The Best Way to See Melbourne

We frequently meet people who are visiting Melbourne, who choose to come out for a Harley Ride with us who after their ride realise that they made the right decision to come out for an hour or more with us. They come to the realisation that "its not about the motorcycle" - its about how much more they see, how much better it is compared to sitting in a tour bus, the freedom and un-restricted

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Full Throttle: The Glory Days of British Motorbikes

This is a fantastic television programme about the early days of motorcycling in the UK. One of the opening lines of this BBC television programme sets the scene…

“By the 1950’s British motorbikes were the fastest, most desirable and coolest thing on two wheels anywhere in the world.”

I recently spent time at Bonneville in Utah with Mike Jackson, who is interviewed on the programme and described as a motorcycle historian. A real gent, Mike knows more about motorcycles than anyone else I have ever known.

What I like about this programme is the old film of British motorcycles and the people interviewed. Between them, they give real character and authority to the documentary.

The story of Brough Superior motorcycles is described and the love affair T.E.Lawrence had with the bikes is described. His words are very poetic when he writes about his riding “The burble of my exhaust unwound like a long cord behind me. Soon my speed snapped it, and I heard only the cry of the wind which my battering head split and fended aside. The cry rose with my speed to a shriek: while the air’s coldness streamed like two jets of iced water into my dissolving eyes. I screwed them to slits, and focused my sight two hundred yards ahead of me on the empty mosaic of the tar’s gravelled undulations.”

Of course, Lawrence was killed riding one of his Brough Supoeriors when swerving to avoid two boys on the road.

The sporting side of riding motorcycles and the communities it spawned are also featured in the programme. The short pieces of film at the Brooklands circuit are wonderful, as are those showing the early days of racing at the Isle of Man TT. The growth of Norton is discussed in the racing scene and how the rivalry between them and BMW was formed.

Just about all of the classic British manufacturers are mentioned in the programme, including the rise of Triumph and the café racers. Life at the famous Ace café is also featured.

Is it any wonder these old bikes are still lusted after?

It is a programme that must be watched!

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Water Transfer Printing

This looks like an interesting and cheap way of covering motorcycle tanks, fenders, helmets to give your bike a new look. I am not sure about the durability though.

I am sure some enterprising person will soon be providing this as a service in the motorcycle industry soon, if it isn't already being done. Many would not want to use it on their expensive bikes, but as a cheap way of updating an older bike, I can see the potential.



Take a look at the website of the company selling the materials. I was surprised how cheap the films are...... http://hgarts.com/

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Harley Davidson 1941 WLD Sport Solo

Harley Davidson had originally followed Indian when the latter had produced its first 45 cu. in. side-valve machine in 1927. Initially, the Indian 45s were the most highly regarded, but by the time Harley introduced its W-series in 1937, it was the Milwaukee-built bikes that enjoyed the better specification and reputation. Replacing the R-series—with which they had much in common—the three

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What is on Your Bucket List?

Here are a couple of ideas that we here at HD Chauffeur Ride Pty Ltd can help you achieve, if a ride on a Harley Davidson motorcycle is on your Bucket List.

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Lots of bikes, friends to see, pretty girls and a shiny car at the Motorcycle Live show

This year’s motorcycle show at the Birmingham NEC (UK) was excellent. I spent the whole day there on Saturday and wore myself out, looking at bikes and chatting to the many people I bumped into.

It was busy and there was a buzz about the place which seemed to have been lacking in recent years. Perhaps it was the feeling that the economy is finally on the move again that engendered a better feeling about the show.

This year I tried to concentrate on things that I don’t normally spend too much time looking at. One of those might just prove to be a little too tempting for me.  Who goes to a motorcycle show and falls in love with a car?  More on that later.  Back to the bikes....

I wanted to see the new Indian motorcycles and they certainly did look very good. This is the Indian Chief Vintage….

