Ride First, Then Read Ot Unexpectedly, It Has Flipped from Spring to Sultry Summer but Let’S Not Get Ahead of Ourselves

NEWS FROM THE Land of Enchantment BMW Riders

IN THIS ISSUE

FEATURE STORIES News, News, News 2 BMW Wins Readers’ Vote 2 New BMW R1200RT 3 eRR – electric BMW S1000RR 3 World’s First Air-Conditioned Helmet 3 Downhill Mountain Bike Racing 6

LOE BMW R CALENDAR 4

LOE BMW R CLUB INFO 7

LOE BMW R NEWS 8 Asphalt Jungle Extreme Survival Guide Greetings Challenge Riders!

IAN MOUNTAI AVAR N WEE 18 B KEN 20 D May 2018 Volume 33 Issue 5

LAND OF ENCHANTMENT BMW RIDERS SIPAPU, NM Ride First, Then Read ot unexpectedly, it has flipped from spring to sultry summer But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Warm in the blink of an eye. It seemed like jacket liners and heated grips were going to be on weather has just arrived and a whole summer Nforever, and suddenly it’s time for mesh. of riding beckons. It’s time to torch some tires. Summer is a season of light entertainment, BMW MOA Charter #123 BMW RA Charter #81 The Club has been out and about, racking The Riding Challenge has been attracting so this issue if full of news bits to fill the odd up huge miles in all of the rides and events more riders who have been scouring the moments when you’re not out on the road. To control this pdf file, press Escape to leave full- Sandy has been riding herd over. The Ice state to fill in all their blanks (and having a I know the story on the revamped R1200RT screen view. Use the Page Up and Page Down keys Cream Ride to Glenwood was fantastically great time at it). There are tons of rides and will be of particular interest. Oh yeah, and the or click on the arrows in the lower corners to go to attended, there will be all kinds of pictures of campouts coming up, not even including the air conditioned motorcycle helmet too! the next or previous page, or select a page number that adventure in the next issue. Birthday Party and the rally in September. David Wilson, editor from the list at the bottom of the page.

11 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 FEATURE STORY NEWS, NEWS, NEWS

BMW WINS “2018 MOTORCYCLE OF THE YEAR” READERS’ VOTE and Dynamic Traction Control DTC as well as the optional electronically regulated suspension BMW received numerous distinctions at the annual readers’ vote held by Motorrad magazine. system Dynamic Damping Control DDC, it remains very popular among customers as a result of Representatives climbed up the podium a total of nine times at the award ceremony in Stuttgart, ongoing further development. including twice to the top position. Also just short of victory was the R nineT in the category “Modern Classics”. Two closely “Nine distinctions including two wins is a great confirmation of our product offensive. This related family members also achieved very good results, namely the R nineT Pure and R nineT result once again demonstrates that BMW Motorrad has adopted the right strategy with its broad Scrambler. Meanwhile the iconic R1200GS started the new year with its popularity unwavering. product range,” says Timo Resch, Head of Sales and Marketing BMW Motorrad. “I should like Its second place in the readers’ vote – as well as a number of good placements achieved by to thank the readers of MOTORRAD most sincerely for their wonderful support – this will be an other BMW Adventure models – once again confirms the strong presence of BMW in this highly enormous incentive for us to work hard to defend our leading position in the motorcycle market.” competitive segment. More than 50,000 units of the R1200GS and its deep-treaded sibling the With victories in the “Touring Bike/Sports Touring Bike” category for the R1200RS and in the R1200GS Adventure alone were sold in 2017, setting yet another positive record. “Crossover” category for the S1000XR as well five second places and two third places. Among the “Naked Bikes”, the unfaired R1200R was able to defend its outstanding second The BMW R1200RS also sailed onto the stage in the slipstream of the BMW R 1200 RT: an place from the previous year. In the “Scooter” category, second place went to the emissions- excellent third place in the “Touring Bike/Sports Touring Bike” category gave BMW Motorrad an free C evolution and third place to the C650 Sport/C650 GT, ensuring a superb overall result in impressive class victory. the urban segment and rounding off the excellent performance of BMW Motorrad in the “2018 The BMW S1000RR only just missed out on victory this year. Now in its 9th model year, this Motorcycle of the Year” readers’ vote. pioneering supersports bike finished second in the “Sports” category – still giving every reason The award ceremony was held on 12 March 2018 in Stuttgart. This year, 51,497 readers took to celebrate. No other model has been able to assert its presence for so many years within the part in “2018 Motorcycle of the Year”, which is regarded as the most important readers’ vote on leading group in such a technology and performance-driven segment. Offering an excellent motorcycles and scooters in the whole of Europe. combination of high performance with a high level of active riding safety based on Race ABS

