the bike shed

[spenaroo]

thought I'd start an off topic thread for the motorcycle stuff rather then use the top speed one.

 

here is some pictures that I purposely kept off social media of my last crash.

the result of going into the side of a cement truck that pulled out in-front of me across an intersection.

was doing 80km/h when I started to brake, had the the rear locked and skidding sideways before I hit. remember consciously deciding to keep it on and run the risk of lowsiding instead of trying to re-apply (which I was taught if I locked the front)

 

[Old Koreelah]

Ouch!

 

I gave up riding on the road a few years back after two close calls, the second of which was a garbage truck, which pulled out in front of me. No time to stop, but I managed to flick around in front of it. This was the last straw for me; the knowledge that my reaction times are deteriorating was one factor. The other was that this garbage truck was being driver by a fellow motorcyclist, who I had ridden with. If even a bike rider couldn't be trusted to notice a high-visibility motorcycle, what are my chances?

[Bruce Tuncks]

Motorbikes are like flying on the ground. I would have a big one but I spent too many years convincing the wife that flying was safe by comparing it with motorbikes. These days I just have the farm bike ( Yamaha ag) and love it. The grandkids have ag bikes too. One day I decided to tell them some facts of life, I said how some kids in the world were so poor they didn't even have motorbikes. They told me they already knew that.

And Old K, don't give up riding completely, even though you are right about traffic-roads.

[Old Koreelah]

...

And Old K, don't give up riding completely, even though you are right about traffic-roads.

Thanks Bruce. I sure miss it. My Guzzi sits in the garage looking ready to ride, but it needs a major overhaul.

My Darwin mate got me back on the racetrack a few years ago; that was awesome.

I've spent a bit of time in the pits on hot summer race days and it's sobering to see the battle scars on our top riders; but then you realise they are the survivors.

 

I decided to quit while I was still in reasonable shape.

Edited May 12, 2020 by Old Koreelah

[nomadpete]

You don't have to revive any of those old 'bulletproof' years.

 

Sometimes the simple joy of motoring down the highway for a coffee is enough to clear the cobwebs from my mind. A ride through dappled autumn sunlight. The country scents. It somehow resets my mind without having to take any chances (like I once would have).

 

I'm not ready to quit.

 

Yet......................

Edited May 12, 2020 by Guest

[skippydiesel]

Horse riding - as a (past) road bike rider that somehow survived, I can tell you that you will never experience the exhilaration/fear/danger at speed like that on a galloping horse AND it will cost you just as much if not more than any motorbike.

 

Big plus - at more sedate speeds nature can be "taken in" while the nag follows the track and if with mates, conversation can flow.

 

I highly recommend it to all you rev heads that put your license in jeopardy every time you go for a burn down the public highway.

[Old Koreelah]

You might be right Skip, but I grew up with horses and too often ended up on the ground.

Bikes don't have a mind of their own, and rarely set out to do you harm (although my XS-2 came close a couple times).

Edited May 12, 2020 by Old Koreelah

[old man emu]

I'm happy with mine. Cruise at 50 mph; top speed 64 mph. Nicely silenced so I don't scare the natives.

 

Pickle me grandmother! I think I might go and polish the tyre valves today.

[skippydiesel]

You might be right Skip, but I grew up with horses and too often ended up on the ground.

Bikes don't have a mind of their own, and rarely set out to do you harm (although my XS-2 came close a couple times).

 

Have never tolerated badly behaved nags (pass on or get lead poisoning) but like all things there are +/-. Vulnerable bikers have to put up with incompetent /inconsiderate fellow road users - major major, risk factor!! Nothing much more bloody minded than having a car/truck try and occupy the space you are already in.

[Old Koreelah]

My other half is rebuilding all our photo albums and just dug up a couple of our wedding pix:

[Marty_d]

That's a fantastic outfit, OK. Austin Powers would approve.

[Old Koreelah]

Thanks Marty, I think....

[Old Koreelah]

Reports are coming in of a single fatality in a light plane incident at Maitland NSW.