I was drawn to the Moto Guzzi Street V7 Scrambler, which looks cool and classic at the same time. I really like its rugged looks and this is one of the best looking of the new recent Moto Guzzi bikes. I do question though the combination of knobbly tyres with the cylinders sticking out sideways so much. Yes, I know this is the classic Guzzi engine layout, but the knobblies suggest this could be taken off-road, but can you imagine what would happen to the cylinder heads if you dropped the bike a few times in deep mud or on rocks? It does look great though…..

Compare those good looks to the diabolical Guzzi Griso SE. That engine block has to be the ugliest thing recently designed for a motorcycle. It is so fugly, it just makes you wonder “what were they thinking”…..

One of the bikes that really surprised me was a BMW GS with a sidecar fitted. I sort of get it, and sort of don’t. The guy on the stand told me he was selling about one a month, which means they wont be around for much longer…..

One bike was creating a lot of interest and that was the Ducati 1199 Superleggera. Launched this month, Ducati have said that just 500 of these bikes will be made. It certainly is an impressive looking bike….

Red bikes are obviously popular and this striking Aprilia caught my eye. The bike is much better than its model name which is a baffling RSV4 R APRC ABS, which doesn’t exactly roll of the tongue. The bike is stuffed full of technology with 8-stage traction control, wheelie control, launch control and a quickshifter, plus ABS and fully adjustable suspension. Oh and a little matter of 180bhp to go with it all….

This looks like it could be fun. An Aprilia Dorsoduro 750 ABS….

Back in the seventies I loved this MV Augusta. My feelings for the bike haven’t changed….

Love this old Beemer Airhead as well….

I cannot recall having seen a Royal Enfield café racer before. Maybe some of my readers have?....

Talking of unusual, how about a Moto Guzzi café racer with, wait for it, a slipstreamed sidecar attached….

You gotta love a Vespa….

A very nice Victory. You don’t often see them with eight additional cylinders though….

My favourite lady from the show. Who knows who she is?....

Here she is again with some of her friends….

Coventry Transport Museum had a very nice display of old motorcycles. Here are a couple of my favourites….

My friend Henry Cole has launched a new motorcycle, called a Gladstone. Their first model, appropriately called No.1, was on display at the show. A hardtail with a Triumph engine, some of the details on this bike are very nice indeed….

I need to ask Henry where these lever / grip combinations come from, as I really like them and I have a current project build they would suit….

A very nice custom Harley-Davidson, built by Warrs in London….

The Harley-Davidson stand included a replica of the shed in which William S. Harley and brothers Arthur and Walter Davidson first built motorcycles. This shed at the show contained an old model H-D, lent to the show by Warrs….

This is one of the Metisse Desert Racer motorcycles, currently being made as a replica of one of the bikes Steve McQueen once owned….

Back Street Heroes magazine had a big stand with many custom motorcycles on display. I like this shovelhead…..

I imagine not many people go to a motorcycle show and end up really liking a car, indeed some may say that is sacrilege. However, how could anyone not like this Morgan three-wheeler. It is the Brooklands Special edition and I feel a test drive coming soon. 1976cc V-Twin S&S engine, 82bhp, 0-60 in 6 seconds, top speed 115mph….

Finally, what did surprise me was how many people I bumped into at the show. Andy Hornsby of American-V magazine was on good form in a bright orange Hawaiian shirt. I didn’t know he was going, but I was happy to see Jon Hickman who I rode with to St Tropez earlier this year. Marjorie Rae, the Customer Experience Manager for the UK and Ireland spared me some time to talk about my new touring business. I met one guy, Gary Fleshman, who I last met in 2010 while on my tour of the USA. TV personality friend Henry Cole was there chatting to lots of his fans and he presented his new Gladstone bike. Ian Thorburn (AKA Bosunsbikes) was there as well, taking loads of pictures....

All-in-all, it was a terrific day, looking at motorcycles and seeing lots of friends. I slept well that night!

The show continues for another week with its last day being 1st December.

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Good rider aids, or utter lunacy?

I tend to embrace technology. I love gadgets.

I also love motorcycles, but there is one thing I am very clear on. Using technology while on the move is the last thing a biker needs to do. We all know that to ride safely, we need to concentrate 100% on the road conditions ahead and we especially need to look at what other road users are doing. Anything that distracts bikers from concentrating on riding can only lead to problems.

