Biking Tips - General
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Distance = Speed x Time
Q. If the vehicle in front should suddenly stop what following distance will still result in a collision no matter how good you or your bike are?

A. (Courtesy of Len Wayman, Accident Investigator, MITIA, MIMI, MBAE.)
Car suddenly brakes at 60 mph. Takes 4 seconds to come to stop, braking at maximum 0.68 g. (Same as Highway Code) Following motorcyclist reacts to car braking in 0.68 seconds, (same as Highway Code reaction), but brakes at 0.5 g. (about as much as a motorcyclist dares risk without lock-up of wheels). Motorcyclist takes 5.467 seconds in braking and 0.68 seconds in reaction, total time to react and stop 6.147 seconds. Motorcyclist needs to be at least 57 metres rearward of the car as it brakes, if the bike is to stop without hitting the car.

Take this a little further so that:

The rider has Formula One driver reactions of 0.4 seconds. The rider applies the brakes as above, producing 0.5 g. The Bike, MUST be 30 metres behind to avoid a collision. Take it to the ultimate, so that:

The rider has Formula One Racing Driver reactions of 0.4 seconds. He can brake to produce 0.68 g - the same as a car. The braking distance for both will be the same. The bike MUST be at least 10.7 metres (three car lengths) behind any vehicle at 60 mph - otherwise a collision is inevitable. If you think you can react in 0.4 seconds and brake at 0.68 g…..good luck!

(At 0.68 seconds reaction time, any closer than 16.6 metres means a collision with no chance of even reaching the brakes! At 0.4 seconds the same will happen if you are closer than 10.2 metres.) (Courtesy of Mike Fell MITAI)
From Dave Jones’ book ‘Not the Blue Book’
 

Diesel
The family of a motorcyclist who died after skidding on a patch of diesel on a country road has been awarded £110,000 in compensation in one of the first claims of its kind in Britain. There was no way of finding out who was responsible for the spillage, but payment was awarded by the Motor Insurer’s Bureau.
www.mib.org.uk
 

Crash bang wallop!
Statistics produced by the Greater Manchester transportation unit indicate nearly 40% of collisions involving two wheel powered vehicles in their region happened in 30mph speed limits on A roads. The main contributory factors for more than two in every five collisions were:

• Driver/rider failed to look properly,
• Driver/rider failed to judge other person’s path or speed,
• Poor turn or manoeuvre crucially, more than 40% of casualties were aged 15 to 19 and a further 15 % were aged 20 to 24. This last statistic suggests that there is a relatively high general collision involvement of young riders with a lack of riding experience.

The figures also indicate that younger riders are involved in collisions within just 2 or 3 miles of home, whereas older riders are having accidents further from home, possibly as they reach the ‘open roads’.

It would be instructive to learn what proportion of all of these collisions involved drivers/riders that were tested to advanced level and the capacity of the motorcycles concerned.
 

Manly stuff
If you park close to a roadside drain, step away from the drain cover before fiddling with clothes and keys – it’s really unfair on your pillion passenger to dangle them head first down the hole to recover keys that have fallen through the grating! Also before togging up make sure your keys and wallet are on the outside of your kit.
 

Wet weather tip
Avoid the struggle when pulling on wet weather over-trousers by putting a plastic shopping bag over each boot in turn before sliding on the trousers.
 

Weather Woes
Remember, when riding in the rain, that it is also affecting other vehicles. If they don’t see you on fine pleasant day, what chance with the spray, rain covered mirrors, well worn windscreen wipers and dodgy screen cleaning systems?
 

Dipidydoodah
Learn when to dip your headlights. An advantage can sometimes be gained by dipping early on left-handers or brows of hills or hump-back bridges – even perhaps dipping late on right-handers. Be dictated to by circumstances.
 

Dazzlingly Clear
Under the glare from an approaching vehicle using dipped headlights, your perception range decreases markedly. Given the reduction in perception range and overall stopping distances it means that at anything over 22 mph you will be over-driving your lights!!!
 

Bike or Bust
In 99% of cases the motorcycle can and will outride you. So trust it. Try this for size – you’ve gone barrelling into a corner too fast. Choices;

• Try to stop
• Try to make the turn

First choice usually means you are trying to stop the bike in a distance that even Rossi wouldn’t achieve, before you disappear into the greenery – ie you have no chance of making it.

The second choice is to scrub off as much speed as possible, firmly counter steer and just keep tipping in, keeping your eyes on the exit point of the corner.

Risky? Certainly but it generally works, the alternative is almost guaranteed not to.
More importantly; you should always be able to stop safely on your own side of the road in distance ahead you can see to be clear. Then these little episodes will pass you by.
 

Aquaplaning
It is a fact that motorcycles under power are inherently stable and it’s the rider input that that causes the problems. If you find yourself aquaplaning the best thing you can do is just sit there. Don’t steer and don’t brake, as either of these will guarantee a crash. Just very carefully throttle off, then sit and hope – you might be surprised at how good motorcycles are at sorting things out for themselves.
 

Concentration
The complete application of mind and body to particular endeavour, and the exclusion of everything not connected with that endeavour. SO CONCENTRATE!!
 

Kitchencraft
The Teflon road, made of specially devised materials, much loved by services and highway engineers which, when mixed with water, provide the ultimate in non stick surfaces – white paint and inspection covers.
 

Straight Flush
Straight roads are braking opportunities, corners are accelerating opportunities – think about it.
 

Tyres
Vehicles have evolved so have tyres. Some production sports cars put out close to 500bhp and motorbikes close to 200bhp. In both cases, the vehicles are capable of 200mph. One factor remains constant. In all cases the power is transmitted to the road through tyres.

Q. Are puncture repairs to motorcycle tyres a safe option, especially on high performance radials?

A. Michelin are the only manufacturer to approve repairs to their W and Z rated radials. The others, Avon, Bridgestone, Continental, Dunlop, Metzeler and Pirelli, all follow the British Standard. BS AU 159/ f, which allows repairs along the following guidelines; J (62 mph) rating, one repair per tyre, puncture hole to be 3 mm or less. The repair to all tyres must be confined within the central 25 % of the tread. Repairs that comply with British Standard BS AU 159/f and are performed by a competent tyre technician are perfectly safe.
Taken from Motorcycle and Leisure Magazine

Q. What does running in a tyre do?

A. Most riders do not realise the importance of running in a tyre in. Its not just a case of scrubbing off the shiny finish from the working surface, you also need to allow the carcass to get used to accelerating and braking and bed in properly. Wet weather riding will also increase the amount of time needed, as the tyre will take longer to get up to temperature and bed in. In most cases, at least 100 miles is needed before the tyres can perform at their best.
Extracted from IAM Publication Advanced Riding June 2007
 

Speed catch
The rule for limiting a road’s speed to 30 mph is very simple, it goes back to the 1920’s. It is 30 mph where there are 3 or more lamp posts throwing light on the carriageway and placed not more than 200 yards (185m) apart.

That rule is not unsensible and generally works well because most of these roads have the look and feel of a 30mph limit. However, in recent years the speed limit, on many roads which do not have this feel, has been reduced to 30mph for highway safety or environmental reasons, or because of local community pressure.

For some strange reason there is another (also archaic) rule that says ‘30 mph repeater signs are strictly prohibited where a road with a 30mph speed limit exists and a 30 mph speed limit is in force’
 

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