Category Archives: General

Some people really LOVE cleaning their motorcycle. I’m not one of them. Never have and probably never will. Having said that I do understand why people like it. Nothing quite like spending time with your ‘love’ and making her shine like new again.

So, WHEN I clean my bike I try to do it well. And lately, well, let’s just say, I had less opportunity riding my motorcycle, leaving more time to do do other things, like, cleaning it, for example.

So, being the nerd that I am, I decided to do some research on how to best clean your motorcycle. Came across a lot of articles and videos. Conclusion? There is no one true recognised best way. Surprise surprise 🙂. Overall though, these are more or less the general steps:

1. Rinse down with water
2. Apply some kind of cleaning spray
3. Leave spray on for about 1 to 2 minutes
4. Rinse down with water again
5. Apply steps 2 through 4 with a different product (this is optional)*
6. Apply steps 2 through 4 with yet another product (this is optional)*
7. Dry with cloths
8. Dry with air

* Any one of these products will have a different purpose than the ones used before 🙂

Every article author / video maker had their own favourite products and cleaning materials. No specific products sticking out though. Material wise, a common sponge to agitate / rub in the products, and some old towels and microfibers for drying did the job for most of them.

Now, I’ve yet to give this a try (ordered some products online) and I’ll let you know how it goes. If you don’t want to wait for that, have a look at this video from TheMissendenFlyer:

Last week we highlighted the damage that the lockdown is doing in the world’s largest motorcycle market India. Consolidation and mergers are to be expected I wrote then.

This week, news broke that TVS Motor is taking over British motorcycle brand Norton, in a bid to take on Royal Enfield which is one of the dominating brands in the ‘classic’ segment.

TVS’ move to buy Norton is not just a play on the Indian market, but also a move on the EU and UK markets, where larger motorcycles are a big part of total sales. 

TVS disclosed that it bought Norton’s entire holding company for a sum of GBP 16 million (almost U.S. $20M), promising that it would restore the operational continuity for the troubled British bikemaker as soon as possible.

TVS Managing Director Sudarshan Venu said “We are retaining all employees. The brand will continue to hold its distinct identity and we plan to restore Norton’s glory and build upon it,”

The Norton takeover could be a smart move from TVS, which is currently a very active player in the smaller motorcycle segment. The Indian brand looks to use Norton’s technical know-how to make bigger drivetrains to jump into the 251cc to 800cc market which is currently being dominated by Royal Enfield’s Interceptor and Himalayan models.

With Norton, TVS will be aiming at the roughly 1 million Royal Enfield riders, and at a growing segment of the up and coming Indian middle class who’re looking to upgrade their 200cc rides.

TVS Motor’s acquisition isn’t its first foreign venture, the Chennai-based company already has a technical arrangement with BMW Motorrad wherein it makes 310cc bikes branded under BMW and it’s own Apache brands.

Sitting at home makes many of us contemplate what the future has in store for us. Maybe a new motorcycle at some point? But what to choose when there are so many options out there? This article might help you with your search from home. This era of fear might actually benefit you by doing better ground work and find out what type of bike is best for you.

Purpose

Everything starts with the purpose of the bike. What do you want to use it for? Each bike is designed with a purpose in mind and understanding this helps you to make a better choice. Decide for yourself what you will be using the bike for and then you know what type of bike you will need.

First Rides

Pictures on the internet can only tell you so much, almost every bike can look sexy on a picture if the lighting and angle is right, but nothing beats swinging your leg around her and feel how the suspension responds to you lowering your body weight onto her.

That feeling when you fire her up for the first time, that acceleration when you first get the change to give it all on a motorway and how she responds in those first corners; first impressions count and are extremely important. Try this with a number of bikes that fit your purpose.

Context

In order for you to know if the bike you tried is really as good as you think, try other bikes in that class. For example, if you are in the market for a sport cruiser don’t just try the BMW F900XR also try the Yamaha Tracer 900 GT and the KTM 790 Duke to get a better feeling of what that segment has to offer.

This article was inspired by Zack Courts’ video and accompanying article.

In our newsletter of last Saturday I asked our readers if they’d like to share stories of this strange time we’re living in right now. Arthur was one of the people to send something in.

I’m one of the hundreds of volunteer Blood Bike Riders in the U.K.  We give up our free time to assist our National Health Service (NHS). Usually we are engaged 24/7 transporting urgent blood, tissue samples, breast milk, blood products etc between hospitals and Pathology Laboratories. However in light of the current situation we are also now transporting many Covid-19 samples and urgently required items of PPE around the U.K. 