The Legendary Shaft May 2018 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 NEW BMW R1200RT ERR – ELECTRIC BMW S1000RR https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/new-bikes/2018/bmw-r1200rt-tourer-motorcycle/ https://motoridersuniverse.com/news/1253770- The BMW R1200RT is the UK’s best-selling tourer, but new spy shots suggest it is getting an err-electric-bmw-s1000rr.html update that will bring better tech and a new, more powerful engine to keep it relevant in the face Many large motor-car manufacturers are of competition from KTM and Ducati’s big-power continent-crushers. beginning to pay more attention to electrical A quick glance and you could be forgiven for thinking it’s the same, as the big fairing does as technologies, which are the future of motor good a job of keeping out prying eyes as it does at keeping off the rain. The particularly eagle- industry. With several electric car and scooter eyed might notice the additional fairing panel, or changes to the screen mounts, but by far the models currently on the market, BMW has biggest change is that the bike appears to be using a new engine that we first saw last year. recently turned its attention to the development While nothing is confirmed, we believe the new engine will push the capacity up a little to of its electric powertrain vehicles. 1250cc, but more importantly it will have variable valve timing (VTT), for a better spread of In 2015, a joint project was hatched between power across the rev range, better fuel economy and improved emissions. We expect the new BMW Motorrad and the Technical University of engine to make approximately 150bhp, which would make it the most powerful boxer engine Munich to create a high-performance electric BMW have produced. superbike. Bavarians intend to call the electric The current RT has standard analogue clocks, with a small TFT information screen and a cut- cycle as an “experimental vehicle”. The eRR project was built on the basis of the BMW S1000RR. out for a GPS unit above it. However, the new bike has just one large TFT dash. It’s expected to Inside, an electric powertrain was installed, and externally the bike was covered with a carbon work in a similar fashion to the optional TFT dash on the new R1200GS, with various screens that fiber bodywork. swap and change to display navigation, multi-media and phone connectivity alongside the usual In this cooperation, BMW was most interested in getting more info on low-speed performance. information such as a speed and revs. We’re expecting it to be standard equipment on the RT. Because eMotors offer full torque on tap at any given time, electric motors almost always have Given BMW’s prolific use of boxer engines, we imagine the engine will also go into a new GS. the upper hand on internal combustion engines below 50 km/h. For this reason, many supercars It’s possible we’ll see that unveiled as early as the Cologne show in October, to go on sale in 2019. are hybrids. The electric motor is used at lower We expect a new RT, R, RS and GS Adventure before the Euro 5 deadline in January 2020. speeds, and then the gas engine kicks in at The rest gets a small facelift and tweaks, including a reprofiled screen with smaller mounts higher speeds, which allows achieving high and new fairing below the exhausts. acceleration rates. The whole R family will get a new boxer engine with an increased capacity of 1250cc along Very little is known about the eRR project. It’s with a broader spread of power, thanks to VTT. been three years, and almost no information. It is Variable valve timing is the process of actively altering the time at which the valves open and difficult to judge whether the experiment turned close. Due to the high-revving nature of most out to be successful. Is a hybrid superbike planned motorcycle engines, it’s impossible to create a in the future? The question remains open. single cam profile that delivers decent torque and top-end power, while meeting emissions THE WORLD’S FIRST AIR-CONDITIONED MOTORCYCLE HELMET regs. Sharing the same technology as seats that heat and cool in luxury cars, this is the world’s first VVT lets firms advance or retard the opening air-conditioned motorcycle helmet. Using about the same amount of electricity as LED lights, of the valves to tune the engine more accurately installation and operation is simple; connect the leads to your motorcycle battery, put on your head, across the rev range. Early systems operated switch on! Within seconds, heat is exhausted and 12-15 degree cooler air is blown into your helmet, one timing below a particular engine speed and over and around your head, and defogs your visor. It uses two small fans and a thermoelectric another above (as on the early VFR800 VTEC) device housed at the back of the helmet. Ride cooler, but modern systems continually adjust valve comfortable, and think more clearly with better riding timing through the entire rev range. judgment. Costing no more than a mid-priced helmet BMW’s cars have taken this further to (around $600), it’s available in S through XXL sizes incorporate variable lift in a system called in several colors. Certified DOT and ECE R-22.05 Valvetronic. This enables near infinite valve Safety Standard. Best of all…it really works! To learn adjustment and negates the need for a throttle more, contact Richard Slatin at 602-405-7613 or visit body to control engine speed. www.slatinmotogear.com.

