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Germany Replacing Dangerous Steel Road Signs with Plastic Signs

We motorcyclists have known for a long time that contact with metal road signs results in serious injuries or even fatalities.
The UN and EU have recommended that metal signs and barriers be removed.
Germany is taking the lead to replace steel road signs with plastic ones.

Apart from the steel barriers we see lining highways here, there are also steel road signs which are dangerous to motorcyclists. How many times have we seen bikers losing their limbs and lives after colliding with these “safety barriers”?

Many developed countries around the world are taking steps to replace their road barriers. Germany, on the other hand is taking the initiative to replace steel road signs with plastic ones, in addition to barriers. Check out the main picture of this article.

While we motorcyclists have long known about the dangers of crashing into a road sign, the German safety research facility DEKRA (seen this logo on Michael Schumacher’s cap) researched the hazard for quantifiable results. They found (no surprise) that motorcyclists are likely to be killed if they hit steel signs.

As such, they are advocating plastic road signs. Please watch the DEKRA video below.

The United Nations conducted a road safety survey and published a report in 2017. Among the recommendations are calls to remove roadside hazards that are proven to cause injuries and fatalities among motorcyclists. The 108-page paper by the World Health Organization found that motorcyclists are 15 times more likely to be killed compared to crashing where there is no hazard. The severities of injuries are also increased.

Hitting a steel sign post – Courtesy of Dekra

The Federation of European Motorcyclists’ Associations (FEMA) and European Union Road Federation (ERF) have also published a report called “Improving infrastructure safety for powered two-wheelers” which echoed the call by the WHO, which includes installing motorcycle protection systems on guardrails, maintaining skid resistance of pavement markings (i.e. lines) and ensuring that road surfaces are maintained.

Speaking about those hazards we need to point out that while our roads in Malaysia are actually quite good compared to our immediate neighbours but there are still much to improve for safety. Our observations are:

We’ve seen the new rolling guardrail barrier at a corner along the Karak Highway and hope more are installed.
The lines on the road are hardly “skid resistant” and are slippery even when dry.
While they highways are generally well-maintained, there still potholes that rival the craters on the moon.

We hope that the new Minister of Transport and the Road Transport Department will view these seriously.

Rolling guardrail in Korea – Courtesy of highways.today

Ducati Working on “Cheaper” V4?

Ducati announced that more models will be powered by the V-Four engine.
The engine will be adopted from the Desmosedici Stradale that’s powering the Panigale V4.
The new V-Four engines will be more “affordable” according to Ducati.

The Ducati Panigale V4 marked a paradigm shift for the Italian manufacturer as they move from their signature and traditional V-Twin to the V-Four format to power their production sportbikes.

2018 Ducati Panigale V4S Test & Review

However, while the 1103cc Desmosedici Stradale engine in the Panigale V4 alone at the moment, as they will adopt it to an entire range of new V-Four powered bikes. Ducati called some of the models “affordable.”

But cheaper in what sense? The V-Four format is inherently more complex (hence more expensive) than the V-Twin or even the inline-Four to build. There has to be a compromise somewhere and that should be the materials used, hence making less power.

The manufacturer had also said that the next V-Four model should be an “R” version of a smaller capacity Panigale V4. According to Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali, we should see the V-Four format powering other models other than the Panigale in the near future.

“It will be more in the future because we think that we don’t want to just take this engine and apply it as it is. The new motor will be one that will be based on this technology but will be much more tuned for longer distance and lower maintenance cost and this is where our development we will focus. It’s taking time because we want to be right, but this is where we are going,” Domenicali told Motorcycle News.

That’s a mouth-watering prospect, indeed. Multistrada V4 or Streetfighter V4, anyone?

Ducati Streetfighter V4 coming soon?

Morbidelli and Quartararo Confirmed for SIC-Yamaha-Angel Nieto-MotoGP Team

The riders for the SIC-Yamaha-Angel Nieto-MotoGP Team for 2019 have been confirmed.
They are 2017 Moto2 Champion Franco Morbidelli and current Moto2 Fabio Quartararo.
The news was confirmed by Yamaha Factory Racing Managing Director Lin Jarvis.

The mystery over which riders will join the SIC Yamaha Angel Nieto MotoGP Team from the 2019 season has been confirmed as 2017 Moto2 Champion Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo.

The rider line-up was confirmed by Yamaha Factory Racing Managing Director Lin Jarvis when he spoke to Simon Crafar during the Austrian GP over the weekend.

