New Bike Specifications

LAYERED CLOTHING
If you are going on a long ride, arm yourself with multiple layers of warm clothes. This way you can deal well with varied temperatures across various places and at different times of the day. Most textile riding jackets come with a detachable inner layer. Use it during winters for added warmth. Inner thermals are a cheaper option to keep you warm inside the jacket.

PAPER IS A GOOD INSULATOR
In case you fall short of warm clothing, grab some sheets of a newspaper and tuck it into your jacket. It acts as an excellent heat insulator and keeps the cold away. Similarly, if you are carrying a back sack along, you may carry it in front of you as a shield. Do make sure the sack doesn’t hinder your control on the bike.

NECK INSULATION
Most riders leave their neck portion uncovered and exposed to the elements hoping that the jacket collar and helmet will provide sufficient protection from the wind. Only after riding in cold weather do they realize that they were wrong. Remember that the main arteries supplying blood to the brain pass through your neck. With constant exposure to cold wind, you might start feeling dizzy pretty soon. Besides, it might stiffen your neck. It’s best to invest in a good quality balaclava. Top end products like the featured Alpinestars balaclava come with a waterproofing layer as well. You can also wrap a muffler to protect your neck.

GO FOR LONG WRIST GLOVES
The main idea is not to have any parts of your skin exposed. If you have a pair of long wrist gloves, you can tuck your jacket sleeves into it. On the other hand if you wear gloves with short wrist, cold air will enter right into your arms while riding. If the weather is extremely cold, it is also advisable to wear a pair of surgical gloves under the riding gloves.

DRINK HOT BEVERAGES
A cup of hot tea or coffee can certainly help you warm up. They can be a good source of heat for your palms as well. However, they are not the best liquids to rehydrate your body as the diuretrics actually make you urinate more frequently and you end up losing water fast. On the other hand, you can count on hot soups as excellent energy sources as well as rehydration agents. Stay away from drinking any amount of alcohol.

MAINTAIN CLEAR VISION
Besides atmospheric fog, cold weather also results in fogging inside your helmet. This could be disastrous at night and equally disturbing during day rides. Usually you are left with no choice but to open up the visor a bit and let the chilly wind hit your face. An anti-fogging visor is the best solution here. If you cannot lay your hands on such a product, clean both the inside and outside of your existing visor with a mild soap solution such as Colin. Then spray some more of it on the inside of the visor and let it dry without wiping it off. The dried layer will help prevent fogging to an extent.

DEALING WITH FOG
Fog is the worst nightmare of a rider in the winter. If you encounter mild fog, switch on your headlight with low beam. Use high beam and turn on the left indicator if the fog is thick. However, never use high beam during foggy nights as it will further reduce your visibility. Use low beam along with the indicator. Whether day or night, if the visibility level falls significantly, slow down to a speed that is comfortable for you to react in case of an eventuality. If you need to park your bike by the roadside, leave the indicator on so that other approaching vehicles can notice you.

TRACTION ON MOIST ROAD
Mist and fog can often moisten roads and consequently tyres.The probability of loss of traction increases during the wee hours of the morning. This becomes even more dangerous in snowy areas where skidding is common. Preferably go for a set of specialized tyres. Reduce your speed and avoid leaning at extreme angles. For riding on snow covered roads, find sections such as tracks of bigger vehicles on the road that offer better traction and go gentle on the throttle and brakes.

OTHER PRECAUTIONS
If the weather is really extreme, take frequent breaks to regain body heat. Temperatures slightly below normal can play havoc if you ride fast. A very important factor called the wind chill factor should never be ignored. As speeds ride, the apparent temperature or the wind chill factor felt on exposed skin due to the wind can surprisingly be very low. Even when the outside air temperatue is around 15 degrees, at 50km/h, the wind hitting your body feels very chilly. Learn to recognize symptoms of hypothermia. Feeling dizzy, seemingly funny mistakes in vehicle manoeuvre, etc. are primitive symptoms. If your shivering stops even when it’s cold outside you must take immediate action to warm yourself up. If you can find a warm place, take off your jacket so that your body can soak in some heat. If riding through a snowy area, make sure that your external clothing is waterproof. You must get rid of any wet cloth inside while riding in cold weather. While we suggest you wear enough warm clothes, you must enusure that the clothing doesn’t hinder your vehicle manoeuvring ability. Don’t forget to carry along high energy snacks including chocolates and rehydrating liquids such as Gatorade.