There are several Blood Bike groups covering the U.K. Arthur ride’s for the Shropshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire Blood Bikes. Everyone who gives their time does so freely,  no one is paid, they are all volunteers. This video explains what the Blood Bike Riders do. It was released just a short time before the Covid-19 pandemic, so it doesn’t mention the additional services the Blood Bikes now assist NHS healthcare with. (Covid samples and distrbution of PPE) However, this is now a crucial part of the services they offer to the health services.

Personally for me,  my Mum was superbly looked after when she was being treated for leukaemia in two of our local hospitals. Unfortunately she lost her battle, but I wanted to put something back in to the hospitals who had worked so hard to treat her.
Being a motorcyclist, Blood Bikes was the perfect fit for me.

All Blood Bike riders have to be able to ride to an advanced standard and have passed the nationally recognised test Advanced Motorcycle Test. Personally, I’ve also gone on to become a volunteer Tutor for my local Advanced motorcycle training club.

Here‘s a short piece about Arthur and his fellow riders in the “meet the riders section”.

We from Scenic App are honoured to have riders like Arthur in our community. So from us and from Arthur, a big Thank You to all Healthcare Professionals and Volunteers around the globe who are working hard to fight this war against an unseen enemy that is attacking us, and our freedom to ride whenever we like.

In my last article I wrote about the challenging environment for motorcycle manufacturers in these times of economic downturn and quarantine. Brands such as Ducati and Brembo have closed the doors of their factories for a couple of days, and that includes the Ducati factory museum too. 

But don’t despair!

Google maps has made it possible to take a virtual peek in its museum. Navigate it as you would walk through your own street on Google Maps.  The Ducati museum can be found here.

If the red motorcycles from Bologna aren’t your thing, Harley Davidson has made an online visit to their museum in Milwaukee possible too.  You can find the museum here

And if museums aren’t your cup of tea… this spectacular 2020 Ducati Streetfighter V4 S video should get you itching you to get back on the road again once the lockdown gets lifted.

I came across this article on advpulse. It describes the story of Sjaak Lucassen. A Dutch adventurer aiming to go to the North Pole… on a Yamaha R1. It was exactly what I needed to read in this COVID-19 infested times. It’s a story about preparation, about looking forward, about (extreme) adventure riding, and most of all, about making dreams come true.

Sjaak wants to leave on his journey early 2021. I don’t know if that’s going to happen given the current situation in the world. He still has lots of preparation to do. If you want to know more, I definitely recommend the advpulse article. It’s a very nice read and definitely something different from most of the news today. Here’s a link to Sjaak’s own website as well.

Who remembers Pussy Galore?

Pussy Galore was a fictional character in the 1959 Ian Fleming James Bond novel Goldfinger and the 1964 film of the same name. In the film, she is played by Honor Blackman. She passed away this week at the age of 94.

Norton Big 4

How long it had been since she last rode a motorcycle I don’t dare to say but this was what she was known for; for riding a Norton Big 4 back in the 40s.

Some actors might have refused to play a character called Pussy Galore, especially in those days, but Honor Blackman reportedly loved the notoriety of the role she played in 1964.

Pussy Galore becomes Miss Galore

Even though notoriously conservative US censors refused to allow the name “Pussy Galore” to appear on promotional materials. Instead she would be shown as “Miss Galore”, this didn’t stop the fun-loving Honor Blackman from taking delight in embarrassing interviewers by repeating the character’s name over and over during a US promotional tour for the movie. My kind of girl 😊

The Avengers

Far lesser known fact is that, Blackman played motorcycle-riding, black-leather-clad Cathy Gale in the second season of British TV series The Avengers.  She even piloted a Triumph Speed 500 in an early episode but even prior to The Avengers, it turns out Honor Blackman had an already developed adventurous streak; her working life began as a motorcycle dispatch rider for the Home Office during the Second World War while she was in her teens.

Female dispatch riders

Because men were being sent to battle during WW2, nearly all dispatch riders were women. These riders played a crucial role in the war effort, delivering urgent messages and information between headquarters and remote field units. She was not only pretty, she was a Bond girl ánd motorcycle-riding war hero.

