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Interesting note here

From regular reader and pollie stirrer Peter Hawker

-about the way the French government is making reflective patches on bike clothing mandatory – but only on bigger bikes (which are less often involved in accidents – go figure).

Peter’s mid-range bike was written off after a collision with a P plate driver at night in wet conditions. The driver identified the motorcycle on approach but moved into Peter’s lane anyway when he was less than 10 metres away.
“I was fully geared up in armoured ride gear and only had a dull headache after being back slammed onto the road after the collision,” writes Peter. “The P plater was charged and my safety gear enabled me to continue as if nothing had happened, though I had to ride the buses until insurance was sorted.”
Here’s Peter’s take on the French decision.
I am concerned about what the French pollies have done, especially when it does not encompass all riders of both motorised and manually powered scooters, bicycles and motorcycles, or perhaps even pedestrians for that matter.

All my synthetic ride gear has a lot of silver iridescent piping around many of the seams and is even highly visible inside a room during the day when sunlight strikes it. Some of my jackets even have hidden interwoven iridescent patches that become visible at night when lights shine upon it. My soft luggage also has iridescent patches on it.

I often notice people riding on scooters in particular but also motorcycles with their fluoro vest, but no actual personal protective ride gear and in fact they’re often in shorts and t-shirt with thongs on. Why they wear the brain box is beyond me with nothing inside to protect. Oh that’s right, the law requires it.

I am all for personal choice if people want the false feeling of safety in a fluoro vest, lost among all these people wearing fluoro/dayglo clothing and/or vests on a daily basis. Council worker, courier, truck driver, police officer, ambulance, fireman, traffic controller, construction worker, cleaner, postal officer, first aider, road construction worker, event volunteer… and it seems that the list continues to grow almost monthly.  

The risk in this is the desensitisation of the general public from taking notice of fluoro clothed people as it becomes a general clothing article, instead of a safety awareness tool.

As for police calling for mandatory fluoro personal protective gear… It really amuses me when you rarely ever see a motorcycle police officers riding with a protective jacket on, let alone a fluoro vest (NSW). Usually they’re in short sleeve uniform shirts in summer, seemingly bullet proof. Just another bunch of squids in my eyes.

Fluoro may be fine for some, but rider position is paramount in defensive riding skills and I also notice how the fluoro wearers often place themselves in blind spots.

My old bike was mostly white and rose coloured and my current larger bike is black. Both being 95 models have the headlight hard wired and yet I immediately noticed how my larger bike is given much more respect over my multi coloured mid-size bike, even though it is pearl black.
 
Peter Hawker

So wear fluoro all you like, but whatever you do: don’t depend on it!

The Bear

You want fluoro? You can have your fluoro.

Here’s a rundown of the state of the new French law requiring all (but not really all, see below) motorcyclists to wear fluoro orange or yellow, from a French blogger on MOTOrbiker.org.

“Recently a lot of foreign publications have been writing about the upcoming law in France, making it mandatory for motorcycle riders to wear hi-visibility (Hi-Viz) vests...
“Last year, the government announced that it was going to make the wearing of Hi-Viz vests mandatory. This meant we would have had to put a yellow or orange (the only colors permitted) vest over our leathers. Maybe nice in the winter, but in the summer, for those that wear meshed vests, or vests with air inlets, it would just mean that we would get boiling hot.
“After several protest rides, paralyzing parts of France, the government regained a bit of their senses, and 2 weeks ago announced the new law (R431-1-1 and R431-2-2). It's not good, but better than what they were going to do in the first place.
“Reflective Material Starting 2013 (so next year), it will be mandatory to have Hi-Viz, reflective, material on your vest. The total size of the reflective material has to be 150 cm2. It does not have to be one piece; it can be several pieces, as long as the sum of the pieces is 150 cm2. So if you wear one or two Hi-Viz armbands, you're fine.
“Already, by law, motorcycle helmets in France need to have reflective stickers on the back. These stickers are not part of the 150 cm2 sum.
“Who Has To Wear This? Motorcycles and scooters with more than 125 cc, or more than 15 kW/h power. Also trikes will require to wear them. This means that mopeds (the ones that have a lot of accidents) do NOT have to wear them. Also 125cc vehicles are exempt. Strange but true.
“When You Have To Wear Them? At all times, day, night, summer and winter.
“Do Foreigners Need Them? Yes.
“Pillions Pillion MUST wear the same reflective material.
“Fines If after January 1st, 2013 you get caught riding your motorcycle without the above reflective material, or if it's smaller than 150cm2, you will get fined €68, and 2 points will be deducted from your license.
“So now we see the real reason the government is installing this new law.... money.”

I suppose it’s reassuring that there are other nations where knee-jerk reactions are preferred to effective safety legislation, where patchwork (pun intended) solutions replace thought-out policies and where punishing the victim is considered appropriate.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if fluoro actually worked? I’ve never seen any credible (peer-reviewed) research that so much as suggested it.
Beware, if the safetycrats can do it in France they can do it here.
Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

The Census, it seems, doesn’t want to know about us

 

Were you annoyed by the exclusion of motorcycles from the Census? You weren’t alone. Here’s a typical letter from a reader. I got lots of these!

Hi Bear,

If we ever needed evidence that people who prefer 2 wheels to 4 don’t count, the govt. made it very clear in the census. They told us the census details were needed to improve infrastructure……blah blah blah.

Then I get to Q.54 “How many registered motor vehicles owned or used by residents of this dwelling were garaged or parked at or near this dwelling on Census Night?”  Then the note “Exclude motorbike and motor scooters.”

I think to myself they must ask for that separately on the next page – WRONG!

Just makes you realise that just like now they don’t want to consider us in the future – other than of course to rip us off whenever possible.

