Using the Clutch

A few new riders on the Harley circuit were concerned about the clutch- on a high torque engined bike- here goes my reply.
'A-
this is one very expensive way to learn- by reading on others notes on FB.
Having warned you_
The first gear in the Harley is a kind of spring loaded shift, where the 'thunk' is engineered into the system for effect. You do not try and do anything like adjusting the clutch etc to try and eliminate this. You will only land up killing your clutch.
All other gear changes should be as smooth as 'clicks' and you should feel the gears 'notching' and move on.
Clutchless changes stress the synchromesh rings and you will eat into them- so use the clutch as provided.
On slopes, upward and down- keep the bike in gear- and under NO circumstances are you to 'free roll' or 'neutral' the bike- stay in gear and fingers OFF the clutch. If you try and bring it down on brakes, you will over heat the brakes, cause fade and crash. Simple. Unfortunately every year, we learn this about 20-24km after Amboli (west bound) when we lose a few bikes to overheated and faded brakes because of faulty riding style.
You are to use the clutch only to shift gears and you will not 'half clutch' the bike. You will eat your clutch in under 100-2500km, if you try this.
Almost- re learn to ride a high torque bike, and learn slow speed riding, as anyone can ride fast.. Learn to control the EFI system and your throttle control at speed <10kmph- that is the beauty of riding- without jerking it or half-clutching it...
I should think there will be a ride to Igatpuri on saturday morning. Do try and come along with your safety gear.'

How to ride your Harley Safely in India

My article on motorcycle riding in India-
Over the past two months, along with Raghav (my Harley buddy), we have been watching a disproportionate number of incidents involving Street 750s- and in particular their rims.

We have had quite a few bent/broken rims and this post is meant from that perspective for all riders, not just the 750s- as disproportionate the numbers may be, the incidents are not restricted to them alone.

I will list a set of issues first and address the possible corrective measures in a bit-

1. A lot of new riders have graduated from smaller bikes, engine capacity as well as performance envelope- wise and the one thing that riders need to keep an absolute control on is the acceleration that their bikes have, as compared to what they were riding earlier. Coming off corners, dropping gears on completing overtaking and turning on the power- etc. This is being coupled with not adjusting your stance and eyesight focus for the new motorcycle is a set up for disasters.

2. Deceleration on seeing an obstacle, be it a goat, truck, pothole, speed breaker- due to the acceleration being of a few degrees higher- more often than not, the riders are 'entering' these conditions faster than they are used to, faster than their bikes can handle and resultant- they either collide with the obstacle, or 'hit' it with force- that it results in deformation of rims and/or other vehicle body parts. Stance and focus again are to be worked on.

3. Traditionally tires for Indian motorcycles are of larger profile, due to their experience on Indian roads. As it seems to many, the rubber of the bikes we ride seems to be of softer compound, not to mention of a lower aspect ratio- much needed to ensure safe acceleration and braking, as opposed to having harder compound tires which would result in a disastrous skid in either condition.
Many riders got good exposure with the group rides to Igatpuri just befor the monsoons, and especially on the way down the 8-10Km downhill from Manas to Latifwadi. Gear control, less use of brakes and the proper head position while entering curves, and while riding fast on straights.
I will try and elaborate on a few procedures that we feel would make an impact on your quality of riding Let me begin with the smallest but oft ignored technicality first.

1. Check your tire pressure every week or two weeks at the least. This ensures proper aspect ratio of the tire and therefore the best possible protection on impact, optimum tread while riding- meaning safer acceleration and maximum contact while braking.
Most basic air compressors do not remove water vapour and that results in minor heating issues on tires- Nitrogen based air compressors/tanks are usually better maintained, and scrub water vapour better therefore resulting in lesser heating of tires. The difference is marginal and I will be free to argue about this offline. Make sure you have the correct tire pressure saved for your bike on your phone.

2. While riding- please start making it a habit to use your front brakes more while braking. Most riders we see, use the rear brakes and you simply have to start front-biased braking. Begin to use this at lower speeds, and work your control upwards. For bikes without ABS- learn to pulse the brakes, to prevent seizing the front wheel under heavy braking. Learn to work the front suspension and dramatically lessen your braking distance. While shifting bias forward- ensure that you use the rear to maintain rear wheel directional control and prevent the bike from coming out under your seat.

3. The single biggest issue for new bike riders has been the issue of braking- this being handled in the above point- should be practiced every time you leave your building, and on every ride you do, as only practice will change the way we have been using bikes, with mostly non-existent front brakes till now...

