A bit windy!

Ride out this morning with the rejuvenated RoSPA Hampshire RoADAR group; a 100 mile round trip to Goodwood for coffee.

We met at Wickham Square and the weather seemed to be getting brighter after a wet start, although it was pretty gusty. Andy led the group and Lillian was back marker. Six of us, three BMWs, Two Hondas and a Suzuki, headed towards Southwick but were soon being trailed through country lanes with a whole variety of surfaces, bends, gradients and gravel.

As we went across the South Downs the wind increased, and the rain returned in patchy showers. After slightly more than an hour we got to Goodwood for a break, coffee and a chat.

The weather was no better for the return trip which took us past Cowdrey Park through Midhurst, and on along the A272. Some of the wind on the exposed sections made the going difficult, keeping your line through the bends was certainly a challenge.

We finished at junction of the A272 and A32 at the famous Loomies cafe. Thanks for an interesting run chaps. More at the end of April - hopefully with good weather.

Now what happened in the MotoGP opening round in Qatar ... ?

Just chillin'

Well, I was this morning. I held off riding to work for as long as I could, but in the end I had to go. I got the bike out of the garage at 8.30 am and the thermometer was showing -2C. That's about 28F for those in the US.

Now, that's not extremely cold, but chilly enough to make some extremities quite painful when you include the 'wind chill factor'. According to the Environment Canada Windchill Chart, at 70mph (motorway speed in the UK) it will feel like -12C. That's cool.

Luckily I have Gerbing heated gloves, and Rukka jacket and over-trousers. With the winter linings and an extra fleece underneath, I was pretty comfortable on the ride to the office - about 15 miles today.

 

If you are going to ride all year round, make sure you get the best gear you can afford. You'll be warm, dry,and comfortable.

Christmas is here!

Well it is for me. I've eventually got home from work, and I don't have to go back until next year!

The Honda NC750X will get a bit of a rest. We've done nearly 6500 miles since March. Over the break we will be visiting the dealer (Crescent Motorcycles, Southampton) for an upgrade to the digital dash/readout. Issues have been reported that the trip meter resets itself under certain conditions. Not a big deal but, good to get sorted.

While she's there we'll have a new front tyre fitted. The original is just about on the limit, and as we still have plenty of winter to come, some decent grip at the front would be good. A Dunlop Sportmax RoadSmart II will match with the rear, which was replaced at only 450 miles due to a puncture.

Dunlop Sportmax RoadSmart II

Hopefully we'll make time for a rideout and a wash and brush-up, too.

Have a good Christmas, and keep it shiny side up!

A fine pair!

Back in February I announced that I had an IAM red badge - for gaining the Institute of Advanced Motorists certificate (for cars). Now, I am even more pleased to announce that I have passed the IAM's advanced motorcycle test and got a green badge ... to make a fine pair!

Who's a happy biker, then!

I've got a Red Badge

It's good when your training pays off ...

You can get one, too.

http://www.iam.org.uk

An observed ride

For reasons I shall keep to myself, for the time being, I have switched my allegiance from the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorcyclists) to RoSPA's RoADAR (RoSPA Advanced Drivers and Advanced Riders).

It was my second ride out with my new observer, the first was about as wet as you'd like and in the growing gloom of a murky evening. This time we took the Silver Wing and his GS1200 from Ower Services on the A36 up to Romsey, Otterbourne, Wickham and Denmead, crossing back to Burger King at Hedge End for a debrief.

The Honda behaved perfectly, and I received favourable comments from the observer. In all, a good morning's ride, with constructive advice, and a good chat about the biking world.

What a different ride. Nearly 100 miles, by the time I got home, and in the dry, and in the daylight. Much more progressive. No Drift-cam footage unfortunately, but I will get some more on YouTube as soon as I can find something to entertain you.

Hampshire RoADAR can be found at : http://www.roadar-hants.org.uk/index.html
The group is not very active, unlike the IAM, but are helpful if you contact them. Why not join? With some new blood, things could be a lot different.

Home movies

Though I have recorded many hours of tarmac and traffic, none has been completely newsworthy. But I have found it interesting to review a few situations and learn from what I see.

