Servicing your bike 101 - Article 1

I know it’s not “normal” for a female to know anything mechanical about a car or bike, but there is something immensely satisfying about tinkering with tools. Added to that, you gain knowledge about your bike, and that can never be a bad thing.

This series of articles will take you through basic mechanical maintenance of your bike. I will be doing the work myself, assisted by Colin Gallop, the owner of BigDogs and supplier of most of the parts. I will also make use of Justin Seger from Mottorad Tech in Benoni – he will be providing advice and use of his tools and workshop.

The bike that we will be using is my 2004 BMW F650 CS, called Amelia. The articles will have lots of photographs so that you can see exactly what is meant.

To get started, you will need a few basic things:

1. Old clothes or an overall.
2. Lots of rags.
3. A good supply of paper towel.
4. Space to work.
5. Tools for your particular bike – Imperial or Metric, check with the mechanic who normally services your bike. You will need a wide range of spanners as well as torque or ratchet screwdrivers. Alternatively, you could find a sympathetic mechanic willing to help you.
6. An inquiring mind and a willingness to learn and take advice.
7. Muscles on standby – many bolts and screws get over-tightened so you will need somebody stronger to help you loosen them. After the first time, you can do away with the muscles as you would have tightened the bolts and screws yourself.
8. A service manual for your model bike. Don’t ask the Agent where you bought your bike as he won’t want you to service your own bike – he makes money out of you by doing your services for you. Search the internet as they are readily available, or order them through a mechanic or book store.
9. Newspapers to put under your bike when you work on it – you don’t want oil and grease stains on your garage floor.
10. Latex gloves – chemists sell them by the box. Grease under the fingernails is not sexy!
11. Check that your bike is out of warranty – your Agent will not honour any claims if you worked on your bike while it’s still under warranty, no matter what the problem.

Next article: oil change, front brakes and oil filter.

Group test: Aprilia Shiver, Honda CBF 600 and Triumph 675 Street Triple R on 28 September

I picked up the Aprilia Shiver on a Monday afternoon, just in time for the rush hour traffic! As I rode it home, I reflected that the name would be appropriate in winter – it’s a naked bike, very naked. Cruising down the highway in-between traffic at around 80 km/h was not a problem, but as soon as I hit open road I had to hang on for dear life. But despite that, I quickly started falling in love with all 750cc of very willing power. I had to be careful when pulling away at stops as its enthusiasm to please could get overwhelming.

The next day I met up with two other riders and bikes and we rode around Magaliesburg taking pictures and after about half an hour, we swopped bikes. I rode the Honda and had to quickly change riding style from the Aprilia. The Honda is far heavier and felt squatter on the ground as well as being lower than both the Aprilia and the Triumph. In addition to that, it was sluggish up until around 5 000rpm but then woke up. I could not imagine commuting with this bike but I could see myself on a longer trip, especially with that big screen.

The Triumph was very similar to the Aprilia, in terms of street fighter enthusiasm. Both the Triumph and Aprilia are short and light – a perfect combination to get you into trouble! When I rode the Triumph, I could clearly feel the difference in engine smoothness. The Aprilia was rougher in the gear changes and it also sounded more “basic”.

For absolute naughty pleasure, I would rate the Triumph, then the Aprilia and then the Honda. For touring, I would certainly not take either naked bikes and would settle for the solidness of the Honda.

Triumph Rocket III Touring

I weigh about 60kg, this bike weighs 395kg with all the wet stuff inside it. I stand 1.6m tall in my socks, this bike is 730mm high and is 2,5m long – I think you now have a good idea of the scale of this bike.

I had the privilege of riding this bike for a long weekend and I made use of opportunity properly and thoroughly. I was a bit overwhelmed by the volume this bike takes up, but I quickly got used to it. Fortunately the seat is quite low so my feet could reach the ground when I stopped.