The Legendary Shaft May 2018 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 LOE BMW R CALENDAR MAY S M T W T F S GENERAL CALENDAR INFO FRIDAY-SUNDAY, MAY 4-6 ICE CREAM RIDE, GLENWOOD SMRI (ALBUQUERQUE) AND 1 2 3 4 5 As always, while event information is posted by Sandy & Amy Ballard ASMA (DEMING) in the Shaft, there may be last minute changes, Our “Rally For the Club” at Glenwood. RACE/TRACK SCHEDULE which will be reflected on the Message Contact the Los Olmos Lodge (http://www. SMRI and Law Tigers are proud 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Board. If you cannot visit the Message Board, losolmoslodge.com; 575-539-2224) and to announce the schedule for our the ride contact person can notify you of mention the LOE BMW R. Note: “The lawn has 2018 track days and the Law Tigers’ changes. Please note all rides are at the a sprinkler system installed. Due to possible Sandia Motorcycle Roadracing 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 individual’s own discretion and risk. These are damage to your tire and/or to our system Championships. Events will be held the destination rides so each person should “ride there will be an extra $50 fee for driving third weekend of every month from their own ride” while meeting up with others on the lawn.” Check the Message Board for May through October with a total of 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 at the various destinations of the ride. Be full details. The Whitewater Motel takes five track days and seven race days. sure you’re aware of the route and bring your reservations by phone only: 575-539-2581. own maps/GPS to assist you. Exchanging cell SMRI TRACK DAYS 27 28 29 30 31 phone numbers with other ride participants SATURDAY, MAY 5 May 19 August 18 is recommended. If you decide to drop out SANDIA BMW COFFEE June 16 September 15 of the ride at some point during the ride, They will have coffee and breakfast snacks July 21 October 20 notifying at least one other ride participant of between 9-10:30 am for us to enjoy before JUNE your intention to drop out will help alleviate we go for a ride or whatever comes up. SMRI RACE DAYS S M T W T F S unnecessary confusion or concern for your May 20 August 19 whereabouts. All information will be posted SATURDAY, MAY 19 June 17 September 16 1 2 to the Calendar page. SANTA FE BMW COFFEE July 22 October 21 They will have coffee and breakfast snacks ON ANY SUNDAY between 9-10:30 am for us to enjoy before Contact 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 we go for a ride or whatever comes up. [email protected], (800) 647-5028, Some gather for Sunday breakfast at Milly’s or http://www.smri-racing.org on Jefferson just North of San Antonio. Meet SUNDAY, MAY 20 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 between 7:30 and 8:30 am. LUNCH RENDEZVOUS ASMA TRACK DAYS by Sandy Ballard May 5, 12 Sept 1, 8 SUNDAY, MAY 6 At the Ranchos Plaza Grill, 8 Ranchos Plaza June 2, 16 Oct 6, 14 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 TRAVELING BREAKFAST Rd, Ranchos De Taos at about noon. For those July 14-15 Nov 3, 10 by Sandy Ballard that would like to ride up as a group, meet at August 4-5 No Traveling Breakfast, since many club the Phillips 66 station just west of Tramway 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 members will be in Glenwood for the Ice and I-25 (1660 Roy Avenue) at 8:30 am ASMA RACE DAYS Cream Ride. Folks who don’t go to Glenwood (kickstands up promptly at 8:45). The ride May 5-6 NOTE CONCERNING THE CALENDAR usually congregate at Milly’s restaurant on will head up I-25, the Santa Fe Relief Route June 2-3 You are strongly encouraged to check the 7308 Jefferson St NE in Albuquerque. The and the High Road to Taos. Because the High Sept 1-2 Message Board and the Calendar on the web group meets about 7:30am in the back room Road is a Riding Challenge Ride, the group Oct 6-7 site before any event, to be apprised of any last- of the restaurant. Some post-breakfast rides will stop for Riding Challenge photos at Santa Nov 10-11 minute changes. You’ll also find impromptu are usually discussed and leave from there. rides posted, reviews and opinions on club (Continued on page 5) activities as they happen.

