Handle it or lose it

Intro - Bike Prep - Kit - Bike Science - Read the Road - Group Riding - Crash Scene - Secruity - Your Licence - The Network - Skills - Usefull Stuff

WHEELS AND TYRES

Tyre condition is critical to the safety, performance, and enjoyment of our bikes. At any one time all three of the above are dependent upon two contact patches, each the size of a credit card – at best - so your tyres should be regularly checked. The rubber gives you grip, the tread clears away water, and the inflation level affects both of them + the handling. A few things to consider therefore:

Tread. 1mm is the legal tread depth limit, but on most bikes it would be wiser to change them at 2mm or your handling & wet-weather grip will certainly suffer. Since tread clears water to allow the rubber to work, then riding in rain at or near the legal minimum means that you only have a fraction of your dry weather grip. Tread is, in effect, a water-pump. Tyre manufacturers calculate their efficiency in litres per minute. The more surface water, and the faster you go, the more the tread needs to pump. 1 or 2mm means a MUCH poorer pump than 5 or 6mm.

Tyre Choice. Honda et al spend lots of time on roads and tracks trying different tyres. Their testers are highly experienced and very capable riders. They’ve already done the wobbling, weaving and grip tests (and possibly even had the hospital treatment) usually on the comparative safety of a test-track, so if they specify a particular tyre, there’ll be a good reason why.

Tyre pressures. As above. Tyre pressure choice does affect the handling of most bikes quite significantly – often over only as little as a 5psi range. Check them cold, and check them regularly. Gauges can vary quite significantly too. Don’t rely upon the gauge of a petrol station air-line.

Tyre temperature. Tyres work best over a particular temperature range. The racers have to warm theirs up completely before working them hard - you’ve seen them weaving and stop/starting to generate heat. They use race tyres. On the road we have road tyres, designed to work over a wider, and cooler temperature range. We don’t usually need to do stuff like that. By the time your engine is warmed up, after a few miles, your tyres will be. If you feel you need supreme levels of grip at normal road speeds, them you may be wise to take an early visit to the ‘Rider Development’ section.

New tyres. Newly fitted tyres do need special care due to the mould-releasing coating left over from the manufacturing process. It can be slippery, and has caught out a few of the unwary over the years. Take it steady for the first few miles – a hundred or so, to be on the safe side. This is also sensible as they sometimes need to bed more fully onto the rim.

BRAKES

As the old saying goes its not the speed that hurts you - it's the sudden stop at the end, so ensure your brakes are working perfectly before deciding to explore the performance of the bike. There are too many different braking systems in use today to be specific, so the advice here is generic.

Pads. Make sure you check the pad thickness on a regular basis. On most bikes this entails no more than looking at the inspection slot in the callipers - you can usually see the pads, and their wear indicators. As with previous comments regarding tyres, the guys who test the bikes in the development phase know a lot more than most of us, so you take risk by straying away from the manufacturer’s recommended choice. You could also invalidate any warranty you may have by choosing non-standard pads. Race disks and race pads work at race speeds – on the road you’ll rarely get them up to temperature, so why consider them unless you are using the bike mostly for track days?

Fluid. Always be aware of your fluid levels. If it starts to drop, BEWARE, this could be a leak somewhere. Get it checked straight away.

Modifications. After-market braking systems usually look great, but are rarely of any real improvement over the standard ones at road speeds (or on many track days, for that matter).

Use. Ride with your head and you’ll rarely explore the higher performance of even standard brakes. Most really good riders, on public roads, use their brakes LESS than the average (see ‘Rider Development’)k

Anti-lock brakes (ABS). Work very well when the bike is upright. Don’t rely on them to be effective if you end up having to brake while leaned over. Apparently most normal riders can’t bring themselves to brake hard enough to get front ABS to wor

EXHAUST SYSTEM

People like Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki etc go to a lot of trouble designing an exhaust that meets international noise regulations, looks good on the bike, and maximises possible performance whilst leaving the bike smooth and tractable. It’s a shame that they set their replacement prices so pocket-cripplingly high.

