Back to the Future

Let's face it, 2020 has been a year that most of us would prefer to forget.  After more than 100 days of being C-19 free, it's reappeared in NZ again.  At the time of writing this, it's small and confined to the Auckland area but who knows what's going to happen next.  The one good thing is that the authorities are onto it with appropriate measures - no dicking about, locking down our biggest city and other measures within 24 hours of discovery.   At present, we're not locked down in our region so apart from reintroduction of social distancing measures and some other sensible precautions, we're pretty much unaffected.

Following the first lockdown in March, I was quietly concerned that my motorcycling days were coming to a close.  The lockdown itself was easy to deal with as there was always plenty to do.  However, when it ended, I wasn't jumping out of my skin to go for a ride which was a bit disconcerting.  I don't really know why this was unless the winter weather influenced my indifference.  I guess you can't predict psychological effects, even though I consider myself calm in unusual or difficult situations. However, I've recently had two cracking rides in brilliant weather which have thrown off any doubts about continuing riding - yippee for that!. 

The first outing was a trip to south Auckland to check out some new routes for putting IAM riders through their Police Roadcraft Advanced Tests.  That's well and truly stuffed now with the Auckland travel restrictions but it was a glorious day out with the discovery of some new, challenging routes.

A quick stop by the Waikato River

Great views over the countryside

One of my mates who lives in that area suggested that I check out a particular highly technical road on the way home which I duly did.  To my horror, there were extensive road works with wet clay, cement dust and lime over substantial stretches of the road and I had a recently-cleaned pristine bike, the bastard!  He claimed no knowledge so I might have been uncharitable with my initial thoughts.  It's the sort of thing which good mates would do to each other!  Guess how I spent a few hours the next day.

The second decent outing was at our monthly regional IAM ride last weekend.  The meeting point is at a cafe some 160 km away from home which means I leave home before dawn in single digit (C) temperatures.  As with the last early start, heated gloves were a godsend, with an ordinary pair being carried to use later on.  I must say that the Michelin Road 5's stick like glue in all conditions and I'm glad I returned to using them after all the punctures I had on the GSX-S 1000.

At the meeting point, we also had a potential new member turn up for an initial assessment.  An IA gives the rider a no cost, no obligation opportunity to see if they enjoy the process, as well as allowing the IAM mentor to check the general standard of riding as a start point for a personalised development plan.  On this occasion it was Libby on her Harley Davidson who thoroughly enjoyed her day and was itching to join at the end of it.

Libby with some of the IAM team

Libby's beautifully prepared Harley Davidson

Having Libby join has been great for several reasons.  Firstly, she's the first female IAM member in our region, even though we've existed for 4 years.  I hope we get lots more now as female riders I've helped to mentor in other regions have been a delight with their positive attitude to learning.  In Libby's case, she had already taken the government-sponsored Ride Forever courses (details HERE ) and wanted to keep upskilling.  Secondly, she's only the second H-D rider in our region and one of the few nationwide.  Good for you Libby!

Fellow IAM members Bruce and Neil with their adventure bikes - they dwarf my KTM!

Jennie has dibs on our single basement garage for her car and my 4x4 sits under the decking on the upper storey of our house.  The bike sits in a covered area just outside my workshop.  The only disadvantage is that to keep it hooked to a battery tender during periods of non-use, I have to run a power lead from inside the workshop.  Not a big hassle in the scheme of things but recently, part of an old solar-powered external sensor light failed, leaving me with a spare solar panel.  I already have an externally accessible battery connector on the bike for my heated gloves which tucks away neatly when not in use.  All I needed was a compatible connector for the solar panel and we were in business!  I've successfully used the same system for our boat for several years and it's worked a treat.  Marine batteries ain't cheap to replace!

Solar panels on shed roof

Solar panel connection to bike

The next challenge is C-19 permitting, having a cataract removed later in the month.  Everyone tells me that it's simple and fast these days but the thought of a scalpel hovering above my eyeball isn't exactly a comforting thought.  At least it shouldn't disrupt riding for more than a day or two.

Stay safe everyone!

One for the Engineers or Techos amongst us

It's 11 years since I retired and a lot longer than that since I practised as a professional engineer.  However, once an engineer........  (accompanied by eye-rolling from my long-suffering wife), I can't just jump on a bike and ride the bloody thing.  Can't shut down the need to know a lot more about it - mostly stuff that is relatively unimportant and irrelevant to most of the human race and normal, sane people.  However, when we meet up with another rider who has similar inclinations, just try and shut us up!  Lifelong friendships have been forged with less of a bond.