The Legendary Shaft May 2018 1 2 3 44 5 6 7 8 COME CHECK OUT OUR NEW SHOWROOM AND THE ALL NEW 2015 MODELS!!

Sandia BMW Motorcycles 6001 PAN AMERICAN WEST FWY NE ALBUQUERQUE, NM 87109-3421 505-884-9137

(Continued from page 4) SATURDAY, JUNE 2 FRIDAY-SUNDAY, JUNE 8-10 SATURDAY, JUNE 16 SANDIA BMW COFFEE CLOUDCROFT CAMP & RIDE SANTA FE BMW COFFEE Cruz State Park, the Truchas Historic Marker, They will have coffee and breakfast snacks by Sandy & Amy Ballard They will have coffee and breakfast snacks and SMU-in-Taos at Fort Burgwin. From the between 9-10:30 am for us to enjoy before At the Lower Fir Group Campsite located between 9-10:30 am for us to enjoy before gas station to the restaurant is about 130 we go for a ride or whatever comes up. about a mile from Cloudcroft. At 8700 feet, it we go for a ride or whatever comes up. miles. After lunch, those who would like to should be nice and cool so come on out and tick off more Riding Challenge Rides (and SUNDAY, JUNE 3 beat the heat in the rest of New Mexico. SATURDAY, AUGUST 4 ride some of the best paved roads in the TRAVELING BREAKFAST As with all Camp & Rides, this is a self CLUB BIRTHDAY PICNIC state), head over Palo Flechado Pass to Angel by Sandy Ballard supported trip which means you need to bring We will be back at Oak Flats, check the Fire, ride south on the Guadalupito Highway We will enjoy a sumptuous breakfast at your own camping gear, cooking equipment, Message Board for the latest on when and to Mora, then west through Sipapu before 9 am at the Owl Cafe, 800 Eubank Blvd. food and libations. Water and firewood are where. rejoining the High Road. This route is about in Albuquerque. After breakfast, those available at the site. The club is picking up 200 miles back to Albuquerque. If you go this interested can take a ride up to Sandia Crest, the tab for the campsite, which has a large SATURDAY-SUNDAY, AUGUST 18-19 way, stop for Riding Challenge photos at the a Riding Challenge Gold Road. From the covered pavilion with multiple picnic tables CAMP & RIDE TO DATIL WELL historic marker at the top of Palo Flechado restaurant it is about 30 miles, or 45 minutes and will accommodate up to 70 people. You CAMPGROUND Pass, the entrance to Coyote Creek State Park up to the Crest. can also stay in a motel in Cloudcroft and join Check the Message Board for the latest on and the Sipapu Ski Area. us at the campground for social time. when and where. (Continued on page 6)

