More than just a Rider

Imagine how we torture our butts every time we go for a ride… Just anybody can feel discomfort while sitting on a hard and painful saddle. Poor quality saddles can diminish your excitement to ride, explore and conquer. However, you’ll feel better if you have good saddles.

There are seats that are unsatisfying. Some of these seats are made of soft gel and pillows that create pressure points that result to centralized pressure because of the saddle’s hot spots. These seats are painful. I’m sure you don’t want to sit on it. Thus, it will be better if the seats are designed with a contoured shape since it will reduce or eliminate pressure points. Saddles must also have excellent weight distribution to lessen the tendency of having a painful ride.

Saddles are found at the center of the motorcycle. This is perhaps the reason why it is called the crown jewel of a motorcycle. Some want it flashy and stylish while others want it to be simply comfortable. Nonetheless, we can have both!

Saddles can be a controlling factor that determines your overall performance. Therefore, you gotta have the best of its kind to boost your performance. There are online motorcycle accessories store that are offering good and high-performing saddles. They sell saddles that are manufactured to cater every rider’s needs. You can select from the wide range of design and built to fit your bike. The line includes hand-crafted saddles which can be done according to the specifications of the rider. Motorcycle stores like these are even offering warranty and refunds. The seats are warranted against defects in material or workmanship for 1 year under normal usage.

Save your butt, save your ride!

If we are faced in a situation where a newbie asks our advice regarding riding, what are we suppose to give them?

For me, here are the first few things that come to my mind:

1. First, drive defensively and responsively.

2. Always wear protection. Motorcycle accessories and apparel can pretty well save you from an otherwise dreadful ride.

3. To avoid legal aberrations in the future, make everything legit.

4. Always turn on your high beam during the day be conspicuous all the time. High beams can easily annoy a fellow rider thus, they will know you are near.

5. Maintain focus so that you will be able to avoid pot holes as well as other vehicles and pedestrians.

6. Use signals and interpret smartly other riders’ signals.

7. Keep distance. Never ride behind buses, construction vehicles and other vehicles.

8. If you aim for a turn without an intersection, carry a greater speed through the corner. Speed which is below 10mph will make you less stable.

9. Never ride, brake or stop in the center of the lane. Oil puddles and transmission fluid drips in it thus, it’s dangerous to be there.

10. When it’s raining, never ride on the painted lines because they contain slippery substances that can risk your life.

There are still a lot of things that might be of greater importance, however, just consider a confident and secured ride.

Don’t despair when you see your leather in a ‘not so good condition’. The good news is that it can be treated to prevent it from damaging further. In fact, it can be colored to match the rest of your motorcycle accessories and apparel. The bad news though is that heavily damaged leather cannot be repaired hence, it needs replacement.

If you have leather that is experiencing slight cracking, you just strip it, redye it to the same color that it previously had, seal it, condition it to achieve a supple and shiny appearance, clean it and ….viola - a dashing new look results!

In repairing, you need lubricants (but the most used one is the saddle soap), dyes, sealers, conditioners and oils or waxes.

You may also need some methods to patch the holes brought about by sewing. Some of these applications require application of heat that can damage the surrounding leather. Nevertheless to keep the leather conditioned and moisturized use trusted products like waxes, mink oils and other oils.

If the leather has cracked all the way through, the most practicable thing to do is to replace it. Reasonable price can be had from your trusted upholstery shop.

You can still do something, repair it!

Basically, motorcycle accessories are life savers. They can make an indelible line between life and death. In fact, they can prevent the most tragic incident or accident to happen.

There are a lot of designs, styles and protection that each of the motorcycle accessories are offering. Let us take helmet as an example.

There are several possible injury target in the head - the top (the cranium area) the middle (the area most likely covered by the visor) and the bottom (on a full face helmet, this would be the chin guard area). Motorcycle accidents can hit your head to result a 35% chance of the impact occurring to your chin area, 10% to your visor area, and 22% chance of the impact occurring to your front cranium area. Without wearing a helmet, do you think you can survive? Very slim chance, isn’t it?

A study conducted by Deitmar Otte at the Medizinsche Hochschule in Hannover, Germany delved into the damage incurred to helmets worn by motorcyclists involved in accidents. His analysis was enormously detailed. There are also series of test which proved that falling off a stationary bike can result to a fatal injury. Thus, choosing the right helmet for you is more than a have to.

According to the aforesaid studies and tests, the safest helmets (in chronological order) are full face helmets, three quarter helmets with visors, half helmets and novelty helmets.

Nonetheless the controlling factor is the personal feel of the rider. It has to have a snug fit and will not serve as a barrier to all his senses and focus.

Security plus comfort is the controlling factor that can save riders lives!

Most of the riders were pleased with the launch of Bluetooth-enabled motorcycle helmet created by Motorola and Momodesign. This motorcycle accessory is a type of helmet that makes it possible for riders to make and take calls while driving bikes. It has 5 hours talk time and 100 hours standby time. With it, riders can have continuous talk with their fella’ riders. Not only that, they can also talk to other people using Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones.

If I try to see it in one perspective this is a good development. There will be no interruptions. The driver can just press on cover of the helmet to take and make calls. No fuss, isn’t it? Doing two things at the same time saves time and effort. Thus, if there is opportunity to do so much as well grab it. It’s good.

However, there is certain drawback about this. Riding, on the other perspective, is not all about talking with other people. Its goal is to travel distance safely. The road is not the proper venue to say our hi’s and hello’s to our friends, or talk about anything under the sun because we can do it condusively elsewhere. Riding needs focus and considerable attention. Moreover, if we allow ourselves to be disturbed by the calls, chances are we will not be able to hear the blowing horns nearby…we will not be aware of the hand and light signals of our fella’ drivers and will most likely result to an accident.

It only takes one reckless and irresponsible rider to cause a dreadful collision. What more if there are countless of them scattered on the road?

Technology is most of the time helpful...but sometimes not.

Travis has introduced Keith Code’s Super Bike School forum in his entry The Fine Art of Braking. This forum is one of the new yet fantastic motorcycle forums in the Net. Anybody can learn from it.

As I happen to read the forum, I notice that the interaction was good but what strikes me most was the eloquence of how Code introduced to amateurs the idea of ‘no break’, turns, going fast and smooth and braking. This forum is a must-read one. This is especially true to the neophytes in the biking society. These ideas can give them a boost and improve their confidence as a rider.

It’s a good thing to find time to practice said driving techniques. The more you practice, the better you will feel about yourself as a rider. Good thing we have these types of forum to enlighten, teach and guide the budding riders in town!