Parts of this article first appeared on Cycle World

Watch one of her scenes here

The first two months of 2020 weren’t that bad for motorcycle salesmen, but all of that changed in March, when the coronavirus panic started to spread from Asia into Europe and the American continent, and what followed was a tremendous slump in vehicle sales.

Consumer Confidence

Vehicle sales are often seen as a very accurate measure of consumer confidence, after all, most people wouldn’t buy an expensive car or motorcycle when they fear that they could get laid off within the next few months.  

While most economic crises have a gradual impact on consumer confidence and the markets, a black swan event such as the coronavirus can be much more devastating for economies and consumer confidence.

The first evidence of plunging sales has become painfully evident in Southern Europe, where the virus has evaporated demand in Italy, Spain and France. In Italy, the lockdown has prevented dealers from selling anything at all, and year-on-year, motorcycle sales could come down 46% according to motorcyclesdata.com. Spanish and French dealerships expect similar results in what looks like the toughest market for two-wheelers since WWII.  In Italy, not just sales are impacted, production has also come down with Ducati and Brembo closing their doors, following an emergency decree from the Italian government.

Northern Europe has seen less of a drop-off in March, but the worst is yet to come as countries such as Germany, The Netherlands and the UK are implementing tighter measures to combat the virus. 

The panic in the U.S. might not have spread as fast as it did in Europe or in Asia, but dealerships are bracing for very poor results in Q1, and that after posting poor numbers for four years in a row. Record unemployment claims in the US are likely to worsen motorcycle sales throughout 2020, and the question remains if 2021 will be a better year for sales.

The worst impact can be expected in growth markets such as India, the Philippines, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia, where light motorcycles are incredibly popular. In India, the biggest motorcycle market in the world, sales are set to fall by almost 25% in 2020,

Several manufacturers such as Bajaj, Royal Enfield, Suzuki and TVS saw a tremendous plunge, while Honda was the only brand to post positive numbers for March.

The coronavirus induced slump may have serious consequences for several motorcycle brands, some of which have even struggled to stay afloat during better times (Italian brands are notorious).

Another round of consolidation or cooperation between brands can be expected as the industry aims to reduce costs and increase profitability in times of crisis.

In these weird times a bit of fun can be the difference between having a boring and a not-so-boring day. Depending on where you are and what the Coronavirus measures in your country are, you could try this at home:

Transparent scratch stickers

A scratch on the bike directly hurts the emotions of a true biker. So, go ahead and stick some 3D scratch stickers on some part of your friend’s motorcycle. The moment he sees them, he would be forced to think of where such mishap must have happened.

Sticky notes

The sticky notes come with an aim to stick them to places so that you can write something you don’t want to forget. However, on April Fool’s Day, you can use them the other way round. Stick these notes on the motorcycle of the victim in a way that it takes an effort to take them off. Cover the entire portion of the vehicle with these sticky notes, which would eventually make it come across as funny and bizarre.

Fake sale sign

You can put a ‘For Sale’ banner on the two-wheeler of your friend with his phone number written at the bottom of it. The random calls he will receive for the purpose of selling his bike will blow him away.

Move the bike to a funny place

This prank could scare the hell out of the victim so be careful. Move the motorcycle of the person to another, preferably funny, place. After he finishes scratching his head looking out for his beloved machine, he should be able to find it at it’s new location.

Remove the spark plug

Remove the spark plug of his motorcycle to leave him puzzled the moment he starts his bike. The engine will start making initial start-up note but due to the removed spark plug, it will fail to start. Due to this, your friend will be forced to think that his bike might have gone into a malfunctioning state. I’d be pretty pissed off.

This article first appeared on: Bikedekho.com

The numbers don’t lie. We’re riding 5x more compared to early March. Why? And which countries lead the charge?

LAST UPDATED: May 11, 2020

How is the Corona pandemic changing motorcycle riding behaviour around the world? Here are the numbers! Are we riding more or are we riding less? I looked at the number of rides that were logged in Scenic over the last 3 months and found some interesting differences between countries.

Are we getting Corona numb?

Overall, we see quite a big riding increase in Europe and North America. I wonder, as time goes by while COVID-19 keeps spreading in some countries and distancing measures are being eased in others… are we getting numb of the news, even numb of the infected cases and death toll numbers? Do we see riding as a short ‘escape’ from this, an escape from reality? Or have we waited patiently only to go all out once riding bans are lifted?

