Riding tips for Commuting on your bike.

[houndguy]

This article was posted entirely in another forum I frequent. I enjoyed it so much I thought I repost here. Good info if you're a daily commuter like me or just a fair weather weekend rider. The tips just might save your life: http://www.sportrider.com/ride/146_9508_motorcycle_riding_tips/   

[Stig / Major Tom]

I'm a newbie scoot rider - but I've learned to 'touch' my rear brake lever to light my brake light so the tail-gater behind me will know I'm slowing for a turn. I don't want or need any braking for this, I just want the light!

. With the engine braking of a scooter - I can slow frequently in traffic without braking by just rolling off of the throttle - but that does not light the brake light to signal the car behind me that I am slowing. After couple of near misses from behind as I slowed for a turn - I've started this 'touching' of the brake lever when I roll out of the throttle. I was wishing there was a button on the bars to light the brake light for this - but there's too many buttons there now.

Has anyone done one of those flashing brake lights on a Kymco, which I've read about?
Your thoughts.....?

[AVGuy]

I've thought about adding a flasher to my brake light. I have added extra led's for stop, running and turn signals to my top case and other places on my scoot. I now wear high-viz jackets year round.

When on a busy highway I prefer to get ahead of or fall behind the main pack of vehicles so I have more room around me.

And watch out for bicycles, pedestrians and believe it or not, other scooters. They're all very unpredictable.

[AVGuy]

Oh and I added a Wolo Bad Boy air horn to get other people's attention.

[de dee]

   flashing the brake light is a old taxi drivers trick, been using it for 60 years,.    I asked my uncle what was he doing tapping the brakes and thats what he told me,.

[Snorvey]

Not sure where exactly to post this, but here seems to be as good a place as any.

My tip is to ride like a girl - and I don't mean that in a derogatory 'girls ride slow etc' way, I mean ride with your knees together like a proper lady.

Y'see, being a bloke I ride the DT a bit like yer average HD rider. Reclining back, belly out, legs akimbo, feet splayed apart and it's surprising how much of your lower half is outside the streamlining effect of the plasticware.

...and it makes a difference, that's for sure. Your feet and knees stay warm in the balmy Scottish summer temperatures and I'm convinced the scoot is faster as it slices through the air more efficiently.

It just feels a bit...well.....strange!

[Stig / Major Tom]

I put a pair of the pulsing brake bulbs in my Forza and the Burgman. ...and one in my son's CB500X Honda.
Haven't put one in my LIKE200I so as not to mess up the wires in there for my lighted Bestem top case.
They pulse and then stay on.
Not cheap...but requires nothing but a bulb change. No wiring or other bits are needed.
They come with a spare halogen bulb...but not needed the spare so far...
Stig

[CROSSBOLT]

Really good article, Hound! I learned to ride (and drive) in SoCal and even had a CHP motor officer show me how to split traffic on the freeway. Thanks again for a fine article. Now where is that brake light flashy thingy......?

Karl

[ScooterWolf]

Good article, and thanks for posting. I would add as the seasons are changing and night time is coming earlier, twilight may begin to align itself with the rush hour commute to home. This can make it difficult for others to gauge how far you are from them, especially if you are exceeding the speed limit on a road with many on ramps, driveways, or parking lot exits. A blurry head light and smudgy shape is hard to read, much less calculate how fast it's approaching.

I found the best way to commute is to find that bubble outside of the wolfpacks. I think of landsharks, squids and just idiot drivers as someone carrying a ticking time bomb. You don't want to be around them when it comes off.

- Wolf

[PaulF]

I put a pair of the pulsing brake bulbs in my Forza and the Burgman. ...and one in my son's CB500X Honda.
Haven't put one in my LIKE200I so as not to mess up the wires in there for my lighted Bestem top case.
They pulse and then stay on.
Not cheap...but requires nothing but a bulb change. No wiring or other bits are needed.
They come with a spare halogen bulb...but not needed the spare so far...
Stig

Are they LED globes Stig?

[Stig / Major Tom]

Are they LED globes Stig?

No,  they are halogen. The reviews I read of both types stated LED were disappointingly dimmer than the halogen bulbs.
Karl, they are tailblazer bulbs...pretty sure that was the name of them.
If I ever put them on the LIKE200I I will probably go with the LED Tailblazer bulb...so as not to overstress the electrical system already dealing with the added wiring and lights of the Bestem top case.
Stig

[PaulF]

Thanks mate, I will check out Tailblazer.  I had done a search and found these which have 31 good reviews;
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/tail-brake-turn/1157-led-bulb-w-brake-flasher-dual-function-1-high-power-led-bay15d-retrofit-car/923/