Steve Evans

Mornington

 

One possibility you haven’t considered, Steve, is that since motorcycles and scooters take up so little room, they don’t even need to be factored into future transport planning… no? No, I don’t believe that either.

This question came up at the last census, too, and I chased down a response from the people who put the questions together. If anything, clearing this up made it worse.

“Nobody asked,” was the response. Nobody asked about bike and scooter ownership. And the people who did ask about vehicles, only wanted to know – specifically – about cars. Couldn’t be bothered with bikes.

“Well, I’m asking!” I said. But it seems that I’m just not important enough to get my own question into the census. I’m not (thank heavens, really) a government department or a planning authority or anything useful like that. I’m just a taxpayer trying to do the right thing.

So there you have it. Until someone who has the clout cares enough to ask for bikes to be included, they will miss out in the Australian census.

At least they did ask us if we went to work by bike.

This whole thing is symptomatic of the car-focus of Australian transport planners, of course. How can we get them to take bikes and scooters, which could do so much good, seriously as part of the transport mix?

Well, I guess it’s the old story – write to your parliamentary representative, both State and Federal, and copy the letter or e-mail to the respective transport and roads ministers. It’s up to us – nobody else is going to do this for us.

Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

 

 

A report from the Victorian Auditor-General has backed the technology, which brought in about $211 million revenue for the government in 2009-2010

Road safety cameras – speed and red light -- improve road safety and revenue is not the primary purpose of the program, according to a report released by the Victorian Auditor-General (VAG).

In the 90-page report, the VAG identified a number of so-called road safety camera misconceptions which included:
•   The purpose of the road safety camera program is to raise revenue;
•   Low-level speeding is safe;
•   Road safety cameras don’t reduce road trauma;
•   Road safety cameras are sited to maximise revenue;
•   Speed cameras should not be placed on freeways because freeways are safe; and
•   The cameras are faulty, as shown by the fines withdrawn from the Road Safety Act 1986.
The VAG then countered these so-called misconceptions with its own 'evidence'.
"This report, tabled in Parliament today, found Victoria's speed and red-light cameras are focused on road safety, not raising revenue," stated Victorian Deputy Premier and Police Minister Peter Ryan. "Auditor-General Des Pearson has independently validated the state's road safety camera program and quashed the common misconception these cameras are revenue raisers."
However, the report does admit that ““Any program that aims to deter dangerous and risky behaviour through the use of fines will generate revenue,” fine so far, “but this is demonstrably not the primary purpose of the road safety camera program. In fact, more revenue could be raised through tightening operational policies that provide for some leniency to speeding drivers and therefore reduce the number of infringements issued.” Really? This would be the leniency that currently allows a margin of error of 3km/h, a speed differential so small that you can’t see it on your speedo dial, would it?
According to Mr Ryan, the report "underscored the fairness" of Victoria Police’s approach to issuing infringements from the road safety camera program.
The VAG concluded that the ongoing use of road safety cameras as an enforcement tool remains appropriate. The report continued: “The supporting technology used and the way the camera system operates provides a high degree of confidence that infringements are issued only where there is clear evidence of speeding or red-light running.

And that’s it? That’s a road safety program? Fine everyone who speeds and everything will be all right? Don’t make me laugh. And don’t believe these people, either.
Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

The Census, it seems, doesn’t want to know about us

Were you annoyed by the exclusion of motorcycles from the Census?

You weren’t alone.

Here’s a typical letter from a reader. I got lots of these!

Hi Bear,
If we ever needed evidence that people who prefer 2 wheels to 4 don’t count, the govt. made it very clear in the census. They told us the census details were needed to improve infrastructure……blah blah blah.
Then I get to Q.54 “How many registered motor vehicles owned or used by residents of this dwelling were garaged or parked at or near this dwelling on Census Night?”  Then the note “Exclude motorbike and motor scooters.”
I think to myself they must ask for that separately on the next page – WRONG!
Just makes you realise that just like now they don’t want to consider us in the future – other than of course to rip us off whenever possible.
Steve Evans
Mornington
One possibility you haven’t considered, Steve, is that since motorcycles and scooters take up so little room, they don’t even need to be factored into future transport planning… no? No, I don’t believe that either.
This question came up at the last census, too, and I chased down a response from the people who put the questions together. If anything, clearing this up made it worse.
“Nobody asked,” was the response. Nobody asked about bike and scooter ownership. And the people who did ask about vehicles, only wanted to know – specifically – about cars. Couldn’t be bothered with bikes.
“Well, I’m asking!” I said. But it seems that I’m just not important enough to get my own question into the census. I’m not (thank heavens, really) a government department or a planning authority or anything useful like that. I’m just a taxpayer trying to do the right thing.
So there you have it. Until someone who has the clout cares enough to ask for bikes to be included, they will miss out in the Australian census.
At least they did ask us if we went to work by bike.
This whole thing is symptomatic of the car-focus of Australian transport planners, of course. How can we get them to take bikes and scooters, which could do so much good, seriously as part of the transport mix?
Well, I guess it’s the old story – write to your parliamentary representative, both State and Federal, and copy the letter or e-mail to the respective transport and roads ministers. It’s up to us – nobody else is going to do this for us.
Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

Insurance company Budget Direct has done some research on attitudes towards bicycles and by bicyclists. It makes interesting reading (I’ve edited it a little), and in many cases you can substitute “motorcycle” for “bicycle”...