The Legendary Shaft May 2018 1 2 3 4 55 6 7 8 LOE BMW R CALENDAR IAN MOUNTAI AVAR N WEE (Continued from page 5) 18 B KEN 20 D FRIDAY-SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7-9 charges for stealing TV remotes, no smoking bicycle racing. The correct word isn’t if but THE BAVARIAN MOUNTAIN in rooms, etc.) There are a few secluded areas when. WEEKEND, SIPAPU to smoke, if you know what I mean. My personal count is, as I write this, 24 Check the Message Board to keep up on the LAND OF ENCHANTMENT BMW RIDERS broken bones and a number of titanium latest details. SIPAPU, NM THE SPORT CALLED DOWNHILL joints. My humerus and fibula have titanium MOUNTAIN BIKE RACING items glued and screwed into appropriate SATURDAY-SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22-23 by Keith Ingram stabilization locations in the aforementioned CAMP & RIDE TO RIO GRANDE events with massive crowds, old guys in tents, Though the pictured downhill locations bones. When I die, my favorite mortician DEL NORTE NEAR QUESTA and thousands of old BMW twins, there’s no in Palo Dura Canyon are rather limited in indicated burial wasn’t a possibility. He’s just Check the Message Board for the latest on better place to be. Think of it as Daytona Bike length, their percentage of degree drop is going to “part me out” for salvage. when and where. Week without the Harleys, the pretty women, rather impressive. Not only is your downhill One more requirement for downhill bicycle or the beach. angle akin to a bungee jump…a gritty and competition: the downhill bike atop your car NATIONAL EVENTS seriously hard dirt surface is ever present to has to be considerably more expensive than THURSDAY-SATURDAY, JULY 19-21 separate you from amazingly large sections the vehicle toting it. THURSDAY-SUNDAY, MAY 17-20 THE BMW RA NATIONAL RALLY, of epidermis should your steering/braking BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY I-BMW WELLSBORO, PA efforts prove questionable. RALLY, BUCHANAN, VA Join us at the Tioga County Fairgrounds for Downhill mountain bicycle isn’t for the from Jerry “Pirate” Finley three days of camping, vendor shopping, “look at me” crowd, for the very instant you At the Wattstull Inn. Call 540-254-1551 for seminars and door prizes. Cool nights, great attempt a poorly planned turn, you know your reservations. Mention: i-BMW group. Rooms riding, plenty of other lodging in the area inadequate riding skills will make the cover of are $83.50 including continental breakfast. and many great roads to explore. You’ll be various bicycle magazines. That’s the section less than 30 minutes away from the Grand called “Spectacular Get Offs!” THURSDAY-SUNDAY, JUNE 28-JULY 1 Canyon of Pennsylvania. Go to http://bmwra. You not only broke a bone or two, no one SSR / SUMMER SOLSTICE I-BMW org/national-rally for details. looking at the photo even believes you’re in RALLY, WESTON, VT the middle of the dirt cloud. They only see from Jerry “Pirate” Finley THURSDAY-SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13-16 one leg and two arms flopping around like On Rt 100 at the Colonial House Inn and I-BMW DEALS GAP RALLY, a wounded goose. Lucky part? The cameras Motel. Reservations: Call (802) 824-6286 MAGGIE VALLEY, NC aren’t recording your wounded goose sounds! ask for Jeff or Kim and say you’re with the from Jerry “Pirate” Finley When the avalanche of bicycle, dirt, mud, i-BMW group. There can be a BBQ if we give At the Creekside Lodge. Reservations (800) rocks and you finally complete proving all of notice, Jeff does a mean pulled pork BBQ. 621-1260. Maggie Valley Creekside Lodge Newton’s Laws of Motion correct, you slowly Or if there is interest he will come up with a 2716 Soco Road Maggie Valley, NC 28751. inventory all 206 of your bones, not just for dinner menu but the restaurant isn’t normally We have blocked 16 rooms out of 40 total correct numbers, but for proper locations open for dinner. rooms so call and make your reservations! as well. Remember the old spiritual song Making discounted reservations are good “Them Bones?” It goes something like this: THURSDAY-SUNDAY, JULY 12-15 until August 13th and then special pricing is no the leg bone is connected to the foot bone.” If BMW MOA RALLY, longer available. Cancellation is good with a the check proves the leg bone’s connected to DES MOINES, IA weeks notice, anything less than a week, they the head bone…your down hill days will be from Jerry “Pirate” Finley charge you for a night. The hotel has some delayed for sometime. The winning site is exotic Des Moines, at the other restrictions that will be passed along at Now never worry about the possibility of Iowa State Fairgrounds. If you like to go to the time you make your reservations (no pets, this occuring if you participate in downhill

