Month: February 2017

Is this Spring?

Posted on | by Andy Slater

The sun was (nearly) shining on Sunday for the February St. Crispin’s meeting but the warmer weather brought members out, with 240 bikes in the car park and 8 first timers welcomed by the Meet & Greet team.

Spring could be a few weeks off yet but the popular Green Team social ride set off to Goodwood for coffee with a stop at Loomies on the way back.

As the National Observer programme continues we had three new NOs joining the test passes and a new Local Observer on stage to collect their new badges.

Next month is the AGM where snacks will be provided before the start.

Riders Ride (February 2017)

Posted on | by Nick Tasker

Introducing a new feature here in Slipstream: Rider’s Rides! Each month we’re going to feature a TVAM member and their bike, talk about why they chose that model, what they use it for, as well as what they like and dislike about it.

Want to see your bike featured?         Get in touch with Nick Tasker at pressofficer@slipstream.org

This month we have Kathy Drogemuller and her new Harley-Davidson Sportster Iron 883:

So Kathy, how long have you had this particular bike?

2 weeks and 90 miles!

So it’s new then! Why replace your previous Sportster?

My bike was beginning to look a bit tired. It was at 20,000 miles and was due a service. Both mudguards were beginning to rust and needed to be fixed and I’d had a small ‘off’ in the summer which left a few scrapes and scratches (on me and the bike!). Coming home from the last 7Ws, Dawn Armstrong was travelling behind me and had to stop to pick up the heat shield from my exhaust, which had fallen off. But probably the biggest reason was that I’d been riding the SERV bikes and found the FJR an absolute dream to handle – you only have to think about going around a corner and before you know it you’re gliding round smoothly. I was beginning to realise that perhaps my riding was limited by my bike.

I don’t think I’d be able to keep up with you on an FJR, but I see you went with HD again…

I am still a dedicated HD fan – I love the rumble and there is a kind of kinship (for better or worse) between HD riders, maybe because we have to put up with so much teasing from other bikers. For me there’s also an emotional connection to the brand after I lost a friend who was a Harley rider (not in an accident I should add).

It’s true; nothing looks or sounds quite like a Harley! But presumably there were some specific features you were looking for this time around?

I wanted a tank size that would allow me to travel more than 70 miles in one go – that effectively discounted the forty-eight range – and more ground clearance. Often, on cornering, my pegs would scrape the road surface. Whilst a good indicator of whether I still had room to lean over, it tended to be a bit of a distraction.

I’d agree that most Harleys aren’t suited to more progressive riding! Which lucky dealership got your business this time then?

I visited the Reading dealer one sunny Saturday to do some test riding. Budget was a bit of a consideration as anything over £10k would probably lead to my husband filing for divorce (although I would argue that divorce is much more costly than a mere £10,000) so that discounted a number of models. I also wasn’t too sure at that stage how much I would be offered as part-exchange for my current bike.

Did you try anything else or go straight for the Iron?

I took out the 1200T, but found it rode as low as my Sportster, plus it was equipped with windscreen and panniers which added to the cost but didn’t really add to the style. I also tried the forty-eight, but the peanut-size tank just wasn’t going to be up to the job. Next I tried the Iron. It definitely has higher ground clearance than the Sportster and I felt quite comfortable sat astride it. I took one out for a ride and an hour later returned to the shop with a big grin on my face. I felt like Steve McQueen on this raw machine. Not the dream handling of the FJR but far easier than my Sportster.

Were you at all tempted by the extra power of the 1200 Sportsters?

There was a used one on the shop floor which had stage 4 upgrades fitted. The salesman seemed was very reluctant to let me take it out. Perhaps he thought I wasn’t serious? Eventually I was allowed a brief spin around the block and – to be honest – that was all I needed. I cautiously pulled out of the dealer car park and it was just as well I did as even then the front wheel was trying to lift. It was certainly peppy! It turned out to be too much really and felt as if I were riding a wild pony on caffeine.

Were they any more cooperative when you fished out your credit card?

I’d been given a trade-in price of £2700 for my Sportster and told that there was probably room to move on the ticket price of a new Iron, but I would need to come in and sit with the salesman and big bad John, his boss. They were expecting a shipment at the end of November but there was only one black ordered for the whole of the south and it was likely to go pretty fast – the sales talk was beginning to creep in but I wasn’t in a rush. A few emails and phone calls passed between the salesman and I as he encouraged me to come in to meet with John. But still there was no definitive price cut.

