January 07, 2009
Motorcycle Touring Made Easy
....the eZine
'January 2009'....inside this issue
- Welcome to the Motorcycle Touring Made Easy eZine
- Knowing the Basics - General Motorcycling
- Out on the Road - Riding and Safety
- Keeping Garage Time Short - Maintenance Tips
- Our View On Parts - Product Review
Welcome to the Motorcycle Touring Made Easy eZine
Welcome to our first issue of The Motorcycle Touring Made Easy eZine. Our goal with our website is to provide motorcycle touring information to others that would like to get involved or know more about motorcycle touring. We've spent the last year gathering information and getting it together on the site and now with our eZine we're looking to bring you more and up to date information directly to you.We hope that you find this information helpful and forward this eZine on to all your friends and if someone has sent this to you, please go to our home page and subscribe to get your own monthly copy. Just fill out the form and your there!
Here's some Hot News!!!
Our Forum is now online!
We have started a forum and would like to invite you and all your friends to join in and help us get started. Yes that's right, the database is empty and we are in need of some great discussion topics so help us make this forum yours. Stop by and help us build this forum with some great information for everyone.
Knowing the Basics - General Motorcycling
I think most people that ride see big touring bikes out on the road and say to themselves "that might be nice but how can you handle such a huge bike?" Well I'm here to tell you, like any other bike a large touring bike is only hard to handle at slow speeds, just like any other bike.Physics is the key here. Once the mass of the wheels begin to take over, the bike will stand up on its own. As I see it, you have to really try hard to dump the bike at speed. To give you the idea of what's happening, take the front wheel off a bicycle, hold the axle and spin the wheel. Some crazy forces take over don't they? This is what keeps your bike up.
Now push the right side of the axle away from you. WOW!! Yep that's counter steer. This is why when you want to lean the bike to the right, you have to gently push forward on the right hand grip. And vise versa to lean to the left. Bring the axle back inline and hte wheel straightens right out.
See this doesn't take muscle, size or gender to handle the physics behind handling a bike. Big bike, small bike or in between, they will all respond in the same manner provided you don't get too radical with rake and fork modifications.
So if you ever longed for a big touring bike but was not too sure, check one out, you'll be surprised at the handling once you get out of the parking lot.
Out on the Road - Riding and Safety
Safety is the key when it comes to motorcycle touring. We're not here to harp, just provide some common sense when out on the road. Motorcycle touring is a bit different when it comes to every day riding so here we'll talk about those and not just the day to day issues.When touring, you can be on your bike for a couple hundred miles at a time. So what factors come into play? Well my first thought is dehydration. The big thing here is that the wind blowing across your skin can wick the water right out of your body without you even knowing it. This can happen in the cold as well as the heat.
You don't get thirsty, just dehydrate this way. So it's that much more important to stay on top of the fluid intake. Make sure you have plenty of water and cover up. Yeah you may think it's hot but you'll be surprised at the comfort if you keep the hot dry air off you.
We've even closed our vents when it gets over 95 degrees. The hot air can make the ride feel like a stroll through a convection oven so keep the wind off you, cover up and drink, drink, drink when it gets hot.
Keeping Garage Time Short - Maintenance Tips
Yeah I know, we would all rather be out riding than sitting in the garage figuring out why something isn't working right on the bike. We'll be providing some tips here that we can be doing day to day to keep the time in the garage as short as possible.Before we get started I just want to say if you should have any good tips, be sure to visit our tips page and post it to our site so that others might learn a few tricks.
The simplest thing you can do to keep your bike on the road is check it over every chance you get. Most bikes are open enough to see things easily but who wants to do that every time we get on the bike and ride? I know, myself included I would rather be riding.
I do think we all like to show off our bikes though so here's what I do. When I get out the rags and cleaner to clean my bike, I look at everything, cables, fasteners, covers, etc. Heck I'm cleaning just about every surface I might as well check it for serviceability while I'm at it. I've found a few problems that I wouldn't have normally found and been able to fix them before they become major.
Our View On Parts - Product Review
A lot of time the comfort of a bike is based on the rider up front and not too much is given to the passenger. Usually who is up higher, in the wind, smaller seat, no storage. I'm sure you all (at least co-riders) know what I mean.So our product this month is about rear seat comfort and one of the simplest things to focus on is foot position. Where your feet are can make a big difference in rider comfort. We've seen many adjustable floor boards for the rear seat but the one we found that works best for our Goldwing is Kuryakyn's Transformers.
These floorboards mount right in and look like OEM parts. They flip up when not in use and when down allow for multiple positioning of the feet for the most passenger comfort. There are other makes and model available for other motorcycle models so check them out, but for passenger comfort for long rides, adjustability is the key to comfort.
For the 1500 and 1800 Goldwing, we recommend the Kuryakyn Transformers. They provide multiple foot positioning and the design mimics the OEM floorboard providing a nice look and finish.
Judy and I hope that you've enjoyed our eZine and if so, please send it on to your friends. If you have any tips that you would like to see posted on our site go to our tips page. We'll get them on our site and maybe use it in our eZine as well.
Also feel free to Contact Us with any questions or suggestions.