4. Eyesight- stop looking down in front of your wheel- its too late to do anything about it, except brace for impact if its in front of you. Chin. Chin. Chin.
Its not a song or chant- lift your chin, force yourself to look up- start looking 50-100 meters ahead of you... The faster your go, practice looking at the horizon. further away from the bike. For many that use their bikes in the city, this is a notoriously difficult exercise- but you have no option, like the front braking issue- similarly this chin-up riding.
The best road to practice this is the Igatpuri-Latifwadi stretch, where all the time, you will be on the throttle, with the power on the rear wheel all the time, and with your eyes looking as far ahead as possible, into the next turn to check for your line and for any aberrations in the road surface.
This note is by no means comprehensive nor is it a accident-proof-your-bike essay. Practice your new bikes, air pressure, front brakes, chin-up.... make a better rider out of yourself. We are looking at a wonderful riding season from now till April-end atleast.

Help make the group riding experience a better one.

The first Harley- the SuperLow- Feb 2012

After moving back from the US where as a student life offered me the opportunity to ride many cars and many bikes... here I am back in India, almost 16 years later...

And to cut that long story -

The SuperLow booked a few months ago, arrived, many thanks to the staff at Seven Islands Harley Davidson, Bandra, Mumbai.

In the past years, I have been riding many sports bikes and three kinds of Harleys, and have refrained from critical commenting out of deference to vehicles that I do not own, or afford to.

Then my mom, all of 70+years jumped pillion! And my son awaited his turn- to turn 18 before getting to ride...

Its the first this this morning, that on a side road that you have these 'failed in drafting' technician designed half-moon bumps that brushed the pivot of the side (jiffy) stand. And I realised I had to come back that way too. And we took it at a diagonal. but the thing was about 10" wide, so we walked and still grazed it. And then again on the road rom Worli SeaFace to Old Passport office- scrape. Ugh.

I guess the 12.5" Progressive Heavy Duty Shocks and Progressive Fork Springs are in order.

The rear pillion seat is a fine attempt at 'Mission Imposible 4' thrill at every gear change. Given you would possible have many different pillion riders, a set of side plates and a sissy bar is a must.

The 17 L tank is a very good asset. There were a few at the store who could ride around in the same PIN code all day and be happy with the tank of the '48' and not think twice about fueling twice a day. Experience from others gets you about 14KmpL in the city to abut 24KmpL with sedate riding on the highways. I will update on this as we ride more.

The thumb-starter is a single push- positive emotion button. The solid'notch first gear and light clutch is sure to give even a first time rider good confidence. However, the first left or right turn that you take, brings you all the threads and Forum discussions of grounding- and nothing wrong happens- its fine. The clearance is low, but it aint all that bad. Once you glide over the first speedbreaker, with the car behind wondering what a superbike is doing at 3KmpH... nothing happens, and then you realise that the bad ones are the poorly designed bumps. What i am actually fearing now - is the multiple bumps on the Goa highway, and at a few places on the Pune-Kolhapur stretch, especially around toll nakas.

To my mind the Iron 883 riders have no such issues, and therefore, it seems that either you plonk in the 883's rear shocks and Damper Tubes- setting you abck between 18-25K from a H-D service station, or then hunt around and import Progressive parts as mentioned by me elsewhere on the Forum.

Second gear onwards, there is a RUSH- that will simply power through traffic and on curves- it will beg to lean and run. I think 'Rush' is the word to describe the acceleration and the bull like feeling. No other word seems to work.

having seen a 4Km traffic jam on the Lalbaug Flyover that went on till JJ hospital- the lessons form two days is quick- wear jeans, and full length that too, wear good socks, and good shoes. The heat will get you otherwise- from the rear cylinder cooling and the vent of the lower exhaust... 

The speedometer with its trips and clock are useful and the lack of a tach is annoying... 

The rush of acceleration, the stability on turns, the ability to weave in traffic if required- the high speed capability- and more than all - the tons of charm, the sound and to use the internet phrase- 'eyeballs.'

If one pic could sum it up, here is one taken by a Manish when I got off at his house... now to find that pix first.


Update- March 2013-

Ran the 883 into the ground, maybe due to earlier experience of riding bigger bikes in the US as a student- the 883 was max'ed out and I finally sold it in january of 2013. I purchased a Super Glide and that post is ready, awaiting for a Moderator to post it on a bike Forum.

Now, though I am very happy with the purchase of the Super Glide, the one funny statistic that I never paid attention to while buying a Super Glide, I realised about 15 days into its ownership.

The Lean Angle- left was 30.9 Deg, while the right was 29.5 Deg. Now guess what happened- the Sportster had footpeg scrapers that would leave behind a string of sparks and let your foot know that you were about at edge and the Glide didnt... and to my surprise in the Amboli Ghat, where my tail flagged me down and told me- "what you doin' man? You are scraping the crap off your exhaust" - and thats when I realised the awesome confidence that the bike instilled in you, and the decimal difference in lean angles, even a normal human like me could find out... and you didnt have to be a Rossi or 2013 version Colin Edwards to find out its limitations on bends.

It remains my favourite memory of the Sportster- and maybe I need to do something in its memory urgent for the pegs on the Glide.

