[navin_v8]

Originally Posted by navin_v8

We should make it a practice to atleast wear a helmet which is the most basic life saving riding gear. When I say helmet it has to be a good quality certified (DOT, ECE, SNELL, SHARK Rating or even basic ISI mark) and a well known helmet brand.

Quoting my own post due to typo error, it is not SHARK rating it is actually SHARP rating.

P.S. Apologies for this mods, kindly merge this post or make the necessary spelling change in the earlier post.

[Sojogator]

Originally Posted by navin_v8

Quoting my own post due to typo error, it is not SHARK rating it is actually SHARP rating.

...

Regarding SHARP, I was doing a bit of reading and it suggests SHARP is not much of a standard to judge the safety standards of a helmet as people are not really sure of the testing methods. ECE, SNELL and DOT are better methods that actually takes care of crash scenarios. But again, that is what I read so I cannot be sure.

Adding to that,
I always thought that gloves saved your blood, bone and skin in case of a fall and helps you ride with lesser stress on your hands. Looks like it does more, as I found out today. A truck carrying stone chips leaked stones by the dozen and they were flying towards everyone behind. As hard I had tried to stay away from the stone shower, one of the evil ones flew and hit, square, on my knuckle guard. A little scuff on the knuckle guard and a thud sound is the consequence. Without the glove, there would much more of a damage and a little less of me ! Weat them all the time, one with good protection.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by Sojogator

I always thought that gloves saved your blood, bone and skin in case of a fall and helps you ride with lesser stress on your hands. Looks like it does more, as I found out today. A truck carrying stone chips leaked stones by the dozen and they were flying towards everyone behind. As hard I had tried to stay away from the stone shower, one of the evil ones flew and hit, square, on my knuckle guard. A little scuff on the knuckle guard and a thud sound is the consequence. Without the glove, there would much more of a damage and a little less of me ! Weat them all the time, one with good protection.

A bike rider on the move is totally exposed and vulnerable to anything hurtling towards him either through the air or off the road. Insets, stones, birds (yes, its happened), rubber chunks off tyre tread of vehicles in front, flying debris. Even things fixed to the earth, like branches, shrubs, etc. And the size matters little when the approach (and impact) speed is the sum of the speed of your bike and the speed of the object that hits you.

I remember I used to hate wearing helmets. I started wearing a helmet regularly from the day I was riding home from office one evening and a flying insect hit me in my right eye. Hard, direct, smack in the center. Blinding pain. I got a bad corneal ulceration, which healed eventually after almost 10 days of an eye patch, and antibiotics and a lot of tests to ensure that there was no vision loss. Luckily it (the wound) was at the periphery of the cornea.

[navin_v8]

Originally Posted by Sojogator

Regarding SHARP, I was doing a bit of reading and it suggests SHARP is not much of a standard to judge the safety standards of a helmet as people are not really sure of the testing methods. ECE, SNELL and DOT are better methods that actually takes care of crash scenarios. But again, that is what I read so I cannot be sure.

It is actually a rating system much like Euro NCAP and various other crash tests. I saw an interesting animation as to their testing methods and it looks quite rigorous and comprehensive. Here's the URL http://sharp.direct.gov.uk/content/animation

Besides SHARP testing is certified and funded by the UK Govt.

Adding to that,
I always thought that gloves saved your blood, bone and skin in case of a fall and helps you ride with lesser stress on your hands. Looks like it does more, as I found out today. A truck carrying stone chips leaked stones by the dozen and they were flying towards everyone behind. As hard I had tried to stay away from the stone shower, one of the evil ones flew and hit, square, on my knuckle guard. A little scuff on the knuckle guard and a thud sound is the consequence. Without the glove, there would much more of a damage and a little less of me ! Weat them all the time, one with good protection.

You are lucky to have escaped unscathed coz a small rock flying at that velocity and coupled with your own velocity can wreak havoc. That's why I always insist on ATGATT (All The Gear All The Time). I have riding gloves of Scoyco make which are good and tough, am looking at buying Alpinestars gloves very soon. Ride Safe

[Sojogator]

A query. I have read and heard people swear by holding onto the handlebars like you would hold a bird.

I wanted to know if this is true in case of a suddenly appearing pot hole as well ?

Other day, I was going merrily at around 40 kmph and suddenly hit a huge crater of mud. I hold on to the bars pretty firmly in traffic. I managed to keep everything safe and sound by standing up on the pegs and riding over it, in spite of the front trying to get away after the bounce. Would it help if I was lighter on the bar or would it allow the bar to rotate enough that I would kiss the ground ?

[man_of_steel]

Originally Posted by Sojogator

I managed to keep everything safe and sound by standing up on the pegs and riding over it, in spite of the front trying to get away after the bounce. Would it help if I was lighter on the bar or would it allow the bar to rotate enough that I would kiss the ground?

I would say always keep the handlebar grip as light as possible. The reason behind this is that a tire, or any rolling mass in that case, will try to centre itself along the direction of this rotation. So, even if the tyre loses traction for a small amount of time, it will try to centre itself. Of course, there will be situations when the tyre won't recover from the traction loss, but that's a different situation. But if you hold the handlebar tight while the rotating tyre tries to recover itself, the slight rocking motion with which the tire recenters itself will amplify and result in what is called as a 'tank slapper'.