“There is no doubt that Cadel Evans winning the Tour De France will increase the number of cyclists on our roads.  The following results prove that better education needs to start now!
“Disturbing results prove an ‘at your own risk’ mentality exists in the motoring community as 44% of drivers believe that while cyclists have a right to use our roads, their safety is their own responsibility, ignoring that all road users have a responsibility for each others’ safety. “Furthermore, only 19% admit that motorists need to change their views about cyclists on our roads says car insurance provider Budget Direct.
“On the contrary, 32% of cyclists say that motorists need to change their views in regards to safety and learn to be patient, while 26% state that governments promote cycling because it eases traffic congestion, so all road users need to be aware of road safety.   
“Spokesperson for Budget Direct Richelle Ward said the alarming results uncover a negative driver mentality that needs to be addressed now or we risk unnecessary accidents.
“Unnecessary swerving, abuse, and lack of consideration due to driving too close, or disregarding road rules are immature and dangerous behaviours conducted by both motorists and cyclists. Both need to show more respect and stop putting lives in danger,” Ms Ward said.
“The results also found that, 59% of motorists felt that a lack of allowance for bikes on our roads is the most difficult issue facing cyclists, a further 34% say that motorists’ own awareness in regards to cyclist’s safety - including not keeping a safe distance and not being aware of bike-related road rules -  is what makes cyclists vulnerable.
“Cyclists, on the other hand, agree lack of allowance for bikes is a problem (39%), although a whopping 51% are concerned about motorists’ awareness in relation to cyclists, predominantly due to a need for motorists to keep a safe distance (35%), and motorists’ poor understanding of road rules making sharing the road difficult for cyclists (16%).”    
All interesting stuff, I’m sure you’ll agree. But isn’t it funny that nobody ever made this kind of fuss when an Australian won a motorcycle world championship...
Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

In Gilbert & Sullivan’s Mikado, Lord High Executioner Ko-Ko has “a little list” of people who would never be missed if they were to disappear. I imagine you have one too; I certainly do.

You might be surprised, though, that the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) was not on mine, alongside all the people who are there including Sydney taxi drivers and smokers who ash their cigarettes out of the windows of moving cars.
Why was the RTA not there? It was certainly one organisation that deserved it, but I always thought that it would be pointless to include it. I thought the RTA was bulletproof.
So did the RTA, obviously.
Parliamentarians from both sides of the fence have been battling them for decades, but few ever got anywhere. Even when the organisation was “punished” for things like ridiculous overestimates of the traffic that would use proposed tunnels, it sure looked like all that happened was that a scapegoat or two was driven out (and then given a nice job somewhere else in government). The RTA itself went on.
The management of the RTA has been implacably hostile to motorcyclists and motorcycling. One chief executive was on the record as saying that, should motorcycles be invented now the RTA would never allow them on the roads. Arrogance? In spades.
When I tried, in the early stages of my work for Sydney City Council, to get some sense out of them about bike parking, they responded with wonderful circular arguments which led nowhere except to the maintenance of the status quo – no parking. We beat them in the end, but it was a hard slog (Thank you, Clover Moore). Intransigence? Tell me about it.
So it was very tempting indeed to join the other Munchkins dancing around the corpse and singing “Ding dong, the witch is dead” when the new O’Farrell government did a Ko-Ko on the RTA. It is clearly going to be emasculated and kept under control by being merged with Maritime Services and then put under a new super ministry.
But as always there are caveats.
One of the advantages of having powerful bodies like the RTA is that they can give ministers truly independent advice; that’s valuable. It’s just a shame that they couldn’t let go of their own limited agendas, and hubris overtook them.
Likewise, the RTA did do some good. I consulted for them for a while (talk about sleeping with the enemy!) and found them to be not a single organisation at all, but a series of more or less independent fiefdoms, each with its own agenda. The fiefdom looking after motorcycle safety did a good job, in my opinion – at least until its work came to the attention of someone higher up the food chain who couldn’t resist meddling.
Let’s hope that the good they did goes on; I suspect it will, because this government seems to have its head screwed on properly in its attitude to bikes.
So please excuse me. I’ve got to find some red shoes and practice that chorus: “Ding dong, the wicked witch is dead...”
Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

 

Problems with ethanol

How about a fuel tank that rusts out?

Every now and then I’m accused of being alarmist over the increasing use of ethanol-laced fuel. Well, I’m not alone. Try this story from the New York Times, by TUDOR VAN HAMPTON. The emphasis (sentences in bold) is mine.
 
IT was not such an extraordinary wish, really. All Sam Hokin wanted to do was fill his motorcycle with gasoline.

The problem was, he wanted just gasoline in the tank, not a blend spiked with ethanol. Though ethanol proponents say that vehicles like Mr.
Hokin’s BMW K75, a 1991 model, will tolerate the brew known as gasohol pumped at most filling stations, he insists on finding alcohol-free fuel.
Mr. Hokin, a physics teacher and Web site developer, is not alone.

Many owners of boats, snowmobiles and garden tractors, and users of yard tools like string trimmers and chainsaws, say they would prefer buying gasoline that contains no ethanol. Online forums and car-club newsletters teem with complaints of poor performance and breakdowns attributed to gasohol.

Restorers of vintage cars point to problems caused by the decay of older rubber components like seals, gaskets and flexible fuel lines, which can deteriorate when exposed to ethanol-blend fuels. Some replacement parts are available in modern materials that resist alcohol damage, but not all are.

“It’s really a problem, and unfortunately, there is nothing you can do about it,” said Keith Flickinger, curator of the Nicola Bulgari collection in Allentown, Pa. “Not a lot of people are making high-tech stuff for the antique cars.”

There is no simple remedy for this situation, either. If anything, the pressure to develop the market for renewable fuels is making 100 percent gasoline more of a challenge to find.

Some 70 percent of the gasoline sold in the United States contains ethanol, according to the American Coalition for Ethanol, most of it at a concentration of 10 percent, known as E10.

