CONFESSIONS OF A VETERAN ROOKIE

Fred Rau is one of my favorite motorcycle writers and I enjoy reading whatever he has to say every month. Over the decades, his words have been all over the moto mags so you have likely read him, as well.

In the March 2009 issue of Motorcycle Consumer News, Fred wrote an insightful article on “Rookie Mistakes,” that outlines some fundamental points about long-distance riding.

I found this article compelling because I not only have a lot of miles under my belt as a result of multiple coast-to-coast tours, up and down, and all over North America, but also because I find that as I’ve gotten a bit older, I’ve become more interested in the fundamentals of riding and touring, since they form the bedrock upon which this whole passion of my motorbike enjoyment rests.

So, while I intended to enjoy Mr. Rau’s words with the self-satisfaction of knowing that I’ve got all the bases covered, I found that his article pointed out some of my own rookie errors! And worse than that, I agree with everything he brought up.

Anyway, I’m sure you have so mastered these fundamentals that they cease to register in your consciousness as a matter worthy of attention. Hence, I present them as a confession of my sins and to remind you of the simplicities that continue to benefit you.

I’ll highlight his rookie mistakes here:

1: TOURING WITH BRAND-NEW GEAR

ROOKIE MISTAKE #1: Heading out on a tour with brand new gear. The point is that any new gear should be tried out locally to ensure proper road fit, rather than spending all day in the saddle with a helmet or boots that are too tight after a hundred miles or so, resulting in an uncomfortable ride for most of the day, and every day afterwards, for the rest of the tour.

Although, over the decades I’ve managed to maintain this first point, this next one is a feat I’m still tuning:

2a: OVERPACKING

ROOKIE MISTAKE #2a: Overpacking. This may be a relative point for different riders, but for me, I find I’m still in pursuit of some personal ideal of elegant simplicity that poses a balance between bringing as little as possible, vs. ensuring I have the majority of what I actually need. Even on multi-week, cross-country adventures, I have found that I could have enjoyed the experience a little bit more, had I brought a little less.

You will need to establish your own happy medium between what you need and what you don’t, but, just like Fred, I have never encountered a rider who didn’t want to bring more than what would actually be necessary.

This item is the hardest on this list to remedy without gaining real-world touring experience and learning that you don’t actually have to bring 24 pair of socks. Whether you stay in motels, hotels, the homes of friends and family, or camp along the road, the truth is that washing machines exist in more places than your own home.

2b: POOR PACKING

ROOKIE MISTAKE #2b: Poor Packing. In addition to ensuring you have underwear and socks in sealed bags (and as much else as possible), where you pack them, or the order in which they are packed, become more important the longer you ride. How quickly can you get your rain gear? How accessible is that warmer pair of gloves? Do you need to rummage around for a snack?

The good news here is that how you pack your gear can be improved day by day while you are on the road.

3: RIDING WITHOUT ALTERNATIVE FUNDING

ROOKIE MISTAKE #3: Riding without alternative funding. Dang! The idea of sealing and hiding extra cash and another credit card somewhere on the bike as a precaution against a lost or stolen wallet is not new. In fact, I’ve done that in the past past (long past). But since I’ve never had occasion to take advantage of such a precaution, I’ve let that slide out of my basic actions, a few bikes back in history. That will now be re-implemented as part of my touring “basics.”

4: RIDING WITHOUT A SPARE KEY

ROOKIE MISTAKE #4: Riding without a spare key. Eghad! I’m not only guilty as charged! It’s worse than that. I’ve considered the same point over the years, and never rectified it. That’s double guilty! Losing a key to your bike could turn a glorious day of a vacation into an ignoble day of infamy. Conversely, for a prepared rider, it could be no more than a moment of inconvenience to pull out a replacement for a key that got dropped on a trail, or fell over a lookout, or as Fred notes, a key that “disappeared into the swirling water” of a flushing toilet.

WHAT ROOKIE MISTAKES HAVE YOU OBSERVED?

Just as Fred notes that he could fill a book with such practical considerations, you, too, have observed or learned some rookie mistakes, whether by the school of hard knocks, or otherwise. Add your thoughts about “rookie mistakes” in the comments section below.

10 Important Points to Read if You Want to Save Fuel

Are you a biker who wakes up every morning and talking to your mirror about compensating your fuel expenses? Well here is something to relieve you from the stress.
If you see a bike’s specification there will be a section about the vehicle’s torque @ certain rpm. Torque denotes the pulling force that the vehicle can offer at that particular engine speed. Every engine has certain rpm range where it can offer maximum torque. Try to keep below that range (not too low) so that you don’t burn a lot of fuel.
Clutch riding / half clutch tends to wear out the clutch facing quickly. This considerably reduces the power transmitted from the engine. Some adjust the play to half clutch owing to the reason that it is easier to drive in slow moving traffic, but they won’t realize that they are doing it at the cost of frequent fuel refills and clutch replacement.
Selection of appropriate gear is mandatory. Under-gearing / over-gearing are not good friends of fuel economy. Riding in higher gears at very low speeds (by clutch partially engaged) and lower gears at high speeds tends to draw more fuel. So don’t hesitate to shift gears appropriately.
Starting earlier to work/college will also help saving fuel indirectly. As the peak hour approaches the traffic density increases and it demands frequent stops and crawling speed. So why waste your precious time and fuel?
Always ensure that your vehicle’s transmission is sufficiently lubricated. This is because if there is more friction between the parts the engine will draw more fuel to compensate your speed demand. Also friction is not healthy exercise to the parts.
The engine can not only be used for moving the vehicle but also to slow it down. This is calledengine braking When the throttle is released only idling amount of fuel will be supplied to engine and the power will be transmitted from wheels to the engine. Thus the vehicle slows down due to the resistance offered by the engine. There are some places to use this phenomenon like when you are about to stop for an obstacle which is say some 10-50 meters (Note: this range depends on your speed) ahead of you just release the throttle rather than breaking hard near it and let the ‘engine braking’ work its magic (can also be employed in slow moving traffic). You can also down shift if you need to. This thereby reduces unwanted fuel consumption and also saves brakes from wearing out.
Don’t have your head lamps turned unnecessarily ON which in turn demands more fuel by the engine to charge the battery/run the alternator. Unwanted electrical accessories can also be avoided.
Make sure that your vehicle’s idling speed is set as per the manufacturer’s specification. If set higher intakes excess fuel during idling and if set lower engine tends to stall frequently this in turn needs richer mixture to start the vehicle.
At times when you have to wait in a traffic signal for more than 30 secs switch OFF your engine. If you have self starter try alternating between kick starter also to avoid heavy load acting on battery frequently.
Above all these maintain a log book about your fuel refills, type of journey distance covered per journey (even if it is very short), fuel consumption per liter to know about your driving performance so that you can improve further.

Let me hope that these points will at least save you a rupee per day. Also you are indirectly reducing the density of polluted air for others.

courtesy