Bike Tech: Good Old Wheels or Rim Building

Everybody knows nearly anything goes when building motorcycles and mixing old items with new has become common. But why don't you consider voyaging into unknown territories and utilizing varied elements that have rarely ever been combined earlier? Yeah, on most things you can use the grinder and torch and make both parts fit in, however, when it comes to wheels it takes a stack of knowledge, extra care, and your fingers crossed.

On our motorcycle task we wished-for some good wheels that were not normal and seemed conventional, but had sound parts and wouldn't blow up and kill us when driven.

We looked for direction and handed our mates Gary and Dave at Wheel Works a call. Having tenure in building crazy motorcycle concepts and custom bike wheels skillfully since the 1970's, these people have pretty much seen and done just about every thing concerning Harley rims. As we reviewed what we wished for, Gary and Dave provided us some great suggestions when searching for old and outdated rims.

They handed us some easy info most people already know such as avoid using twisted or rusty rims, or ever use second hand spokes. But then they placed some true understanding upon us like looking for un-drilled rims. This is because every bike has various thickness hubs and several pre-drilled old MX rims won't properly work with many chopper hub offsets and widths simply because the spokes tend to be forced in the rim as severe angles. This will cause binding, which results in cracked hub flanges and wheels.

Speaking of hubs, if you find a few old parts, ensure you can still find the suitable bearings and inner spacers for them or they're just as good as a paperweight. When creating wheels for your projects we normally go with the best pair of factory hubs whatever the year merely because replacement parts are plentiful. We also like using the re-pop V-Twin Mfg. hubs due to their old style and refreshed bearings. Out front if a spool hub should be put into use, we commonly always pick a brand new aluminum or steel unit. The truth is these parts were under significant stress for decades and not built from the best metals in the first place.

More on the spokes, most rims will have to be reconstructed utilizing completely new spokes, since even still intact used spokes are fatigued from many years of being pulled in one direction and may usually fail when being tightened again throughout the tuning process. One more thing is to choose polished stainless spokes. They look just as good as chrome, but don't get the plating crack off and rust after some time due to the stress they're suffering.

More on spoke tension; the boys at Wheel Work told us this might be the single most important part of a wheel project in addition to making it rounded. Correct tension will make sure that the rim is true in two ways: Radial (roundness) and laterally (sideways). Proper spoke tension is critical with motorbike rims, due to the torque given to the rim by the brakes or engine. Unfastened spokes on a wheel stress rapidly and bust, typically where they affix to the hub. You wouldn't like that.

As soon as the wheels are finished and perfectly aligned, many suggest wrapping a totally new tire around the refurbished rims. Old tires are typically decayed on the inside and basically when affixed to a fresh wheel and fitted with 40 psi or more, they are a ticking time bomb with a blowout being frequently eminent. In addition, the rubber mix applied 40-50 years ago has dried which will give you slight to no grip at all on the street, dry or wet. Don't get worried; you won't have to throw on some tires that appear to be like they came off a super bike. There are an increasing variety of re-popped old style tires for your bike. They have all the looks of a classic tire, but have improvements in casing materials and work far better on our current road surfaces.

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Why Take A Motorcycle Safety Course?

Whether you are an experienced rider or just learning, motorcycle safety is serious business. Keeping safety in mind when riding will make the experience fun for years to come. Since ideally you will be spending many hours on your motorcycle, it is important for you to have a solid foundation.

A motorcycle safety course is designed to teach you to ride safely. Keep in mind that your driving is only a small piece of this. There are many other things that are involved in your safety while riding.

You will learn things like how to properly operate your motorcycle, defensive driving techniques that are unique to motorcycles, preventative maintenance steps that are designed to keep you accident free. You will also learn how to maneuver the motorcycle, along with bad weather driving techniques.

Part of the safety course is to prepare you for the written and skills tests so that you can get a motorcycle license. A bonus of attending the course is that most insurance companies offer a discount to drivers that have completed a safety course.

A good safety course should provide qualified instructors. There should be a specific schedule of what will be covered and when. There should be a specific class limit, so you may have to join a waiting list. Your course should last for several weeks and include actual riding time.

