Though I could no convince the boss to waive the 1,000 GBP excess one has to sign when taking a demo-bike on a spin, I decided it was worth the risk for taking this new addition out, specially as it had only 4 miles (four!) on its ODO. Just the mechanics taking the bike out of its box from Milwaukee did a short check run, so I was surely the first client to ride the new Softail Slim in the Guildford area, maybe the whole of UK, as Feb 11/12 was the introductory weekend nationwide.

If you expect a in-depth technical analysis of strength and weaknesses, based on the comparison and experience from many years of riding Harley models, stop reading now. For one the roads were really icy, and 1,000 GBP is real money, and a bike with just 4 mile on the ODO is really not run in. I did not push it, though this is a demo bike, it will one day find its way to a proud owner, and I wanted to give it at least the distant chance for a decent run-in.

For the record: I ride a Road King Classic for longer distances (about 15k miles a year) and a Sportster 883R for my daily 40 mile commute (about 5k miles a year).

First impression: the Softail Slim is more suitable to replace my Sportster then my Road King. I like touring, but the Slim did not provide enough space for even my own butt. The seat is clearly too short for my big bum, and the sales rep Michael had already $ signs in his eyes expecting to sell me a wider single seat.

The Slim was surprisingly agile, appeared small and not heavy at all. Not wanting to describe cosmetics, I leave that Harley-Davidson marketing guru’s, the handlebar felt right and very similar positioned then on the 883R, narrow enough for city commuting and filing through lines of cars, wide enough for longer distance runs. The major difference was the low seating position and the big fuel tank between my legs, something I welcomed, as I can not understand how a commuting bike that needs refuelling twice a day makes any sense, as beautiful as the 48er peanut tank may look. On my the 883R I at least get 3 roundtrips to the office.

The back of the Softail Slim is… very slim, never feels present, very nice, but not for touring, as I like to feel the presence of my saddle bags and its valuable cargo, and yes, my windscreen.

The 883R is the only Sportster with the “luxury” of double front disks, something I really appreciate for its fine controls and dose in stop and go city traffic. The slim has just one, and as this one wasn’t even properly run in as it still must have had Milwaukee dust on it, so this was the most disappointing aspect of the ride. With the icy roads I did not grab hard, avoiding surprises and the ABS, but it was very weak in comparison to what I am used.

The engine delivered what I expected, not run in, but deep and powerful, the 103ci on it will clearly improve over the next 500 miles and even put my 2010 Road King with 96ci engine into the shadows.

Did I take the cheque book out? No, luckily not for any 1,000 GBP excess, and not to own the slim. It would fit into my “collection” as a third bike, in between the Road King and Sportster, just for day trips on sunny warm days without luggage.

For 3 bikes in the garage, one even without a pillion seat, I will need a different “Board of Directors” in my household, and a new house. So the Slim will be considered again when its time to replace the Sportster for something more powerful, but nearly as agile. It is clearly not a replacement for a Touring Bike, with or without a bigger seats.

Thank you to Guildford Harley-Davidson to have let me ride this bike in these weather conditions, I can only recomend others to do it, as we all have different reasons and requirements for owning a Harley-Davidson. I have reasons to own 2 very different ones, but for a third there is no present need.

If you are interested in technical details, it is important to understand the basics of front suspension geometry, as these are the major factor in how your bike will handle on a straight line, under braking and in corners, under speed or very slowly. This geometry is primarily defined by six variables, which I want to analyse more closely. At the end, it boils down to 2 headline numbers: rake and trail. Other secondary factors which I will not analyse here in detail are hight adjustments and, sorry to point it out, your very own weight.

First lets look at the primary 6 variables on a bike:

1) The Offset – This is from the centreline of top of steering neck to the centreline of top of fork tubes pic offset

2) Rake – This is the angle in degrees of the steering neck from the vertical

3) Fork Length – This is the distance between the top of the fork tubes to the centreline of the axle.

