With May nationally recognized, in the US, as Motorcycle Safety Month I thought it might be an interesting idea to look at the future. What are some of the safety features that might be appearing for motorcyclists in the near future?
One place to look is the safety features in the automotive industry. A lot of safety features have already crossed over from cars to high end motorcycles, think ABS, and those features are working their way into becoming standard features in most bikes. So what is the next big safety feature to cross over? It might be one, or all, of these:
Blind Spot Monitoring – Honda, BMW and others are working on migrating the technology to motorcycles. Honda recently requested a patent for a system of camera and millimeter microwave transceivers to help the rider know what is in the blind spot.
Heads Up Displays (HUDS) – Multiple developers are working on this technology. One of the more famous is Skully and their smart helmet. Some of these products are already out there but at higher end price points. In a year or three I expect these costs to go down.
Emergency Accident Notification – Think “On Star” here in North America. BMW has a big push to introduce their “SOS System” which, similar to a car, is made up of multiple sensors and a mobile phone connection. There is also several other products that connect to your phone via a fob or other device, but I think the BMW system is the first one I have seen integrated into the bike itself.
Additionally, I think we can expect more trickle down technology to get to the average person’s price point. As I mentioned above ABS is appearing on more and more motorcycles and in some parts of the world will even be mandatory. So what other safety features or items might make to the point of ubiquity and reasonable cost for motorcycles? How about:
LED lights – Yes they have been around for a while, but they are not yet on a majority of bikes. In a few more years I think all new bikes will come with LED lights. I recently put all LEDs on the back of my bike.
Adaptive headlights – These are the headlights that move a bit to help you see while cornering. BMW, KTM and a few others are experimenting with these lights but I do not think they are coming as original equipment on any motorcycle yet. BUT if you want it now you can buy aftermarket and install adaptive headlights yourself.
Smart helmets – Although they typically include HUD, smart helmets are a lot more. Some offer dynamic noise cancelation, rear facing video, connections to phones, bike to bike communication, etc., etc. You just have to decide how much “connectivity” you want while riding, how much before it become a distraction to you. I like the concept of a smart helmet but I have not yet had the opportunity to test one out.
Airbags – A few years ago Honda came out with airbags for their Goldwing. I really have not heard much about bike mounted airbags since. But airbags embedded in jackets has started to take hold in the market place. First introduced for racing, you can now buy, for a bunch of money, for normal street riding.
Traction Control – Or launch control, or one of several other names. This is on a lot of higher end sport bikes now and some large touring bikes. It would be a safe bet that in a few years it will be extremely widespread and maybe even mandated.
Automatic tire pressure gauge – Harley Davidson, BMW, Honda and others all have these built into their higher end bikes. So there is no reason to think that we will not see them on a lot more bikes in the future.
Cornering ABS – Smarter ABS, a system that knows you are in a turn and adjusts the braking to maximize its impact without affecting your turn.
Smart Helmets/HUD Adaptive Headlights
BMW HUDS JW Speaker Adaptive Headlight
Intelligent Cranium Airbags
OK… the boys at Dawghouse Radio have made me a fan of motorcycle racing.
A while back I wrote a post regarding how I was not a fan motorcycle racing and why I did not care for it. That post got me an interview on the DawgHouse which led to a hosting spot. My view on road racing began to change the more I began to pay attention to the racing in order to be better prepared for the podcast.
It really started during the MOTOGP and World Superbike 2015 racing seasons. There was a lot excitement all season long. Mark Marquez and Valentino Rossi feuding, Jorge Lorenzo working hard to be the champ was engrossing. Combine that with World Superbikes Johnathan Rea’s utter domination of that series and the motorcycle racing world just pulled me in.
Motorcycle racing also pulled my wife in as well. The bug did not bite her for road 
racing but for Supercross and to a lesser extent Motocross. She and I have sat on the couch and watched the 2016 Champ Ryan Dungey and the rest give it their all every weekend. This year Debbie and I have watched all of the Supercross events and have even discussed going to one next year.
I still hold to some of my original thoughts about motorcycle racing in the US. One of the reasons, I think, that Supercross is so popular is that all the spectators can see all (or almost all) the track at one time something you can’t do at motocross and road racing events.
I also think a racing series limited to V-twins running on some of the NASCAR short track would take off in short amount of time. This would be a little reminiscent of the old board track days. Harley, Indians, Victory, Star and all the others going at it on a short oval would be a lot of fun to watch.
In addition to the MotoGP and World Superbike I have also been viewing MotoAmerica. Even though I have only been watching for the last year, I can tell that a high level American series is really needed to help propel American racers to the world stage. The racing on the American circuit has been fun to watch and I hope they will be able to expand their reach soon.
So, twist the throttle, I am now a motorcycle racing fan
The “Walking Dead” star gets his own motorcycle themed show on AMC this summer. The show will premier June the 12th at 10PM (EST).
If you did not know it by the way he has built and rode motorcycles on the Walking Dead Norman is a fan of the two wheel life. So much so he was able to get AMC to produce a six episode series titled “Ride with Norman Reedus”.