The shift toward alcohol-dosed gas began after the oil shocks of the 1970s and accelerated in the 1990s with a federal mandate that fuels contain a minimum level of oxygen, a measure intended to reduce carbon monoxide emissions. Alcohol blends helped to meet that requirement, and as a side benefit raised the gasoline’s octane rating — a potential performance advantage.

In January, the Environmental Protection Agency approved gasoline-ethanol blends up to 15 percent ethanol, called E15, in cars, light trucks and sport utilities built after 2000.

The E15 waiver raised a decades-old cap of 10 percent on ethanol blends for general use. Even at that higher federal limit, the ability of fuel producers to meet Congressional mandates calling for much higher volumes of renewable fuels is not assured. The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act requires producers to increase renewable fuel production eightfold — to 36 billion gallons by 2022, from 4 billion in 2006 — with 21 billion gallons coming from advanced biofuels like cellulosic ethanol.

“The 10 percent fuel blend was essentially a wall,” said Chris Thorne, a spokesman for Growth Energy, an ethanol industry group. In 2009, Growth Energy filed a petition with the E.P.A. to raise the ethanol blend cap to 15 percent for all vehicles, regardless of vintage.
In reviewing the petition, the E.P.A. collected vehicle test data and sifted through more than 78,000 public comments.
Ethanol supporters argued that the E.P.A. should approve E15 across the board. “There is a mountain of data behind this,” Mr. Thorne said. “We think E15 should perform in all vehicles.”

Still, many consumers would rather not have any alcohol in their gasoline. Their reasons include reductions in fuel economy — a gallon of ethanol contains about one-third less energy than a gallon of gasoline — and alcohol’s affinity for moisture, which can cause a multitude of engine problems.

The frustration of searching for alcohol-free gas for his BMW motorcycle led Mr. Hokin, who lives in Madison, Wis., to an increasingly popular solution: he started a Web site, pure-gas.org.
But in his quest to help other hobbyists around the country find 100 percent gas, Mr. Hokin encountered something he did not expect — a barrage of political debates on his site.

“What I didn’t want it to become is an anti-ethanol gathering place,” Mr. Hokin said. “The reason I made the site is so I could go tour on my motorcycle and get pure gas.”

It could be some time before regulatory hurdles, lawsuits and technical matters are resolved and E15 arrives at filling stations. But heated discussions on Mr. Hokin’s Web site provide an indication of how emotional the ethanol issue can be.
Even auto racing series have taken a stand. IndyCar, organizer of the championship for Indianapolis 500 cars, and the American Le Mans Series for endurance racing were early adopters of ethanol blends, approving the use of concentrations up to 100 percent ethanol.
Since the beginning of the 2011 season, Nascar’s top three national racing series have been using a Sunoco blend of E15 rated at 104 octane. Nascar has reported a small horsepower improvement — less than 1 percent — and a slight reduction in fuel economy.
The race-sanctioning group acknowledges that the switch in fuels was driven by factors other than on-track performance.
“Any replacement to the percentage of carbon fuels is going to help lessen the dependence on foreign oil,” said John Darby, managing director of competition at Nascar. “We could let the debates go on forever or try to be more proactive. We wanted to be ahead of the game, to do something.”

The decision made by the E.P.A. in January expanded an earlier waiver, announced in October, that covered vehicles 2007 and newer. The broadened ruling covers vehicles back to 2001, reflecting the E.P.A.’s stance that E15 fuel would not harm the emissions equipment on those vehicles, but it declined to allow the higher gasohol blend for vehicles from the 2000 model year and earlier. The agency also is not allowing E15 for heavy-duty vehicles, motorcycles, snowmobiles, boats and lawnmowers of any model year.

“In our judgment, 2001 and newer cars have more ethanol-tolerant fuel systems, evaporative emissions controls, internal engine components and catalysts,” an E.P.A. spokeswoman, Cathy Milbourn, wrote in an e-mail.

Running higher ethanol blends is especially a problem for catalytic converters, which are susceptible to premature failure resulting from higher exhaust temperatures. Ethanol’s higher oxygen content, compared with gasoline, tends to raise combustion temperatures. That can increase the formation of smog-forming gases, mainly nitrogen oxides, which catalysts are designed to clean up.

Vehicles made before 2001 “may have been designed for only limited exposure to E10 and consequently may have the potential for increased materials degradation with the use of E15,” said the E.P.A. in its original waiver decision last fall.

When used in lawnmowers, leafblowers and other equipment not designed to run on gasohol, the extra heat and added emissions are a safety issue, according to groups opposing the E15 waiver.

“All of us are O.K. with ethanol, all of us are O.K. with designing new products,” said Kris Kiser, spokesman for the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute. “We don’t want anybody hurt. That’s our beef.”

The power equipment group, along with automakers and boatbuilders, is challenging the waiver in a lawsuit filed Dec. 20 in federal appellate court.
The E.P.A. is writing a pump-labeling rule to warn drivers against putting E15 in vehicles not covered under the waiver. Regulators expect to issue a final rule in the spring, Ms. Milbourn said.

In addition to emission controls, fuel systems are at risk with increased ethanol levels in cars not designed to withstand the corrosive effects of alcohol-based fuels. Especially in older vehicles using carburetors and flexible fuel lines, ethanol poses particular challenges to those hoping to keep vintage cars on the road.

As E10 has worked its way into the nation’s fuel supply, old-car restorers have taken to rebuilding carburetors, whenever possible, with larger jets to let more gasoline into the engine.

With standard jets, the usual problem is drivability, Larry Claypool, a mechanic and restorer in Frankfort, Ill., said. “The cars have hesitation or surging — symptoms of running lean.”