4) Diameter of the front (and back) tire – this is… the Diameter of the front and back  tire

5) Trail – the most important number, a result of other factos, its the distance defined by vertical line from axle to ground and intersect of centreline of steering neck and ground

6) Raked Triple Trees (not shown above) – Making things complex, and in order to bring trail figures back into line, triple trees with raked steering stems can be used. Expressed in degrees, usually adjustable in 3, 5, and 7 degrees of rake, this number should be added to the Steering Head rake.

Uhh, new technical term, and no, its not Xmas, this is what is called a Triple Tree:

You could consider the Triple Tree as 2 plates, to which the steering neck and the front fork are attached. As shown above, the Offset is defined for the upper plate. If the lover plate has the same offset, both steering neck lne and fork line are parralel. If however the offset is increased on the lower plate of the triple tree, additional rake is introduced, increasing the total rake.

Now lets look at some Harley-Davidson data, collected from the official website (*) and other internet sources (**), not sure they are all correct, as sometimes marketing managers tweak data for a more pleasant look,  and not everything published on the internet is certified to be correct.

Lots of remaining question marks, lots of other influencing factors, but the trail is clearly the number to watch. For example the big difference in trail for the 883R and 883L (low rider) comes mainly from different wheel diameter. The Road King however gets its long trail primarily from a negative offset.

From experience, I ride a Road King and a 883R regularly, above numbers are butt tested and prove to me that a bike with lots of trail will be directionally more stable. It will tend to go straight and be easy to ride hands-off (never do that!!), it will not have its direction changed by every tiny bump in the road. But such a bike will take more physical effort to steer than a bike with less trail, that is also why bikes with long trail have wider handlebars. A bike with lesser trail like sport bikes will be livelier, it will take little effort to change its direction, whether that effort comes from your hands on the bars or (bad!) from a bump in the road. However, too much or too little trail will make your bike undrivable, and chopper builders go to great length to control rake and trail, check out this front special axle, designed not just to please the eye, but also to reduce the trail.

Trail causes the front wheel to act like a caster, and the greater the trail, the more forcefully the wheel tries to align itself with the direction of travel. But only few wants a bike so stable it can not be turned but prefer a bike that can be ridden no-handed for at least a few seconds without going out of control at the tiniest bump. Twisted City Roads vs a straight highway to the horizon, these extremes define your trail needs.

The above numbers however also show one thing very clearly: there is no golden solution, the mix is important, as well as drivers preference. Other external factors also play a role, as the weight of the driver influences the trail (heavy dude lowers the bike and reduces the trail), and the trail actually changes constantly, because under breaking the fork length reduces. Thus entering a corner under breaking (or not) changes the behaviour of the bike, and for a 20-stone dude its again different then for the slim lady on the same bike.

We do not need a PhD in geometry to evaluate a bike, our butt will do that, but to understand the influencing factors will help to formulate preferences. Harley-Davidson website only provides some geometrical data, but rake and trail is disclosed, giving a first hint on how the bike could handle. Then you can more consciously test ride different bikes and customise your own with more then just chrome covers for the back footrests, but maybe a new Raked Triple Tree for Xmas. And you may understand that using raked triple trees on a stock Harley front may not be the best idea, as it may shorten the trail too much and lead at instability at higher speeds. You do not want your bike to handle like a TESCO shopping cart.

Disclaimer: above are my personal research and thoughts. This is just to explain the principles, not to serve as instructions or recommendation, and worse of all, it could be wrong. Happy to receive your comments and corrections.

The web community is not clear on what exactly this means, but one does not need to worry that after 400,000 pictures the D4 breaks down. The camera however may start to show signs of age, and a speed of 1/250th second may then be 1/257th or 1/242th of a second. Does it matter? A little.

Fact is, our car breaks down after hundreds of thousands of miles, or less, every product has a life-span, light bulbs, washing machines, and SLR cameras.

The next question is: are 400,000 shutter releases a lot, or not. And if this is the number for the brand new top of the line D4, what is the expected life for a Nikon D700 shutter, my somewhat older camera model first announced in July 2008. Searching the web, the number most often mentioned is 150,000 actuations for the D700, less then half as for a D4, but then the D4 is nearly 3x the price. Should I worry?

