I've gotten a couple of emails about my recent GPS unit test on my bike (whereby I tested about 4 Garmin models, the TomTom, and a Magellan). My conclusion? The Garmin eTrex Vista Cx is by far the best motorcycle GPS unit available. Review below:
After a solid week of riding around with GPS units, I chose the Garmin eTrex Vista Cx. It's meant to be a hiker's handheld GPS unit, which makes it small enough to walk around with when it's off the bike, small enough to not obscure too much of the control panel on my bike, and it's backlight makes it bright enough in bright daylight. I looked at the tomtom, and the other models from garmin as well. They all tended to use custom batteries and chargers, and only gave something like 3 hours of use when the backlight was powered on fully. I didn't want to wire the thing into my bike, and it's been great just popping into the store when I get gas to also get AA batteries if I need them. The battery life on the Vista Cx is about 2 weeks on 1 pair of AA's - so I keep a spare set in my luggage.
Garmin beat out the other versions in my test because of the superior resolution maps you can buy (have to buy to make it worthwhile) - but it adds about $90 to the price of the device, since the built in maps aren't that great - they only show major interstates and large highways.
The only pros of the other versions were that they had larger screens and could speak out loud to you. That'll be the only thing that makes/breaks your decision I think. Otherwise, the vista cx also gives me turn-by-turn directions.
Next week I should be getting my motorcycle mount for it in the mail. In my opinion, it's the best GPS for bikes out there.
Hope this helps!
Monday, May 7, 2007
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Lane splitting in terrible traffic
Today was a big day in NYC - there was a huge bike event, a fire / police parade, an Israeli parade, and a block party. Until about 4pm, huge stretches of the east and west sides were shut down and inaccessible to traffic.
In order to get anywhere, I found myself lane splitting between what amounted to a massive parking lot. I ran into a number of bikers - but not nearly as many as I saw yesterday (today was about 15 degrees colder) - who were also lane splitting, and so I wondered whether it was really legal or not.
Alas, it is illegal. A quick search on the AMA website: http://home.ama-cycle.org/amaccess/laws/result.asp?state=NY reveals that NY and CT have written laws forbidding lane splitting, while NJ has no reference, which means it's not specifically illegal. Here's a table form of the same data: http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/PrintLaws.html
Though I've never been ticketed or pulled over, and I've seen hundreds of bikers do it in the city, a quick internet search reveals that others have been ticketed - especially on the highways around the city. The BQE, 9A around midtown, and 495 (heading into the city, around the triborough ramp) are the most frequent highways where I lane split. Mostly, these stretches of road become parking lots, and I'll only lane split when the traffic is completely stopped. Any other time (even if traffic moves 10 mph), I'm religious about sneaking back into a lane and staying in a single lane.
In the city, it's a completely different story. I've lane split right up to police cars, and in front of traffic cops in order to get up to the front of a light, so that I can be in front of traffic when it turns green. For the thousands of times I've done it, I've never been pulled over, flagged, or questioned.
In order to get anywhere, I found myself lane splitting between what amounted to a massive parking lot. I ran into a number of bikers - but not nearly as many as I saw yesterday (today was about 15 degrees colder) - who were also lane splitting, and so I wondered whether it was really legal or not.
Alas, it is illegal. A quick search on the AMA website: http://home.ama-cycle.org/amaccess/laws/result.asp?state=NY reveals that NY and CT have written laws forbidding lane splitting, while NJ has no reference, which means it's not specifically illegal. Here's a table form of the same data: http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/PrintLaws.html
Though I've never been ticketed or pulled over, and I've seen hundreds of bikers do it in the city, a quick internet search reveals that others have been ticketed - especially on the highways around the city. The BQE, 9A around midtown, and 495 (heading into the city, around the triborough ramp) are the most frequent highways where I lane split. Mostly, these stretches of road become parking lots, and I'll only lane split when the traffic is completely stopped. Any other time (even if traffic moves 10 mph), I'm religious about sneaking back into a lane and staying in a single lane.
In the city, it's a completely different story. I've lane split right up to police cars, and in front of traffic cops in order to get up to the front of a light, so that I can be in front of traffic when it turns green. For the thousands of times I've done it, I've never been pulled over, flagged, or questioned.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Ear Inn
I've heard so much about it over the past few months, that I just had to check it out for myself. Even though there was rain in the forecast tonight, I headed down to 326 Spring Street (between Greenwich and Washington) - down in Soho (thanks Aerostitch for the address). The easiest way for me to get there was to hop on the FDR, loop down around the island, and then head up 9a until I got off on Spring street. The bar is immediately on the right, before the end of the block.
I've heard that things pick up from 8pm, and usually go to 10pm. However, I arrived a little early, and so I suspect things probably start up around 7pm. (next time around, I'll try to get there a little earlier). I've been told this happens *every* Tuesday, which is incredible - I'm definitely looking forward to it.
I met a very nice couple who ride a Ducati 999. They're apparently regulars, and they mentioned how on good nights, there will be bikes lining the entire block. I'm definitely looking forward to it.
In terms of the types of bikes that showed up, there were lots of BMWs, Ducati's, and cafe racers. I asked around, and it seems this hang out is perfect for my type - lots of customs, odd-ball bikes, and all around non-Japanese makes.
I've heard that things pick up from 8pm, and usually go to 10pm. However, I arrived a little early, and so I suspect things probably start up around 7pm. (next time around, I'll try to get there a little earlier). I've been told this happens *every* Tuesday, which is incredible - I'm definitely looking forward to it.