Norman states this is not going to be a gearhead show but on where he and friends “explore local biker culture and celebrate the best and brightest collectors, mechanics and craftsmen around the country. Each episode will feature Reedus and a riding companion – a fellow actor, musician, friend or local chopper fanatic – as they journey to custom bike shops, tattoo parlors, collector’s warehouses, or a roadside smokehouse… with plenty of time for unplanned detours and tire changes”
But unlike us average joes Norman’s friends include Peter Fonda, Robert Rodriguez and Balthazar Getty. Guess I will have to wait for my own TV show to ride with those guys!
“Baby got back” and I cannot lie that it fits the Ultra Limited and I want to try to get drivers to see my motorcycle’s rear end. OK.. that is Ultra Bad.
In the age of distracted driving I want folks to have a better chance at seeing me when I am stopped, breaking, or slowing. So I looked around for a device that would cause my rear lights to flash when the breaks are applied. There are more than a few of these devices for nearly any motorcycle on the market but I went with the Custom Dynamics Magic Brake Light Flasher.
I will admit that my section of the Custom Dynamic product was influenced by my earlier purchase of their LED Turn Signals . That product was easy to install and has worked well.
The installation of the break light flasher was easier than I expected. Once the seat was off and you can see the Tour Pak wiring it was almost a no brainer. Once the device was installed we had to choose the flash pattern. It comes with 10 patterns of varying complexity. The video shows you all the patterns, and while it might be less than evident on the video the lights are quite bright. We went with the “Blaster X Consistent” pattern.
When I showed our upgrade to my daughter, as she pulled into the driveway, she stated “that’s distracting”. I took that as a job well done!
Now it is hard to review whether or not this is a good safety product, if I never get rear ended did the flasher help or did I just get lucky. But I can review it on ease of installation and my subjective thoughts. This product does what it says it is going to do, it was easy to install, and I think it is going to help draw attention (thank you daughter). Based on that I am giving the Custom Dynamics HD LED Tour Pak GEN2 Magic Brake Light Flasher for Harley Davidson Motorcycles 5 out of 5 stars.
***This is a repost from the last Check Your Helmet Month..with a few new pictures***
So what does that mean to you and me, the average motorcycle rider?
While your helmet might look clean and shiny it does not mean that it not ready for replacement. Worse yet, a single drop to the ground might be enough to cause you to consider replacement, according to the manufactures.
Here are some industry guidelines regarding your helmet:
Now it is your head so you need to make the decision, but you should at least check out your lid to make sure there are no major issues.
You can also go to HelmetCheck.Org to get some additional information.
I wrote a guest post for Pillioness.com on some rules for riding with passengers.
Check it out to see if you are following some of the more common sense ideas. There might be some things in the article you might not have thought about.
Now you can! Ducati is going across the US and Canada to offer test rides on this cool new motorcycle. This is the bike that was voted the “Best-looking bike” at the 2015 EICMA show in Italy.
Baltimore is the closest stop on their test ride tour to me, so I plan on making a trip to Charm City and try out one of these babies! Click here to read more about the 2016 Ducati Xperience Tour and see if there is a stop near you.
The South Island of New Zealand is like Middle Earth for motorcycling. It’s green, it’s lush, and you wouldn’t be surprised to see a hobbit or two on your travels.
Motorcycle touring here is a little different from what you may be used to.
New Zealand is about the same size as California, and you’re never more than 170 km from the sea. But it still surprises me that what looks like a fast, easy ride will actually take at least twice as long as you expect. And there are 4 very good reasons for that.
Riding in New Zealand involves everything from smooth three-lane city highways, to quiet country lanes, and rough gravel tracks.
But it’s not the road surfaces that you’ll notice. It’s the lack of straight lines. The twisties are everywhere you look.
There are roads that wind alongside deep blue rivers, lazy wide corners through chocolate-brown farmland, and hairpin bends cut right into mountains. Sometimes you meet a corner so long that time seems to stop: it’s just you and your purring machine leaning into an endless sunny curve.
And you might not see a car for 20 minutes at a time.
Riding in New Zealand will leave you at a loss for words. It is so beautiful that it makes you feel stupid. You’ll pull over, take off your helmet and stand there, gaping at snow-capped mountains, fields of purple lavender, mini-waterfalls tumbling down cliff faces, and more shades of green than you’ve ever seen in your life.
The big challenge is to keep your eyes on the road instead of the scenery.
It’s near impossible to plan a riding itinerary here, because of the weather.
The sky can change colour in a matter of minutes.
Temperatures can suddenly soar or drop, as blazing sunshine quickly becomes a thunderous downpour. You’re riding through hot, dry fruit country and just as you’re thinking of pulling over to unzip your jacket lining, the sky opens up and threatens to drown you.
It helps if you carry wet weather gear, and be prepared to change your plans. If you’re suddenly soaked to the skin, find a motel and start again tomorrow.
In the South Island of New Zealand, bikers are not seen as axe murderers in training. Motorcycles are not a source of suspicion here. In fact, they’re the perfect ice-breaker.
When you’re out on the road, prepare to be bailed up by chatty strangers who want to talk about bikes.
Every time you stop for lunch or a coffee, add an extra half hour to your travelling time. At least. Because, look out: the locals have spotted you’re on a motorcycle.
P.S. Liz Hardy is the editor and proprietor of the PILLIONESS website. Her site is geared to “Helping Women Love Motorcycling!”
I JUST WANT 2 RIDE!! 