Rider Training Update

 

Click here for the May 2009 Training Newsletter on Oil
 

May 2009

Food for Thought!

RAIN – (By Dave Petersen of BestRest Products, re-printed with permission)

If you're on 2 wheels, you WILL ride in the rain. Whether you head out the door knowing it's already raining, or you unexpectedly get caught in it, it's going to happen. Death and taxes, rain and riding. Inevitable.

I use a method I've coined, "225." 2 = double and 25 = cutting back a quarter. I double these things when riding in the rain:
· The time it takes me to get my head straight before riding in the rain
· The time to warm up my bike
· The time I need to get somewhere
· Distance between the car in front of me, and me
· Distance I need for braking
.
Then I reduce these items by 25%:
· Overall speed
· Angle of bike in a turn
.
These are general guidelines. There are times when I change the above formulas. For instance some of these items don't pose an issue when riding on a dry day:
· Pedestrian cross walk stripes (slicker than snot when wet)
· Manhole covers (the coefficient of friction of wet steel is like... zero)
· The large and small traffic "turtles" that make up the white and yellow lines in the roads (This is a West Coast thing)
· Painted lines
· Railroad mats (the black rubber mats with the raised dots that lie between the tracks and the pavement)
· Railroad tracks themselves

These items are already hazardous, but when they're wet they're doubly dangerous. Heads up! I typically ride over these items slowly and with no lean angle, keeping the bike as straight-up as possible.

Also, please remember that it's a lot safer riding during (or after) a downpour than a drizzle or light rain. A downpour will help wash away the oils from the road surface, a drizzle will just bring them to the top of the road surface and cause more problems.


2. There has long been a controversy about which oil to use in your motorcycle, synthetic or conventional (fossil). Hopefully, this month’s Safety Topic concerning things you probably ought to know about the oil you put into your engine will clear up some of the muddy water.


As always, thanks for your time. And, please, never ride faster than your guardian angel can fly.

Gene Adee
BMMC Director of Rider Training