticipantI took the bike out last night, and got it up to (at least) 35-40 mph in 2nd gear, and yes, it’s definitely louder, but I’ll adjust. I’ve read that you get worse gas mileage than running it in a higher gear that reduces the rpms, but I like not having to change the gears all the time. Flipping thru five gears just to get up to 35 mphs as the owners manual suggests is time-consuming! They really ought to tell you that you’re free to go much faster than 15 mph in 2nd gear! Oh well, live and learn!
cyclenoviceParticipantYes I have a tac, and it redlines at 14,500 rpms. Needless to say, I’ve never come close to that. When the bike appears to over-rev without much apparent acceleration, I quickly shift to the next higher gear. It sounds like I need to adjust to riding at higher rpms in a lower gear. Although my neighbors might appreciate a little less noise The owner’s manual only mentions speed, not rpms, as the guide to shifting gears.
cyclenoviceParticipantOK, let me get this straight. Once I shift into second, assuming I have no mechanical problem, I should just roll on the throttle and ignore the ever increasing sound as the motorcycle revs (and accelerates) and I should be able to cruise to say 30-35 mph without shifting up to third? Maybe I just need to adjust to the sound as you say.
cyclenoviceParticipantAnother poster mentioned power bands, and from what I just learned, my power band is probably about half my redline, so I’m not riding anywhere close to that. Although as you said, there’s something to be said for cruising at an rpm level that creates a tolerable decibel level. To create more acceleration, it sounds like I need to rev the engine more before shifting, then let out on the clutch smoothly, and hang on! Shifting the gears constantly to get up to 35 mph is a pain, and it takes a while. If I could shift out of first at 25-30 mph that would be nice. But to do so, it sounds like I need to keep the rpms higher.
cyclenoviceParticipantI obviously need to try this. Approximately how fast should I be able to go before I should have to shift into second gear, and how will I know I need to shift?
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