This post is predominantly for Lee - friend, fellow IAM member and ENGINEER.  He posed some technical questions in the comments section of the previous post.  However, anyone without technical inclinations is most welcome to skip it.  And if you're a female, I am immune to eye-rolling and exasperated sighs as I've had 47 years of it from my beloved!

Bike forums are often known for opinion without facts to back them up.  My immediate mental response to that sort of comment is a grumpy "Where's the evidence?"  However, a recent forum post was about instrument errors on motorcycles.  By comparing speedo readings with those on my GPS, I knew that the speedo on my GSX-S 1000 was 8 km/hr fast at 100 km/hr.  I was immediately curious about the KTM so set off on the day before Good Friday to have a bit of fun and collect some data using the GPS as a reference point.

Bad Girl Lola at Kuaotunu, Coromandel Peninsula

The KTM has heaps of information on its TFT screen and even more info in a whole series of drop-down menus.  I was particularly interested in the accuracy of the speedo, odometer and fuel consumption.  Fuel consumption is influenced by all sorts of factors, not the least being your right wrist so I just rode how I normally do, switching between Street Mode and Sport Mode depending on road and traffic conditions.  I wasn't all that interested in absolute consumption, just what the instrumentation was telling me compared with fuel actually topped up at the end of the ride and distance covered according to the GPS.  Sad and nerdy person that I am, it was quite interesting.  I need to get out more.....

The main screen of the KTM 

(The range isn't really 720 km, it changes as soon as you get rolling)

These are the readings from a 170 km round trip on twisty roads.  Bike instrumentation compared against my Garmin GPS.

Speedometer:  Reads approximately 5% more than the GPS and looks pretty linear from a series of readings at various speeds.  At an indicated 190 km/hr, the GPS reads a little under 180 km/hr.  This particular reading is theoretical, you understand!

Trip Odometer:  Reads 6.6% more than the GPS.

Fuel consumption:  Bike instrumentation shows 8.9% more optimistic economy than the GPS distance divided by the actual fuel taken to top up the tank at the end of the ride.  True fuel consumption with a mix Street and Sport modes was 4.61 lt/100 km for the trip.  This looks about right for the 270-300 km that I expect from a full tank on an average journey without hammering but "making progress".

Just out of interest, compare this consumption with that of the GSX-S 1000.  On similar journeys, it used to drink 5.5 lt/100km.  On a trackday which Lee and I did in 2018, it was nearly double that consumption figure.  Lee's contention is that a combination of modern technology and Euro 5 emissions legislation is making modern engines more fuel efficient.  I don't think that there's much doubt about that and other factors such as power to weight ratio, gearing, drag coefficient all have a bearing on consumption.  Then there's external factors such as road conditions and your right wrist!

I'll repeat the experiment again on some longer future trip.

The other thing I recently tested was the headlight.  This is the first bike I've owned with an LED headlight.  Its angular or insectoidal-shape also made me wonder how good it was going to be in lighting up twisty roads out in the countryside with no ambient lighting.  We have nothing in NZ that's going to eat your face if you run into it, but collecting a sheep, cow or deer is going to sting a bit and spoil your day.

Based on a praying mantis or Alien from the movie?

 Full beam in daylight - bright!

Heading from Coromandel village to Whitianga township after dark is a good test as there's virtually no artificial lighting between them and lots of tight corners and elevation changes.  I'm delighted to report that forward illumination was really good and side illumination (road verges) was also good.  The latter was far better than I was expecting, given the headlight shape.  The following photos don't really do the headlight justice in reality but they do show that the important bits show up just fine.

Top of the Coromandel -Whangapoua hill.  Wet roads

Long Bay Road - good side illumination as well as distance

Naturally, lighting can always be improved with spotlights and the like.  However, I've done 5 NZ equivalents of the Iron Butt 1600 km in under 24 hour endurance rides on previous bikes.  There's around 11 or 12 hours of riding in the dark on mostly twisty unlit roads.  My yardstick is would I be happy riding in one of those events on the KTM?  The answer is yes - no problem at all.

If your eyes have glazed over after reading that lot, I apologise.  You can have a rest now as for part of May and June, Jennie and I will hopefully be having an excellent adventure in China and Hong Kong!

Fun in the sun