Ordinary Biker Oz: June 2024

Thursday, June 13, 2024

9 Motorcycle Myths - a guest post by Warren Massey

9 Myths About Motorcycle Riding

There are motorcycling myths that are just too good to die. Below are 9 of those myths, a few with my own commentary, which seem to hang around forever.

Open-face helmets are just as good as full-face helmets: Full-face helmets provide better protection by covering the entire head, including the chin and face. They reduce head injuries by 64% and neck injuries by 36% compared to open-face helmets. Plus, they offer better noise reduction.
Using car tires on motorcycles is fine: This myth is dangerous. Car tires are incompatible with motorcycle dynamics, especially during cornering. Stick to motorcycle-specific tires for safety. While I have never seen this in person, it must be something that happens as this comes up from time to time.

The rear brake stops a bike better than the front brake: Actually, using the front brake is more effective and safer. Proper braking technique is crucial, and the front brake provides over 70% of a motorcycle’s stopping power.
Motorcycles are more dangerous than cars: While motorcycles have inherent risks, proper training, gear, and awareness can mitigate these risks. Responsible riding matters more than the vehicle type. Statistics show that more riders are injured in single vehicle crashes than in crashes with cars.
Helmets break necks in a crash: False. Helmets protect your head and neck. They do not cause neck injuries; they prevent them.
“Laying it down” is the best way to avoid a crash: No, it is not. Staying upright and using proper braking and maneuvering techniques is more effective for avoiding accidents.
You must be strong to ride a motorcycle: Strength matters less than skill and technique. Proper body positioning and control are essential, regardless of physical strength.
You can get expert skills just riding on the road. Just riding from point a to point b over and over will only give you the skills to ride from point a to point b. You really need to take, at least, the basic and advanced riders’ course to hone your skills. There are other levels of training to move your skills to a higher level. Then do the training with your passenger.
Loud pipes save lives: Contrary to widely held belief, loud exhaust pipes do not necessarily make you safer. Becoming a better rider through skill development and awareness is more effective for safety. While less restrictive exhausts may add some horsepower, OEM exhausts are designed for midrange performance where you spend most of your time riding. I can debate this one with myself. I have two motorcycles, one with stock pipes and one with loud pipes. Anecdotally, I see more folks look around for me as I move up in traffic when I am on my loud bike, they can almost feel the rumble. But I cannot prove it one way or another if this is really a myth.

Remember, understanding these myths may help you become a safer and more informed rider!

If you have a Motorcycle Myth riders should be aware of let me know in the comments. - Oz

About Warren Massey – Warren began riding motorcycles at the age of 5, according to his mom, and has never looked back! Warren started his blog IJustWant2Ride.com in 2013 and currently has over 20,000 followers. Warren is also a co-host on the world’s longest running motorcycle podcast “The DawgHouse Motorcycle Radio” which has run weekly for 16 years.

Connect and follow Biker Oz on the following:

Please visit the following great companies:

THE ESSENTIALS FOR MODERATE SELF-IMPROVEMENT

Awesome gear for every rider!

Ordinary Biker Oz YouTube Channel has video reviews and more

* I have personally ordered from and/or visited these businesses and based on my experiences I recommend this company. I have an affiliate relationship with the businesses, which means if you follow this link and purchase, I will receive a small commission and will get to ride more!

Feedback on these businesses is appreciated. You may comment below.

HOME

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Rider to Rider Communications

Beat The Heat Tour 2023 at Lizard Head Pass, Colorado

Group rides can be a lot of fun but when a group is large it can be helpful to have communication with at least one other rider to help ensure the group is doing well and staying together. Although, for me the primary season I started using a Bluetooth communication set up was for music and in extreme cases the ability to make a call or receive a call while still moving, the ability to have up to date information about my group when I am leading is also important.

My first Bluetooth device was a Sena 20S I purchased in January 2016 and reviewed a three months later. That Sena was a good system. I used it up until the spring of 2023, I even removed the Sena from my helmet and took it with me to Italy when I rented a BMW (and helmet) and rode in the Alps for a week.

In the Spring of 2023 my wife's Sena 10S was not working well and battery life had degraded greatly. The 20S had served me well, but it time for a pair of new Bluetooth headsets. Of course all the research showed me the top two brands were Sena and Cardo. There are pros and cons with both brands and their different models. After a good amount of research and some input from friends I decided on switching to the Cardo Packtalk. Now over a year later what do I think?

Arai Nicky Hayden and Cardo Packtalk

Here are some of the notable differences that I like:

1) Cardo is Waterproof - Sena 20S water resistant (On various trips the Sena got wet and kept working, but I always took it off if the rain was going to hard or for a long time).

2) The Cardo is slimmer so it does not stick out from the helmet as much as the Sena.

I love the slim Cardo Packtalk.

3) Cardo mesh system connects easily with other Cardo's and with a little work it connects with Sena systems.

4) The JBL speakers that come with the Packtalk are great! When using the Sena I would plug in headbuds to the Sena and use them because even with my full face helmet the music was difficult to hear. (I understand Sena has upgrade and now has much better speakers.)

5) Taking the Packtalk off the helmet and replacing it is very easy.

Of course there are other difference but the five above are the ones that standout to me.

The controls are very easy to use even with a riding gloves. The sound quality is great! The Cardo Packtalk has voice activation for Siri so I can talk to Siri without using any of the controls. This feature is really nice to skip a song, have a text read, compose a text, make a call...

Sleek and yet easy to control and use.

So after riding over 23,000 miles with the Cardo as my communication system I have no regrets. The battery life has been great and the system has worked flawlessly.

If you need a high quality Bluetooth communication system I highly recommend the Cardo Packtalk.