Author: Arthur

Seasoned London commuter, doing my best to stay rubber side down and never stop moving forward.

Riding

Fazer Owners Club Ride Out April 2014

Post author By Arthur
Post date April 28, 2014
No Comments on Fazer Owners Club Ride Out April 2014

Had a great ride out yesterday with the Fazer Owners Club (Unofficial). The weather was a bit grey and rain was hinted at, but luckily we escaped it all and had a great ride. Starting out at the Silver Ball Cafe on the A10 just South of Royston, we made our via some back roads to Finchingfield in Essex. A picturesque village with a super little cafe and a popular pitstop for lots of bikers. Once sated, we set off South down to High Beach tea hut in Epping Forest.

Overall a chilled out ride, with some good company, top stuff all around.

Tags Ride Out

Clothing/Protection Gear Reviews

URAD Mr JoJo Waterproofing Wax Review

Post author By Arthur
Post date April 25, 2014
No Comments on URAD Mr JoJo Waterproofing Wax Review

There’s very little question about it, when it comes to protection on a motorcycle, leather is where it’s at. Which is all well and good, until it rains, and that happens an awful lot here in the UK. Leather just isn’t very waterproof and soon becomes water logged, heavy, cold and pretty miserable to ride in. This is where this little tub of wax named Mr JoJo comes in.

I picked up this Mr JoJo wax up at the MCN show a couple of months ago, cost me a tenner for a 200g tub, with a few sponges thrown in. The sales chap demonstrated it on our boots with a spray can of water. Seemed worth a punt. It’s name, Mr JoJo, doesn’t seem to have any relation to a certain Madame JoJo’s of Soho fame, but is a leather waterproofing and conditioning wax from URAD, which contains Jojoba oil. This oil comes from the little Jojoba shrubbery that grows around Mexico, Arizona and California, and is a popular alternative to Whale oil. The wax is white in colour and has a distinctive sweet smell.

Tags Waterproofing

Clothing/Protection

Childrens Motorcycle Gear

Post author By Arthur
Post date April 24, 2014
No Comments on Childrens Motorcycle Gear

My daughter has been dying to ride on the back of my motorbike for ages now. The legal requirement being only their feet can reach the foot pegs and the wearing of a helmet. Since my daughter is rather tall, there’s been no problem there, however from a maturity point of view we have held off for some time. With her 8th birthday later this year, we have decided she is now old enough to ride on the back of the bike and hark back to the days when she was a nipper and would ride on the back of my bicycle.

Of course, safety is a paramount concern, so we have been keen to kit her out in some decent gear to protect her. A tricky prospect considering the price of motorcycle gear and the rate she will grow out of it, and so we hit ebay with a vengeance to find decent gear without breaking the bank.

Tags Kids

Videos

Sixth Sense Skills – Tip 10 (SMIDSY)

Post author By Arthur
Post date April 9, 2014
1 Comment on Sixth Sense Skills – Tip 10 (SMIDSY)

Did you manage to guess what happened? A classic SMIDSY, that just leaves you wondering how on earth they didn’t see you, your headlights, hi-vis, or anything past their nose. Thankfully, they braked at the last second and I resisted the urge to panic brake and managed to swerve. Breaking those panic reactions is not easy, it takes time and is something that new riders often struggle with. It’s all too easy to grab a fistful of front brake, lock up and hit the deck. Of course, it helps a lot if you have ABS.

Tags Tips

Videos

Sixth Sense Skills – Tip 9 (Booner Racer Dodging)

Post author By Arthur
Post date April 9, 2014
No Comments on Sixth Sense Skills – Tip 9 (Booner Racer Dodging)

Another example of some fine driving by a young man in a small hatchback with his companions. Happily enjoying a quiet drive and making best possibly use of all lanes of the carriage way.

Maybe. See if you can spot where the reality deviates a little.

Tags Tips

Videos

Sixth Sense Skills – Tip 8 (Filtering in a car)

Post author By Arthur
Post date April 9, 2014
2 Comments on Sixth Sense Skills – Tip 8 (Filtering in a car)

Filtering the UK is perfectly legal. On a motorbike. Filtering in a car is just plain dumb.

Tags Filtering, Tips

News

TFL Start Campaign to Improve Motorcycle Safety

Post author By Arthur
Post date April 2, 2014
1 Comment on TFL Start Campaign to Improve Motorcycle Safety

Good news for London bikers, the TFL has just announced a new campaign to increase motorcycle safety in the capital with the aim to reduce injuries and casulties by 40% by 2020. A bold ambition, but I think we can all agree something needs to be done about the disproportionately high number of motorcycle incidents. 21% of those killed or seriously injured on the capitals roads in 2012 were on a motorbike, yet motorcycles only make up 2.3% of road users.

The plan highlights a number of key factors that need addressing, including improving rider skills (e.g. through BikeSafe), educating other road users, greater enforcement of traffic offences for all road users (e.g. speeding, red light jumping) and promoting the use of proper protective clothing. It also includes a move to add rear facing average speed cameras to the A13 (planned for 2015) and elsewhere.

You can read the full plan here on the TFL website.

Tags Safety

Motorcycles

ZZR Gone!

Post author By Arthur
Post date April 1, 2014
No Comments on ZZR Gone!

And there we have it, the ZZR has now gone. Mary never really got on with this bike, as great as it is, Mary was just too short to really be confident on it. It was too high (even with cut down seat), wide and too much of a stretch across the tank for her. Real shame.

Still, whilst servicing it and getting it running sweet, I’ve learnt a lot of invaluable skills. I’ve enjoyed having a good tinker and it’s been really satisfying to fix the odd niggle. It was also great to borrow when my Fazer was off the road. It’s sad to see it go, but the cash will be go towards a better suited bike for Mary.

Riding

Day Out At Ace Cafe

Had a good day out at the Ace Cafe today. Catching up with a bunch of fellow Fazer riders from the FOC-U.co.uk forum, bumped into some of the LondonBikers too. It was Overland & Adventure bike day at the Ace, with the place rammed with huge Dakka and globe crossing bikes, loads of big Beemers, KTM’s and Triumph adventure bike. My Fazer didn’t wholly fit, but that didn’t matter, it was great to check out other styles of biking. The day also saw off Steph Jeavons on here sole trip round the globe on a little Honda CRF250.

Maintenance

Tinkering With The ZZR400

Over the last couple of weekends, I have been tinkering with Mary’s ZZR400, trying to diagnose some running issues. I had known for a while the HT leads and spark plug caps were on the way out and last time I had the tank off I had managed to split a fuel line – doh! So with some new fuel hose, fuel filter, NGK leads, caps and spark plugs I set to work.

Tags Repairs