Author Archives: Guido

I still remember my first motorcycle lesson, where I first fully opened the throttle when the instructor was not looking, accelerating as I never did before and feeling the wind on my chest and helmet. I’m sure it wasn’t that fast at all, but it was the most fun I ever had on the road up until then. From that moment on I was hooked!

How to get your motorcycle licence varies greatly between countries. For example, in Mexico, in most states, you just pay around 20 USD and voila… you’re ready to role! In most countries however, fortunately, it entails a bit more than that.

I was living in the Netherlands back then (2008). Getting your licence meant having to take lessons with an official instructor as preparation for doing three tests:

• A theory test, consisting of 50 multiple choice questions about how to act in certain traffic situations, position on the road and some questions about basic motorcycle maintenance.
• A practical ‘special manoeuvring’ test. These were tests like doing a figure 8, doing a u-turn without foot on the ground, emergency stopping at several speeds, etc.
• A practical test on the road, entailing you riding around for about an hour, being followed by a government licensed instructor judging your every move.

Now, I’m the first to admit that, whatever preparations you had, you only REALLY learn how to ride through experience. But still, just paying to get your licence without any lessons nor decent tests is just dangerous… for you and for the traffic around you. If you live in such a country I highly recommend taking some courses before you really go out there risking your live! For some inspiration take a look at this cop owning the motorcycle skill course 🙂.

OK, back to the topic at hand. So you got your motorcycle licence and you’re ready to get your first bike and some gear. What are things you, as a beginner, a newbie, a greenhorn, a prospect, need to pay attention to? Well… here are the most important tips based on my personal and friends’ experiences (and mistakes):

1. Choosing your first ride

So, if all is well, you already had some lessons on a motorcycle provided by the riding school. These are usually ‘standard’ motorcycles (my lessons were on a Honda CB600F) and likely not the dream motorcycle you always wanted.

For your first motorcycle most people will recommend to not get a super fast, powerful and heavy machine. I mostly agree with that advice. Furthermore, you might have an idea on the kind of motorcycle you want (chopper, adventure bike, sports bike, naked bike, etc.), but honestly you can’t really know what you really like until you’ve owned one for at least a couple of months. Even a one hour test ride isn’t enough for that.

That’s why I recommend to get a decent second hand motorcycle for not too much money. Not only because you don’t really know the style of the motorcycle you’re going to be happy with, but also because it’s likely that you drop it or have a (hopefully minor) crash with it during your first months of ‘building up experience’.

2. Choosing riding gear

For this one, my advice is actually the opposite of choosing a first motorcycle. Assuming that you know this is going to be one of your hobbies for life, don’t be cheap on gear like I was. I bought cheap pants, cheap boots, a cheap jacket and a cheap helmet and gloves. This tremendously limited my joy of riding. My helmet fogged up all the time and I was sweating when the sun came out, cold when it didn’t and got soaked to the bone when it rained. I ended up buying a new set of gear after less than a year. So… just buy good quality gear from a respected brand.. and you’ll enjoy your rides a lot more.

3. Resisting the temptation

When you start riding regularly you’ll grow more and more confident in your skills. But… there WILL come a time when you get over confident… when you take a turn too fast, only to go wide and end up on the other road half… being lucky that there’s no oncoming traffic. Take that as a warning!!! Don’t be over confident. Resist the temptation. Go slowly in expanding your limits. Your riding buddies don’t mind if you are slower than them. And even if they make fun of you, who cares! They’ll wait for you a few miles down the road.

4. Getting experience

Even if you had the best riding lessons in preparation of your licence test, don’t be foolish in thinking that you know everything there is to know. Of course you learn by doing – by riding a LOT – but there are many things about motorcycle riding that only very few do naturally. These are things like corner entry, corner exit, body position, slow manoeuvring techniques, emergency braking, etc.

I recommend to take a few courses when you’re just starting out. This will not only accelerate your learning curve but also boost your confidence and safety on the road. If you take those courses immediately after getting your licence, it will also prevent you from having to un-learn al the wrong riding habits you picked up over time. Viewing some YouTube videos on riding skills is a good start (take a look at the MotoJitsu channel), but you really need to do some courses and practice for yourself.