I met a very nice couple who ride a Ducati 999. They're apparently regulars, and they mentioned how on good nights, there will be bikes lining the entire block. I'm definitely looking forward to it.
In terms of the types of bikes that showed up, there were lots of BMWs, Ducati's, and cafe racers. I asked around, and it seems this hang out is perfect for my type - lots of customs, odd-ball bikes, and all around non-Japanese makes.
Monday, April 23, 2007
My trip to Long Island
I recently purchased a GPS unit from Garmin, in an attempt to log my travels and also prevent myself from getting lost. I tried it out this past Sunday, and noticed that I felt much more comfortable taking different routes, knowing that I could always find my bearings and way home afterwards.
This is the log of the trip I took out to the Long Island beach lot, where all the cars and motorcycles head out every Sunday morning. The major roads are in yellow, and my route is highlighted in greenish blue. You can see that I took a different route out than I took going back, when I cut South/North across the island.
The software allows you to download logged track points of your trip onto the PC, and then to export those points to Google. I thought it was interesting that the level of detail was so high, you could see where I made loops around the beach circles.
I was intriguied by the cluster of dark blue in the picture to the left here, so I zoomed all the way in, and you can even see where I rode back and forth in the parking lot, admiring the different cars and bikes in the lot.
Next time I go up to the catskills, I'll take this with me to share the route I enjoy taking. Also, I'll have to figure out how to mount or velcro the device to the front panel of the bike, so that I can navigate while riding.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Can you control a high power bike?
Inspired by my ride a few days ago with the GSXR biker, I've been wondering - you read so many anecdotes and comments in online message boards about bikes being "too much, and you need to make sure you can control it." This was never satisfying to me, and I suspect to many others, who think it's a challenge, so take it on!
But here's the difference. Control can mean self control on a bike, and then it's a soft-skill, much akin to a philosophy or mindset. Control can otherwise mean right hand throttle angle-to-rev mapping. In other words, how much power do you unleash with a quarter turn of the throttle?
On a bike with 160+ hp, a quarter turn can practically mean adding 30 mph to your speed. On a bike with 100 hp, a quarter turn can mean adding 10 mph to your speed. Most bikers get into a knee-jerk reaction about more power being better, but consider this: 30mph / 90 degree turn = .33mph / degree. By comparison 10mph / 90 degree turn = .11mph / degree. One way to look at this is to say that the lower hp bike gives you more *precision* control over speed. You can vary the speed much more subtly. Don't get me wrong, on the lower hp bike, you can still always wrench a full 180 degrees of turn in urgent situations - but there's a practicaly upper limit on the road to how fast, and how quickly you want to accelerate. Accelerate too quick, and you lose your grip of the road - very bad.
The interesting thing is that Suzuki has picked up on this with their new bike, the GSXR1000 for 2007, and equipped it with a switch that allows the rider to decrease the power of the bike. In reviews and defense of such a button, people have mentioned that it is all about throttle positioning and hand position on the wheel. I would take this one step further and and assert that throttle position and granularity equate to safety as well.
So my simple advice to city riders is this: when evaluating a bike, make sure to consider a bike that gives you immediate, *precise* response and control over acceleration. This is the most practical, road-tested type of power out there, and the kind we need on the road.
But here's the difference. Control can mean self control on a bike, and then it's a soft-skill, much akin to a philosophy or mindset. Control can otherwise mean right hand throttle angle-to-rev mapping. In other words, how much power do you unleash with a quarter turn of the throttle?
On a bike with 160+ hp, a quarter turn can practically mean adding 30 mph to your speed. On a bike with 100 hp, a quarter turn can mean adding 10 mph to your speed. Most bikers get into a knee-jerk reaction about more power being better, but consider this: 30mph / 90 degree turn = .33mph / degree. By comparison 10mph / 90 degree turn = .11mph / degree. One way to look at this is to say that the lower hp bike gives you more *precision* control over speed. You can vary the speed much more subtly. Don't get me wrong, on the lower hp bike, you can still always wrench a full 180 degrees of turn in urgent situations - but there's a practicaly upper limit on the road to how fast, and how quickly you want to accelerate. Accelerate too quick, and you lose your grip of the road - very bad.
The interesting thing is that Suzuki has picked up on this with their new bike, the GSXR1000 for 2007, and equipped it with a switch that allows the rider to decrease the power of the bike. In reviews and defense of such a button, people have mentioned that it is all about throttle positioning and hand position on the wheel. I would take this one step further and and assert that throttle position and granularity equate to safety as well.
So my simple advice to city riders is this: when evaluating a bike, make sure to consider a bike that gives you immediate, *precise* response and control over acceleration. This is the most practical, road-tested type of power out there, and the kind we need on the road.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Pushing the envelope of fuel consumption
The past two times out, I've ridden duruing peak rush hour, around 4pm. This was partly unintentional, and normally I would avoid rush hour at all costs, but I figured it might be a good way to sharpen my awareness skills.
As it turned out, I also learned what riding hard is all about. Accelerating around cars, and through traffic to avoid heavy zones meant hammering the throttle pretty hard at times. In fact, I pushed the rev limiter on a number of occassions to it's peak in each of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gears (on the V-twin Buell, this is around 7500 rpm).
I also noticed that my miles per gallon fuel consumption dropped significantly. With about 3 gallons of gas, I can normally go around 150 miles - this doesn't include the reserve tank, which I believe would push me another 30 miles. This time, however, my 3 gallons only took my 70 miles total over two rides, or about 23 miles per gallon. This is what I used to get with my old Acura almost 10 years ago now - wow!