On the road it is a wonderful touring bike, even for women. With an engine capacity of 2294cc, it is quite a monster who is willing to do your bidding at the drop of a hat. Because of its weight, it clings to the road and the sweeps in the ET was great fun! The petrol tank holds just on 23 litres and that gets used up pretty quickly when you’re having so much fun!

One of my greatest problems with bikes in general is that they are designed for men and no allowances are made for the possibility of a woman riding that bike. This bike is no exception and the greatest problem I found with this bike, was the handlebars – they couldn’t be adjusted forwards or backwards and because women’s arms are shorter, it would be nice to have that as an option, especially on a tourer where you’re going to spend many hours on it. My arms and back got a little tired over the longer stretches and by the end of the weekend I felt like I’d done a good few rounds in the boxing ring.

In contrast with other cruiser-type bikes, this one doesn’t have the traditional vibration. With the big backrest it feels as if you’re sitting in your favourite leisure chair. It was pretty difficult to remember to stop often when on a long bike ride – this bike made me want to just ride and ride and ride.

The panniers are definitely not made for packing but more for the aesthetics of it. I had to pack very carefully to fit a long weekend’s winter biking clothing into them. However, they do look part of the bike and not like a last thought pasted on before being released to the public.

The screen was big enough to keep the wind off me, however much I shifted around. The foot pegs are also not in the traditional cruiser position and I was very comfortable on the long road. I was happy to see that Triumph had not followed in the footsteps of other cruiser manufacturers with their gear lever – it’s a traditional lever and not one of those rocker-type levers that you use your heel to change gears.

As a woman on a bike, one normally draws attention, but with this bike, I had to get used to the extra attention, especially at petrol stations. This bike certainly gave new meaning to “biker chick”. I didn’t mind one bit!!

If I have to choose a cruiser to do the long road with, I would cautiously put this bike on the top of my list.

Taking the Suzuki DL650 V-Strom to the Eastern Free State

Testing bikes and writing about them from a woman’s perspective must be one of the most fun pastimes I can think of. Riding GOOD bikes just adds to that fun – the V-Strom is a case in point.

The guys at Suzuki SA gave me an almost-new bike for a weekend and it happened to be the weekend of the first XKulcha/ Woema Culture Fest weekend in Clocolan in the Eastern Freestate. I was asked by the organisers to lead the on-road tours, a job which I gladly accepted. Who can refuse riding the whole weekend in one of the most picturesque areas of our country?

My husband and I left Johannesburg at 5:00 on the Friday - he on a Can-Am Spyder. Temperature at that time of the year was fresh but I knew that it would warm up quickly. Husband is a new biker and after dealing with a stormy face and a lot of grumbling did I realise that I had been very selfish in my riding. I blamed the V-Strom for that as it was just such a comfortable ride. The legendary Suzuki gearbox was as smooth as butter and with the standard factory exhaust pipe, I had to keep checking my gears and revs to make sure I was in the right gear, the bike was so smooth and quiet.

One of my ongoing bugbears about bikes is that they are not designed with women in mind. I’m not the tallest person around and with a seat height of 820mm, I had to quickly learn the “one leg down” method. Fortunately it’s not a very heavy bike and it’s well balanced.

It is a very forgiving bike and we arrived in Clocolan just as the scouting group was about to depart. No time for me to rest so I set off after them, little knowing that they were the hardcore offroaders! Half-way into the ride I had to turn back as my skills were not at that level. This meant that I had to negotiate ball-bearing roads on a loan bike which I hardly knew – not a very good combination. However, I remembered the off-road rules – look up, stand up, open up (both throttle and legs). The bike got me safely through the obstacles and we were on tar road once again – time for me to exhale.

I would have liked the screen to be higher, bigger or adjustable. On the long road the wind is a bit annoying and I had to duck my head constantly.

Handlebar position was good and my arms didn’t get tired once. Fuel consumption was dependent on my right hand and I often found myself being a bit “uneconomical”, but my excuse was that it was a lot of fun!