I am therefore amazed at three motorcycle helmet manufacturers that are proposing to included on-board gadgets and technology within their helmets. Between them, they are suggesting we need Internet enabled helmets, with heads-up displays, inbuilt gps, the ability to make phone calls and send texts, see weather forecasts, and look at 180 degree rear view camera displays. Wait a minute, yes, all WHILE riding. Are they crazy? They all claim these sorts of features will help riders, but are they right?

Let’s look at what they are proposing.

Scully.

The guy presenting on the Scully video (see below) already struggles with being able to read a sign at the side of the road, let alone look at the in-view displays he is suggesting.   He says he slammed into the back of the car in front when looking at a sign when riding. That means he is unable to ride properly now.

This is the guy that wants to fill our heads with wait for it….. gps maps floating in front of me….. an internet enabled heads up display mobile platform that takes data from onboard sensors, gps and rear view camera and renders this up on a heads up display. It is claimed with its onboard micro-processor and Android based OS, it is the smartest helmet on the planet.

It also has a 180 degree rear view camera with a screen built into the helmet so enabling the rider to look behind and to the sides, while looking forward at the same time. The video suggests we could make and take phone calls. It even has a full screen gps view(!). It even invites other developers to suggest other apps that could be used on their platform. Other information says riders can send texts using voice commands WHILE RIDING. This is idiotic.

Just take a look at the video, especially 2:25 for about 25 seconds. This is where you see the rear view camera view in your field of vision. I guarantee when watching the this your eyes will dart about looking at the heads up display and you will not concentrate on the road ahead.

Anybody wanting to buy one of these might be attracted by the technology, but I certainly wouldn’t want one and more importantly, I wouldn’t want somebody riding behind me who was wearing one of these helmets.





Reevu

The first of the Reevu helmets have been available for some time and these existing models make some degree of sense as it gives a rear view of the road behind on a small screen just above your eye line. You do have to look up though and take your eyes off the road ahead. This though is not too dissimilar from moving your eyes to look in the mirrors mounted on your handlebars.

However, the new innovations that Reevu want to build into their new helmets take things to a different level. Here is one of their images.

It seems Reevu may be planning to connect the heads-up display to the motorcycle to show RPM, speed or fuel consumption, along with indicator repeaters and possibly high beam and neutral idiot lights. From their imagery, it looks like Reevu are also targeting heads-up gps. Can you possibly imagine trying to read this information while riding? The new helmets will use the small mirror above the eyeline for the rear view, plus it will also show the sort of information on the image above. Isn’t this too much to use while riding?


Nuviz

Nuviz claim the world’s first Head-Up display for motorcycle helmets.

This is different from the other two manufacturers as Nuviz is technology that gets mounted to the chin piece of existing helmets. This then projects a heads-up display onto the inside of the visor somehow. The type of information it displays ranges from gps maps and directions, weather forecasts, distance travelled, speed, estimated arrival time, gear selected, revs, as well as allowing telephone calls and listening to music.

It even allows you to take photographs and video. For the social media savvy, photos can be sent to your Facebook page while you ride. Yep, you read that right – WHILE YOU RIDE!

The system uses the Nuviz Ride Cloud app and once again, through mobile internet technology, this allows riders to share data such as routes before, after or even DURING the ride. Really, why?

Summary

Okay, so it looks as if this new technology may well be available soon – some of these manufacturers say the technology will be here in 2014, but one big questions remains. Will these gadgets help or hinder riders?

Some will love what is coming our way and will covet the technology for the sake of technology. That is okay, if it is safe to use. I have my doubts though, as riding needs 100% of your concentration all of the time. Gizmos that require us to move our view away from the road cannot be good, nor can the inevitable toggles and switches that we will need our hands to manipulate the data.

Is this really a good idea that will make riding easier, or is it utter lunacy, dreamed up to exploit a potential market? Time will tell.

I won't be rushing to buy any of it.

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