So I guess that means rush hour takes a bit more out of your gas mileage than your typical day in NYC.
As it turned out, I also learned what riding hard is all about. Accelerating around cars, and through traffic to avoid heavy zones meant hammering the throttle pretty hard at times. In fact, I pushed the rev limiter on a number of occassions to it's peak in each of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gears (on the V-twin Buell, this is around 7500 rpm).
I also noticed that my miles per gallon fuel consumption dropped significantly. With about 3 gallons of gas, I can normally go around 150 miles - this doesn't include the reserve tank, which I believe would push me another 30 miles. This time, however, my 3 gallons only took my 70 miles total over two rides, or about 23 miles per gallon. This is what I used to get with my old Acura almost 10 years ago now - wow!
So I guess that means rush hour takes a bit more out of your gas mileage than your typical day in NYC.
5 great views of the city in less than an hour
I took a quick ride today after work, and only had an hour before sunset. So I put my mind on navigator-auto-pilot, and began wandering. Oddly enough, I instinctively went to all of my favorite road views of the city.
1) Head over the Brooklyn Bridge, exit to the right onto Old Fulton Street, ride to the end, and pull into the parking lot for magnificent views of the city
2) Park Ave at 81st Street heading south (at rush hour) for an incredible view of one of the most populated cab routes
3) South Point park on Roosevelt Island
4) E125th St on Randalls-Ward Island, continued to the dirt road that swings down to the south of the island
5) Head through the Holland Tunnel and turn off onto Hudson St in Jersey City for yet another view of the city
1) Head over the Brooklyn Bridge, exit to the right onto Old Fulton Street, ride to the end, and pull into the parking lot for magnificent views of the city
2) Park Ave at 81st Street heading south (at rush hour) for an incredible view of one of the most populated cab routes
3) South Point park on Roosevelt Island
4) E125th St on Randalls-Ward Island, continued to the dirt road that swings down to the south of the island
5) Head through the Holland Tunnel and turn off onto Hudson St in Jersey City for yet another view of the city
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Buell XB12Ss vs. Ducati S2R and GSXR 750
Today was pretty unique. I got a chance to ride around the city with two fellow bikers, who also had no immediate plans. We wandered aimlessly around for some time up and down the major avenues, and truly playing in traffic.
Riding with two other bikers provided a unique chance to see how city riding can be made much more safe with team work, but that's a topic for another day.
Today, I'll just make some observations on the different riding styles of my temporary companions for the day.
Ducati S2R
With a tendancy to rev quite high at the light, he could just about keep up with me off the line. I could hear him revving high and downshifting quite often when it came to passing taxis, which was a potentially bad habit - perhaps inspired by the Ducati engine? In any case, I also got the sense that his turning radius was much larger than mine, and he had a more difficult time lane splitting then the GSXR and me.
GSXR 750
I'm pretty sure it was a 750, but then again can you really tell unless you're laying it out on the highway? Probably not. First, this guy looked miserable. He glanced around a lot less than the Ducati rider and me, which I can't imagine is a safe habit. This is most likely due to his riding position - which almost made it seem like he'd raised the footpegs. I guess I just never appreciated how awkward the posture is on a GSXR. The bike had great acceleration down Park Ave and Broadway, but the rider had a tendancy to open the throttle a bit too much and hit 60mph+. I'd say a safe riding speed around the city is around 40-50mph, so this bike was perhaps a bit unsafe for the city. But this brings me to a philosophical question:
Does the rider make the bike, or does the bike make the ride?
In almost every magazine review of the GSXR, you read about how quickly the bike opens to top speed, and how there's massive amounts of power on hand. But what good is this in the city? In fact, I'll wager it's a detriment, and possibly downrigt unsafe after spending an hour behind one. As for the Ducati - if you're lazy about turns because the bike is slightly sluggish, does this make you a less responsive rider?
Riding with two other bikers provided a unique chance to see how city riding can be made much more safe with team work, but that's a topic for another day.
Today, I'll just make some observations on the different riding styles of my temporary companions for the day.
Ducati S2R
With a tendancy to rev quite high at the light, he could just about keep up with me off the line. I could hear him revving high and downshifting quite often when it came to passing taxis, which was a potentially bad habit - perhaps inspired by the Ducati engine? In any case, I also got the sense that his turning radius was much larger than mine, and he had a more difficult time lane splitting then the GSXR and me.
GSXR 750
I'm pretty sure it was a 750, but then again can you really tell unless you're laying it out on the highway? Probably not. First, this guy looked miserable. He glanced around a lot less than the Ducati rider and me, which I can't imagine is a safe habit. This is most likely due to his riding position - which almost made it seem like he'd raised the footpegs. I guess I just never appreciated how awkward the posture is on a GSXR. The bike had great acceleration down Park Ave and Broadway, but the rider had a tendancy to open the throttle a bit too much and hit 60mph+. I'd say a safe riding speed around the city is around 40-50mph, so this bike was perhaps a bit unsafe for the city. But this brings me to a philosophical question:
Does the rider make the bike, or does the bike make the ride?
In almost every magazine review of the GSXR, you read about how quickly the bike opens to top speed, and how there's massive amounts of power on hand. But what good is this in the city? In fact, I'll wager it's a detriment, and possibly downrigt unsafe after spending an hour behind one. As for the Ducati - if you're lazy about turns because the bike is slightly sluggish, does this make you a less responsive rider?