Many people choose to change the exhaust for cosmetic or performance purposes. Few legal after-market systems give more than 2 or 3 horse-power gain – an increase that is barely noticeable on the road. Illegal ones don’t give much more, usually require expensive and fiddly jetting changes, and cause lots of anti-motorcycling feeling amongst the rest of the community. If you are concerned about performance, bear in mind that you’ll get far more benefit out of a £100-£200 skills enhancement course that out of a £500+ exhaust system. (See ‘Skills Enhancement’)

We can't be seen to condone the breaking of the Law by fitting Illegal systems, but we would also be silly to ignore the fact that it does exist. If you really must do it then, PLEASE, when going through villages etc keep to a high gear and keep the speed and engine revs down. Nothing angers people more than having their peace and quiet shattered, and it does not help the cause of motorcycling in any way. Every resident annoyed, or cyclist/walker scared by a noisy exhaust, is another nail in the coffin for motorcycling.

SUSPENSION

Suspension is there to do 3 main jobs: to give a comfy ride; to keep the tyres in contact with the road; to help the bike steer as predictably as possible. Standard suspension works pretty well for most people in most situations. Some after -market suspension systems do make a noticeable difference, but you pay a lot of money. If you buy a race-designed suspension unit don’t expect it to improve the bike’s road-riding – they’re not designed for that – all it will usually do is to make for a very hard ride.

Suspension set-up usually consists of modifications to spring rate, pre-load, and damping. The settings are many, and the set up information is vast. Boringly, most bikes these day ride absolutely fine straight out of the box. Suspension set up is a precise art and should be left to the professionals, If you feel that it does need changing seek advice from the experts, there are plenty of set up firms on the Internet that can assist, you can find them on the links page on this site. The simple rule is If it works and you're happy don't mess about with it; you will only make it worse.

There are some changes you can safely make when carrying passengers or excess luggage. You’ll find basic information in the owners handbook that will help you make the changes.

LIGHTS

They all have to comply with the Regulations, have to be correctly adjusted, and have to work. Nothing much to add here, other than to do a quick check of them all while the bike is warming up before you set off. A few points to consider though:

Standard headlights are designed to illuminate, without causing glare. Fitting higher-output bulbs MAY give you more light, but it may also dazzle other drivers – both oncoming, and those you are following. Their problem? – perhaps, but it could cause them to take aggressive or erratic action, in which case it may well become your problem.

If you are riding in Europe remember that many countries require you to carry a spare bulb kit. If you get stopped for any reason it may well be something that is easy to ticket you on.

Riding on main beam doesn’t make you any more visible to a driver ahead, it just obscures your profile and makes it harder for the driver to determine your position and speed – so he’ll still pull out on you.

Riding with a passenger raises the angle of the beam, so causing dazzle as above etc. Some bikes are easy to adjust, others are a pain.

CLUTCH

Most modern clutches, used normally, last for years with few problems. Drag starts & clutched wheelies however don’t do them much good over a period of time.

Clutches normally need a small amount of free play in the cable to ensure they are not being actuated and wearing. This free play usually increases when hot eg in heavy traffic situations or when doing the above. If it gets to be a lot then you’ll get problems with disengagement. Free play should be adjusted and set with the engine cold. If you do have to adjust it hot, for any reason, then recheck before you next ride.

Holding the clutch in, with the bike in gear, at traffic lights, junctions, etc has disadvantages but also some potential benefits (like being able to quickly get out of the way if someone behind isn’t stopping quickly enough). It used to be a really bad thing – it overheats clutches on most old bikes, and some people worry about cable breakage. Modern clutches aren’t as prone however, and each situation should be taken on its own merits.

Over a period of time, cables often accumulate moisture and grit which makes for a heavy clutch operation. Replacement with a low-friction cable, and/or regular use of a cable oiler (they’re normally easy to use) keeps things sweet.

GEARING

Manufacturers like Honda, Yamaha and Ducati spend millions developing their bikes to work as well as possible on the full range of normal road environments. Messing about with gearing therefore should really only be of interest to the Track Day Addicts or the Off Roaders amongst us, so the basic standard gearing will be perfectly fine for 99% of us. As with the suspension … leave it alone if it works for you.

Regular Track Day Fiends will have their own preferences for whichever Track they are on depending on the demands of the circuit.

ENGINE

What can we check? Well the oil level would be a good starting point: is it between the marks, and what colour is it - a nice golden colour or thick murky black? If it is the latter then change it, not forgetting the filters and seals.

Allow the engine time to warm up before working it hard. In the case of a FireBlade, for instance, the handbook suggests 80 degrees.

Are there any unexpected rattles that weren't there last time you rode it? When was it last serviced? Keep to the servicing schedules for peace of mind and resale value.