It is the same case when you hit the pothole and the front end bounces. Just stand straight and hold on to the bars light enough so that it is pointing to the right direction and even if the tyre lands a few degrees off, it will realign itself.

[outofthebox]

Originally Posted by man_of_steel

I would say always keep the handlebar grip as light as possible.

Umm, not really. We spent a lot of time on this topic in our riding school. Quoting from the training Handbook:

Always look well ahead to identify changes in the road surface. Avoid reacting late to an insignificant hazard as this could de-stabilise the machine.......Adjust the strength of your braking, acceleration and steering to retain adequate road holding.

And specifically about handling potholes (from a sub topic titled Road Surface Irregularities):

If you can alter your road position in plenty of time to avoid them (potholes) without endangering other traffic, do so. If you can't, carry out rear observation and slow down to reduce shock and maintain stability as you pass over them. Where possible ride over them in an upright position.

[man_of_steel]

Originally Posted by outofthebox

Adjust the strength of your braking, acceleration and steering to retain adequate road holding.

Here, 'strength of the steering' means the degree of steering input or counter steering required. This should not be confused with the strength with which you hold the handlebar. Both are two very different things.

The only one instance I lock my elbows and push down the handlebars is while braking only using front brake on straight, dry and clean tarmac (as in braking on tracks). Avoided mentioning above just to avoid any confusion.

[Shubz]

I have my personal speculations about gripping light. On heavy cruisers, I don't know what is called gripping light or gripping too tight.

On my Iron, which is lighter compared to my Fatboy - I used to feel a lot of stress on my palms/wrists after a ride.

Now on the Fatty, its negligible.

Now talking of gripping, I distinctly remember handlebar tending to wobble at higher speeds with lightening of grip. Add cross winds to that! (on the Iron)

On the current bike, I did loosen up the grips at times. But subconsciously, i was gripping it tighter as the speeds rose

End of it all - Safe to say - One's comfort?

[ebonho]

The key element between gripping light and not "white knuckling" the handle is that a bike is designed to hold its line minus external inputs. A bike is designed to be balanced and stay upright under power. A bike is designed to re-establish equilibrium and steady state. Notice what happens to the bike with riders going off the track into the gravel in Moto GP - with the rider on the bike and minus the rider. Obviously this is not letters written in gold and set in stone. But the overarching theory is to allow/let the bike ride itself out of trouble. Have seen this working personally in overcooked corners or sudden gravel on corners causing loss of traction. Where trying to correct/compensate would have likely seen me go down. If anything, where we can help the bike, and where its often appreciated (by the bike), is by using the legs more than the hands.

[Shubz]

Originally Posted by ebonho

The key element between gripping light and not "white knuckling" the handle is that a bike is designed to hold its line minus external inputs. A bike is designed to be balanced and stay upright under power. A bike is designed to re-establish equilibrium and steady state. Notice what happens to the bike with riders going off the track into the gravel in Moto GP - with the rider on the bike and minus the rider. Obviously this is not letters written in gold and set in stone. But the overarching theory is to allow/let the bike ride itself out of trouble. Have seen this working personally in overcooked corners or sudden gravel on corners causing loss of traction. Where trying to correct/compensate would have likely seen me go down. If anything, where we can help the bike, and where its often appreciated (by the bike), is by using the legs more than the hands.

Oh yes. Totally agree on this. To top it all, I'd say mental condition is of utmost importance. Mental fatigue negates it all at the end.

the legs/hands - doesn't work with cruisers I am sure

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by Shubz

the legs/hands - doesn't work with cruisers I am sure

I was thinking of leg-out on the Fat Boy and having disturbing visions of the lower leg being ripped out at the knee, flapping limply as the rider reaches down to pick it up and place it back on the luxurious Harley mongrammed footboards.

[outofthebox]

The key message here for street riders is to hold the handgrips firmly enough so that you won't lose your grip if the motorcycle hits a bump.

That is simply what is taught in official riding schools before one gets a license to ride on streets and that's it. Nothing more, nothing less.

As for variable grips, that is an entire topic by itself in advanced off road riding classes, and is a closer parallel to tackling a pothole on the road than any internet derived race track logic. White knuckling and counterteering out of a pothole are totally irrelevant and out of context in this case.

[outofthebox]

Sharing a must watch public safety film for riders narrated by Peter Fonda & Evel Knievel who provide safety tips and guidance for motorcycle riders.

Although this film is more than 40 years old, I found it to be very relevant & current for our situation - we are only just learning to drive in lanes and expressways and that too without any formal guidance or training from traffic & road authorities.

Don’t miss the Quiz at the end and share here how many you got right. (Be honest about it. )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eFNcbltDnM#t=1025

Credits and Copyright: Filmfair Communications Incorporated (1973)

[Gansan]

We should hold the handlebar with a normal grip - just firm enough so that our hands do not slip off them in case of a sudden jerk; at the same time in no way affecting the free play of the steering when riding straight. A rider stays on board more by way of balance and gripping the petrol tank lightly with his knees, than by hanging on to the handlebars!

This is how I have ridden for close to 35 years; though I have not ridden anything more than 100 - 150cc for the most part (not counting the occassional jaunts on a bullet or a Karizma etc!). I suppose the principle applies to all bikes, nevertheless! Please correct me if I am wrong!