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Stopping at the line
By observing other riders, I've seen many different techniques for stopping at intersections and red lights. Since I believe the safest rider is the one equipped with the most options, here's a review of a few of them:
-Lane split down the center of an avenue or street, then reve the engine to announce your presence
-Lane split down the center dotted white line, but slow to a stop gradually beyond the white stop line, and allow yourself to ride into the crosswalk. Then let the cars and cabs fill into their lanes to the right or left of you, and then gradually walk the bike backwards into position, behind the white stop line
-If you're the first one at the intersection, it can help to take up as much space as possible in your lane. Allow a car to stop to your left, for instance, and then come to a stop to in the right third of your lane.
-If you're the first one at the intersection, as a car comes up in back of you, rev the engine and gradually advance forward a few feet. Then walk backwards when the car in back of you has stopped completely
Are there any others I've missed that you use on a regular basis?
-Lane split down the center of an avenue or street, then reve the engine to announce your presence
-Lane split down the center dotted white line, but slow to a stop gradually beyond the white stop line, and allow yourself to ride into the crosswalk. Then let the cars and cabs fill into their lanes to the right or left of you, and then gradually walk the bike backwards into position, behind the white stop line
-If you're the first one at the intersection, it can help to take up as much space as possible in your lane. Allow a car to stop to your left, for instance, and then come to a stop to in the right third of your lane.
-If you're the first one at the intersection, as a car comes up in back of you, rev the engine and gradually advance forward a few feet. Then walk backwards when the car in back of you has stopped completely
Are there any others I've missed that you use on a regular basis?
Friday, March 23, 2007
A winter ride through the Catskills
Today I went on a crazy trip up to the Catskills. I'd already gone up to the general area around Catskill Park back about a month and a half ago, when it was about 14F outside, and my Widder gloves decided to short out just as I was approaching Big Indian, NY. Not fun.But this time around, I posted an email on the friendly nycmoto mailing list (located at: http://www.magpie.com/mailman
Now the funny thing about the route to the left is that it actually does bring you right back to Big Indian, via route 47 - just like the first time I tried to head up there! The big catch was that this time around, the temperature was a decent 48 in upstate NY, and 60 in NYC. In fact, it was nice enough that I didn't even need my heated vest - though I wore it just in case.
So... what did I think? It was beautiful. No really. I am now solidly convinced that Route 47 is the most scenic, serene ride this side of the Mississippi. Though there was still a little snow on the ground, the roads were as clean as possible from an obviously generous application of dirt to the roads in weeks preceding my trip... which was about the only downside. The winding Rt 47 road definitely needed keen attention to avoid slipping on the dirt, and I was careful to keep off the front brake during the entire ride. But that didn't detract from the ride beyond the usual road hazards (in fact, coming from NYC road hazards, it was a breeze).
But I'm getting ahead of myself. I started my ride with a slight deviation from the map shown above - specifically, I wanted to get to the mountains as quickly as possible, so I just hopped on I87N and rode it all the way up to the Kingston exit. I then took Rt28 West, which dumped me right into the park. Incidentally, the great thing about I87 is that there's a rest stop about 20 miles from Kingston, with a very helpful guy who'll give you free maps of the park for a 3 minutes conversation (he was very helpful). From there, I continued on 28 until I goto to Phoenecia. Phoenecia is a quaint little town with a couple really nice cafes on the left side of the road as you ride, and some decent coffee for refreshment. But the real hole-in-the-wall is Big Indian, NY. This "town" is really a general store and a closed gas station, with a few houses dotting the side of the road. Before turning left and heading through the mountain pass of Rt47, you'll probably want to overshoot the Big Indian by 5 miles and hit the gas station on the right - the only one for about 50 miles. I did, and in the two times I've been there, I've been in awe at the cool knives and pellet guns they have on display as well. On my previous trip in the dead of winter, I was able to pick up a few heating pads here as well, which were a life saver for my feet.
Rt 47 is spectacular. The road is windy, and steadily rises for what seems like hundreds of feet. You can literally feel yourself climbing with each turn. Be careful of oncoming traffic though, as this road seems to be frequented by large pickup trucks that think nothing of swinging wide in turns. This is the heart of the ride, so take it slow. If you pop open Google maps, you'll notice that there are a few hunting trails that snake off to the sides of the road - I explored one of them, and found it dumped me literally in the middle of nowhere fast. But it was fun nonetheless. I ate lunch at the end/top of one of those trails (I think it was Black Bear Rd).
As you reach the end of Rt47, the road will come to a small bridge to your left. If you take it, you'll come to Rt 157 which will take you south to Rt19 South, then to Rt55 East, 209 South, 52 East and then right back to I87 South back home.
I highly recommend it!
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Buell XB12Ss vs. BMW K1200R
I had an interesting opportunity today, thanks to the great folks over at the Manhattan BMW dealership. They were kind enough to let me test ride one of their BMW K1200R naked bikes. Of course I rode over my trusty Buell XB12Ss, and thus began my in-depth side-by-side comparison of the two machines.
Now just to set the record straight before I start - I'm biased, I really like my Buell, and it would take a real masterpiece to uproot my opinion of my bike (I'm sure it will happen eventually though). But at the same time, back when I was shopping for bikes, the K12R was the top competition, and I truly felt that I was going to buy one.
