Motorcycle Chain Guard And Safety

What are the safety features on a motorcycle?

Get a bike with ABS fitted and learn how to use it. Period. I’ve been lucky to have two bikes with ABS (Yamaha MT-03 and Kawasaki ER6n) and I’ve had two bikes without ABS (Suzuki GS450E and Suzuki GSX600F). ABS is much better when you learn how to use it. Basic ACC Ride Forever courses in NZ teach emergency braking at 50kph/30mph that’ll lock up the rear and make rear ABS kick in. Advanced ACC Ride Forever courses in NZ team emergency braking at 100kph/60mph that’ll lock up the front and make front ABS kick in. Hell of a confidence trick you need to pull to keep your head up looking at the horizon not look at the road or the instruments as your ABS equipped bike squats below you. It dives and you look up. It stops better than you think it could. Modern disc brakes and radial tyres on cast wheels are excellent, but you need to practice. I put the high speed braking into practice recently for a corner I misjudged after overtaking on a long straight before the corner, which I didn’t see and scrubbed enough speed off quickly enough at the end of the straight to corner safely. I was being a numpty and got up to around 185kph with an 85kph corner approaching. Losing 100kph quickly for the corner was needed, or I’d have spun off the corner. I know that I was being a tit on the straight, but I hit a power band during the overtake and enjoyed it too long before throttling off and braking for the corner. Best not to speed that much in the first place. I will take a track day to learn the power of my ER6n better, so I’m not surprised when it goes better than expected. Speed is fun except when its terrifying, after you realise you’re at risk of crashing. I had a similar earlier incident on my GSX600F on a German autobahn riding around 240kph not realising my speed relative to others that cooled my heels. Awesome fun speeding past Porsches then terrifying thinking I’d literally embed myself into a slow moving Trabant making an interest sculpture for onlookers.

Why do some bikes or motorcycles have the upper part of the chain cover but the lower part has none?

The chain moving upwards and forwards on the rear sprocket and upper run of the chain can fling oil onto the rider’s / passenger’s legs. Also, having an exposed chain on top can constitute a safety risk as shoes, clothing and other articles can get caught up in the chain. The lower run of the chain poses no such risk while allowing for chain inspection for wear and lubrication and is the commonly chosen design alternative.

What are the origins of chopper motorcycles?

The Bobber style which Triumph have resurrected with gusto.These were motorcycles chopped of all their superfluous bits. Generally the reason was performance and looking good.Choppers came about as some individuals wanted to make the bikes look more impressive. Extending the forks did this pretty well, although it certain worsened the handling. Technology came to the rescue with fork designs that could cope. mass produced choppers are usually styled to look the part without dangerously extending the front forks.Initially there was an element of the ‘rebel’ in these designs. But like all ‘rebel’ fashions they pretty soon became mainstream.

What security device(s) should I use to prevent my new motorcycle from being stolen?

I think everyone agrees that you can't keep something that a couple of burley guys can pick-up from being stolen without some structural help.When I lived in LA I was terrified my BMW would get stolen in the street in front of my apartment. Since my truck was parked on the street also I used to chain my bike to my truck's rear bumper (which was welded on).  Eventually I traded the truck and again my Beemer was at risk.  Finally one busy Saturday night I put on a pair of coveralls and bored a hole on the sidewalk near a utility pole with a hand impact drill and inserted a welded eye post (like the ones that heavy guy-wires are connected to) and filled the hole with epoxy.  This eye-loop was solid.  I chained the bike to the loop at night. The bike never got stolen though two of my neighbor's bikes did.When I lived in NYC I again feared for my newer BMW.  Where LA bike thieves were skilled, NYC bike thieves were brazen.  One night I spotted 4 guys carrying a sport bike down the sidewalk.  I called the police and was told they probably just lost the keys and needed to move it.  Sheez.  When I first moved to NYC I kept my bike in a storage area.  It cost $100 month and was in a big open warehouse mixed in with a hundred or more cars, trucks, boats and ATVs.  Getting it out required 24 hours notice and often the attendant just wouldn't show up.  I tried to get the bike into a self serve storage area but there were rules regarding storing a vehicle with gas in them.  Eventually I lucked out when I noticed that even though we put our trash out into a dumpster, there was a shack in the alley for trash cans.  I made a deal to rent the shack from the super and after reenforcing the door and adding a chain lock I had a great place to securely store beloved BMW.Use your imagination and pray a little.

Is it safe travelling from Bangalore to goa in bike?

Yes it is safe provided you have made appropriate preparations before the journey.The things you need:1. Motorcycle with engine capacity of 150cc or more2. Safety gear which includes riding jacket, riding gloves, dot or ecr certified helmet , knee guards or riding pants, riding boots. check Lets Gear Up gear is quite expensive. you can rent as well (Gear n Ride - Riding gear on rent - Bangalore )3. Motorcycle breakdown repair equipments like tyre inflator (ResQTech Micro Tyre Inflator ( RSQ-AC101 ) ), puncture repair kit (for tubeless tyres AutoStark Tubeless Tyre Puncture Repair Kit  and for tubes Trek N Ride Cycle Puncture Kit ). Also remember to carry extra tubes in case of tube tyres4.Original motorcycle documents, insurance, RC and DL5. Use a money belt to keep original documents safe and with you at all times (Wildcraft Grey Money Belt (Money_Belt Grey) )6. Small cans of chain cleaner (3M Chain Cleaner (75 g) ) and chain lube (3M Chain Lubricant (75 g) ), remember to clean your bike chain and lube it every 500 kms7. Motorcycle luggage like tank bag (ViaTerra Fly Universal DSLR motorcycle tankbag ), saddle bags (Frogman Saddle Bags ) or tail bag (Frogman Tail Bag )8. first aid kit and multitool or a swiss knife with pliers9. garbage bags. stuff all your items in a garbage bag and then into your backpack or other bag. this makes it waterproof in case of rainsKnow your bikes mileage and make sure you dont run on reserve fuel for long. Even in the mountains you can find petrol pumps but you would have to ride for a whileStay at Talpon beach. You can rent rooms for 400 to 500 per night.Avoid north goa as its too crowded and not worth it.Visit Palolem beach and go kayaking to butterfly beach. Rent a kayak which usually costs about 200 per hour. Try samsons kiosk. most others would give out low quality life jackets and broken bedals. at samsons kiosk you also get a dry bag to keep your valuables dry in case your kayak overturns use life jacket provided with kayak at all times since the butterfly beach is very deep.Visit cabe de rama fort and kalankini beach next to it. Food is cheap near this fort and also on talpon beach. all other places are very expensive.visit other beaches of south goa. there are very few people but the right people. talk to tourists from other places and learn more about different cultures. people are usually very friendly.