Then one afternoon I decided to see what else might be on offer and called the Harley dealer in Guildford. The salesman there said he had a 2016 demo Iron with just under 600 miles on the clock in charcoal. Was I interested? Within 20 minutes I had secured £800 off the full list price, been offered an additional £300 trade-in on my Sportster and the first 1000 mile service included in the exchange. £500 deposit and the bike was sold! I later mused over the fact that I had just bought a bike I hadn’t even seen – but then so had the dealer.

Sounds like a heck of a deal! But the salesman surely didn’t let you get away without selling you some accessories?

No. I added a smokey-grey windscreen and a black luggage rack to the order. Before the exchange, and with the kind assistance of the guys at Mel’s Motors, removed some of the extras I’d added over the last 3 years of Harley ownership. The weather was beginning to turn cooler so I was very keen to keep possession of the heated glove connection, in particular.

It has certainly been very cold and wet. Did you brave the elements yourself or get it delivered?

When told that the parts were in and fitted, I took my old bike for one last ride to Guildford to seal the deal. Paperwork completed and road tax paid for online, I was heading home with just as big a grin as I had experienced the first time I rode the Iron.

Sounds like you’re enjoying it!  What’s your favourite aspect of the new bike?

The digital control display, which shows revs and which gear you have selected. I also like the position and design of the handlebars which are not as chopper-like as my previous bike. Also the higher ground clearance!

Any future modifications, accessories or upgrades planned?

I might opt for the stage one upgrade (although not necessarily with the pipes) as I’m told that might give me slightly better performance.

What sort of riding do you plan to do?

TVAM trips at home and abroad.

And so far, are you pleased with your purchase?

Yes, thrilled!

 

Nick Tasker was interviewing Kathy Drogemuller

First published in Slipstream February 2017

DIY Heated Jacket

Posted on | by Salli Griffith

A few years ago I found myself commuting about

an hour each way through the winter and, as the weather got colder, I started to think about electric-heated jackets.  Something all heated jackets seem to have in common is that they’re quite expensive, and I’m a skinflint.  A bit of internet searching found a few people who’d made their own (one of the better write-ups being by a chap called Ken Hastie whose website seems to be no more) and so a project was born.

First a bit of theory

Ohms law: V = I x R (volts = current x resistance)

Joules law: P = I2 x R (power = current squared x resistance)

Hastie had gone for 65W, but I felt that was a bit high compared to jackets you could buy so decided to aim for 55W.  A bit of maths gets us R=V2/P, and my TDM 900 puts out around 14.6V, so I needed the jacket to have a resistance of about 3.8 ohms to get my 55 watt target.

A roll of 30 AWG wire from RS came to £17 delivered.  This is supposed to be between 0.3 and 0.4 ohms per metre. I could have bought cheaper wire but I used the Teflon-coated stuff which is good to 200 degrees C and should be a lot tougher than a normal plastic-coated wire.  I cut a 12m length, measured the resistance with a multimeter, then worked out that 10.5 metres should give me about the right resistance.

A lot of the people I’d found online had built the element into their jacket liner but, not wanting to risk damaging my liner (and not knowing the melting point of Gore-Tex),  I found a cheap sleeveless fleece in M&S for £15. I laid out the wire using tape to hold it in position to start with then, when I’d worked out where it all needed to go, I marked it up with a felt tip and spent a couple of evenings practising my needlework.  I went for a similar layout to Hastie, a vertical pattern spaced about 2” apart with an extra horizontal loop at the base to allow me to line it all up correctly at the end.

The wires end in the right hand pocket, where they’re soldered to a thicker cable which pokes through the fabric, I’ve then used a standard DC power connector to join it to a longer cable with a DIN plug on the other end to plug into the bike. The idea being, if I forget to unplug it the inline connector should come apart without damaging anything, plus when I get off the bike and wander off I don’t have several feet of cable trailing on the ground.  I wanted to use a 5mm connector like the ones used by most laptops but couldn’t find an inline socket so settled for a standard 2.5mm.  In hindsight I should have gone for something like an SAE connector as I’m on the upper limit of the capacity of the 2.5mm one.