That is not a problem on later models. "In the newer cars that have electronic fuel injection and oxygen sensors, a sensor reads the exhaust and tells the computer to change the mixture,” said Rod Dahlgren, a classic car collector and restorer in Napa, Calif. “A carburetor can’t do that.”
Changing to larger carburetor jets is one way that racing teams are achieving higher horsepower figures with E15, Mr. Darby, the Nascar official, said. “The auto manufacturers — to meet their fuel-economy standards — with their onboard fuel injectors will lean out the mixture,” Mr. Darby said. “As it relates to a racing engine that is mechanically tuned, the teams will richen the fuel that the engine sees a little bit.”
Condensation in the gas tank is another problem in older cars, especially ones that are driven infrequently. In cars with vented gas caps, moisture can readily enter the fuel tank and contaminate the supply.

Because ethanol, like vodka and other grain alcohols, mixes with water, it can separate from gasoline in the tank, causing the engine to stall, or worse, increase corrosion.

“I just got off the phone with a guy in Texas who is looking for a new gas tank for his ’58 Cadillac,” Mr. Dahlgren said. “The car is sitting in the garage, and all of a sudden, it starts to leak. It’s not a good scenario.”

In an effort to combat corrosion and fuel degradation, some restorers will fill up with 100 percent gasoline before storing cars for long stretches.
Mr. Flickinger, the Bulgari curator, goes a step further, occasionally filling the collection’s cars with 115-octane racing fuel. Though it may not be legal for cars driven on public roads, it keeps the engines clean and improves performance.

“Everything comes to life,” he said. “It’s like giving it something good to eat.”

Mr. Dahlgren, the California collector, is concerned about owners who prefer to drive, rather than just display, their vintage machines.
“More and more cars have been relegated to the garage because we don’t want to damage them with the fuels out there,” he said. “It’s really a shame, especially when you consider how few of them are left. We’re trying to preserve history.”

Here’s an interesting piece from the internet news service Slate.

“Red-light cameras aren't just municipal moneymakers, according to a new study. They also save lives, reports the Washington Post. The presence of red-light cameras at intersections in 14 cities reduced fatalities by 13 percent over a five-year period, the study found.
“In Washington, D.C., the cameras lowered deaths by 26 percent. "We're hopeful this will stop some of the backlash against cameras," said Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that carried out the study by examining police reports. "Much of the attention to victims of the camera has been paid to people who received tickets. Hopefully, this will return the focus to the people who have been killed or injured by red-light running."
“The police reports showed that 64 percent of the people who died in red-light running accidents were not the people driving the cars, but other drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists. One downside to the cameras: They increase the number of (usually less serious) rear-end collisions as drivers screech to a halt to avoid an incriminating snapshot.”
That last one might look like a bit of a worry for motorcyclists, of course – but it seems that we don’t have to worry. The only people killed so far seem to be “the people driving the cars… [and] other drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists”.
Motorcyclists must be too smart for them… just as well, really, because the “usually less serious” rear-enders are usually very serious for us!
Can’t wait for a report that assures us that speed cameras… sorry, “safety cameras” are saving lives too.

Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

You often read about the reasons why various people ride their bikes.

There are many good ones, and I reckon they are all correct – for those particular riders, and for many others as well.
But it’s rare that you see one of the reasons presented as beautifully and thoughtfully as it is in this clip. Thank you, Peter Hawker, for sending it to me. And please note that it was made by… no, I won’t spoil it for you. Play it through to the end, and I suspect you will be truly surprised.
I’ll be surprised if you watch it to the end with dry eyes.
All the best, and happy riding.
The Bear


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZ15mbuE_pw&feature=player_embedded

No, not specifically because of the Ulysses Club AGM, although that will bring quite a few people to town.

The big boost has come from Lonely Planet’s decision to list Newcastle as one of the world’s top 10 cities. It has resulted in a 10-15 per cent rise in backpacker visitors alone, according to the local council.  
Newcastle Council tourism and economic development manager Simon McArthur told the ABC that the recommendation had brought thousands more backpackers to the city in search of local experiences they cannot find in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. The mind boggles a wee bit as to what those might be, apart from free punchups outside the pub*, but then what do I know?
McArthur added: “A lot of our backpackers are really, really happy being on our beaches because they’re there with all the locals enjoying it at the same time.”
He said many visitors swap Coogee or Bondi for Newcastle because “it’s not full of backpackers” and offers access to a more relaxed lifestyle. Of course now he and Lonely Planet have stuffed that up, but there you go.
The reason for this blog actually had nothing to do with Newcastle per se, as they say down in that arty-farty haven of backpackers, Sydney. No, it’s intended to apologise to our regular Ulysses readers for the absence of ARR and Cruiser+Trike magazines at the upcoming Ulysses AGM. I won’t go into too many details because, frankly, I would not like to be seen to be disloyal to the club (I am member #675, and was fortunate enough to be able to assist in its formation).
Nevertheless, I just want you to know that we were not invited to participate this year, to employ the “official” phrase. It was not our idea.
I’ll have to see you on the road instead.
Oh, by the way, many Ulyssians will find that their subscription comes due at about the time of the AGM. Please just re-subscribe by mail. We might have lost the opportunity o see you at Newcastle, but we’d hate to lose touch completely!
*This is a joke, okay? No, seriously, just a joke. Please don’t punch me next time you see me in a Newcastle pub, all right?

Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

Like its namesake, the one from Samothrace, Victory Motorcycles is spreading its wings.

Unlike the statue, it does have a head: in Sydney that’s motorcycle industry veteran Ezio Forcella. After a lengthy stint marketing Moto Guzzi and Aprilia, Ezio has come to Victory and dived right into the deep end by establishing the new store.