5. Use your brain capacity efficiently

This last recommendation might seem funny, coming from the developer of a motorcycle navigation app, but: Limit the amount of distractions while riding! I sometimes see riders with their entire handle bar and dashboard area packed full of gadgets. A GoPro pointing forward, another one pointing at their face, yet another camera mounted on their helmet, a navigation unit planted above the dash, a communication set blaring music and instructions in their ear, etc.

These things all distract and use brain capacity. And, if you’re a new rider, you need all your brain capacity for paying attention to the operation of your vehicle, the road ahead and traffic around you. You might even find that your ride becomes more ‘pure’ and enjoyable without all those gadgets. Once you get more experienced, and operating your motorcycle becomes second nature, you can start adding gadgets as you desire.

So there you have it. 5 of the best tips I can give you as a new motorcycle rider. I hope you’ll find them useful and I hope you follow most of them in one way or another. Whatever you do, whatever you choose and wherever you go… Be safe and enjoy the ride!

Last month Norton Motorcycles was put into administration, which is more or less equivalent to US Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Norton has millions of British Pound debt amongst which around £300k of unpaid taxes.

As the administration is progressing, yesterday, the Guardian posted an article stating that the British parliament has asked to investigate the government’s funding of Norton Motorcycles and has accused officials of “blindly pouring” millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money into the motorbike firm before it went bust.

In summary, Norton received millions of pounds in loans and grants from the British Government and associated organisations. On top of that some government officials publicly endorsed the company.

Stuart Garner, a British entrepreneur, ‘saved’ Norton in 2008 from US hands, which at that time had stopped manufacturing motorcycles all together. He did this with the intention to restore this piece of British history (founded in 1898, yes… this is not a typo) to former glory, so he claimed.

If you’re interested in the details please see the Guardian Article. What I want to do here is offer some perspective and room for discussion.

The role of the government

First, let’s talk about the role of the government: So yes, it’s true that they pumped millions into Norton over the years. The Guardian article depicts this as blind mistakes, not having done enough research in the viability of the company. Even if that’s true, the real question is why, isn’t it? Please allow me to offer some potential answers to that question:

• Government officials saw a British icon company in trouble and wanted to help save this piece of British history. This wouldn’t be the first time a government does this. For example, Dutch government also helped iconic Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker in the late 90’s.
• There was an ‘agreement’ between Stuart Gardner and some of the involved government officials.
• A combination of the above.

The role of Stuart Garner

Stuart Garner is an interesting man to say the least. Before Norton he was already a successful entrepreneur owning Britains most successful pyrotechnics company. Here’s a 2015 interview with Garner, which took place in the 2012 purchased Norton’s headquarters “Donington Hall”.

In the Guardian article the role of Stuart Garner is questioned. It depicts him somewhat as a villain, who shoved too much money his own way in stead of trying to rescue the company. There’s talk of Norton lending £160k to Garner personally and £325k to another company of Garner. And there are some questions about Norton’s luxury car collection worth £800k and, most significantly, there is an open question about the £14 million fraude with the pension fund, who Garner claims he was also a victim of.

So the question arrises… were Garner’s intentions true in trying to save the motorcycle company in 2008, or was it all a farce from the beginning? Or, did he really try and after a while decide it was a waste of time and money, cutting his ‘losses’? Or, did he really try until the end to make it work?

The only one who truly knows the answer to those questions is Garner himself of course… and unless you have the opportunity to talk to him directly, the only thing you can form an opinion on is press articles. My personal opinion WAS: Garner tried to make it work, but eventually saw it was an uphill battle. And then it becomes a question of moral… how far should he go to try and make it work? Did he already know it was a lost battle before accepting government loans and grants, or did he accept the loans and grants hoping it would pull Norton through?

I’m saying WAS above, because after writing this article news came to light where Garner did not show up for a hearing regarding the claims laid against him in relation to the Pension Fund: Garner doesn’t show up at pension fund hearing. This sure calls Garner’s intentions and ethics in question. Maybe he was not interested in saving Norton after all, and just saw it as a ‘vehicle’ to enrich himself.

Whatever the case may be and regardless of what the investigations conclude, it is a true shame that a 122 year old iconic brand has to come to an end like this.

A long time in the making, a dream of mine has finally come true. Scenic in 30 seconds. An awesome video, made by https://www.youtube.com/user/baikudokan1. Thank you Greg!!!