First impressions of the BMW K1200R
The bike is big. It's certainly a lot longer than the Buell, but not necessarily any wider. The handlebars seem perhaps a bit bigger, and the grips are definitely a lot skinnier/slimmer on the BMW. The bike is also downright ugly, but I like my bikes that way... after all, the Buell is a love-it or hate-it kind of look. So too the K12R. Now this is where the magazine editors usually go on for paragraphs about how the bike looks, yadda yadda but I'm a real person and I just care about how the bike *rides*.
Engine revving
The K12R engine, when revved, sounds a lot like a high pitched bumble bee. It's not unlike a lot of inline 4 engines from the Japanese, but the engine never really reaches the high-pitched whining we all know and hate in a Japanese liter bike. Now from the start, the engine revs say a lot to me about the nature of the bike. This bike is not going to get you heard in New York City. In fact, despite my craziest attempts to rev the enginge on the K12R, I could never get it loud enough to make the casual passerby glance over. That's a lie. When the engine was almost red lining, it made this nasty garbling sound, and someone looked to make sure I wasn't going to explode. This is a huge downside for me, since I count on my Buell's loud engine to act as an immediate on-command horn to disperse would-be jaywalkers, and to announce my presence to straying cabbies.
Off the line and low speed riding
Buell officially has me spoiled with it's torque. I don't care how many horsepower more the BMW has than my Buell - the fact is plain and simple: the BMW is a weaker bike (the K12R has something like 160hp while the Buell has around 100hp). This is odd, since BMW markets the heck out of the K12R, stating it as the world's most powerful naked bike. From a numbers perspective, that may be true - but here's my problem with it: for day to day riding around the city - or anything besides a race track - the BMW doesn't really come into it's own until you're racing the engine up in the 8000-10000 rpms. This is simply unrealistic to expect for every single street light and stop sign in Manhattan. There's no way I'm going to sit there revving the engine for a constant 9000 rpms until the light turns green. Furthermore, it's unrealistic to think I'm going to spend all day riding in 1st gear. Imagine this: you're riding along in 1st gear at 40 mph and a cab starts to cut you off. You squeeze the clutch and hit the front brakes. The cab changes its mind and veres away again, but there's a grocery truck bearing down your tail. What do you do? Now you have to rev the engine back to 8000-10000 rpms, ease the clutch back out and pray you've got the right rpms for 1st or 2nd gear. Otherwise, you'll be jerking all over the place - not too safe. That's my gripe with the K12R's power - it's located up on the upper rev registers so high it's nearly impractical for all but straight line and constant speeds of 80-100mph. Off the line, the K12R is sluggish like most other bikes - a symptom of its low torque line/curve and rather heavy weight no doubt. I had a chance to test myself on a number of stoplights, with the same effect each time. Starting from idle was a slow, painful start, while revving first-then easing out the clutch resulted in a jerky, uncontrollable jolt. All in all, not impressed with the low-rev power.
Cruising speeds
Cruising in the city is technically limited to something like 30mph, but I've found that to keep out of trouble and remain in control, you tend to oscillate speeds somewhere between 25 and 45 with bursts that bring you up to around 55mph. This is precisely where the Buell's engine is optimized around 2nd gear for real gut-wrenching emergency-room type acceleration and 3rd gear for average-soul riding. And it's precisely where the BMW is just blah. Here, the BMW rides much like almost every other bike I've ridden - Ducati Monster to Speed Triple to Honda CBR: there's nothing spectacular going on. When you hammer the throttle, you tend to get a relatively whimperish response until the rpms climb into the high register sweet zone (notice a theme here?). This means that for average city riding, you're riding crippled. When an emergency comes, you're dealing with eye-to-mind-to-hand reaction time plus engine reaction time as it coils up to its power zone. I've never experienced this on my Buell. On the XB12, when I twist the throttle at crusing speeds, there's immediate power. In fact, the entire engine is there behind me, in it's sweet spot / power band /whatever you want to call it. The Buell feels like a serious power tool.
High speeds
What high speeds? This is New York City. Ok, so the BMW dealership let me take the BMW out onto the West side highway from the 50's to the 92nd street exit. I finally got to experience the BMW's engine as it was built... somewhere around 4th gear or 5th gear and 80mph. There, it felt a bit more powerful. In practical terms, I felt it was directly comparable to the power band of the Buell at the same speed. In fact, I couldn't tell the difference, except that at that speed the XB12 would be blowing out my ears and letting cars around me know to move away. The BMW was silent as death, and I felt like I snuck up on drivers - again not too safe. But really, no complaints here at these speeds. I have to say that I felt conflicted: it was like the engine was just starting warm up, yet it was screaming and dare I say a bit hesitant to climb higher. I definitely wasn't willing to go faster, since hitting a pothole on 9A would be a guarenteed wipe out, and yet I didn't feel comfortable going faster since the engine felt a little reluctant. Again, I'm used to a very forgiving and responsive Buell V-twin.
Handling / steering
Miserable miserable miserable. I had read a lot about this, so let me just clear it up: it's all true. I'm not going to blame the long wheel base like most people. There's something more - maybe it's the vertical center of balance being still too high or too far behind the driver. For some reason, the bike's "center/middle" feels like it's about two feet behind you. When you turn, it's like turning a pick pick-up truck into a parking spot - you need to be aware of the truck bed behind you and make sure you don't clip the cars parked next to you. To be fair, this is something that can be learned and adapted to, but when I ride the XB12, the center is directly underneath me, and so I steer the bike, and move myself, with one flowing motion - I literally (cheesy, I know) feel "one" with the Buell - and it all has something to do with the center of gravity / length / wheel based / turning radius / je ne sais qua. I guess the practical translation of my observations here really is that lane splitting is impossible with the K12R. I tried it several times, but found myself pulling back and stopping, because I was uncomfortable with the rate at which I could turn to avoid a stray car, opening door, or narrowing channel between a bus and neighboring cars.