It’s been a long, hard job; I visited Ezio a couple of times while the store was being built and he was flat out each time, but it’s been worth it. I’ll let Victory Managing Director Peter Alexander introduce it:

The new Victory Motorcycles store has opened its doors in Sydney. It is our second company owned store, with the first being our Melbourne store on Elizabeth Street. Victory Sydney is at 554 Parramatta Road, Ashfield, about 8km from the Sydney CBD.

“We’ve upped the ante in Sydney with over 1200 square metres of premium showroom and workshop space.

“The showroom has dedicated constellations for all variants in the Cruiser and Touring model range, huge accessory display areas, and designated customer areas including delivery bays, coffee bar and a state of the art multimedia area with interactive features such as iPads.

“The dealership has easy access with a turning lane on Parramatta Rd to our drive way and access to plenty of parking with bike parking available under cover.”

And the opening party, on the 29^th of January, was an absolute knockout. I won’t go into too many details because I don’t want to make you jealous, but I know that along with the other guests, the 80 Victory owners who rode up from Melbourne to celebrate the opening were stoked.

I’m already getting people who don’t know the first thing about bikes but know that I’m involved with them, coming up to me and saying “what’s that new big bike shop out there on Parramatta Road?”, so there is no doubt it’s being noticed.

And it made me think a bit about the current internet versus bricks-and-mortar shopping arguments; more of that soon in another blog.

 

Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

 

I promised you some comments about the current internet versus bricks-and-mortar shopping argument.

This is a subject that anybody in business needs to take very seriously, including magazine publishers; our publishers are getting in there with an electronic version of Australian Road Rider, both iPad and computer friendly, which will launch soon.
But what about the motorcycle industry? We’re going to do a serious story about this in ARR soon, but in the meantime, here are some thoughts.
It’s clear that more and more people are shopping on the internet. Gerry Harvey did his bit for online shopping by drawing attention to the disparity in prices, something that I just… suspect he didn’t intend. But there can be other advantages, too, including quick delivery.
It is, however, easy to get carried away with the advantages. There are disadvantages, too. You can’t (directly) see and feel the goods; you don’t know that you can trust the seller; you may find that the bike accessory you’ve bought fits the US version of your bike, not the Australian one; you may be stuck with something that runs on a different voltage, or that is superseded, or just plain wrong.
And you’d better be sure that the instructions are comprehensive and understandable, because  you can’t just duck down to the bike shop and get things cleared up for you.
Ah yes, the bike shop. I hear a lot about profiteering by bike shops. All I can say is that their owners must be bloody good actors because they don’t seem all that prosperous to me. Nobody I know who runs a bike shop drives around in a Bentley.
So please keep this in mind: if the bike shops disappear, which they could in the highly unlikely event that most motorcycle-related purchases switch to the web, your everyday life as a motorcyclist is going to become a fair bit harder. Not just because you won’t be able to get your bike serviced, either.
But more on that subject when we compile our big retail report!

Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

The Moto Guzzi NTX story was not one of our brighter moments...

“Dear Mr Bear,” wrote Guzzi Phill from Mackay in Queensland, “I was really pleased to see you had an article about the new Moto Guzzi NTX, however someone really needs a kick in the smalls;

“The main picture on page (106) is of a standard Stelvio – not the NTX; in fact most of the photo’s have been lifted from elsewhere. And then not only do I read that your astute tester recommends an extra Tooth on the Rear Sprocket, but your proof reader/layout person compounds the mistake with a picture of a Stelvio and boxed text clearly showing the typical Guzzi Shaft Drive - not to mention the lack of the ABS rotor on page (109) etc.
“I’d come to expect much better from this excellent periodical – not this loosely pulled together edition of “careless” inaccuracies.”

Umm... yep. Quite right.

We had come to expect more from ourselves as well, Phill.

We screwed up, big time. And just to make sure that the blame lands where it deserves to land, we all screwed up: Stuart, who wrote the piece; Terri, who subbed it and wrote the boxes; and I, who supplied the wrong photos and didn’t pick up the shaft drive error.

No excuses. We are truly sorry, and we will do our best to make sure it doesn’t happen again. We’ll find out just what it is that Stuart has against shaft drives, and we’ll get Terri a new set of glasses, and as for me – what can I say? It’s cheap bourbon again for the Bear...

Slow news day or not, only Channel 7 carried a report on our Rally outside State Parliament in Sydney on Tuesday - but it was a good segment, managing to present our case fairly sympathetically.

Of the newspapers the following day, only the Sydney Morning Herald carried a piece... in its The Diary social pages.

But we did get somewhere. When the rally had dispersed, the minister responsible for the Motor Accident Authority, Michael Daley, met with Rob Colligan, chairman of the Motorcycle Council of NSW and speaker at the rally, and promised to make available the data used by the insurance companies to set the new prices. Mr Daley said while a third of the state’s 170,000 motorcycle owners will pay more for their green slip, more than 50 per cent would pay less, and 12 per cent would face an increase of $10 or less.

It’s good to see that something positive is happening, but keep writing those letters. The besieged Ms Kenneally needs to be reminded of the voting power of thousands of motorcycle riders.

A proper show of helmets!

Many hundreds of motorcycle riders jammed the pavements on both sides of the road outside Parliament House, in Macquarie Street, Sydney today to protest against the outrageous rise in CTP costs that we face.

There were plenty of angry faces in the crowd, and we had every right to be vocal about our dissatisfaction that there has been no sane and reasonable response by those in government to our complaints about the unmitigated insurance company CTP money-grab.

The Riders Against Bureaucracy, and we hope ARR, had done a good job spreading the word about the rally and in making sure the riders and the media showed up. Well, we certainly showed up so let’s see how much coverage we get on what should be a slow news day and how much impact we make on those who have the power to do something about this.