Riding in cross-winds was a bit of a problem with the area of fairing the bike has – we had to find ingenious ways of dealing with heavy gusts of wind and it became quite tiring. However, doing the sweeps between Fouriesburg and Clarens was an absolute joy – I wanted to turn around and do them again!

If you’re looking for an all-round bike that will look after you on- and off-road, you should really consider this bike. Woman friendly, good controls, not too heavy, well balanced and pleasant styling. If I was to buy this bike, I would go for the black as the grey fades away into the background – black is just so much more sexy!

Clocolan Farm Culture and Maluti Adventure – 5-7 March

Gentlemen, start your engines!!

We left for Clocolan at 5:00 on Friday the 5^th and had to ride pretty hard to get there in just over four hours. My husband was on a Can Am Spyder and this was his first long trip – he was not impressed with the length of time spent in the saddle! There were very few people on the Friday but the organisers (XKulcha and Woema!)had arranged a number of events to draw the crowds, including Bok van Blerk for the evening’s entertainment.

Saturday was much better attended and a huge number of people arrived to view the biggest collection of vintage tractors still in operation. Vintage cars in pristine condition were also on display together with a steam-driven thrasher and baler. Ten tractors took part in various “games”, including two races – fast and slow.

One of the specifications for the slow race was that the cameraman could interview the driver while on the move

The John Deers beat the rest of the field soundly in the fast race, which caused some of them to turn around there and then

Musical tractors

A 1958 Fordson with the farm version of high-end security

There was a display of bicycle riding skills as well as the guys from Country Trax showing everybody what can be done on a bike in dirt – truly great riding skills! The guys from Stunt Riders were also showing off and entertained the crowds with their antics. The local ladies had day-long demonstrations of almost forgotten skills such as making patchwork quilts, proper way of cooking tripe, making vetkoek the boere way and biltong making.

The bicycle guy with some very nervous volunteers!

Friday and Saturday were also full of biking events and the off-roaders were kept busy on both days with outrides to hard-to-reach places on local farms. Coetzee from Woema! worked hard to give the guys something to talk about.

There weren’t too many road riders so the ride I took on Friday consisted of two participants – one chap on a Kymco scooter and a couple on a cruiser. We rode from Clocolan to Ficksburg and around to Rosendal, Vredendal, Marquart and back to Clocolan – about two hours through a very scenic part of the Eastern Free State.

On Saturday there were no takers for the morning ride but the afternoon was a bit better attended. We reversed the Friday route and found one of the best roads going to Vredendal. Unfortunately they were still doing roadworks so we had to turn around and do the back road back to Ficksburg. It was full of potholes but could easily be dodged by bike – the Spyder had a bit of a hard time though.

On Sunday we departed at about 8:00 and decided to go to Clarens for breakfast. Again we found the road between Fouriesburg and Clarens to be perfect with wonderful long sweeps which competed with the beautiful scenery.

Next year’s event promises to be even bigger and better and I’m looking forward to attending again! THIS time I will make sure my camera has more battery though.

I had a Suzuki DL650 V-Strom for the weekend, courtesy of SuzukiSA.

XKulcha Dakar Pants

A while ago I was asked to use and review XKulcha pants as part of the development team. I’ve worn a number of their pants and have made some recommendations. One of the items I’ve worn for extended periods is the Dakar pants which are waterproof and have ventilation zips in the front. After wearing it non-stop for a day on a trip from Johannesburg to Clocolan and doing a few routes around there, I have only one change to recommend, but otherwise they are well-fitting, comfortable and truly waterproof. They have deep pockets front and back with easy access while seated on the bike.

The bottom of the leg has a long zip at the back to accommodate bulky off-road boots and will fit comfortably over the boot, not like other pants where you have to tuck the pants into the boot because they are too narrow, causing some discomfort.