[Yenn]

Why is it that all you bike aficionados love to make the most noise possible on the road. The only vehicles I hear going past my place are motor bikes and the occasional slasher mowing the verges. I know not all bikes have to wake the dead, but a great proportion are too loud.

My next door neighbour was an Australian champion drag racer and now he rides horses. Back when he rode bikes, his road bike was not at all loud. Maybe he just didn't need to draw attention to himself.

[old man emu]

Why is it that all you bike aficionados love to make the most noise possible on the road.

 

Not all Yenn. Some of us still like a low rumble coming from the muffler. It's a silencer, not a decibel generator. I've got an even split going past my house - loud motorcycles and loud cars. It;s an immaturity thing.

[pmccarthy]

I don't remember whether I posted this pic before but here is my 1972 model RT2. Just finished restoring it. There is an RT1 awaiting for attention but it is in a queue behind a 1932 Chev and an Ariel red Hunter. I never run out of things to do or reasons to lie awake worrying at 2 am.

[Marty_d]

Thanks Marty, I think....

Purely complimentary.

 

[old man emu]

What's the green and silver 2-stroke behind the RT2?

[pmccarthy]

What's the green and silver 2-stroke behind the RT2?

It’s a side valve Royal Enfield. 1936 model 250cc. Bought it in 1970 for ninety bucks.

[pmccarthy]

Heres a question. I bought a new battery for the ride on mower last year and I bought one of those small solar panels. The panel was left connected to the battery all summer without the mower being used. I tried to start it today and two cells had boiled nearly dry. I topped them up and charged it and i hope it will be OK. I was assured that the piddly current could not damage my battery but obviously it did. I put another panel on the R65 BMW and it has also been on charge all summer, but the light comes through a Laserlite panel in the shed and not directly like the mower. It seems OK. So has anyone else overcharged a bike battery using one of those panels?

[skippydiesel]

Heres a question. I bought a new battery for the ride on mower last year and I bought one of those small solar panels. The panel was left connected to the battery all summer without the mower being used. I tried to start it today and two cells had boiled nearly dry. I topped them up and charged it and i hope it will be OK. I was assured that the piddly current could not damage my battery but obviously it did. I put another panel on the R65 BMW and it has also been on charge all summer, but the light comes through a Laserlite panel in the shed and not directly like the mower. It seems OK. So has anyone else overcharged a bike battery using one of those panels?

 

Short answer No ! I have had $20 Bunnings solar charger on my Holden (Suzuki) Drover "paddock basher" for about 4 years now. Sits on the top of the dash board and we always park her facing north. So far so good, starts every time. Battery is a bit bigger than a mower job and the Drover does get a bit of use from time to time but probably not enough to fully charge the battery after a start.

[facthunter]

Regardless of the source, solar or whatever, IF the charger keeps charging it will affect any battery.. The ones you can safely leave on are much more expensive . I never just leave one on, anyhow. but I do makes sure they are never allowed to sit discharged. That will sulphate the plates and short them out generally, permanently. . Continuous charge of a lead acid battery will form hydrogen and oxygen and the level drops and you need to top up with pure water . If the level is very low the SG of the remaining acid is very high and the plates are only partly covered. Not good. .Nev.

[spacesailor]

Solar through a regulator, would that work better !.

spacesailor

[facthunter]

You are going to need a regulator of some kind that is compatible with your battery to give the required protection. On some AGM (low maintenance) batteries excess heat will occur during what should be a normal charge. Naturally a very low rate charger will not generate as much heat as a bigger rate charger but when this happens the battery is "on the way out" and ready to discharge itself even with the charger removed and that can cause excess temp which must be a risk on a plane as well as having no "ergs" available from that source. and the need to disconnect it from the charge system in flight. for safety reasons. Nev

[spacesailor]

My old 12 V solar panel, only makes 10 V when making max amps, At max V 12, it only makes under 1, ONE amp.

BUT as battery fills the V go up But never stops trying to pump more into that battery.

Very Old and it cooked too many battery's in its day. And has been replaced with a Great big panel of 18V 6 Amp Plus a regulator.

Now it's 12V on any state of battery charge, only the Amps are changing, down to less that 0.25 A read through a test meter.

spacesailor