Braking
This category should come first, since it's almost more important than acceleration in many instances. Most people would agree. Most people would also never complain about the K12R's brakes - but then they haven't ridden the XB12's massive front brake. Here, the two bikes are probably most similar - both brakes can be controlled comfortably with one finger, leaving the other 4 to manipulate the throttle for more advanced clutch-throttle-brake interactions. Yet somehow, on every BMW I've ever ridden, the brakes always grab too hard initially. There's a huge difference in my opinion between strong brakes and grabbing brakes. Strong brakes reliably apply an increasing amount of stopping power to the wheel with constant increments of pressure (the Buell has these). Gripping brakes, on the other hand, are strong very early in the squeeze, and then only slowly apply more pressure beyond the initial surge (the K12R has these). In practical Manhattan terms, this means you're more likely on the K12R to slow down faster than the cab in back of you. On the Buell, deceleration is an art; a balancing act between you and the cab in front of you and the bus in back of you.
Nit picks
I know a lot of bikes do this, but it's a thing about the BMW that annoyed me the instant I got on - the control dashboard and dials are stationary / attached to the body of the bike. On the Buell, the dashboard is connected to the front fork, so that when you turn the front wheel, the dashboard turns as well. This works great for navigating traffic at slow speeds (where you anti-counter steer, or steer normally), since you turn your head in the direction of the turn, and can easily look down. On the K12R, I found myself glancing into a turn, wanting to confirm my revs and speed, and having to cock my head back to a now artificial center line. Though minor, this feature on the Buell is one less thing to do, and more time focused on the road.
I didn't experience this directly, but I know since I researched extensively before buying my bike: the BMW electrical system is *not* user friendly whatsoever. This means that the life-saving rear brake LED flashers I've installed on my Buell would be impossible on the K12R (because of something about the finnickiness of the BMW's resistance-sensing system - if it detects above average resistance on the circuitry, it shuts down or fails to start). I would never, and will never ride a motorcycle for extended periods of time through NYC without additional LED bar flashers connected to the brake light circuit. I've been told on many occassions (by friendly cabbies) that these lights on my XB12 are the only thing that prevented a rear end collision.
Finally, those handlebars I mentioned earlier definitely start to irritate me - I know the theory likely has something to do with the finessed touch and controls, but trust me when I say nothing about the K12R handling have anything to do with finesse. By comparison, the stocky grips on the Buell are legitimate, and hard to miss. I've never slipped grip ever on the Buell, and yet because of my large hands, I found myself over gripping the BMW constantly.
Now just to set the record straight before I start - I'm biased, I really like my Buell, and it would take a real masterpiece to uproot my opinion of my bike (I'm sure it will happen eventually though). But at the same time, back when I was shopping for bikes, the K12R was the top competition, and I truly felt that I was going to buy one.
First impressions of the BMW K1200R
The bike is big. It's certainly a lot longer than the Buell, but not necessarily any wider. The handlebars seem perhaps a bit bigger, and the grips are definitely a lot skinnier/slimmer on the BMW. The bike is also downright ugly, but I like my bikes that way... after all, the Buell is a love-it or hate-it kind of look. So too the K12R. Now this is where the magazine editors usually go on for paragraphs about how the bike looks, yadda yadda but I'm a real person and I just care about how the bike *rides*.
Engine revving
The K12R engine, when revved, sounds a lot like a high pitched bumble bee. It's not unlike a lot of inline 4 engines from the Japanese, but the engine never really reaches the high-pitched whining we all know and hate in a Japanese liter bike. Now from the start, the engine revs say a lot to me about the nature of the bike. This bike is not going to get you heard in New York City. In fact, despite my craziest attempts to rev the enginge on the K12R, I could never get it loud enough to make the casual passerby glance over. That's a lie. When the engine was almost red lining, it made this nasty garbling sound, and someone looked to make sure I wasn't going to explode. This is a huge downside for me, since I count on my Buell's loud engine to act as an immediate on-command horn to disperse would-be jaywalkers, and to announce my presence to straying cabbies.
Off the line and low speed riding
Buell officially has me spoiled with it's torque. I don't care how many horsepower more the BMW has than my Buell - the fact is plain and simple: the BMW is a weaker bike (the K12R has something like 160hp while the Buell has around 100hp). This is odd, since BMW markets the heck out of the K12R, stating it as the world's most powerful naked bike. From a numbers perspective, that may be true - but here's my problem with it: for day to day riding around the city - or anything besides a race track - the BMW doesn't really come into it's own until you're racing the engine up in the 8000-10000 rpms. This is simply unrealistic to expect for every single street light and stop sign in Manhattan. There's no way I'm going to sit there revving the engine for a constant 9000 rpms until the light turns green. Furthermore, it's unrealistic to think I'm going to spend all day riding in 1st gear. Imagine this: you're riding along in 1st gear at 40 mph and a cab starts to cut you off. You squeeze the clutch and hit the front brakes. The cab changes its mind and veres away again, but there's a grocery truck bearing down your tail. What do you do? Now you have to rev the engine back to 8000-10000 rpms, ease the clutch back out and pray you've got the right rpms for 1st or 2nd gear. Otherwise, you'll be jerking all over the place - not too safe. That's my gripe with the K12R's power - it's located up on the upper rev registers so high it's nearly impractical for all but straight line and constant speeds of 80-100mph. Off the line, the K12R is sluggish like most other bikes - a symptom of its low torque line/curve and rather heavy weight no doubt. I had a chance to test myself on a number of stoplights, with the same effect each time. Starting from idle was a slow, painful start, while revving first-then easing out the clutch resulted in a jerky, uncontrollable jolt. All in all, not impressed with the low-rev power.