These pants are not for daily commuting and true to the XKulcha philosophy of making “the right garment for the particular job”, these were made with the long-distance/ off-road rider in mind.

http://www.xkulcha.com/

XKulcha has a policy of replacing accident damaged garments and they use the damaged garments in their ongoing research to develop better protection for the bikers.

Retail is around R1 200.

Suzuki Boulevard M50 Cruiser

After I returned the V-Strom, SuzukiSA offered me the Boulevard M50 Cruiser which has an 800cc V-twin motor. Here I need to split my review between the actual machine and the cruiser riding style. So first to the machine. Suzuki’s legendary smooth-as-butter gearbox is installed in this cruiser and although the bike had a whopping ONE kilometre on the clock when I picked it up, it didn’t disappoint once. It has the typical factory-issue exhausts and was extremely quiet, a bit too quiet for the sweet sound a V-twin normally generates. I think I surprised quite a few motorists with my sudden and stealthy appearance next to them!

Apart from the gearbox’s performance, the engine was ready to do my bidding and was no slouch when it came to the open road. It doesn’t have the racehorse start that a super bike has – with a bit of a lag as you drop the clutch in first gear – but once up and running it has plenty under the right hand. I marshalled the Midnight Cruiser Run with this bike and had no problem with keeping up with the other bikes when we did the pre-ride sweep. The dipped headlight does a good job and I only once used the high-beam setting.

Being a V-twin, it dislikes traffic riding and by the end of half-an-hour’s commuting, I could feel the heat of the motor right through the seat.

Although the bike is pretty heavy, weighing in at 265kg, it is well balanced and the seat being only 700mm high, I had no problem reaching the ground. This alone inspires confidence to ride a bike that weighs around 60kg more than a sports bike and for the more vertically challenged, I would recommend this ride.

I was a bit disappointed in the brakes but put it down to the bike being so new – it hadn’t had its first service yet. The front brake wasn’t sharp enough to stop the weight in normal traffic riding and I had to adjust my stopping distances very quickly. I gave up on using the back brake as it was spongy and I had to pump it a few times to get any kind of reaction from it. I hope that it will be sorted out with the first service.

Now, for the cruiser style of riding. I tried hard to put my prejudices about cruiser riding aside but by the end of 500km on this bike, I have not changed my mind. Apart from constantly looking for the foot pegs in the “correct” position, the handle bars made my arms and shoulders very tired and it not having a windscreen, my body caught the full force of the wind. The handlebars could probably be sorted out by a slight tilt at the boss, but it won’t change the width, which is far too wide for long distance or traffic riding. The first things I would change on this bike is to put on a screen; install some foot pegs or running boards to alleviate the cramps in my legs after 10 minutes of sitting in an armchair position; and fit thinner grips. As with most bikes on the market today, this one is also not made with female riders in mind. The handlebar grips are far too thick for comfort and my trusty throttle rocker did its duty in keeping my hand comfortable.

The cruiser style of riding is certainly not my thing, but should I be pushed to recommend a cruiser to either male or female, I would have no problem in recommending this particular model to them. It is well priced at around R100 000 (but add the modifications mentioned) and, being a Suzuki, will give many miles of pleasurable riding.

If bike manufacturers want to sell their products to the female market, they need to do proper R&D and not assume that the female physique is the same as that of a male’s. Our shoulders are narrower which means that the handlebars should be narrower; our hands are smaller so thinner grips will be appreciated; our arms are shorter so the handlebars should be closer to the rider OR it needs an easier mechanism to adjust the tilt.

I now understand the tendency of cruiser riders to trailer their bikes to their destination!

Visibility

Think Bike advocates wearing high visibility vests and having reflective tape or piping on your clothing. But does this really make a difference regarding your safety or is it just a money-making scheme? I searched the Internet for any data that might substantiate this view and although there are many articles urging riders to wear such clothing, I could find only one real and believable study.