The easiest way to find a course is to check with your local motorcycle sales shops. Since they are always anxious for new customers, they tend to offer the classes more frequently than the local motor vehicle department. If you go through the local motorcycle sales shop, they usually provide the motorcycles that you will be riding - a big plus for anyone considering learning to ride before they buy.

Another good way to find the different safety courses that are offered in your area is to contact the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. They should have a listing of the local places to check if they do not have the actual course dates.

Unless you are an experienced rider and only looking for the insurance benefit, don't be drawn into a low cost course that is only a few hours long. This type of course is a defensive driving course only and will not teach you anything about the basics of riding safety that an experienced rider may have already learned the hard way.

Talk with friends, family members, co-workers or other riders to find out if they have taken an motorcycle safety course. There may be a local course that they would highly recommend, or one that you will tell you to stay away from. This type of referral always makes you feel better about attending.

During the safety course you should learn things like:

- the parts of the motorcycle

- basic maintenance

- emergency repairs that you may have to make while on a bike ride

- how the various road conditions can affect your motorcycles performance

- available safety equipment and how to use it properly

- defensive driving techniques

The importance of a motorcycle safety course cannot be stressed enough especially since we have all seen how One small mistake can lead to a serious accident.

Even experienced drivers can benefit from this type of course if they have not already taken one. Attending several rallies, it has unfortunately become obvious that even experienced riders do not necessarily know the basics of motorcycle safety. Many pay for it with their lives.

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Top Tips for Riding Your Motorbike Safely

Riding a motorbike is the most dangerous method of road transport. There are a huge number of hazards motorbike riders should constantly be aware of when cruising the roads. However, there are certain situations which are inherently riskier than others. Below we've compiled a list of the three most common causes of motorbike accidents to show you how you can decrease the risks involved.

Cornering on country roads

On a warm, dry day, heading towards the country to enjoy a long, winding ride is common amongst bikers. Of course it's a lot of fun leaning into those corners that seemingly never end, and you can do so safely, as long as you are travelling at an appropriate speed. It is better to overestimate the sharpness of a turn and accelerate as the bend unravels, rather than travelling too quickly into a turn and then having to decelerate sharply to make the turn as it tightens. The road will offer you clues about the sharpness of the corner, so take particular notice of the tree line, the path of telegraph poles and of course the road markings.

An uneven road surface

A motorbike accident can be avoided by ensuring you ride according to the conditions and the road surface. Potholes are one example, with roads particularly becoming uneven during and after icy winters. Along with potholes, you may also encounter manhole covers, uneven or loose road surfaces, petrol, diesel and oil leaks and painted road markings.

The risks resulting from uneven road surfaces can be reduced significantly by taking a few precautionary measures. You should check your tyres regularly to ensure they are inflated to the pressure recommended in your handbook. The tread depth on tyres should also be checked to ensure you are within legal limits. If the tread is bare then change the tyre. The cost of a tyre is far preferable to having to make a motorbike accident claim further down the line to compensate you for injuries you have suffered and damage caused to your bike.

Cut your speed on roads you have not previously encountered. It is important you have the time to react to, and manoeuvre around, any road hazards that may be in your way.

Accidents involving other vehicles

A shunt can be the fault of a third party or the biker themselves, but there are a number of ways of reducing the risk of such an accident occurring. Firstly and most importantly, do not travel too closely to the vehicle in front. You need time to react if anything out of the ordinary should occur. Make sure that the distance separating you is sufficient for you to be able to stop in, and if a vehicle behind is travelling too closely, give yourself more room in front to compensate.

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Turning It Over

I sat there at the gas station, having filled my motorcycle up with a tank of clean wonderful premium unleaded. Noting that it now costs as much to fill my Road Glide as it used to for my Expedition. I won't tell you what it now costs to fill the Expedition, that's another rant. Anyway getting back to my sitting on my motorcycle and not going anywhere. I'm not going anywhere because my battery picked that moment to quit. This is the battery in my 2010 Road Glide and barely two years old. Fortunately, I wasn't to far from home and my wonderful wife of 27 years came to the rescue in the before mentioned Expedition and some booster cables.

