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My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

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Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#261

Post by aeronaut80 »

mc3301 wrote: post #245
avar wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apparently, motorcycles can > brake even if you don't use > the brake They've even made cars with that "motorcycle" feature, it's most commonly activated by moving a sort of "stick" situated between the driver and passenger seat.

'avar' is talking about "engine braking" with a manual transmission car. Most motorbikes have a manual transmission. If you gear down (you are cruising in fourth gear and 'gear down' to third gear), your vehicle's speed will reduce. Brake lights are triggered by the brake pedal or lever/pedal on a motorcycle. In the case of engine braking, the brake lights are not triggered. Drivers behind them can't anticipate stopp…

Lifting your foot off the accelerator in a Nissan Leaf triggers brake lights when in e-Pedal mode (one foot driving, no need to use the brake pedal except in an emergency). It reminds me of a feature that car manufacturers declined to install (due to cost) many years ago, in which brake lights would be triggered by rapidly taking your foot off the accelerator. The idea was that this scenario would usually be followed by emergency braking and that anyone following would see the brake lights come on a fraction of a second earlier.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#262

Post by mcmoor »

earnestinger wrote: post #205

If only somebody would make motorcycles less noisy.. I dream of the day where there are neither mosquitos nor motorcycle noise. Two most annoying things during the summer.

Current electric motorcycles can already be pretty silent, to the detriment of pedestrians. Some have added artificial noises because of this, like ones already used in cars.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#263

Post by haiku2077 »

somerandomqaguy wrote: post #255
haiku2077 wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Weirdly, an adventure bike with higher horsepower will have cheaper insurance than a race replica with less horsepower.

Kinda. Power delivery is wildly different between an ADV and a sports bike. On a sorta dual sport like a Kawasaki KLR650 you get peak torque from the engine at around 2500 RPM, which is comfortably in school zone speed limit territory. Something like the Yamaha R6 won't really start feel like it's pulling until you get the engine above 8000 RPM at least and then you getting peak torque until around 12,000 RPM. By the…

A 1300GS has significantly higher horsepower than an R6, variable valves so it pulls across the rev range, and yet still costs a fraction of an R6's insurance cost; it would appear that the riders have a much larger role in the premium than the engine.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#264

Post by tass »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #248
haiku2077 wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I am sitting on my motorcycle I am taller than most people's sitting position in their trucks. While filtering I can look down into their vehicles and see what they're doing on their phones.

You either don't live in the US/Canada or you don't ride in areas where people drive full-size and "heavy duty" pickup trucks. The Ford F250 for example has a roof that's 7 feet high. https://www.reddit.com/r/Trucks/comments/10vb432/f250s_just_... The roof on the old F150 is barely above the door sill on the new truck. ...and then people go and put bigger rims and lift kits on them.

I wish the USA had similar regulations to Australia where modifications require engineering signoff - typically these lifted trucks would fail a rollover test amongst other broken standards (wheelbase wider than the vehicle, for example).

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#265

Post by andrewflnr »

psunavy03 wrote: post #234
andrewflnr wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ha, I have heard a couple motorcyclists sincerely recommend open-carrying a gun to scare off murderous asshole drivers (which, to be clear, absolutely exist). Neither of those options are on my to-do list though. :)

Anyone who open carries anywhere other than the wilderness or in the field while hunting is at best an attention whore with main-character syndrome . . . at best. What's more, notwithstanding the freakouts from Europeans and blue-staters about so-called "gun culture," you have no right to employ a firearm anywhere in the US unless someone is actively threatening to kill or maim you or a person near you. Not because y…

I didn't say it was a good idea, rather the opposite. But people do try to flat out murder motorcyclists.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#266

Post by aaronbrethorst »

markbnj wrote: post #178
beloch wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Motorcycle fatality rates have been trending upwards, not downwards[1]. Brake lights on helmets may illuminate one of the culprits: An ever increasing number of American trucks with poor visibility. Sitting on a bike, you're even shorter than a pedestrian and more likely to be completely out of sight. Perhaps its time to start regulating for better visibility, as Europe has done. [1] https://www.iii.org/fact-statisti…

As an almost-daily motorcyclist with 15k miles on my current machine (Suzuki DL650), I absolutely agree that the increased proportion of pickup trucks on the road increases the risks for riders, however I suspect it is mainly because the larger, heavier vehicles aggravate the effects of a general deterioration in driving skills and attitudes. One thing about riding a motorcycle is that you are, unless you have a deat…

Vision Zero exists and its entire output, at least in the US, seems to be some somewhat clever yard signs and good vibes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_Zero

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#267

Post by f001 »

beloch wrote: post #90
braunshedd wrote: post #71

When I was commuting daily in the SF fog, I discovered that putting on of these [1] on my helmet did wonders to keep cars further off my tail. It moves the brake light up to eye level for people in SUVs and also triggers on engine braking. Wish it were cheaper, but was a worthwhile investment for me. Also, consider looking into airbag vests if you ride regularly. Also expensive but (supposedly) make a huge difference…

Motorcycle fatality rates have been trending upwards, not downwards[1]. Brake lights on helmets may illuminate one of the culprits: An ever increasing number of American trucks with poor visibility. Sitting on a bike, you're even shorter than a pedestrian and more likely to be completely out of sight. Perhaps its time to start regulating for better visibility, as Europe has done. [1] https://www.iii.org/fact-statisti…

Very much depends on the style of motorcycle. Sitting on my dual-sport BMW F650GS[1] I can see well over sedans on the road and this is with a slightly lowered version of it.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_G650GS

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#268

Post by AndrewSwift »

razemio wrote: post #191
AndrewSwift wrote: post #189

I wondered once if it would be possible to ride a motorcycle safely if I drove carefully (everyone I know who rides has been in at least one serious accident). I thought: I could look at the data, but I see so many motorcyclists driving dangerously that the data wouldn't teach me much. So then I thought: I bet if I look at the accident rate for women riders it would be interesting. I found that in the UK, male riders…

This sadly does not say anything because the kilometers driven is unknown in this statistic, right? So it could be that female drivers do not drive that many kilometers compared to males, which results in less accidents. Also, is this accidents total men / women? Then it would not even take into account, that there are significant more male riders.

It was deaths/km ridden.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#269

Post by mmooss »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #266
markbnj wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an almost-daily motorcyclist with 15k miles on my current machine (Suzuki DL650), I absolutely agree that the increased proportion of pickup trucks on the road increases the risks for riders, however I suspect it is mainly because the larger, heavier vehicles aggravate the effects of a general deterioration in driving skills and attitudes. One thing about riding a motorcycle is that you are, unless you have a deat…

Vision Zero exists and its entire output, at least in the US, seems to be some somewhat clever yard signs and good vibes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_Zero

> its entire output, at least in the US, seems to be some somewhat clever yard signs and good vibes

That's confusing to me. Many cities have worldwide have implemented vision zero techniques and saved many lives, including in the US.

Re: My quest to make motorcycle riding that tad bit safer

#270

Post by mmooss »

smadge wrote: post #159
kccqzy wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I ride a bicycle, and I deliberately mount the rear light directly at the eye level of typical sedans and SUVs. It's not connected to the brakes, but I find that having the light pulse is enough.

If you have a hub generator system, they sell rear lights with controllers which detect changes in the frequency of the wheel rotation and start pulsing when you decelerate.

Why not just connect them to the hand brake levers?
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