Cruising speeds
Cruising in the city is technically limited to something like 30mph, but I've found that to keep out of trouble and remain in control, you tend to oscillate speeds somewhere between 25 and 45 with bursts that bring you up to around 55mph. This is precisely where the Buell's engine is optimized around 2nd gear for real gut-wrenching emergency-room type acceleration and 3rd gear for average-soul riding. And it's precisely where the BMW is just blah. Here, the BMW rides much like almost every other bike I've ridden - Ducati Monster to Speed Triple to Honda CBR: there's nothing spectacular going on. When you hammer the throttle, you tend to get a relatively whimperish response until the rpms climb into the high register sweet zone (notice a theme here?). This means that for average city riding, you're riding crippled. When an emergency comes, you're dealing with eye-to-mind-to-hand reaction time plus engine reaction time as it coils up to its power zone. I've never experienced this on my Buell. On the XB12, when I twist the throttle at crusing speeds, there's immediate power. In fact, the entire engine is there behind me, in it's sweet spot / power band /whatever you want to call it. The Buell feels like a serious power tool.
High speeds
What high speeds? This is New York City. Ok, so the BMW dealership let me take the BMW out onto the West side highway from the 50's to the 92nd street exit. I finally got to experience the BMW's engine as it was built... somewhere around 4th gear or 5th gear and 80mph. There, it felt a bit more powerful. In practical terms, I felt it was directly comparable to the power band of the Buell at the same speed. In fact, I couldn't tell the difference, except that at that speed the XB12 would be blowing out my ears and letting cars around me know to move away. The BMW was silent as death, and I felt like I snuck up on drivers - again not too safe. But really, no complaints here at these speeds. I have to say that I felt conflicted: it was like the engine was just starting warm up, yet it was screaming and dare I say a bit hesitant to climb higher. I definitely wasn't willing to go faster, since hitting a pothole on 9A would be a guarenteed wipe out, and yet I didn't feel comfortable going faster since the engine felt a little reluctant. Again, I'm used to a very forgiving and responsive Buell V-twin.
Handling / steering
Miserable miserable miserable. I had read a lot about this, so let me just clear it up: it's all true. I'm not going to blame the long wheel base like most people. There's something more - maybe it's the vertical center of balance being still too high or too far behind the driver. For some reason, the bike's "center/middle" feels like it's about two feet behind you. When you turn, it's like turning a pick pick-up truck into a parking spot - you need to be aware of the truck bed behind you and make sure you don't clip the cars parked next to you. To be fair, this is something that can be learned and adapted to, but when I ride the XB12, the center is directly underneath me, and so I steer the bike, and move myself, with one flowing motion - I literally (cheesy, I know) feel "one" with the Buell - and it all has something to do with the center of gravity / length / wheel based / turning radius / je ne sais qua. I guess the practical translation of my observations here really is that lane splitting is impossible with the K12R. I tried it several times, but found myself pulling back and stopping, because I was uncomfortable with the rate at which I could turn to avoid a stray car, opening door, or narrowing channel between a bus and neighboring cars.
Braking
This category should come first, since it's almost more important than acceleration in many instances. Most people would agree. Most people would also never complain about the K12R's brakes - but then they haven't ridden the XB12's massive front brake. Here, the two bikes are probably most similar - both brakes can be controlled comfortably with one finger, leaving the other 4 to manipulate the throttle for more advanced clutch-throttle-brake interactions. Yet somehow, on every BMW I've ever ridden, the brakes always grab too hard initially. There's a huge difference in my opinion between strong brakes and grabbing brakes. Strong brakes reliably apply an increasing amount of stopping power to the wheel with constant increments of pressure (the Buell has these). Gripping brakes, on the other hand, are strong very early in the squeeze, and then only slowly apply more pressure beyond the initial surge (the K12R has these). In practical Manhattan terms, this means you're more likely on the K12R to slow down faster than the cab in back of you. On the Buell, deceleration is an art; a balancing act between you and the cab in front of you and the bus in back of you.
Nit picks
I know a lot of bikes do this, but it's a thing about the BMW that annoyed me the instant I got on - the control dashboard and dials are stationary / attached to the body of the bike. On the Buell, the dashboard is connected to the front fork, so that when you turn the front wheel, the dashboard turns as well. This works great for navigating traffic at slow speeds (where you anti-counter steer, or steer normally), since you turn your head in the direction of the turn, and can easily look down. On the K12R, I found myself glancing into a turn, wanting to confirm my revs and speed, and having to cock my head back to a now artificial center line. Though minor, this feature on the Buell is one less thing to do, and more time focused on the road.
I didn't experience this directly, but I know since I researched extensively before buying my bike: the BMW electrical system is *not* user friendly whatsoever. This means that the life-saving rear brake LED flashers I've installed on my Buell would be impossible on the K12R (because of something about the finnickiness of the BMW's resistance-sensing system - if it detects above average resistance on the circuitry, it shuts down or fails to start). I would never, and will never ride a motorcycle for extended periods of time through NYC without additional LED bar flashers connected to the brake light circuit. I've been told on many occassions (by friendly cabbies) that these lights on my XB12 are the only thing that prevented a rear end collision.