First I have to find out how many pictures I take during the year.

My D700 is now exactly 1 year old, and with the help of a RAW file and Apple’s Preview Inspector I found out that in the last year I pressed the shutter button 24,673 times. Wow! That is about 475 pictures every week, or 65 pictures every single day. It sounds even worse when you realise that in 2011 I took about one picture every 20 minutes.

If I continue like this, the shutter of my D700 could start to deteriorite in 6 years, by then in todays fast moving digital world the D700 can be considered a antique and ripe for the museum anyway.

So my very personal conclusion is: Skrew it, lets shot the ride!

The picture was taken some time back in May, while we visited the Hawk Conservancy Trust in Andover.

Some days later, the prize arrived, not money, not coupons, but a pin. I think you need to be a keen photographer to enjoy the moment, and I enjoyed it very much.

As if this would not have been enough, I received a heart warming Thank You from my Hogsback Chapter UK during the End of Season Party, in form of a big metal badge, for the photographic work of the last season:

What a ride, I have to say Thank You, as it was great fun for me to share many miles with my fellow members.

Intrigued by the building on the front, I found out that it is the Harley-Davidson offices in Milwaukee, 3700 West Juneau Avenue, USA. Never been there, but riding on Google Street View I took the next left…, and yes, thats the same building.

Have a safe winter.

This is a very dangerous development.

I am very worried by recent announcements, where people, sitting in dark back-rooms in Brussels or Westminster, are trying to force us bikers to wear HiVis day glow vests. I am not against HiVis clothing, I own one myself, but I want to decide when and where to wear it, and not be ordered by some public servant who is paid to invent new regulations. The point is: they do not have these ideas because they want to save the world, no, they just want to save their job and be important.

We live in a overly regulated world, where any kind of personal responsibility is discouraged. All what our children learn is to wait for the little green man, and they do not know anymore how to cross a street in safety once the traffic lights break down. This is very wrong, and dangerous. Some communities start to realise this and dismantle traffic lights altogether, leaving it to few simple rules, common sense and the observation skills of its citizens to organise their movements. In principle, we are all willing to respect a set of rules and values, but if our own intelligence gets questioned by politicians piling regulations on regulations, we start to loose the respect of rules, and worse, we start to break them. And it becomes fatal, when we start to break the wrong ones.

Me in yellow at a 4am start John O’Groats – Lands End Iron Butt run to

I wear a HiVis on occasions, when I ride in dark foggy winter conditions, but on a sunny day, my black leathers or even T-shirt for the short dash to TESCO will do just fine. You may consider this risky, yes, but it’s a risk I take, you are not put at risk at all. So let me live my life, if you want to spend yours sweating in a Ronald MacDonald costume, fine with me.

I do not want to ride my bike looking like a clown, I want to decide when I wear a HisVis and when not. The point is: all I endanger is my own life, so please step back and let me decide what to do with it. If some cool dude want to ride without helmet, gloves and in his flippers, let him, its his choice to turn his life at a much too early stage into that of a rotting tomato.

The thing with these health and safety bureaucrats is that they never stop being creative. Today its HiVis for all bikers, tomorrow all cars have to be painted in either bright yellow and orange. Seriously, if I have to ride along in a yellow or orange clowns costume to be seen, I expect every pedestrian to wear the same garbage men’s HiVis vest, so we all can see us during daydreaming. And then we all will suddenly ride faster, and walk with even less attention, as -hurray- we can expect to be seen!! A fatally wrong development, as all our attentions will reduce dramatically. The first to die will be cats and dogs, ah no, wait, stupid me, they will also have to wear Hi-Vis vests.

In a sea of yellow and orange, black becomes the new HiVis colour. Leave Hi-Vis vests for those who actually need them: traffic obstacles. A broken down car driver, the road workers, RAC, AA and ambulance or police, and many others, as they are all temporary sudden obstacles that deserve a special high level of recognition and protection. But normal traffic participants like cars and bikes are not a obstacle.

If we follow the bureaucrats misguided inspirations, we will drown in a bright sea of hi-vis colours, not recognising anymore what is a traffic obstacle and what a normal participant. That is when serious accidents will start to happen.