Do not use your mobile phones while riding
Use of mobile phones while riding is dangerous as it leads to a lack of concentration on the road and traffic. Some people who do away with the use of a hands free device tend to adopt different techniques of placing the mobile in the helmet or hold it between the ear and shoulder further increasing the chances of an accident. Hence it is recommended that you pull over to the side of the road while not disturbing the traffic flow and completing your conversation.

Restrict use of high beam
In most cities, street lighting is enough for clear visibility at night. Where it isn’t adequate, the headlights of your vehicle as well as the ones around you make up for it. There are very rare situations when you really need to have the bike’s high beam activated in city environs for visibility. These beams can blind the oncoming traffic and can make the oncoming vehicles steer straight towards you, resulting in a fatal accident.

Carry necessary documents
As per the RTO rules, it is mandatory to carry valid documents like your driving license, bike registration and tax papers/smartcard, insurance and P.U.C certificate at all times. In most cities, photocopies are allowed too, however, failure to carry any of these necessary documents may lead to monetary fines.

Be patient in traffic jams
Traffic jams usually happen due to an accident, broken down vehicle or the lack of proper traffic signals at an intersection. It gets worse when vehicles try to slot themselves into each and every inch of space available, thus making the jam even more difficult to declog. The easiest solution is to stick to your lane and maintain enough distance for the vehicles in front to move around and negotiate the jam easily.

Do not ride with objects hanging from the bike
As mentioned earlier, it is not recommended to hang bags or other luggage from the handlebar or your shoulder when riding. Such hanging objects can swing around while riding, can unsettle your balance and can obstruct the view for the riders or drivers following your vehicle. Such objects can even get entangled with the handlebars or rear view mirrors of bikes around you, thus causing an accident. Other such examples are helmets hung around the elbow, open zippers of riding jackets, holy cloth/threads on the handlebars, etc.

Give proper indications
While it is one of the most basic rules, most people tend to ignore it in day-to-day traffic. Showing hand signals and indicators while turning is not mandatory only at the license test but also while commuting on the street. Make sure you give proper signals to the traffic with regard to turning, overtaking and any other riding maneuver you are about to attempt. This will not only help the traffic behind you to understand your manoeuvre, but will also avoid chances of an accident.

Stop that noise
Do not unnecessarily honk. Be it a signal turning green or a traffic jam, continuous honking won’t do any good. The traffic will still move at its own pace and hence it’s better to move along than cause nuisance and sound pollution.

PROGRESSIVE BRAKING
Although the front brake is effective in the dry, sufficient traction is not available at the front tyre on slippery streets. Slamming on the front brakes is a sure-fire way to end up with a seriously nasty skid in a downpour. If you use only the bike’s front brakes, you can lock up the front tyre resulting in a slide. The trick is to use both, the front and rear brakes, at the same time while relying more on the rear brakes. Use your index and middle finger to squeeze the brake lever gradually while simultaneously applying gentle pressure on the rear brake. If you need to brake harder, do it progressively in short incremental steps. Keep in mind that stopping distance increases in the wet compared to dry conditions. Hence, plan further ahead and leave a larger gap between your bike and the vehicle up front.

VISOR AS A HOOD / FORMATION OF MIST
The biggest problem with riding in a heavy downpour is visibility due to rain on the visor. With the visor completely open, raindrops hit your face like bullets making it impossible to keep your eyes open. On the other hand, if the visor is shut completely, your vision is hampered due to the formation of an uneven and translucent layer of water that forms on it due to the deluge. If your visor mounts are tight enough, keep it half open and use it as a hood against the incessant rain splatter.