Rob Colligan of the MCC made a great speech about the unfair increase in CTP rates – in some cases over 100% more – and he managed to remain rational about the situation, pointing out one bit of idiocy after another and calling on the state government, any government - to take up the case on our behalf.

There were cheers, boos and, when prompted, an unmistakable show of helmets by riders who are demonstrably fed up with bending over and taking such bureaucratic unfairness. It was a great show of solidarity. People watching were in no doubt that we were not happy. “We want action!” – was the rally cry.

Lines of bikes were parked three deep along the roadway behind the Hospital and riders made their way on foot to the pavement outside Parliament House where the Dykes on Bikes acted as marshalls for the milling riders. There were Ulysees Club members, Vietnam Vets and, with their own special police escort, members of the Nomad MCC. Many motorcycle riders continually circled the block to call further attention our message.

There were plenty of police on foot, on bikes and in cars as riders stood waiting to hear from the political speakers who had been invited. One after another, Rob Colligan, called out their names and invited them to take the microphone:

The Premier of NSW, Kristina Keneally – no show.
The Minister for the MAA, Eric Roozendaal – no show
The Minister for Roads, David Borger – no show
The Leader of the Opposition, Barry O’Farrell – accepted, but no show
The Shadow Minister for Transport – declined

The only politician who did brave the crowd and was willing to hear our message was The Shadow Minister for Roads, Andrew Stoner, who received a, let’s say, cynically welcome reception. We warmed to him however, as he seemed to understand the situation and as a Liberal/Country Party member promised to make sure that in future correct data was submitted on our behalf.

While what we all did today was satisfying and many of us got some rage off our chests, we cannot stop this campaign. If you are angry about CTP price rises, write to the Premier and write to the State Opposition expressing your dissatisfaction. Remember, we vote!

Are Mark Twain’s jaundiced words appropriate in Victoria?

LOntime motorcycle safety activist Damien Codognotto OAM, of the Independent Riders' Group, sent me this note about an article in Melbournes The Sunday Herald Sun. It appeared on Page 13, August 29, 2010.

"NO MORE EASY RIDING"

"....In an overhaul of existing motorcycle licencing, the Brumby Government is considering a stricter testing, training and skills assessment to make it tougher to take to the road on two wheels. ..."

Read the whole antibike propaganda page at heraldsun.com.au . Make a written comment. Several other recent antibike stories are listed on the website. Vote Brumby's state wreckers last this November.

The question is loaded. "Do you agree with the stricter (bike) tests?"
Yes, IF, you bring car drivers up to that standard first, otherwise NO. Car drivers cause most pedestrian, bicycle and motorcycle & scooter injuries even if too many drivers do not stop after a collision or near thing.

The statistics used are false, twisted or at best rubbery. Even the Victorian Motorcycle Advisory Council (VMAC)admits research to base motorcycle & scooter statistics on is virtually non-existent in Victoria.

How's this one for a state where compliance with helmet laws is 99.9%? "...3% were not wearing a helmet." They leave out that our road stats are inflated 40% with 'off-road' figures the 3% are likely cockies crossing from one paddock to another or bush bashers.

And they trot out that utterly bogus TAC tripe that road riders are 38 times more likely to be seriously injured than car drivers. Of course TAC won't let you see the hard data or the methodology used to come to this extraordinary conclusion. I suspect it's from O/S, probably North America. I suspect you could use similar nonsense to show car drivers are 38 times more likely to injure someone else rather than themselves.

The fact is that most pedestrian, bicycle and motorcycle & scooter injuries are caused by car driver error so a small improvement in driver skills and behaviour would result in a significant reduction in vulnerable road user casualties, including fatals. To reduce road trauma, improve drivers. Bring driver skills up to rider skill standards before another crackdown on road riders.

The fact is that in 5 years the number of legitimate road riders in Australia is up over 50%. Casualties are down 25%. Riding a motorcycle or scooter in traffic has never been safer in Victoria.

And powered two-wheelers are good for car drivers. Like bicycles, they cause less pollution, reduce traffic jams and take less car parking space. And they pay as much road tax as a 4WD.

But the antibike culture is rife in the trinity, TAC/Police/VicRoads. And police want their anti-association laws so any vilification of riders is fine with a lot of them. "With 34 motorbike fatalities on Victorian roads so far this year, 12 more than in 2009, Victoria Police Supt Neville Taylor said the death rate of motorbike riders was "a real issue' ..." Of course it's a real issue just as who's killing and injuring them is a (bigger) real issue.

But the numbers are too small to be statistically real. Twelve more dead in 2010 is a fact but if 40% were off-road (Victorian Accident Surveillance Unit at Monash) maybe 4 of these deaths should not be included so the propaganda seems more credible. And the increase may be an aberration, some could be due to the increase in kilometres travelled or riders out there or wet roads after the ten-year drought? we won't know because they won't do good research.

Think I'm over-reacting? the Herald Sun would have done its' homework and got this lot right? Well how about this? "... They also allow a person to complete learner and licence tests on an automatic motorcycle, often a motor scooter with an engine capacity up to 250cc ..." Hello! Anyone tell them about LAMs? If they got this very basic, well publicised fact wrong, what else is crook at the Sun Hun. This story is not about road safety, it's about bikie bashing, even if you are a commuter on a scooter.

One thing I know is a fact, under the Bracks/Brumby governments the antibike culture in the trinity has come to the fore. The motorcycle community has copped a decade of kicking. The priority has been enforcement, restriction and tax.

Motorcycle & scooter riders can't afford any more Brumby.

http://www.gopetition.com.au/petitions/abolish-tac-antibike-tax.html

Okay, me again. Whether you agree with Damien or not you need to take his comments seriously; he’s identifying a real and present danger to us all. Yes, the rest of Australia might well follow Victoria (and it could be argued that Queensland is already well ahead). So what are we going to do about all this? Your comments are welcome.