Study, results and conclusions from the New Zealand website Motorcycle Safety Info (http://www.motorcyclesafetyinfo.com/motorcycle_rider_conspicuity_study.html)

 

Results

Crash-related injuries occurred mainly in urban zones with 50 km/h speed limit (66%), during the day (63%), and in fine weather (72%). After adjustment for potential confounders, drivers wearing any reflective or fluorescent clothing had a 37% lower risk (multivariate odds ratio 0.63, 95% confidence interval 0.42 to 0.94) than other drivers. Compared with wearing a black helmet, use of a white helmet was associated with a 24% lower risk (multivariate odds ratio 0.76, 0.57 to 0.99). Self-reported light-coloured helmet versus dark coloured helmet was associated with a 19% lower risk. Three quarters of motorcycle riders had their headlight turned on during the day, and this was associated with a 27% lower risk (multivariate odds ratio 0.73, 0.53 to 1.00). No association occurred between risk and the frontal colour of drivers' clothing or motorcycle. If these odds ratios are unconfounded, the population attributable risks are 33% for wearing no reflective or fluorescent clothing, 18% for a non-white helmet, 11% for a dark-coloured helmet, and 7% for no daytime headlight operation.

Conclusions

Low conspicuity may increase the risk of motorcycle crash-related injury. Increasing the use of reflective or fluorescent clothing, white or light-coloured helmets, and daytime headlights are simple, cheap interventions that could considerably reduce motorcycle crash-related injury and death.

Biker Clothing and Appropriate Textiles

In my search for the data on wearing visible clothing, I came across some more interesting figures. Many times we talk about “wearing cow”, meaning that leather is by far the best material to wear when biking. Here are some figures to prove why wearing good quality man-made- and animal material will save your own hide.

Tear and Abrasion Strength by the Numbers
Denier Measurement	Material	Pounds of Force Until Tear	Abrasion Cycles Until Failure
	Cotton Jeans	4.5	50
70	Standard Nylon	4.5	165
500	Polyester	8	180
200	Standard Nylon	7.5	275
500	Cordura	22	710
620	Cordura	35	1200
	"Safe-Seam" Leather	80 - 100	1200 - 1700
1000	Cordura	110	1780
	Air Mesh Kevlar	1260	970
	Stretch Kevlar Blend	420	1800

 From: Wikipedia

BT Multi-Interphone Bluetooth Helmet System

I happened upon this intercom set and was offered it to test. Installation on my helmet was easy but there is no choice between a comfort microphone (fixed to the inside of a full-face helmet) or a boom microphone (a stalk for use on flip-up helmets) – this one is a standard boom microphone. After trying to decipher the User Manual (which might have been translated by an illiterate nine-year-old living in the Himalayas), pairing to my Zumo 500 was easy enough, but I think it might have been more from remembering how to pair the F4 Interphone. The unit has an aerial that kept unscrewing and the unit itself fell off the bracket every time I took my helmet off – fortunately the connecting wire prevented it from getting lost.

It was very difficult not to compare the two makes and during the time I tested this unit, I became more and more disillusioned. The specifications are: Range a maximum of 500m; Up to 120km/h speed; Up to 7 Hours talking time; Auto-receiving cell phone calls; Cell phone/ MP3 stereo music; Fit for motorcycle and skiing helmets; Fully weather protected.

Although the specifications are for a maximum of 120km/h, the sound quality was very poor at a speed of 80km/h and the volume doesn’t automatically adjust as your speed increases. Setting the volume higher on the unit itself distorted the sound so at 100km/h I couldn’t listen to my music. I didn’t get a chance to test the phone function but if the sound quality was poor with the music from the GPS, then I cannot imagine that it would be any different when having a phone conversation.

On the positive side, the unit is sold in pairs and will retail at around R1 800, which means it’s half the price of the F4 Interphone. If you’re on a tight budget and don’t mind having to upgrade to a better quality unit in a few months, then this might be your entry into the bike communication system market.