The problem affects Touring, CVO Touring and Trike motorcycles from the 2009 through 2012 model years. They were built between June 6, 2008 and Sept. 16, 2011.

Now, in the next days or weeks, I expect to receive a nice letter from my dealer to schedule a repair, but what happen until then, how serious is this defect, and what exactly is broken. Its all about this little switch:

Here in more details:

A – is the rear brake fluid line leading to the switch
B – is the switch, which is activated by pressure in the brake fluid line
C – is the electrical cable for the rear brake light

As all this is very close to the exhaust, its getting hot, and heat can break the switch. 3 things can happen:

1) rear brake light fails to work
2) rear brake light works all the time
3) brake fluid leaks from the switch, compromising brake pressure and eventually the rear brake will fail

Am I getting nervous? No, not at all. If the brake light fails or works all the time, bad luck, I check it prior to each ride, but I do not consider this critical, if you know its broken, drive more defensively and check your rear mirrors closer. Having no rear braking power is not very nice, but if you know it, one can still limping home, as over 70% of all braking is usually done via the front brakes. Just be careful in corners and do not push too hard.

Until I get the recall notice or the all clear from my dealer, I will check this switch for leaks prior to each ride, and test occasionally that the rear brake light works. Otherwise, I will continue to enjoy every sunny mile in these last days of the riding season.

Disclaimer: This is not a recommendation, this is what I do, and it may damage my health.

For a list of all included in the recall, see:

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/results.cfm?rcl_id=11V506000&searchtype=quicksearch&summary=true&refurl=rss.  

R.I.P.

Maybe a bus blocked the view of the motorcycle, so he did not see the ambulance coming, but this whole tragic accident made me think about the value and benefit of hi-vis vests and day-glow colours.

Nothing is more highly visible then a big ambulance van painted in bright yellow, with flashing blue lights, and still this poor biker managed to crash into it.

Hi-Vis colours are clearly not a guarantee for accident free travel, but they can attract attention and increase visibility. However only if applied in moderation.

Let me speculate: maybe it was not a bus that blocked the view of the biker, but half a dozen bikers and cyclist wearing Hi-Vis vests, resulting the oncoming ambulance to fade into a blur of hi-vis yellow.

Yes, I am speculating, but I feel strongly that hi-vis colours should be used in special occasions only, and not by the general public. We are not allowed to ride with flashing blue or red lights, and we should reserve by law the Hi-Vis vest and colours for those traffic participants who are a obstacle to the normal vehicle movement, like road workers, rescue and security services and yes, the lollipop man.

Imagine in this picture dozens of biker and cyclist all wearing a high-vis vest, the lollipop man would suddenly become invisible.

Should all bikers be forced by law to wear hi-vis vests, I predict the number of accidents and death will increase, as traffic participants in special needs will not be recognised anymore. Health and Safety officials are wrong in assuming: more is better, as the real attention comes from measures that are “special”.

Hi-Vis vests have their advantages, but to neutralise their visibility by mass usage can be fatal. Let me summarise 3 simple rules I would recommend:

1. bikers may choose to wear orange Hi-Vis vests, but only in special occasions like bad weather conditions (rain, fog) and outside large cities.
2. cyclist shall only wear a optional green Hi-Vis vests to distinguish them from other road obstacles, like rescue service, road workers and the lollipop man.
3. using a yellow Hi-Vis colours should be mandatory and reserved for rescue service and road workers, and other special obstacles, like the stationary car drivers after a defect on the hard shoulder.

Only by limiting the free usage of Hi-Vis vests will we be able to keep its benefits: alert traffic users to unexpected obstacles and dangers. And by assigned colours, you can easily recognise the potential speed at which they are moving. Orange for fast bikes, green for slow cyclists and yellow for immobile participants or special services “above the law”.

But in a sea of yellow and orange, black will soon become the new Hi-Vis colour.

In a nutshell CVO means 2 things: a impressive high end 110 cubic inch Screaming Eagle engine, coupled with lots of chrome and accessories. This all does not come for free, but adding all shiny parts together, it’s a bargain, though a bargain at a very high level.