Finally, those handlebars I mentioned earlier definitely start to irritate me - I know the theory likely has something to do with the finessed touch and controls, but trust me when I say nothing about the K12R handling have anything to do with finesse. By comparison, the stocky grips on the Buell are legitimate, and hard to miss. I've never slipped grip ever on the Buell, and yet because of my large hands, I found myself over gripping the BMW constantly.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Bridge review: Tappan Zee Bridge
I've been riding to upstate New York more recently these days, and I find the easiest route to take is via I87 / 287. Of course, this means I've been spending more time than ever crossing the Tappan Zee bridge, and so I felt it necessary and appropriate to add this to my list of bridge reviews.
Tappan Zee Bridge: *** 3 stars
The Tappan Zee suffers from one major flaw: there's no view of NYC anywhere to be had. But where it lacks in cityscape, it makes up in a great, lengthy stretch of river that seems to go for miles... 2 miles, to be exact. This gives you plenty of time to stretch your legs, and peer over the sides up and down the Hudson. Maybe you'll wonder as I did how people can reach those homes that seem to be nested up on the sides of hills - far beyond what sane people should be willing to drive to?
So all in all, it's a decent view, and a nice stretch - but it's nothing to go out of your way to see. Plus it tends to be frequented by an odd type of NY commuting cagers that a only a few notches below Jersey.
Tappan Zee Bridge: *** 3 stars
The Tappan Zee suffers from one major flaw: there's no view of NYC anywhere to be had. But where it lacks in cityscape, it makes up in a great, lengthy stretch of river that seems to go for miles... 2 miles, to be exact. This gives you plenty of time to stretch your legs, and peer over the sides up and down the Hudson. Maybe you'll wonder as I did how people can reach those homes that seem to be nested up on the sides of hills - far beyond what sane people should be willing to drive to?
So all in all, it's a decent view, and a nice stretch - but it's nothing to go out of your way to see. Plus it tends to be frequented by an odd type of NY commuting cagers that a only a few notches below Jersey.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Beware of late night and early morning traffic
It's no secret that cab drivers can be crazy and erratic. But they're at their worst during the hours of 1am and 7am every morning. During this time, they're most likely to run a red light, turn left or right against the signal, or worst yet - cross the center divide on Park avenue and other split lane roads when they're supposed to be stopped.
I learned this the hard way a few mornings ago, when I decided to go out early for a quick ride. I started going down Park, but noticed down the road that cabs were cutting straight across the divide without hesitation. I decided not to risk it a single block more, and turned off onto Lexington to continue my journey.
Lession of the day: avoid two laned, divided roads in Manhattan (Park and upper west side Broadway), and in general expect cabs stopped at intersections to run them during the early morning / late late night hours.
I learned this the hard way a few mornings ago, when I decided to go out early for a quick ride. I started going down Park, but noticed down the road that cabs were cutting straight across the divide without hesitation. I decided not to risk it a single block more, and turned off onto Lexington to continue my journey.
Lession of the day: avoid two laned, divided roads in Manhattan (Park and upper west side Broadway), and in general expect cabs stopped at intersections to run them during the early morning / late late night hours.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Bridge review update: Queensboro Bridge
I mentioned in an earlier post (http://nycmoto.blogspot.com/2006/12/christmas-eve-bridges-ride-and-review.html) that the Queensboro upper roadway always seemed closed. Secretly, I thought that the Queensboro deservered at least another star if that section ever re-opened for a long enough period of time to be considered reliable. And so it happened - it seems the winter construction is over, and the bridge is now easily accessible from 57th street between 1st and 2nd (the best way to reach it is to drive north up 1st ave, then turn left onto 57th - that way, you'll avoid getting caught making an uncomfortable left hand turn with traffic to your back).
Queensboro Bridge: **** stars
At long last, the top level is reliably open, providing a great midtown view of the river, and a great west-bound view of Roosevelt Island. It's still a little tricky to navigate once you cross the river, as the top level of the bridge seems to devolve into a series winding, narrow concrete channels as soon as you hit Queens. But otherwise, it's a great, easy to find bridge that is motocycle friendly on all but the windiest days (but they're the most fun anyway).
Queensboro Bridge: **** stars
At long last, the top level is reliably open, providing a great midtown view of the river, and a great west-bound view of Roosevelt Island. It's still a little tricky to navigate once you cross the river, as the top level of the bridge seems to devolve into a series winding, narrow concrete channels as soon as you hit Queens. But otherwise, it's a great, easy to find bridge that is motocycle friendly on all but the windiest days (but they're the most fun anyway).
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Feigned insanity
I got a great idea today, inspired by the little gray toyota I saw out on I495 yesterday. Here's the concept:
Drivers already get nervous enough whenever a motorcyclist drives anywhere near them. The idea is to capitalize off this nervousness, and magnify it. By swerving around the lane more than normal, cars around you will interpret this as insane driving, and actively avoid you, so they don't hit you and get manslaughter charges.
Aside from the obvious downside of having to be extra careful in your manoeuvres not to lose traction or hit a road trap, I think this is just another trick to carry around.
Drivers already get nervous enough whenever a motorcyclist drives anywhere near them. The idea is to capitalize off this nervousness, and magnify it. By swerving around the lane more than normal, cars around you will interpret this as insane driving, and actively avoid you, so they don't hit you and get manslaughter charges.
Aside from the obvious downside of having to be extra careful in your manoeuvres not to lose traction or hit a road trap, I think this is just another trick to carry around.
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