New Super Glide Custom- Jan 2013.

After 9 months of flawless running with the Sportster, I upgraded to a more long-distance runner kind of bike, the Super Glide Custom. I have a much detailed departure report on the 883 story that I had written on my buying the bike- more like a closure story. 

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/superb...ml#post3050300

fter a few pictures of the bike arriving into the house at dusk- I think these will be used as templates to see if the bike was cleaned properly or not, in subsequent months.

The first 4000Km on the 883 went by learning to explore its power, lean and its stability. Fuel average settled in at 22-24 on highways, and about 16 in the city. Pillions added to rear weight stability and almost invariably increased the ability to consistently hammer over 140 far more easy than when one-up.

Then after 4500, the Screamin' Eagles Exhausts and Stage 1 Air Cleaners came- and they were like th bad boys coming in for a party that had just settled down... and then the hell rising started all over again. We started to hit the rev-limiter all the way till 3rd and then we found the top speed we could do with my riding gear @165 and the fun in riding all became the hum and roar and effects- so from serious riding, it just went downhill for me

In an effort to stem the rot, I asked around the Harley Owners and found that I had hit a wall on the bike, something to do with having ridden bigger bikes earlier in college days in the US- something I could not deny. So a friend Manish came along immediately- and on a Monday morning at 0600, we went for a city ride, from Powai to Dadar and south.

The 1584cc Super Glide Custom, from the Dyna family- a 6-speed, 92 ft-lbs@3000rpm... came along. 

The first thing that suprised me, was not the weight, but having pulled off from a level patch on the road, was the balance and stability in 1st gear... and then how it hauled from 0-110- when Manish tapped me and pointed upward- to indicate a 6th... and that took me till abut 125... and being on it for the first time I let it stay there on the Eastern Express Highway... When we rolled up and down, what suprised me from the very highly strung Sportster was that I could come down to 75 in 6th and even 60 in 5th. Something the 883 never did.

So from a riding a psychotic red-lined Sportster, here I was having a wonderful, relaxed time, and enjoying the speed range from 0-130 without the stress, drama and anger that went about the earlier bike.

So the decision was made- a buyer was found for the Sportster in a day, sold, and a Super Glide booked. To make a point, I did have a preference at the time for the Street Bob, but its stock handle and mini-apes made it rather difficult for my height and riding style to be accomodated together. So the dealership and HDI worked over night to get my bike to me within a record time of 6 days- and got a few days of local riding before hitting the National Harley Owners Group Rally in Goa, putting in about 1800Km on the trip... 

The average settled in about 22 on the highway- average speeds for the Pune-Nipani stretch climbed from 85 (on the 883) to about 97 on the way to Goa and the return averages were about 115, with the added support of my friends Yeti, and my Scorpio creating an envelope from a low of 70 to 155... for our team of 11 riders- here a bunch of 48s and 883s also made it with averages of about 95-105. 

Here is what was different- the ease with which one cruised and stayed in a power band- that reduced the stress on the rider by a huge amount. Between the tolls on that part of the highway, i would stay in 5th or 6th- and mostly 6th that too... Chasing down the Yeti to 165 and then re-grouping every so 15-20km, I would let the speed bleed to about 95... and it made overtaking anything a breeze. The increased stability of the bike showed its benefits and even two-up, the bike felt rock steady- in fact at one point the sun got to a pillion and she wanted to get down to stretch her legs while at 160... Some credit can be given to NHAI for making it probably the better highway in Maharashtra... Extras on the bike- crash guard, sissy bar (back rest in Harley terminology) as of now. SE Air Cleaner, and Exhausts with a Super Tuner is probably next. 

From my experience, I can only suggest that you try and visualise your personality bracket for the Harley that you want to get- the 48 has been suprisingly the most loyal owners bike, from my experience and I cannot wax eloquent enough about how the 1200cc stormer runs- its absolutely brilliant, having kept with me till 165 and it fantastic aggressive stance and demeanour, and also its reputation for being a trouble free performer. Budget owners should rather look at used bikes and then service histories are available if you are serious enough from Service Centers to ensure you have a good piece.

Accessories and Gear cost a pretty penny, but then you need to factor that in before buying a bike and not after. Research saves you money, and a lot of grief. Feel free to ask around, am sure there are many HOGs out there who will help you.

Many hate the Harley, I dont know for what? Nothing is perfect- whats a Yezdi for one is an ashtray for another, and you need to be happy with a ride, the kind of people that the bike brings together, the rides that are organised, the support given. Some Italian crotch-rockets have clutch levers at 18000 a pair- minimum, but with waitlisting of 4+ months- damn! - then the Harley levers are atleast accessible at 1/5th, and available...on ebay as well. So, I really have nothing to say about people who hate the Harley. i am neutral to all bikes, but I hate plastics,

-KD.