If you like fairings on a Harley-Davidson, the Road Glide is a Marmite option, you like it or hate the “Shark Nose” fairing bolted to the motorcycle frame, while the Electra Glide “Bat Wing” fairing is moving with the handlebar, bolted to the front fork.

As some of my readers may recall, I called a Honda Goldwing GL 1800 my own for 10 years before moving to the Harley-Davidson 2010 Road King Classic, and sitting on this Road Glide, I felt somewhat beamed back into a well known time. A time I tried to escape with the much more naked Road King.

A windscreen is not a fairing, and I must admit, as nice as they look, the 6 diamond cut gauges are useless to me, as I can not read them while riding. I wear prescription glasses that do not focus on such short distances. All I can see is the odometers big handle pointing to 10 or 1 o’clock, knowing that it means I am riding at 50 mph or too fast. Diamond cut sparkles are in this world of blurred recognition a further distraction, and if the Volt Meter shows 11 or 11.5 V becomes a very irrelevant information. No, fairings overloaded with gauges and switches, as nice as they may look to enthusiasts, are not yet my cup of tea again. Maybe in a couple of years, maybe decades, when the slightest of wind disturbances around the more simple windscreen become a physical challenge. Road King 1: Road Glide 0.

The Road King offers little protection for the legs, but on the Road Glide ride I for the first time realised the heat generated by the exhaust pipes many riders complain about. The reason must lie in the front crash bar mounted leg protectors, who dutifully channel away wind and rain from your legs, but they allow a hot furnace to slowly burn your right tight. Road King 2 : Road Glide 0.

The silky smooth 110 cu.in. Screaming Eagle engine is a dream. Tough the demo bike just had done 130 miles in its short life, and I did not want to push it, this not yet run in engine easily showed its muscle, and it did not even have open pipes yet. Road King 2 : Road Glide 1.

And then there is the music system, able to transform every Glide into a bass thumping disco machine. Nice, sometimes, but not a must, as all these modern gadgets of mobile phones, BlackBerry’s and intercom, bike to bike CB and iPod connections are the modern tools and toys I just try to escape when riding my bike for pleasure, and I am happy to leave them at home or in the office, or, as we can not free us fully from the digital links to the world, keep them switched off during the ride in my saddlebags. Hand signs and light signals with my fellow riders did just fine during the last 20.000 miles. Road King 3 : Road Glide 1.

Thankful and with a smile I returned the fob of the 2011 CVO Road Glide, and after a few words Michael the salesman noted in his book: call Axel once they launch the 2013 CVO Road King – which last happened 5 yeras ago, in the 2008 line-up. This said, the 2012 CVO Road Glide Custom, without the “ultra” top box, really looks stunning…

Further proposals are concerned with criminalising any modifications to factory spec bikes (eg Stage 1), and technology-based control of your bike if it decides you are not riding “correctly”. International responses have already brought many French cities to a halt – including Paris, where bikers demonstrated the impact of a ban on filtering by taking over the entire Periphique via 15,000 carefully spaced bikes.

As MAG’s ROAD magazine (Issue 36) points out, these proposed laws fail to distinguish between reasonable rider choices and the criminalisation of those who do not make them. Criminalisation is especially heinous for practices – like day-glo vests – that (unlike safety belts or airbags) have nothing to do with protecting riders. As the police system of advanced riding (Roadcraft) will tell you, safe riding comes from safe riding. You hand over your safety to other road users and politicians at your peril.

Fortunately you can now do something to help stop this nonsense. MAG member Jon Strong has prepared detailed challenges to the EU’s laziest assertions on bike design, mods and use. He has got the attention of the European Ombudsman and you can help him press the case (as well as reading it) by clicking here and requesting copies of Ref 0875/2011/jf. By actively requesting details, these bureaucrats will realise how big the opposition to their nonsense is.

If you prefer visible action, why not join a protest ride being organised nationally for 25 Sep? See how big this is becoming, further details here. Do either! Do both!