My guess is yes to both!!!! Yes we see it as an escape and yes we’ll go out en mass once riding bans are lifted.

Riding is an escape for many, even in normal times. A short ride to clear your mind or a nice weekend trip to get away from daily life. A lot of riders see motorcycle riding, ironically, as a relatively safe hobby at the moment! And for those actually living in countries where riding was banned and now allowed again, it’s obvious that you’ve taken advantage of that to the fullest. Take Belgium for example!

The numbers show that overall, last weekend, 5x as many rides were logged compared to the beginning of March.

What do you think about that? Leave a comment below!

DISCLAIMER: No real conclusions can and should be made from the data and analyses presented here. First of all the data is limited: It’s based only on the number of rides logged in the Scenic app. Secondly, we can make out trends and take an educated guess at the reason for these trends, but these remain just that: guesses! Next to coronavirus, there are many other factors that affect people going out for a ride. Think of weather and long (public holiday) weekends for example.

All graphs show the percentage of rides logged in the Scenic app in a specific weekend, relative to the average number of rides of February weekends. So, the average number of rides in Feb weekends is considered 100%.

Australia

Around the weekend of 21-22 March Australia was in the early stages of its outbreak compared to countries in other continents. We don’t see a significant decline in the number of rides at that point. In fact we see an increase. Only in the weekends thereafter we see a decline. Hard to tell if this is due to coronavirus. Decreasing weather conditions could also have played a part.

Europe

Riding activity differs a lot per country in Europe. Overall, from the beginning of March we see a clear increase in the number of rides, due to start of season / improving weather, but in the March 21/22 weekend we see a clear drop (This is the weekend after the week where social distancing and even lockdown measures were sharply increased by various European countries). Spain, France and UK stay steady or even decrease after this weekend, while the other “germanic” countries increased their number of rides.

It’s very hard to miss Belgium’s peak last weekend. Almost 16x more rides compared to early march.

As a whole we see Europe’s number of rides increasing during the last 3 weekends, with Netherlands, Germany and now Belgium leading the charge. This might be due to people getting over the ‘first scare’, but most definitely will also be related to Dutch and German governments not having banned riding and Belgium government lifting the riding ban last weekend.

Quite an increase in Austria’s number of rides in the last weeks.

Belgium levelled off a bit due to the ban. Until last weekend, when the ban was lifted. The result is overwhelming!!!

Germany, just like the Netherlands below, has one of the strongest increases in number of rides in the last few weekends (not counting Belgium’s huge peak of last weekend). Between 8 and 9 times as much rides even. That’s quite a lot. I’m sure weather plays a role, but what kind of role does coronavirus play here? Would we see an even stronger increase without COVID-19? Or perhaps less increase?

Spain, being the European country 2nd most hit by COVID-19, has been running ahead of its fellow European countries with its containment measures. As such you can see this effect in the number of rides. In fact, since mid March, the number of rides has almost fallen to zero as Spain strengthened and maintains its lockdown procedures.

Switzerland is a bit more ‘neutral’ than Netherlands and Germany… still more than 4x as many logged rides in the last weekends compared to late feb. And last weekend we even saw an increase of almost 7x. Did Switzerland also ease its distancing measures? Please let me know through comments below.

United Kingdom shows an unexpected increase in the March 21 weekend, corrected by the following weekends showing a decreasing and steadying number of rides.

North America

U.S. has shown a very modest increase in the number of rides over the past few weeks. This is likely due to coronavirus measures being offset by improving weather conditions. The May 2 weekend does show a significant increase. No doubt this has something to do with a bunch of states easing their lockdown measures on May 3rd.

Canada seemed to have an initial ‘scare’ around March 14, but has since then shown a rather big increase in the number of rides. Weather undoubtedly is playing a role here.

What does it all mean?

I do this analyses pure for informative purposes! It should not be taken as an input to define your behaviour regarding COVID-19. It does not add value compared to the primary data for number of cases and number of deaths. Please don’t take any action based on this analyses. I’m not a coronavirus expert at all!

If you must take action then take the safe route. Stay inside, distance yourself, rather sooner than later. The sooner you take action (even if your government doesn’t) the better! This thing is exponential. The earlier you take action the bigger the effect will be (this goes for positive as well as negative action)!!!

Furthermore I don’t know about all government policies in all countries regarding lockdown measures and moments when they were lifted or eased. If you have additional information regarding this please feel free to comment below.

Stay safe everyone!