The satellite Yamaha MotoGP team would have been left vacant by the departure of the Monster Energy Tech3 Yamaha team to KTM next year. The move also brought riders Johann Zarco and Hafiz Syahrin in tow.

The interview with Jarvis confirmed that Yamaha does have a final say on who rides for the satellite team, since the satellite team also provides extra data to the factory: “They’re an Independent Team. Of course, any rider they select needs to be finally approved by us at being at the level and the capacity to ride the M1. So they’ve (SIC) chosen to go for Franco Morbidelli, who is a rider who is very interesting to us because he’s a World Champion, he’s an Academy rider and he definitely has talent. I think he’ll do better on the M1 than he is doing this year on the Honda so in the case of Franco there was no doubt at all from the beginning.”

And the second rider? It will be Quartararo, confirms Jarvis:

“In the case of Quartararo he will be a rookie, but he’s young – only 19 – and he’s definitely talented. He lost his way maybe for a year or two but he’s showing promise again this year. But I think he could be one of the very good riders for the future. I think the case of Syahrin has shown that sometimes you can take a choice and if the guy’s got talent and is brought in without expectation, he can deliver. So we’re quite comfortable with the choice.”

Finally, on the equipment the team will be supplied by Yamaha, Jarvis was more coy. Will it be something like Tech 3 or more than that?

“It will be something like Tech 3 or more than that,” replies the Yamaha Factory Racing Managing Director.

Source: MotoGP.com

New Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade to Get More Power?

Honda’s CBR1000RR Fireblade has been criticized by race teams and enthusiasts for lack of power in the open-class.
Rumors are circulating that Honda is working on a V-4 engine for the new bike.
Will the new bike get more power or Honda will stick with less weight?

It’s perhaps the relentless march of the competition or the manufacturer’s philosophy, but whatever the cause, it’s odd to see that the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade being outclassed for a long time. Affectionately known as the “Rabbit” locally, it is still very popular among sport riders.

Ironic isn’t it? For it was its predecessor, the CBR900RR Fireblade which made its debut in 1992, which showed the way to build superbikes. It outsold every sportbike all the way until Yamaha introduced the YZF-R1 in 1998. Yes, more people actually bought the CBR900RR despite Ducati stomping the World Superbike competition with the 916 from 1994.

But now that the CBR1000RR is eligible for Superbike (production-based) racing, it’s getting trounced by its rivals such as the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R and BMW S 1000 RR.

Racing teams have complained about the Honda’s lack of power, top speed and front-end grip in high-speed corners. 187 bhp was awesome 5 years ago but it is now too large a gap. When the current Fireblade was reveled in 2016, project leader Masatoshi Sato said, “We could easily give the bike 200 bhp; we could give it 300 bhp if we wanted, but we think it’s the lack of weight people want to feel more.”

Ah, we see. It means the development team was adhering to the original CBR900RR concept of “light is right.” Indeed, the bike weighed 205 kg, just 2 kg heavier than Honda’s own CBR600F2 at the time. The next lightest 1000cc motorcycle (Yamaha FZR1000) was a whopping 34 kg heavier.

MCN has revealed that more power is on the cards for the new CBR1000RR which will be unveiled at EICMA later this year.

The rumour of a V-4 engine continues to circulate, although Honda is tight-lipped about it. It’s also speculated that the new bike’s aerodynamics may draw from lessons learned in MotoGP.

Till then, let’s keep our fingers crossed for the new “Rabbit.”

TechTOC with “Foreman” Oh: Throttle Free-Play

The throttle grip should have some free-play before the initial reaction.
Failure to adjust the throttle’s free-play could result in dire consequences.
Here “Foreman” Oh answers about throttle free-play.

In this fifth instalment of TechTOC, “Foreman” Oh Kah Beng (KB) answers the question about throttle free-play and initial action.

Please keep sending in your questions and KB will answer them. You may enquire anything about motorcycles. The best question wins a complimentary session at Most Fun Gym (MFG) worth RM300.

QUESTION:

I need to twist my throttle a lot before there is any reaction, why is this so and is there any way I can fix it?

– Wan MT-09, Alor Setar, Kedah

ANSWER:

It’s quite normal to have some free-play on the throttle twist grip to compensate for throttle cable stretching. The free-play eases multiple steering manoeuvres at walking speeds, such as to move bike in tight parking spots or tight turns.

