The mayor's official carnival escorts.

Strolling round march carnival with the other half, and came across this.
Top dog! :-)

Celebratory/Practice ride route #1

As previously mentioned, I went for a ride to celebrate the arrival of my Bikesafe certificate, and my copy of Motorcycle Roadcraft (see earlier posts), and to spend some time putting into practice what I had been told in my de-brief.

If anyone's interested, here's the route I took:



View BAD-MCC Loop in a larger map

They've arrived!

At lunch time today, I returned home to find that my shiny new copy of Motorcycle Roadcraft, and my certificate and assessment sheet for Bikesafe, had arrived in the post.

To celebrate, I'm using it as an excuse for a ride out this evening :-)

Ride to work day 2012

"On Ride To Work Day, motorbike and scooter riders around the world show just how enjoyable their daily commute is.
By riding to work we demonstrate that life would be better if more people rode motorcycles and scooters every day, with time savings, less congestion and reduced travel costs.
So we want you to join us on Ride to Work Day."

From Ridetoworkday.co.uk

Bikesafe observation.

So I had my Bike safe observation yesterday.

For those of you who don't know what this is, basically you send a couple of hours with a police motorcyclist, being led around (from behind), before being debriefed at the end of the ride.
My ride had good and bad points. Key good were mainly comments made by the police rider (Bedfordshire 388, Gary), namely that after my first couple of bends, he thought I was going to be hard to keep up with, and he also stated that it is obvious I am "at one with my machine". Grins all round! :-D

As mentioned, unfortunately there were bad points. My third corner wasn't as tidy as the first two, which showed I need to work on consistency (this will be improved as I get better at "reading the road"), I ran a red light because the cars in front moved off (DOH!), I entered a couple of corners about 5mph too fast, causing me to stray across the centre line or struggle to set up in a good position for the following bend, again down to reading the road, and I need to keep an eye out for speed limit signs, as I was both too fast and too slow for the prescribed limit at various times during the ride.

Despite being exceptionally hot, it was still a great ride, once I got used to looking in my mirror and seeing a police bike! The debrief was extremely helpful and constructive, and I can't wait to get out and practice so I can have another go, hopefully with better results :-D

Many thanks to the Beds Bikesafe team, especially Alison and Gary, and also to Martin, from the fire service.

You can find the main website for the UK Bikesafe initiative here

Low speed control

This has to be the ultimate in low speed control!

Report bad drivers in the UK

Whilst this has no legal benefit, as far as I can see, it is both amusing and disturbing to read about some of the idiots currently taking up space on our country's roads.

"Do you get angry when you see bad driving? People “cutting you up”, dangerous driving, speeding, road rage? Report bad drivers here on the official site of My Road Rage. Let the world know about the idiot you have seen. When you see bad driving or incidents of road rage, don’t get mad at the time, come here and tell the world about it. You can anonymously name and shame bad drivers – get it off your chest, it’s fun and you may even find it therapeutic."

MyRoadRage.co.uk

Why commuting by motorcycle is good for everyone

A new study shows motorcyclists are doing drivers a favour in rush hour.

Read the full story here

Taken from The Telegraph motorcycle section

These guys can ride!

Well, some can ;-)


Do you suppose the british police forces will ever do anything like this?

Minor issue fixed (I hope)

After some tinkering yesterday, I think I determined that the lack of brake light, indicator and intercom I was experiencing was down to a bad connection (intercom is powered from switched live to brake light) .  It would appear that a previous owner felt the need to cut the wire feeding the aforementioned items from the fuse box, and put badly fitted crimps in the circuit.

After some investigation, and re-terminating both the light feed and the feed to the intercom (which was just a stripped wire pushed into one half of the rear brake switch connector, and held in place by the other half!), it would appear that all is well again.

Next job: clutch fluid level check, and top up.

Allied Memorial Remembrance Ride

The Royal British Legion Riders Branch

in association with

The American Legion Riders

and

The Canadian Veteran Freedom Riders

will hold the annual 'Allied Memorial Remembrance Ride' on

SATURDAY 30 JUNE 2012

 ONE RIDE, THREE NATIONS: UNITED IN REMEMBRANCE OF OUR FALLEN HEROES

Bargains galore!

So we made it to the BMF show with only the most minor of issues, or so I thought, but I'll explain that later; first, we must discuss bargains :-)

Before we set off for the show, I described the BMF show as "TK Maxx for bikers" and, as usual, it wasn't wrong.  There were people barging past, people trying stuff on and then just dumping it where they found it - even people taking things off rails, finding they were the wrong size, and dumping them without trying them on, before moving on to the next item!  You'd have thought that biker courtesy should extend to shopping, also, wouldn't you?