The Legendary Shaft May 2018 1 2 3 4 5 66 7 8 LOE BMW R CLUB INFO

OFFICERS RALLY CHAIR JOIN THE LOE BMW R SUBMIT TO THE SHAFT RJ Mirabal INFORMATION [email protected] Yearly dues are $35. Dues are payable Send in your stories, opinions, pictures, [email protected] on January 1. Nonpaying members will be gripes…we publish anything! Send your LOE BMW R general inquiries TREASURER rendered inactive on March 1st. For more contributions to: Jan S. information or to pay: PRESIDENT [email protected] David Wilson Rod Getting Land of Enchantment BMW Riders 727-2 Cedar Hill La NE [email protected] SECRETARY PO Box 92095 Albuquerque, NM 87122 Amy Ballard Albuquerque, NM 505-328-6163 VICE PRESIDENT [email protected] 87199-2095 [email protected] Jon Helm [email protected] NEWSLETTER www.loebmwr.org Computer files are easiest for me, or you can David Wilson fax it, or scribble on a piece of paper and mail MEMBERSHIP SERVICES [email protected] or contact [email protected] it. I don’t care! And don’t forget lots and lots Lynn Coburn of pictures. [email protected] WEBMASTER BENEFITS OF BECOMING A MEMBER Terry Rowley • 10% discount at Sandia/Santa Fe BMW for All stories © by the individual authors, used MEMBERSHIP RECORDS [email protected] BMW items by permission. Bede Crawford • 10% discount off entire ticket at OCD [email protected] MEMBER AT LARGE Custom Cycles & Repair in Santa Fe Newsletter design and production by Daniel Schrodt • Annual winter Progressive Breakfast COMMUNICATIONS [email protected] • Club birthday picnic RJ Mirabal • Christmas party [email protected] PAST PRESIDENT • Rides David Hudson • Camaraderie ACTIVITIES CZAR Past [email protected] Sandy Ballard SHAFT ADVERTISING RATES [email protected] [email protected] $225/yr. – K page www.davidwilsondesign.us $150/yr. – N page $100/yr. – Business Card Size BMW Riders Club Land of Enchantment

10% off BMW parts and labor! Must present current LOEBMWRClub membership card at time of service. Marc Beyer, Master Technician - Specializing in BMW Motorcycles, Vintage, and Racing. Mercedes-Benz Expert. 505-428-0646 www.ocdcustomcycles.com

The Legendary Shaft May 2018 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 LOE BMW R NEWS LO E B

ASPHALT JUNGLE EXTREME GET OUT OF THE WAY OF LARGE cars away from your bike. M ng

R W SURVIVAL GUIDE VEHICLES I Rides

R http://moto-emag.com/ Yelling will not help you, keeping the bike in USE YOUR HORN D