However, there is a tolerance for the amount of free-play . The general tolerance , for non-ride-by-wire bikes, is 3 to 5 MM of outer cable movement with the steering pointing straight and there should be still some tiny free play when handle bar is steered to maximum anti-clockwise (left) as this when cable is most stretched. If it’s too tight the bike will accelerate unexpectedly and cause panicky situations, as turning to one side will pull the on the cable. Chances are you could end up dropping the bike.

The method of adjusting the throttle free-play is quite universal for all bikes albeit with some specific variations, so refer to your Owner’s Manual.

Keep sending in your questions to me at TechTOC with Foreman Oh to stand the chance of receiving a complimentary session at Most Fun Gym.

You may follow us at Most Fun Gym – MFG through our Facebook page.

Please visit the TOC Automotive College Facebook page or their campus (map below) or call call (+603) 7960 8833 for more information. Likewise, you can find more information about the TOC Bina Bakat Program here, or email info@toc.edu.my. Please click on this link for further information on the TOC Superbike Technician Course.

Please click on the links below for the previous editions of TechTOC with Foreman Oh.

Engine operating temperature https://www.bikesrepublic.com/featured/techtoc-technical-answers-foreman-oh-kah-beng/

Motorcycle suspension https://www.bikesrepublic.com/featured/techtoc-foreman-oh-answers-suspension/

Squealing disc brakes https://www.bikesrepublic.com/featured/techtoc-foreman-oh-squealing-disc-brakes/

When to replace tyres https://www.bikesrepublic.com/featured/techtoc-foreman-oh-replace-tyre/

Harley-Davidson Owners Group PJ (HOGPJ) Udang Galah Ride

Harley-Davidson of Petaling Jaya’s owners group chapter, HOGPJ organized a ride for some great food over the weekend.
Nearly 100 participants showed up to the ride to Segamat, Johor for the famous udang galah (crayfish).
The ride was expertly marshalled from start to finish.

Things are up and fully for Harley-Davidson of Petaling Jaya (HDPJ) and their riders’ chapter, Harley Owners Group PJ (HOGPJ).

Harley-Davidson owners can always look forward to many fun activities that are organized by HOG and their respective dealerships. So far, there’ve been many such rides that started from HDPJ based at The Gasket Alley.

But as Malaysian bikers, there are two things that we love: Motorcycle and food. Not necessarily in that order. As such, HOGPJ organized a “food ride” this weekend. Called “HOGPJ Udang Galah Ride,” the participants rode to the sleepy town of Segamat in Johore for the famous udang galah (crayfish) lunch.

The organizers had targeted 75 participants, but the number swelled to nearly 100 just prior to the pre-ride briefing. While most riders are experienced in convoy riding, the HOG marshals knew they had their job cut out for them and they took their tasks seriously. Harley-Davidson and HOG are nothing if not for their expertly organized rides.

After the marshals were briefed, it was the participants next. The briefing was quite detailed as compared to other rides we’ve covered, but the main difference was the Head Marshal leading the participants in a warm up session. They guided through some stretching and deep breathing exercises.

From HDPJ it was a straight ride to the Ayer Keroh RnR for the Sportsters to fill up their peanut tanks. The participants were disciplines and adhered to HOG’s recommended convoy etiquette.

Refueling was a fast process as the marshals ran a “pit stop” refueling style: The owner left his/her bike with the marshals, went to pay for the fuel, and the marshals filled up the bike.

We continued our way to Segamat by exiting the North-South Expressway at the Tangkak exit. The pace was good as it kept us cool despite the sun particularly hot on this day. We were also escorted by the Traffic Police thus we didn’t have to stop and get hot. Indeed, we were told during the briefing that HOG will always notify the police prior to their rides.

We reached RZ Restoran just in time for lunch. Participants parked their bikes quickly to get out of the sun and helped themselves to the iced drinks.

The restaurant had already set out the food for us in the air-conditioned section, consisting of the all-famous udang galah in fried, sambal and lemak styles, plenty of tasty vege, crispy fried chicken, fried fish, and much more. A few Harley riding friends of this writer once remarked that the Malaysia HOG unofficial mantra is “Eat to Ride, Ride to Eat,” certainly in relation to our love for great food, and that passion to ride to faraway places just for a meal. Can’t argue with that.

We rode back the same way we came from after lunch and the customary group photos. Again, the group kept the formation as tight as possible on the highway until the Seremban RnR before we went our separate ways.

To find out more about Harley-Davidson motorcycles and Harley Owners Group PJ, please visit Harley-Davidson of Petaling Jaya’s official Facebook page or visit them at the location below.