Once finished I measured the resistance of the whole thing as 3.7 Ohms, which works out at about 57 Watts, and 3.9A. Increased resistance with temperature means at 40 degrees this drops to about 52W, although I’ve never measured the temperature. I fitted a DIN socket inside the left faring of my bike, with an on/off switch on the dash.  My auxiliary electrics are all on a switched line with a 15A fuse, but I’ve also put a 7.5A fuse on the line to the left-hand socket.

My first test ride was at 9 degrees and I had to turn it off at town speeds as I was getting too hot.  At higher speeds it was like leaning on a radiator.  I decided to add the extra 1.5m of wire I’d cut from my initial resistance test back in, which dropped it to a much more useable 50W.  Having never tried a heated jacket before I don’t know why I didn’t do this years ago, the difference is fantastic.  Keeping my core temperature up keeps my hands and feet warmer and makes winter riding a much more pleasurable experience.  It did a magnificent job of keeping me warm all winter, including the morning I found a car on its roof having slid off the road on sheet ice.

I still think it’s a little warmer than it needs to be though, so I still often turn it off at lower speeds.  I did a write-up on it on the TDM owners forum and someone pointed out that you can buy 10A DC motor controllers on e-bay for under a fiver.  These are pulse width modulators that give you a lower power by rapidly switching the voltage on and off.  The pulse duration, and therefore jacket temperature, is controlled by a rotary dial that could easily be fitted on the dash.

However I finished that job and spent the next winter commuting 9 miles instead, so the jacket now only sees occasional use and I’ve not got as far as fitting the PWM.  The jacket’s still going strong though and as it’s currently 4 degrees and sunny I think I might be about to get an outing this morning.

 

 

Total cost was about £35 plus a couple of evenings of my time, but I only used half the wire so it’s only really cost me £27 with enough wire left to make a jacket for the wife if she ever starts winter commuting on her bike.

Chris Gray

MY NEW YEAR’S EVE WITH THE BOYS IN BLUE

Posted on | by Salli Griffith

Last November I sat down with my Associate for a run debrief over a cup of tea in the Fox and Hounds. We got talking about his day/night job as a Police Sergeant stationed at Bracknell. I mentioned to him that one of my ambitions in life was to ride in a police car with lights and sirens going in a high-speed chase. I didn’t think much of it until Peter said, “No worries, I’ll sort the paperwork out and be in touch”. Well, true to his word, a few weeks later I heard from Thames Valley Police asking which dates I’d like to go and that they would run background checks to make sure I wasn’t some kind of unsavoury character!

One of the dates given was New Year’s Eve. In my younger days I was more likely to be in the back rather than the front of a police car on that date, but these days with a young son, I’m more likely to be on the sofa with Jools Holland and a beer. I turned up eager as a beaver for 4.30pm at Bracknell Police Station to be greeted by my Associate. I came prepared with a large tin of biscuits which went down well with the other 12 officers. We started with a team brief video linked with Loddon Valley station, as between them they cover parts of Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell and the outskirts. After a rundown of all the bad people to look out for and 999 calls they’ve logged, we were out doing the P.O.W.D.E.R checks on the car.

I was paired up with my Associate. His Sergeant role is to lead and support his officers in Bracknell. We started the evening patrolling the streets of Bracknell in our trusty Astra (with a bit of a shuddery reverse gear) listening to the radio for various calls coming in about dodgy BMW driving and 125’s without lights.

My ambition was finally fulfilled at 8pm when we put on the blue flashing lights and sped out of Bracknell and down the A329M on the look-out for a Mini that had nearly hit a police van and then failed to stop. Tucking into a layby near St Crispin’s School we lay in wait but sadly it evaded us this time. Fortunately, a few hours later, one of the team in an unmarked car found the Mini driving around erratically and the chase ensued. Other traffic units from Reading got involved and we excitedly parked up on J11 motorway bridge waiting for the car to come past us and be pulled. Travelling at a dangerously slow 40mph on the motorway the Mini finally pulled into Reading Services for fuel and was apprehended. So no stingers or high-speed stopping manoeuvres this time, but still really interesting to listen in on how everyone pulls together.

You may be thinking what has all this got to do with our bike club? Well, other than an extremely interesting night for myself, I wanted to write a small piece on what an excellent job the police do in protecting our lives. If you ever have to call them I’ve seen first-hand how quickly they react and with such professionalism. I’ve also attended Bike Safe courses as I’m sure many of you have, and they always recommend joining TVAM. The Observer core are trained by ex or serving Police riders and the National Observers are examined by ex-police riders. All in all, the Police are involved with us, and I for one feel safer because of it.