I UrbanMotorcycleRidingSurvival.html gear at all times and getting the hell out will. Don’t be bashful about using your horn to get N G Riding in dense urban areas is not for everyone. the attention of distracted drivers. C E Weird Your enemies are many and your friends none. NEVER PUT THE BIKE IN NEUTRAL H G A L L E N Pces The list of your enemies includes potholes, WHEN STOPPED IN TRAFFIC CARS WILL CUT YOU OFF, JUST DEAL cabbies, buses, truck drivers, old people, When stopped in traffic always keep the bike WITH IT young people and everyone else in between. in first in case you have to dash out of the Since many drivers aren’t trained to spot GREETINGS CHALLENGE RIDERS! You got distracted drivers aiming for you; so way of a distracted cager aiming right for you. motorcyclist they will accidentally cut you off. by Sandy Ballard, full info at http://loebmwr. do grannies who can barely see through their Keep the bike in gear at all traffic stops and Don’t get mad, just learn to deal with it. org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=5032 steering wheel. That 17 year old who just got monitor your mirrors and make sure no one The Lunch Rendezvous to the Sopaipilla a text from the hot girl in school is going to let is aiming for you. Be ready to get out of the MONITOR THE FRONT WHEEL OF CARS Factory in Pojoaque included three of the go of the steering wheel in an instant and take way if you see a car getting too close or is not FOR LANE CHANGE INDICATION Riding Challenge Rides: Gilman Tunnels, his eyes off the road to see what she has to say. slowing down fast enough. Always monitor the front wheel of cars as you Valle Caldera, and Pajarito Mountain Ski So, how do you survive riding your motorcycle pass them to pre-detect their lane change Area. Quite a few folks that went on the ride in major metro areas? BUSES & SEMIS DO NOT SEE YOU intention. subsequently joined the Riding Challenge. The larger the vehicle the less likely they’ll At this point, 18 Riders have completed ASSUME YOU’RE INVISIBLE notice anything smaller than a car. Get out TAP YOUR BRAKE LIGHTS BEFORE 106 rider-rides. That is pretty good! But there If you want to survive riding motorcycles in of their way and don’t place yourself in a COMING TO A SUDDEN STOP is a lot time until the end of the Challenge on dense urban areas assume no one can see situation that they may accidentally clip you If you are coming to a sudden stop in traffic, November 4. So you. Take full responsibility for your ride. or worse. make sure to tap your brake lights a few get out there and No one is going to care if you wear black or times before fully engaging them (if there is ride some rides! high-viz, they’ll run you over or rear-end you ROAD RAGE MIGHT KILL YOU enough space) to warn the cars behind you Ride on! without prejudice. Be on full alert. Let’s face it you really have no chance tangoing of your intention for a sudden stop. If you with drivers in cars or trucks. Even a compact have no such time or road space, don’t DON’T TRUST YOUR MIRRORS can hit you and barely feel the incident. So allow your bike to be stopped behind a car If you only rely on your mirrors to make lane ride smartly. in a sudden stop, because there is a good changes, you’ll not last long on the streets. chance the cars behind you can’t stop fast Always (that’s every single time) turn your WATCH AS YOU RIDE THROUGH EACH enough and they may hit you. Try to either head and make sure a car, truck, another bike INTERSECTION, EVEN IF YOU HAVE THE pull in between lanes in extreme stopping or a bicyclist is not in your blind spot. RIGHT OF WAY emergencies or pull to the shoulder and Boring right? Just because you have the right wait until the traffic has come to a safe stop. BEING IN SOMEONE’S BLIND SPOT CAN of way, doesn’t mean you can zoom through KILL YOU intersections. Pay close attention and make TEST THE SLIPPERINESS OF A ROAD BY Cars have massive blind spots. If you find sure no one is riding lights or worse cross the TAPPING YOUR REAR BRAKE yourself riding next to cars and your bike is interaction thinking it’s clear. If you find yourself riding in slippery road in the area around the rear seat to the trunk conditions and can’t gauge how much of that car, you can be sure that the driver OWN YOUR SPACE, OWN YOUR LANE traction you have, just tap your rear brake cannot see you. Get yourself out of that car’s Don’t ride on the extreme right or left side of in a straight line and see if the tire skids or blind spot immediately. your lane and allow cars to pull in next to you if there is traction. This will help you gauge in your own lane. Own your lane, and keep both cornering and stopping traction.

The Legendary Shaft May 2018 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8