Categories
Gear Reviews

Comparison of Anti-Fog/Mist Solutions to Stop Glasses Fogging Up

As a glasses wearer, I’ve always struggled with my glasses fogging up/ steaming up on cold days. Whereas as my visor stays clear through the use of a Pinlock, there is no obvious solution for glasses, just a multitude of products to squirt on that claim to stop all misting up. But do they really work? In the name of science, I conducted a mini-experiment to compare some popular products to ascertain which were most effective. These best solutions here should also be equally useful to stop visor steaming up too.

The Experiment

I used a number of old pairs of glasses, which I first cleaned and then applied the various products as per their directions. As a control, one pair was left untreated. I then placed the glasses in the fridge to cool to 5℃, to mimic a ride on a cool winter’s day. First I took the glasses out into the kitchen with a humidity reading of 55%, to see how the lenses misted up (or not). Secondly, I repeated by taking the glasses from the fridge to the hot shower room with a humidity reading of 60% to test a more extreme scenario.

Categories
Gear Reviews

CBF500 RedFox Fender Extender / Flick

CBF500 Fender Extender - 1Mary’s little CBF500 is very much a commuter hack and needs to run in all weathers. In an effort to winter-proof it I fitted this RedFox fender extender (or flick) a little while ago.

It’s a very similar affair to the Pyramid fender extender I fitted on my Fazer some time ago. A small plastic extension to the front mudguard to help ward off dirt and crud being flung up against the front of the frame, radiator and engine. After having a struggle to remove the oil filter last service, I’m hoping this will help matter somewhat.

Categories
Hardware

CBF500 Rear Hugger

CBF500-Rear Hugger - 2
Rear hugger, painted & fitted

Following the absolute nightmare I previously had removing the rear shock from Mary’s CBF500, I was adamant not to let the newly refurbished shock also get ruined by the elements. By default Honda, in their infinite wisdom leave the shock completely unprotected from the rear tyre and all the curd and wet it flings up into the wheel arch – yeah, nice one. A rear hugger is a perfect solution to help keep the swingarm, shock and most of the wheel arch protected.

Categories
Maintenance

ACF50 Time

This week has seen the weather turn frosty and salt grit trucks have hit the roads. Salt and the winter weather is the huge nemesis to bikes, rotting frames and corroding all manner of parts. This is where ACF50 comes in. A great Anti-Corrosion Formula, that can be sprayed on and leaves a protective film that halts any existing corrosion and prevents new.

The application should follow a good clean and can be either with a spray can or with a refillable spray gun. The former can lay it on a bit thick, but the spray gun approach obviously needs additional tools. So, don’t hang about, give your bike the ACF50 treatment before winter eats it alive!

Right Now on eBay Pick up some ACF50 off eBay
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Categories
Gear Reviews

Fitting a Fender Extender

Fender Extender FittedWith the wet and miserable weather we’ve been having and the promise of more to come this winter, I decided to fit a fender extender onto my Fazer.  That’s a front mudguard extension for you UK lot. The plan is to stop a whole pile of crud, muck and wet getting sprayed up into the radiators, downpipes and headers, which are already showing a bit of weather damage.

I picked this Fender Extender up from M&P and it’s made by Pyramid Plastics. Looks-wise, it’s not a lot to write home about, just a basic matt black piece of plastic, but fitting against the mudguard was decent enough. It was supplied with some self-tapping screws and some sticky back tape to hold it in place whilst drilling holes for screws.

Categories
Clothing/Protection Riding

Motorcycle Winter Preparation

We may be having a particularly warm and dry autumn so far, but it won’t last long. So now is the time to start thinking out your winter preparations. At Beginner Biker Adventures, we’re not fair-weather bikers,

we’re not fair-weather bikers

it’ll take some pretty extreme weather to stop us from riding and we use our bikes to commute year-round. Granted, in London, the weather rarely gets too bad and very few roads will be impossible to ride in the winter, nonetheless, good motorcycle winter preparation ensures safe riding throughout the winter months. Check out these useful tips to prepare.

Categories
Maintenance

Motorcycle Winter Preparation – ACF-50 Application

acf 50 motorcycle treatmentWith the weather rapidly turning colder, winter will soon be on us and out comes a bike’s worst enemy. Salt.

Spread on the roads to tackle ice, it literally eats our bikes, accelerating the oxidisation of ironwork causing your downpipes, frame and anything else exposed to rust and disintegrate before your eyes. Now is the time for some motorcycle winter preparation to prevent this problem.

ACF-50 motorcycle treatment is an amazing product you can just spray onto your bike, totally covering it (just stay away from brakes), whence it will leave a protective film that halts any existing rust and prevents further rust. And so, at the weekend I gave the bike a good clean, removing a lot of the grime and dirt, then completely doused it in ACF-50.

Categories
Clothing/Protection

Winter Riding – Tackling Cold Hands

Cold weather motorcycle gearSummer is well and truly over and now there’s a good chance you fall into one of two camps. You either:

  1. Bike for leisure, avoid riding in the cold and wet and place your bike into hibernation until next year
  2. You’re a year-round biker, by choice or necessity and just gear up to stay warm and fend off the elements

If you fall into this latter group, then you will be all too familiar with cold hands and numb fingers. Never underestimate the impact of wind chill, it maybe 5°C outside, but at 60 mph wind chill brings that down to -11°C! (wind chill chart) Once your fingers are numb, it becomes painful, distracting and drastically affects your riding for the worse. Even the best winter gloves won’t protect you for long against that cold and so here I present a few cold weather motorcycle gear options to tackle cold hands.

Categories
Riding

Going Snow Where

Going-Snow-WhereWith several inches of snow on the ground, and our road totally covered in ice. I’m going snow where today. Just not worth the risk, both to myself or damaging the bike. Much easier to just stay in the warm and work from home.