Synergy Sports

Archive for the ‘Sport Motorcycles’ Category

Dual-sport and adventure motorcycles are truly unique vehicles. They can take you to the farthest corners of the globe or let you explore out of the way places close to home. But, if your ride always ends when the sun goes down, you’re missing half the fun! We all choose to ride motorcycles for the exciting new way they let us experience the world. With the right equipment, riding at night can be a unique extension of that excitement.

Everyone is familiar with the headlights on the front of their bike, but most riders rarely give them much thought. For the casual motorcyclist riding on flat pavement, basic headlights are usually adequate. For off-road and adventure riders, however, stock motorcycle headlights have one major flaw: they always point where the bike is pointing. Off-road riding is a dynamic experience filled with switchback corners, rocks, stumps, side trails, jumps, landings, drops, hills, and more. For these types of obstacles, the ability to put light where you need it is essential. A helmet light gives you that ability. Being able to ‘look where you want to go’ makes night riding much more like day time riding.

There are several things to keep in mind when selecting a helmet light. First, you need to choose a type of light. The 3 most common types of helmet lights are LED, Halogen, and HID.

Recent advances in LED technology have taken them from key chains and pen lights to being a serious contender for high powered lighting applications. They are extremely efficient, use relatively little power, and can be very bright. However, they tend to produce a more diffused light and generally do not have the focus or reach that other types of lights provide. This is because LEDs are comparatively large surface area light emitters. This makes it more difficult to focus the light energy into the tight beam pattern most useful for night riding.

Halogen lights are similar to household incandescent light bulbs and produce light by passing an electric current through a tungsten filament. While this allows them to produce large amounts of light, it has the unwelcome by-product of creating lots of heat. Halogen bulbs can easily become hot enough to cause burns and melt plastic. Also, because so much energy is wasted producing heat instead of useful light, they tend to be very inefficient compared to LEDs and HID. This means shorter run times if using rechargeable batteries, or added strain on your electrical system if using bike power to run your light.

When it comes to throwing large amounts of focused light over long distances, HIDs are the reigning champions. Instead of passing electrical current through a filament, they produce light by exciting a small capsule of gas using a high-voltage charge. This produces an intense white light in a very small area which is easily focused into a tight, powerful beam pattern. Because more energy goes towards producing light instead of heat, they are very efficient. They can produce more than 5 times the light of an equivalent wattage halogen bulb. The latest generation of HID bulbs are very durable, and have been proven in many demanding motor-sports applications. While HID bulbs do eventually burn out, and are more expensive to replace than halogen bulbs, their price has dropped considerably and is now easily within reach of most riders.

Aside from the lighting technology used, you should look carefully at how the helmet light will mount to your helmet. Many lights are mounted using velcro pads or have plastic bases that are stuck onto the helmet shell using double-sided tape. While these options provide a stable mount for the light, they have two disadvantages. First, it means that the base or velcro is permanent and gets left behind when the light is removed. For riders who primarily ride during the day, this can be an eyesore. Second, because of their semi-permanent nature, it is difficult to adjust the beam direction once they are mounted. Being able to adjust the beam can be critical for the constantly changing speeds and environments of off-road riding.

A better alternative may be a strap mounting system. Strap mounted lights mount quickly and easily to the helmet and remove completely. Most of these lights are hinged to provide easy aiming and can be strapped to the side or front of the helmet’s chin bar or the visors of off-road helmets. In a pinch, they could even be strapped to the bike as an emergency headlight. They offer the added benefit of easily being able to share one light between multiple helmets or riders.

You should make certain that any light you buy is going to hold up to the environment you ride in. Is the housing solid enough to take a hit from a low hanging branch? Will it withstand rain and mud? Reliability is key. Even the most expensive helmet light is useless if it doesn’t work when you need it.

Lastly you should consider how the light is powered. Typically you have two choices: battery powered, or vehicle powered. Rechargeable battery packs give the advantage of being able to use the light off the bike or on vehicles that do not have an electrical system capable of powering the light, such as bicycles. If you are able to use the bike’s power, however, it can provide several advantages:

It’s cheaper, as you don’t have to buy the battery pack and charger. You don’t have to take time or remember to charge the battery. Batteries are heavy, and weight is bad! It will never run out of juice when you need it most.

If you need to use a light away from the bike, you may be better off getting a separate battery powered LED headlamp intended for camping or backpacking. An HID helmet light may be too bright to use for bike repairs or around the campsite, and an LED headlamp will likely be cheaper, smaller, and lighter than a battery pack for your helmet light. Hopefully these tips will help you narrow down your helmet light options and get you one step closer to night riding nirvana. See you on the trail!

A motorcycle a means of transportation with two wheels. It is like a bicycle, but instead of peddling, it has a motor engine similar to a car for it to run. Therefore it also needs gas fuel, and has a key ignition.

And just as there are car racing sports, there are also motorcycle sports. There are many types, in fact. The most popular is motorcycle racing. In this sport, motorcycles race to the finish line in a disciplined road or off road. A tarmac, discipline road has a smooth surface like a highway. Off roads are unpaved, with sand, gravel, snow, rocks or mud.