The humidity in the air increases significantly in the monsoons. While breathing inside a closed helmet, the rider’s warm breath comes in contact with the cold atmospheric temperature and condenses into tiny water droplets that form a layer of mist on the visor. Use an anti mist spray to help reduce the formation of fog on the visor. If there are ventilator slots on your helmet, keep them open. Fresh air will keep the visor mist free. In case your helmet does not have ventilators, keep the visor slightly open to allow air to pass through.

GET A GRIP
Understanding exactly how much grip is available on a slick surface is a primary concern for most riders as the monsoons begin. Keep in mind that the bike’s tyres lose traction in the wet. Since rain water reduces the grip of the bike on the road, ensure that your bike is fitted with a good set of rubbers with grooves that are deep enough to disperse the water. If you ride a high capacity bike and have enough dough, you can opt for grippier, minimum 2mm tread depth tyres but for most commuter motorcycles, tyres with a straight central spinal tread work just fine. It goes without saying that balding tyres are a complete no-no.

DON’T SPLASH
Stagnant water bodies on the road are one of the most dangerous areas to ride over. By no means can anyone determine what lies beneath those puddles of muddy water. If you are lucky enough, it can be just a normal patch of grainy, grippy tarmac or there could be a thick layer of algae which would deny any traction to your bike’s tyres. In the worst case scenario, it could even turn out to be a three feet wide and eight feet deep manhole with its mouth wide open to trap you and your motorcycle in it.

At times, there is no other option but to go over such stagnant bodies of water. In such conditions, care should be taken that you don’t splash water all over the place as it has its own hazards. Entering a puddle too fast creates a lot of water resistance. In case you are unable to tackle this opposite force, you might end up losing your balance and falling off the bike. Entering such puddles at excessively higher speeds can result in aquaplaning, depriving you of any and all control and making you fly over the road in no time. Lateral thinking allows us to think of other hazards like a group of rogues bashing you up for anointing them with slush and mud. After going over stagnant water, it is advisable to ride the bike for a few meters with the brakes pressed so that the water dries off from the front disc and the rear drum/disc.

VEHICLE MAINTENANCE TIPS

1. Regular Service
Make sure your bike is well maintained before the downpour starts by getting it serviced. This in turn will prevent any issues from cropping up once it rains. Oil change, carburetor cleaning, chain lubrication and air filter cleaning should be done from time to time for avoiding any kind of basic problems with the bike. Keep a check on all the electricals and brake pads.

2. Check the electricals
The bike’s electricals play a very important part in tricky wet conditions as well as while riding in low light. You should always ensure that the headlamp, the tail lamp and the blinkers are working perfectly. In case of old bikes, reflective surfaces inside the headlamp and tail lamp should be changed since they fail to project a bright beam of light.

3. Corrosion of tank
In case of minor accidents and scratches, the paint from the tank of the bikes tends to chip off. The exposed area from this chipped off paint attracts corrosion and destroys the metal. It is always better to get paint touch-ups done before rains to avoid this kind of damage to the bike.

4. Prevention from rust
The various nuts and bolts that are exposed to air and water tend to rust due to moisture. The use of WD40 spray is highly recommended to protect rusting of bolts. Care should be taken that the metal parts underneath the bike are also sprayed with the WD40 spray.

5. Seat maintenance
The bike’s seat should be checked for even minor cuts. In case there are any, get them fixed as soon as possible. It is recommended that you use a seat cover over the regular seat to avoid direct cuts to the seat. The slightest rip can let the rain water seep in and damage the sponge inside the seat. Once wet, it is quite difficult to dry the sponge thoroughly.

6. Keep it above the water
Be very cautious while riding through deep water. Most importantly, the opening of the exhaust pipe should always be above the water level.

7. Tyre Check
Tyres provide your bike with all the traction and grip required. It is very important to keep a check on the condition of the tyres during the rains. The grip available in wet conditions is less and if the tyre is worn out, then the situation becomes even worse. Make sure that the grooves on the tyre are in perfect shape. Also, keep a check on the tyre tread which should ideally be between 2.0-2.5 mm. We advice you to buy a set of good quality tyres for your bike instead of settling for the cheaper ones.