Anyway, amongst all the mayhem, both myself and the lovely Jo managed to find Hein Gericke Devon II pants in our respective sizes for a measly £40 a pair (£109.99 new), and I coughed up £150 for a Hein Gericke Voyage GTX jacket (£450 new!) so I'd like to thank the friendly, helpful staff from Hein Gericke for their help and bargains, namely Chunk, from Welwyn branch, the unknown chap from Peterborough branch and the lovely young lady from Norwich branch who let us stash our stuff behind the counter to save me carrying it around, whilst braving the shopping maelstrom;  sorry I didn't get your names.

OK, so that's Hein Gericke sorted, thankfully the rest of the show was much more placid.  We took a leisurely stroll around, stopping randomly to look at interesting stalls, watch the "White Helmets" motorcycle display team, talk to the Royal British Legion Riders Branch members (membership form coming after pay day), stop for a chat with my friend, the awesome Paddy Tyson (national campaigns co-ordinator for MAG, advisor to the Ted Simon Foundation, editor of Overland Magazine and author of "The hunt for puerto del Faglioli") and of course, have a beer.  Somewhere amongst all this enjoyment, we also managed to find a lid, jacket and gloves for Jo, and a new pair of boots for me, all for less than £100!

The verdict?  After consultation with the weary Jo, she said she had enjoyed the day, overall, but the walking was getting a little tiring; so we set of for home.

Helmet fitting guide

As one of the reasons we're going to the BMF show is to find a better fitting helmet for my other half, it seemed only fitting (pun intended) that I should post a helmet fitting guide.
So, without further ado, here is one shamelessly borrowed from the UK's Direct.gov website.

Fitting Guide

We recommend you invest time trying on as many helmets as possible. Once you’ve found those that fit you best, you can then choose the helmet with the highest SHARP rating for the best possible protection.

Every head shape is different, so we’ve pulled together some tips to help you choose the right fit.

1. Get measured

Your safety is too important to simply guess your size. Before trying on any helmets you need to make sure you know your exact head size. Measure around your head just above the ears and take a measurement at the forehead. This measurement is a good starting point and will correspond with a particular brand's size (always bear in mind a medium in one brand may be different to medium in another). Getting the right fit is paramount, so don't be tempted to go for another size if your dream helmet is out of stock.

2. Try it on

Ok, so you've chosen a helmet to try. Now place it firmly on your head, securing the chin strap so you can fit two fingers between the helmet and your jaw. If the helmet has a quick release buckle then take your time adjusting the strap. Once on, you should be able to feel the helmet against the whole of your head - without feeling ‘pressure points' or the helmet leaving red marks. Once you're happy, keep it on for a few minutes to make sure it's comfortable.

3. Check the fit

Secure the strap and try rotating the helmet from side-to-side. If you're wearing a full face helmet your cheeks should follow the helmet's movement, while remaining in contact with the cheek pads firmly and comfortably. If the helmet moves or slips on your head it's probably the wrong size. Next, try tilting the helmet forwards and backwards. Again, if it moves or slips it's probably the wrong size.

4. Will it stay on?

You want to know the helmet you buy will stay firmly on your head in a crash. Make sure the chinstrap is done up and tilt your head forward. Ask someone to try and roll the helmet off your head by carefully pushing up from the rear of the helmet at its base. If you can roll it off in the showroom, then it's sure to come off in a crash.

There's also a snazzy animation, showing how to carry out these steps, here

One more sleep... :-D

So, one more sleep until the BMF. I haven't been in so long, due to lack of bike, or other commitments. I can't wait. Just hope the other half has a good day, as she'd never been on a bike before she met me, and has never been to an event like this. We shall see.

Counties I have visited on the bike

I have visited the counties highlighted in blue. How much of the UK have you covered? Get your own free editable county map at www.ukgeocachers.co.uk Map reproduced from Ordnance Survey map data by permission of the Ordnance Survey. � Crown copyright 1999

Grand Designs Live

So this weekend's "adventure" was to Grand Designs Live, at the ExCeL exhibition centre, in London's Docklands.
Whilst it's probably not the most exciting adventure, it gave the other half her first taste of travelling any sort of distance on the back of the ST, and we have determined the following key points:

• After about 60 miles, numb bum sets in, unless it's cold when it only takes 20
• The ST seat is quite slippery, so heavy breaking causes unplanned hugs :-)
• Her gloves and boots are too thin, so her hands and feet get cold quite quickly
• Her 59-60 lid is a little too tight, despite her head being 60 when measured

All this can be remedied, however, and we plan to have a go at doing just that, at the BMF show, in Peterborough, this weekend.

Another excuse to take the old girl out :-)

See you there,

London Bus Lanes

Here's some useful information I picked up from Giraffe at ST-Owners.com:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/redroutes/10151.aspx

Apparently, since January this year, motorcyclists have been allowed to use "the majority" of London bus lanes; original thread here.

So.....

So I've decided to start a blog, with the intention of  passing on random information regarding motorcyles (the Honda ST1100, in particular), my adventures and motorcycling in general.
Please do heckle, but be nice where appropriate, and let's see how long this lasts, eh?