I have tried editing with Serif Movie Plus, Apple iMovies and Windows Live Movie Maker. iMovies has the nicest transitions, and Serif a pretty good work space, but the best results overall seem to be with Windows.

There are three clips on YouTube, so far:

Winchester to Bishops Waltham 3Apr13 - highlights of a run home from Winchester across Morestead Down

NewForestShortcut 28Apr13 - On a run to Bovingdon Tank Museum we took a shortcut across the New Forest using the B3078

Rush hour traffic 2May13 - A short clip of rush hour traffic, and how not to filter

All these clips a from the Drift attached to the side of my crash helmet, in wide angle at 1080p and 30 fps

Let me know what you think ...

Watching them ...

As a motorcyclist, you become very aware of your vulnerability. You are exposed, not only to the elements, but also to the vehicles and hazards that surround you on your journey. Any sensible motorcyclist will take additional training to boost their skills - Skills for Life, as the IAM advertise them.

The principles of advanced riding - or driving - are, to observe everything that is going on around you, and to respond appropriately to the hazards that you see. You need to be in the right position on the road, travelling at the right speed, in the right gear, ready to react to the developing situation.

But, of course, things don't always go according to plan. For whatever reason, it is sometimes good to have someone on your side, when all there is, is the 'it wasn't my fault' situation. And just for such times I have invested in a helmet / dashboard camera, to record the antics of the average British motorist with  whom I share the roads.

The Drift HD has various mounts, a sucker for the windscreen, clips for the helmet and a couple of others. So far I've used it once in the car and once on the bike, and I'm pleased with the results. There is nothing exciting to show, but I have done some editing to remove the boring bits and added some fading for the scene changes and titles. My first production is on YouTube at:

http://youtu.be/u64jNrNb12I

Things I've learned; the camera was too low, I got too much dashboard. I reduced the resolution to keep the file size small, but the picture is grainy when when shown full screen, so I will experiment with the full 1080p setting (although it was better before it was put through the editing software). View from the helmet mount is good, but the audio is drowned out by wind noise.

I'll try and get some interesting footage for you...

Rhapsody in Blue

I've been talking about a new bike for some time, well the deed has been done.
I spent a lot of time considering what I wanted from motorcycle, and after considering the options I've settled on the Honda Silver Wing.

The 'Wing is a 600cc maxi-scooter, capable of more than 100mph, and with its CV transmission, rapid acceleration. For me the selling points were the on-board storage, and its weather protection.
I took delivery from Farnham Honda just over a week ago and I've covered 350 miles in some of England's finest winter downpours.

Already I'm glad to have made the change, and I'm glad I took the offer of Farnham Honda to take a demonstrator out for a few hours - an offer not matched by any other dealer in my area.

Honda out - Suzuki in

I rode out with an IAM group on Sunday, and apart from a few sideways glances, we all got along fine. The ride was along some very dirty, leafy, wet and slimy Sussex lanes. I kept up, and did everything that the 'big boys' did, including the flood water, so once she's loosened up we'll be pushing my friendly observer for some road time.

Out to play at Goodwood - spot the Silver Wing

Still looking ...

I'm still looking around for the perfect new machine, big scooter, adventure bike, tourer? Anyway in the mean time the GS500f is still doing good service, We are just about to clock 16000 miles.

I've got some time off work coming soon, so I will be booking a test ride on a Honda Silverwing, and paying a visit to my local BMW dealer, as I found that their prices weren't as bad as I had originally thought. Might even give Triumph a glance.

While my search for a new bike continues, I am occupying my spare time by warming up for the Institute of Advanced Motorcyclists (IAM) test. I've done a couple of observed runs under the watchful eye of my allocated observer and I'm glad to say that what I learned 25 years ago (30 years for my car training) has stuck with me, and I just need some fine tuning to bring me back up to standard.

Dave, my mentor, has bought a bike mounted camera so that he can film the ride and play it back with his comments - video evidence, guilty as charged! I think it is a good teaching tool, as they say a picture paints a thousand words, and you can see exactly where it all goes wrong. He is experimenting with it to see how useful it is.

I don't suppose you want to see the video, do you ... ?

...

You do?

...

Are you sure?

...

OK then.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWnp4W9Blg8&feature=plcp