Peter “The Bear” Thoeming

Hello Australia - believe it or not, this is the first time I have been in South America. The closest I've come previously was a trip through the Panama Canal - and the less said about that, the better...

I'm in a place called Puno, in Peru, waiting for the Compass Expeditions tour I'm going to join for the next couple of weeks. We're going to ride some amazing roads up here in the Andes and see places I've long wanted to look at, including Macchu Picchu and the Nazca lines.

I must admit that I was a little worried about he trip over here, flying from Sydney to Auckland, Santiago, Lima and then Juliaca, just up the road from here. It turned out to involve 4 hours sleep in 44 hours' travel, but somehow I was still human when I got off the plane. That's when the altitude sickness got me. It gets higher a bit later on the trip, but it's high enough even here to make you feel like a very tired kitten. I'm on Sorojchi Pills which contain mostly aspirin, but promise to be la solucion contra el mal d'attitude. I've only just taken my first pill after a full day here, because I thought I could tough it out. Seems I can't; it's like flu with a couple more symptoms, like sleeplessness...

I did have a wander through the narrow and exotic streets of Puno, and discovered that they really do serve guinea pig. Should I try it? I've eaten most other things, even though I was fooled in to tasting dog by a Chinese guide who insisted that it was pork.

The Compass tour will arrive here this afternoon from La Paz, and I'm looking forward to meeting my fellow riders. When Mick from Compass invited me along on one of their trips I kept moaning about how I didn't have time, so he's made this as time-effective as possible. I'll be eternally grateful to him for building in a couple of days to acclimatise to the altitude, though!

From what I've seen of the country so far - from the air and then the three-quarter hour drive from Juliaca - it's very dry and very hilly. The road seemed pretty good out in the country, but absolutely appalling in towns. I have no idea how the spindly three-wheeled motorcycle taxis manage it without breaking into several pieces.

The prestige bike here is a 125 Honda; most of the others seem to be Chinese, although I've never seen most of the brands before - even in China! I'm pleased to say that I'll be riding a BMW F650GS, one of my favourite dual purpose bikes. Not sure how I'd go on a Chinese 125, even if it was hand painted in several clashing colours, as many of them here are.

Not sure if there's a helmet law, but if there is it's only the flash riders on their near-new Honda's who bother to obey. Among the others, the Inca trilby is popular.

I think it's time for me have a bit of a lie-down again.

Catch you soon.

Greetings from Lake Titticaca,

The Bear

We’re used to having things fly through the air and thwack into us while we’re out riding. You know, the usual nuisances; stones, very hard beetles, vast swarms of bees that kamakazi into you and leave your jacket and helmet oozing with furry honey. Or clouds of locusts so dense you end up covered in wing fragments and what looks like soft boiled egg. I once followed a coach down a really narrow dirt road and when I arrived white powdery dust had stuck to my Belstaff jacket and I looked as if I’d been dipped in flour ready to be fried. At the rest stop, the coach passengers all wanted to know my round Australia story. “I’ve been stuck behind your coach for 20 kilometres you turkeys.”

Then there critters we hit.

We dodge dogs, roos, and even emus. One of my girlfriends was once chased by an angry emu that seemed to thought she was competing for females and it finally succeeded in tipping her off the bike. Afterwards she painted a symbol of an emu on her tank to accompany the two painted kangaroos that also tipped her off – a record of her engagements, like a fighter pilot in WWII, but in reverse. Rider 0, Emu 1, Kangaroos 2.

While I was riding solo in Arizona’s Sonoran desert way, way out in Indian country around the back of the Cameron Trading Post, where there was nothing but bleached bones, creosote bush and cactus, a very large eagle whacked the back of my red helmet. Yes, it thought I was bleeding and wanted to finish me off. Wallop! It was quite a solid thud that sent me into a horrible wobble and made me “bird crazy” for the rest of the trip. Do you know how many eagles there are in the desert!

But even though they are scary, funny or messy, those things of nature you can understand.

What I cannot get to grips with are the people who deliberate throw things out of their car windows at me. Has that happened to you? I don’t mean the “tossers” of the Don’t Litter Australia ad campaigns who carelessly throw away lolly wrappers and soft drink cans that accidentally hit you on their way to despoiling pristine nature. I mean the people who edge up alongside, take careful aim and then fling a glass bottle or full can at you.

This has happened to me on half a dozen occasions - but never when riding with mates naturally, because, well, with Horehound by my side, God help them.

It’s not just heavy things that hurt, either. While I was waiting at traffic lights in Raymond Terrace once, a hoodlum flicked a lit cigarette butt directly at my face. My visor was open and he scored a direct hit into my helmet causing a certain amount of panic as the stinging object worked its way down into my neck roll.

Another time, at traffic lights again, a yobbo with his hat on backward threw his chewing-gum at me. When he saw how easily it stuck to my new textile jacket, he laughed, and his mates in the back wound down their windows to pelt me with PK too.

I’ve also had half a cup of milkshake hurled at me at traffic lights, and a newspaper while on the move – which of the lot was the most dangerous, because it wrapped itself round my visor and blinded me. It must have looked funny, but it wasn’t really.

Okay, the safest thing you can do when you are on your own is to keep guard up and accelerate the hell away from imbeciles like that, but why do they do it? Perhaps, since all the freeway overpasses have been fenced off they are in “brick flinging withdrawal”. I now understand how those truck drivers felt every time they saw people hanging around on an overpass.

Perhaps it’s time to fine people who throw things from vehicles. What do you think?

In the meantime, besides all the other things I watch for, I now watch for car windows gliding down, and body language within that signals I’m gonna get you with this pie!

Terri