In track racing, there are several teams or individuals involved and are racing around an oval track. A grass track is one of the variations but it is mostly held on cemented or asphalted roads.

In a rally sport, racing is done in public roads with checkpoints and traffic laws to consider. Since it uses public roads, there are announcements given in advance to the public that certain streets will be closed for a certain event. In other instances, the sport only occupies and closes one lane for the race, while the rest of the road can still be plied on.

Motorcycles are not that cheap so think carefully before buying one. There are so many models to choose from but always check your personal budget. Consider your needs and preferences. Some may use it only as a means of transportation. If for sports, you might need one with higher specifications.

Include in your budget some useful accessories like motorcycle seats and wheels. These accessories add safety to your ride.

A crash guard protects or supports the legs when a bike falls. Extra hand grips can protect hands from freezing. It also prevents hands from numbness and fatigue.

Rear view mirrors must be of high quality and concave. Other mirrors include LED mirror lights integrated with the turn signals. Some also offer blind spot mirrors, useable when changing lanes.

Chain guards are used to prolong chain and sprocket life. Drive chains and sprockets are the most expensive wear items.

Saddle bags keep your belongings secured during your ride. The best kinds are lockable, bike specific, and with built-in durable liner. Some are metal frame reinforced to prevent sagging. They are easy to detach with their quick release buckles.

Helmet is one of the most essential accessories. It doesn’t only protect the head, it also has added features like: face shield, ventilation, intercom and ear protection. There are five types of motorcycle helmets: full face, off road, modular, open face and half helmet. The full face is the most protective. It particularly protects the chin bar area which is the major affected part in most crash incidents.

A side stand supports the weight of the motorcycle when parked. Some are sensitive and kill the engine when transmission is out. Others offer position detecting device. It is equipped with an auxiliary wheel associated by the clutch lever of the motorcycle.

Riding a motorcycle can be quite dangerous, especially when joining motorcycles races. So always wear protective gears, even if you are just a passenger.

What you see… is what you will hit!

Object or Target Fixation is real. Your dual sport bike goes wherever you’re looking. Why is this so? Your eyeballs, after all, are not holding the handlebars and you often look in directions other than the one you are going in without your bike weaving all over the road. Is it an illusion? Or maybe an unexplored natural law of physical science?

The thought that your dual sport motorcycle will go where you are looking is merely a phenomenon. Almost all riders have experienced this before: that if you turn your eyes you tend to go in the direction you are looking.

In point of fact, it may be clearer to merely admit that it is inconceivable to go in any direction other than where you are looking. ALL of your previous experience has educated you to steer your bike wherever you want it to go. Therefore, if you look where you want to go, you apply all that previous experience and unconsciously go in that direction.

There’s no magic here nor is there a concealed natural law of physics involved. Your motorcycle (or car) will to go in the direction you’re looking since, from experience, you have taught yourself subconsciously to make this happen.

Have you ever attempted to throw a ball just past an individual’s head? You look at them . . . you throw . . . and you hit them!! The same when you play tennis. When you serve, if you focus on the top of the net, you are likely to hit it!!

Transform this to riding. You look at an object on the road . . . you go right over it! The eyes are the gun-sight of the mind and consequently there are a couple of significant rules for the way we see the track / trail / sand road in front of the dual sport bike.

To capitalize on that phenomenon you just need to actively look in the direction you prefer to go – away from risk. The balance is almost subconscious response. Naturally it takes more than a turn of your head or even your eyes. You still need to go away from risk. As it’s difficult to go away from what you are looking toward, and easy (nearly automatic) to go in the direction you are seeing, certainly it adds up to look where you prefer to go.

Simply we have always been advised to keep our eyes and head ‘upward’ and headed at the horizon. Certainly looking downward won’t cause a dualsport bike to go down, or will it?

Well, not straightaway. If you’re in a slide however, and look down in all likelihood you’ll crash. That’s, because you have failed to actively steer the motorcycle in such a way as to keep it erect. That’s one reason why you ought to keep your eyes up and looking at the horizon. The other is that it’s the only way you actively look for hazards or confirm with any certainty, that your motorcycle is upright. But that’s a different story.

Five Simple Tips to Prevent Object or target Fixation.

Keep your head up and look along the track! Your natural response will be to look at the ground ahead of the dual sport motorcycle. Looking as far ahead as the track, speed and common good sense allows. Your perception will by nature take in the rougher terrain and take the front wheel down a good line. Whenever you see a big stone or hole don’t allow your eyes to ‘fix’ on that. Take it in and so allow you eyes to continue to move beyond or to the side of it. The motorcycle will follow your eyes and miss the obstruction automatically. Keep a ‘broad view’ of the track in front – consider everything as a whole but nothing in particular. Keep an eye out for the tell-tale dust trails from approaching vehicles. Keep a look out in your rear view mirrors as other may not be afraid to drive faster than you.