I was astonished at how short a life that stock battery gave and even more astonished to find that it wasn't covered under any kind of warranty and please note this isn't a case of neglect. My bike is my transportation to from work on all non-rainy days which here in Texas is most of them. Anyway, I went to my local dealer and found that not only did they want to put in the same kind of basic lead acid battery that failed the first time but they wanted my first born to pay for it. That didn't seem right, so I started to do some research and found that there were good alternatives and that they were actually made here in the U.S.

The price for one of these high performance maintenance free batteries was several percentage points less than the best deal I would have gotten for a stock battery making this a no-brainer. I've been running it now for eight or so months and found that it cranks the bike over better than the stock battery ever did meaning faster starts and hopefully less wear on the starter.

I've also started to pay a lot more attention to the analog voltage meter on the bike and realizing that the stock gauge on the bike doesn't tell me a whole lot. Just resting a fully charged battery should read somewhere around 12.75 to 12.9 volts. My gauge on the Road Glide reads just over 11 when I first turn it on basically because of the draw from the headlight and electronics and then goes to something over 13 when it's running. You notice my choice of adjectives right, 'around', 'just over', 'close to' etc etc. That's because that's what an analogue gauge give you, basically a guesstimate. I know my battery is good because I've learned to check it with a digital volt meter when I'm doing my regular maintenance. The stock gauge wasn't and isn't much help. The original battery basically gave the same readings that this one does but if I had been paying a wee bit more attention I could have saved myself some embarrassment (and a lot of time). So I've learned that along with tire pressure, belt tension, oil levels I need to add battery voltage check.

3 Ways To Haul Your Dirt Bike

There are a few different ways to transport your dirt bikes or motorcycles to the track or trails. Some are cheaper than the others, and others are more convenient. It all comes down to your circumstances and what you prefer. You can transport your bike by hauling a trailer, tossing it in the bed of a truck, or putting it on a hitch carrier. Let's take a look at the pros and cons of each.

Trailers

Some people will never pull a trailer behind their vehicle because they don't want to deal with it or aren't good at maneuvering. Others will use nothing but trailers just because they allow more room for hauling equipment. Trailers are good in that aspect, and it's usually easy enough for one person to load the bikes. You can have an enclosed or open trailer depending on how much money you have to spend. Enclosed are more expensive, but it keeps the elements off of your dirt bikes and parts you're carrying.

Although trailers have a lot of advantages, there are several setbacks. They can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars, you have to register them (plate, tabs, etc.), they're more difficult to drive with and park since it can double the length of your vehicle.

Just The Truck

Probably the most convenient way to haul your dirt bike(s) is on bed of a truck. If you already have a truck, this is the cheapest way to go since all you will need are some tie-downs. Toss your bike, gear, and parts in the back, and you're off to the track! You aren't towing anything behind the truck, so driving and parking is just like every day driving.

The downsides to hauling your dirt bike with a truck are that it could be expensive if you don't already own one, and loading the bike can be tricky if you don't have help or a sturdy ramp. You also don't get as much room to haul equipment since the bike is taking up space in the bed. If you're just hauling one bike then there's plenty of room.

Hauling A Hitch Carrier

A little less common, yet quite simple way to haul your dirt bike is on the rear hitch receiver of your vehicle. It's versatile since you can use most vehicles to transport a bike. A motorcycle hitch hauler is fairly easy to install, and a bike can usually be loaded by one person. Most of them are affordable, and it's easier than towing a trailer. Driving and parking is about the same as before since it only adds another two to three feet in length.

Although motorcycle hitch carriers are convenient, most of them have negatives. A lot of them have a slight wobble while driving down the high-way. As long as you don't buy a cheap, low-quality carrier, they'll last a long time. Your vehicle and hitch may also be restricted by weight limits. If you're just hauling a dirt bike and not a street motorcycle you will be able to use most cars, but it's a good idea to check with your manual on weight restrictions.

That's the basic summary of what each mode of transportation for your dirt bike is going to give you. If you have the ability to try a new one out, go for it. You never know, it may be your favorite way to haul your dirt bike!

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