If you are interested in becoming a Civilian Observer and wearing a rather fetching fluorescent jacket for the night, this is something that the Police offer to the general public. Go to their website to find out more. Just don’t ring 999 for information, or quick as a flash, you could end up with 3 police cars outside your house!

Andy Boudier

After a few more jobs called ‘immediates’, which involve charging round the roads on blues and twos getting to the destination as fast as is safe to do so, it was really clear to see the similarities between advanced bike riding and police response driving. Obviously, we, the general public aren’t permitted to go over the speed limit or pass through red lights gaining a clear vision line which is absolute key to making progress. It was also amazing how many drivers didn’t know what to do when a siren approached them and just stopped in stupid places.

The night got even more exciting when we were called out to a dodgy estate at 3am where a man known to the police had been reported trying to run over a woman. When we arrived there was an abandoned car which had hit a bollard and had blood over the steering wheel. The police where doing a great job managing the scene, talking to witnesses who also claimed this guy had threatened to burn down a house. An operation to apprehend the suspect was put in place but unfortunately for me this was a job for the next shift. I returned back to the station for a debrief and an interesting insight into the police crime database.

Zero DSR Review

Posted on | by Salli Griffith

It seems that the world is changing faster than we think. With technology in electric vehicles constantly getting better, owning an electric vehicle is becoming more viable by the day. On my daily commute, I see more and more fully electric cars. I first became aware of Zero motorcycles while I was in the Netherlands. I saw the advertisement at a local motorcycle dealer and thought “that’s cool” but like most people we still believe that electric vehicles “are just not that useful”. How wrong I was!

Going on the Zero motorcycles website, I found that they had a few authorised dealers in the UK so I thought I would give it a go. I chose to go for the Zero DSR (Duel Sport Rider), the biggest of the range.

Engine:

The Zero DSR has a 775-amp Z-force motor that utilises powerful magnets producing 67bhp and a whopping 146mn of net torque over the speed range. For comparison, a BMW R1200GS produces around 124nm of torque at 6000rpm. Compared to previous motorcycles from Zero the DSR delivers 43% more torque and 17% more power.

 

Ride Quality:

The Zero DSR is just so easy to ride. It takes a little bit of getting used to the power delivery and not having a clutch lever or gear lever, but it’s light and agile, and all the weight is low down with the motor and battery, but no big heavy fuel tank on the top with fuel sloshing about. It feels absolutely solid and planted in the corners. The Showa suspension really eats up the pot holes and, being a dual sport bike, would be more than capable of going down some dirt tracks. The braking is a little soft, using its large 320mm disk, and not as progressive as I like but, with Bosch ABS as standard, is perfectly adequate.  The huge torque from the motor is very noticeable making overtakes a breeze and getting to national speed easy.

 

 

Build Quality:

The bike feels solid and secure and built to last. There is quite a bit of plastic but it all feels of good quality, the bike felt well thought out. There is a nice black powder-coated aluminium frame and the handlebars have a very familiar feel of Renthal bars. On the fake tank where you would have the fuel cap there is a bin with a hard neoprene box that you could store your charging cable, however it’s only held in by Velcro and really seems like they did not put much effort into this part of the bike.

 

 

Equipment:

The bike comes with Bosch anti-lock brakes and Pirelli tyres as standard but you can also have an additional power tank fitted which will add an extra 3.3kWh to the standard 13kWh. The dash is functional and easy to read even in direct sunlight, and gives you all the information you require including what riding program you are in – Sport, Eco or Custom. You can also connect to your motorcycle using your phone giving you a more in-depth insight into the motorcycle, such as the state of charge, time to a full charge, and you can even edit the motorcycle’s custom riding mode.

 

 

Conclusion:

The Zero DSR is the future that will soon be knocking on our doors, but right now the battery technology still needs to improve – the DSR has a range of about 150 miles with charge time of about 8 hours using a standard household plug. So, for a daily commute it is perfect, but for a day out around the twisties you might run out of puff before lunch. You can use extra chargers from Zero that will bring your charge time down to around 2 hours but still the technology is not there for touring. The on-the-road price is £14,000, which is quite expensive for a second motorcycle. The DSR and electric motorcycles are a taste of the future here and now, but for the average rider, it’s not quite there yet.

 

 

Kurt Henney

Photos © zero motorcycles

First published in Slipstream February 2017