Tuesday, September 01, 2015

Two-wheeled Berlin

(Warning: this post contains a bit of non-motorcycle content!) I spent a couple of weeks in Germany and Czech Republic last month, the majority of it in Berlin. Two-wheeled life in Berlin appears to be very good: the car drivers are disciplined and courteous (except the cabbies) as to right-of-way rules, and both human-powered and internal-combustion two-wheelers are allowed to park in just about any available space; sidewalks are very popular.  Bicycles are provided their own lanes on many streets, including their own traffic signals at some intersections. While the most common private conveyance in Berlin is shoes, bicycles come in a close second, followed by cars, then scooters; full-size motorcycles are a very distant 5th place. All this is based on my outsider viewpoint of course; nothing scientific.  

Simson scooters are relics of eastern Berlin's Communist past, and I'm told are quite popular today as resto projects.
Not many places in the States where we can park like this.
Small scooters with top boxes are are so common I think Berlin must issue them to its citizens.
Go ahead, just try to find yours.
Why does USA hate efficient use of space like this?
This could've been a couple of dozen cars taking up space instead.

Traffic signal for the pedal crowd.

Labels: , , , , ,

posted by Doug Just Doug at 11:40 AM 1 comments

Friday, July 17, 2015

A Job Worth Doing is Worth Doing Twice


A few weeks ago I get home from a long ride and find my left front turn signal dangling, the rubber mount having broken in half.  Hmmm, that's weird; wonder what caused that?  Impact with something? Someone bumping into it? Old age? No matter, I ordered a new left-hand mount right away, and being the smart guy I am, also ordered the right-hand mount, figuring that some day that one may fail as well and, if so, I'd already have the part on hand.

What I'd figured would be a 10-minute installation of the new turn signal mount turned out to be a sweaty, cuss-filled hour or more (thanks Kawasaki!), which would've taken someone with normal man-sized hands much longer (thanks genetics!). While I had the dashboard and windscreen off, I of course considered replacing the "good" mount on the other side, and, of course, decided against it because of the major hassle involved with the wiring I'd encountered on the "bad" side, and anyway, what were the chances the other mount would somehow fail or get broken anytime soon?  I fear the 95F and 100% humidity in my garage influenced that decision.


This is what I found at the end of a ride about a week later:



The good news is that now I know to an accuracy of about 200 miles the precise life of a Kawasaki ZR-7S rubber turn signal mount, and I've become twice as proficient at replacing them.  Yay for me. Freakin' yay.

Labels: , ,

posted by Doug Just Doug at 1:04 PM 1 comments

Friday, October 24, 2014

Motorcycle lane-splitting study

Photo: Randall Benton/Sacramento Bee

A recent California study has arrived at the rather obvious conclusion that lane-splitting on a motorcycle becomes increasingly riskier as the speed differential increases. Last year, the California Highway Patrol published guidelines suggesting riders should not travel more than 10 mph faster than surrounding traffic, and should not lane-split at all if other vehicles are traveling faster than 30 mph. That isn't law, but seems like a common-sense suggestion. As you may know, though it's common in civilized places like Europe, California is the only US state in which lane-splitting is expressly permitted. Many states, such as mine, do not expressly prohibit lane-splitting, but it's an uncommon practice and a lane-splitting rider is subject to LEO interpretation of whether the maneuver constitutes a violation of "catch-all" traffic laws such as careless or reckless driving. In my neck of the woods, a lane-splitter may also expect to get clothes-lined, cut-off, or have a driver's door opened by a disgruntled/jealous motorist. Frankly, it won't be worth the risk around here until driver attitudes change. I've only done it a handful of times, and then only while traffic is stopped, in order to get around extremely slow-moving vehicles such as farm equipment, street sweepers, etc. What are your thoughts and/or lane-splitting experience?

Labels: , , , ,

posted by Doug Just Doug at 11:00 AM 1 comments

Friday, October 10, 2014

Throw-Back Thursday: My First Motorcycle


Santa somehow managed to get  a brand spankin' new Yamaha TY80 down the chimney on Christmas Eve, 1974.  The TY80 was essentially a shrunk-down version of the TY250 and so was a competition-ready trials bike: very low gearing (with neutral at bottom), super-slim, high ground clearance, super-light weight, soft and springy suspension, and massive steering lock.  The engine was capable of chugging along in first with no throttle without stalling, and could loft the front wheel at will over obstacles. It came with plastic fenders, which were just starting to show up on pure dirt bikes, but the fuel tank was still steel.  Though most kids my age (13) were zipping around on 70-80cc MXers or "enduro" bikes, a trials bike offered a great platform to learn some of the finer points of motorcycle control that I still use today, such as traction and momentum preservation, body positioning and "English," and smoothness.  I also cut my mechanical chops (such as they are) on the little two-smoker, though it was so tough and reliable I don't remember having to do much other than normal maintenance.  I did learn how to unclog a carb jet while out in the woods, but that wasn't so rare 40 years ago.  This scan of a textured print (remember those?), likely shot with my trusty Kodak 110 Instamatic, hides a lot of detail, but I see some patchy ice in the foreground -- yup, even back then I didn't have the good sense to quit riding when it got real cold. #TBT

Labels: , , ,

posted by Doug Just Doug at 1:26 PM 0 comments

Saturday, September 20, 2014

A Quick Post, Just Bee-cause


Lookie what I found today when I went to clean my helmet.  I guess it's not so incredible that a bee would get scooped up into one of the air intakes (not that it has ever happened to me) but what is incredible is that the darn thing is still alive, about 22 hours after I rode home from work yesterday. I'm glad it didn't end up inside, crawling around my neck and ear, like the spider I had to stop and remove weekend before last.  Have you hosted any unwelcome visitors in your helmet?

Related Post: What's That in my Tailpipe?

Labels: ,

posted by Doug Just Doug at 2:20 PM 0 comments