xsmotorcycleschool.co.uk blog

If you hit the guard rails fitted at the sides of our roads the result can be deadly.

These rails are intended to keep vehicle from running off the road or across into the other carriageway and are only tested for car and commercial vehicle impacts, motorcycle impacts are not considered.

A motorcycle impact with the standard issue is frequently fatal due to the rider impacting the support beams which can lead to dismemberment and/or decapitation.

FEMA, the Federation of European Motorcyclists’ Associations, has has been campaigning for a new standard which takes crash tests with motorcycles into account and have issued a Special Edition newsletter about this.

The newsletter can be viewed on line at http://www.fema-online.eu/ by clicking on this link.

When riding you should always be scanning what is all around you, it is a mistake to fix your attention straight ahead.

If you do then you will risk missing seeing potential dangers.

An example is to be seen in this link (Click Here)

The effect appears whether you concentrate on the centre blinking dot or on one of the outer fixed dots so REMEMBER

Keep Your Eyes Moving!!

The safety magazine “Vision Zero International” for June2011 has an article on bringing in electronic safety systems on bikes, such as speed limit sensing, collision warning, curve warning, intersection support and lane change support.

You can read it at http://tinyurl.com/3qusgkj and then go on to read the rest of the magazine as well if you wish.

A quick reaction time is definitely to your advantage while on the road, especially if you are in the habit of riding in sheep country.

Here’s a quick test for you to try to see just how good your reactions actually are. “Click here” to try the test.

Further to the blog entry of 9th June this year about a review having been ordered into the “new” style Motorcycle Practical Test.

This has now been completed and in it Mike Penning, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, states that he “wants to see the practical test delivered as a single on-road event in a way which will maintain riding standards, protect safety and increase accessibility of the test to all candidates”.

The review suggests that the test could now include the hazard avoidance manoeuvre as well as the other specified manoeuvres ‘on the road’ or suggests that the low-speed manoeuvres could possibly be examined at CBT training centres ahead of the main test.

This change would of course mean that there would no longer be the need to take the test at one of the inadequate number of specialist test centres, as is now necessary and so do away with the current, inherently unsafe, need for a test candidate to ride for 2 hours or more just to get to a test centre in order to take a test.(There are reports of some candidates having to ride for over 5 hours to reach their nearest test centre.)

The actual report is on-line at:- http://tinyurl.com/294qsfj

We’ll have to watch out though that this change is not used as an excuse to boost the cost of a test yet again.

When the “new” test was first proposed we were told that it would not be necessary to increase the test fee but they have subsequently boosted it by over 50%. (A motorcycle test is now over £90 in comparison to the £62 it is for a car.)

Your tyres are all that comes between you and the road.

A major safety factor is keeping them at the correct pressure, the wrong pressure will adversely affect the handling and braking so you need to check them regularly.

Bridgestone tyres are currently running a safety campaign, admittedly aimed more at cars but, one aspect of which is that they are offering a FREE tyre pressure gauge.

If you go to the< http://tyresafety.eu/home>, after the intro video has finished playing you will see, beside the front of the car, a placard “Order a Free Tyre Gauge”.

Click on this and you get the order page for a free gauge.

There are also a set of car oriented safety videos that also hold true for bikes

Got to be worth the effort.

!!THIS OFFER IS NOW CLOSED!!

Dateline Wednesday 9th June 2010

It was announced today that a review has been ordered into the Motorcycle Test system.

Recently released figures show that since the implementation of the new system last year the number of tests being taken has plummeted to a half of the previous years figure and that there have been around 300 reported accidents during “Module 1″, the controversial new part of the Test that is done on a safe enclosed yard at one of the new specialised Multi Purpose Test Centre of which there are 45 open to cover the entire British Isles.

The review was ordered following a meeting between Road Safety Minister Mike Penning and representatives from the BMF, MAG and the Motorcycle Industry Association.

The Dft news release is at http://tinyurl.com/392xepf

The news release from the BMF is at http://tinyurl.com/2wqulz3.

The news release from MAG is at http://tinyurl.com/38pymer

The Department of Transport state that “The precise scope and terms of reference of the review will be determined following discussions with motorcycle groups and other interested parties, with the aim of concluding the review by the autumn.” and are asking for any views to be sent in to them by e-mail before 31st July 2010 at :- RUSD4consultation@dft.gsi.gov.uk

We are required to wear a crash helmet any time that we are riding our bikes.

Just how safe are these helmets?.

They are made to any one of several standards, each of which can claim to be the best.

Here’s a link (Helmet Safety) to an article on just that subject that you may find worth reading before you buy that new, high priced, helmet.

Just found this listing on “How to Survive on a Motorcycle”.

Remember this is of American origin so watch for the reversal between left hand and right hand drive in the suggestions.

An essential item of our ridng kit is our helmet,

One thing that s necessary with a helmet is that it fits you properly and I found this video on the web explaining about helmet fit:–

While it is extollng the virtues of “Aria” elmets the information applies whatever the make.