2014 Honda VFR800

Okay, it has been a while since I posted on here. My old job ate my time but now I should have more available to come back. First off, I have a new bike the Honda VFR800. This was due to me being knocked off of my ER6F and it was written off (I'll probably post more about that later). I wrote a review of the bike, but never really found time to post it. So here it is - I haven't edited it so read it as if it is 2014!

I hadn’t been planning on getting a new bike this year, let alone one this expensive! However after my last bike was written off after a SMIDSY, and chatting to my friendly Honda dealer, I decided to upgrade to a larger bike.

Looking around I went to look at several bikes. The ones that interested me were the Kawasaki Z1000SX and the Triumph Sprint GT. The Sprint was too long to fit in the space in the garage and there were no Kawasaki dealers near me any more. That left me the VFR. After a test ride, alongside the Fireblade (awesome bike but not for me), I was taken.

Never having ridden an old VFR with the older VTEC system I have little to compare, but I never felt any problems with it as it kicked in. The only obvious indication was the change in the exhaust note to a glorious V4 growl. Pop the bike into first gear and pull away, and pull and pull. The engine just keeps on giving. It is also silky smooth and the gearbox is quite nice as well. I do have some issues with finding neutral, my last bike (an ER6F) had a positive stop for neutral if you had come to a stop and tried to get into 2nd gear. Was really useful to get neutral easily. Otherwise the ‘box happily clicks through the gears with little issue.

Styling is always in the eye of the beholder. From the pictures on Honda’s website I was never too sure on the headlights. Everything else looked great, just not the lights. If I am totally honest I am still not totally sold on the styling of them. That said they fit in great with the rest of the bikes design, and understated look with a single colour palate and only VFR emblazoned on the fairing. And the red paint... I have seen the bike in both white and red (thought not the black) and have to say red is definitely the VFR’s colour. The quality of the paint is extremely high and even though it is not a metallic it still draws you in with a depth to the finish. Actually the whole bike is finished to a very high level, gold highlights on the engine casing and on the wheels adding to that feeling of quality. Despite the price tag of the bike, it does feel very much worth the money. And that is before we talk toys...

The bike comes with an array of ‘extras’. You get heated grips, traction control, ABS, trip computer, LED headlights, center stand and self cancelling indicators. If you are an all weather/season rider the inclusion of heated grips are a godsend. Neatly packaged into the bike there is a button next to the left grip to activate. It has 5 levels of heating which is displayed on the dash as you select. The previous heat level is remembered so the next time you turn them on you are greeted with the same heating. It is a shame the button for the traction control isn’t as neat. It looks like they had finished designing the bike and someone noticed it was missing and just added it on. Unlike most other bikes out there with TC the VFR’s is a simple on/off affair. To be honest I can’t see you needing to ride with it off unless of some exceptional circumstances (if you are a wheely king maybe, or riding on gravel). ABS is standard and can not be turned off. The trip computer is a great addition, giving average fuel consumption, instant fuel consumption, engine temp, air temp, 2 trips and clock. Unfortunately to navigate the display you have to press buttons on the dash, which isn’t easy if you are moving.

Most bikes headlights are okay, neither lighting everything nor as bad as a candle in a jar. However the LED headlights in the Honda are amazing. Dipped they are probably slightly better than I am used to, giving a pure white light. Switch to main beam and the sun has come back up! Okay not quite, but the only other vehicle I have seen light the road that well was a car equipped with Xenon projector lights. The last toy is my least favourite, the self cancelling indicators. I have taken to saying my suffer with PCS - Premature Cancellation Syndrome. As I understand the theory, the bike takes into account speed, tilt angle etc to determine if you have left the indicators on. At a stop they will blink for as long as you want, start moving and the timer starts. However they don’t seem to be very good at roundabouts. When I turn right at a medium to large roundabout I can get about a third the way round before they cancel. Meaning I have to remember to turn them on again, not a good thing at that moment in time so giving me something else to think about. Speaking of sight, the mirrors offer a great rear view. Even though you have a good chunk of your elbows, there is a clear view behind you.

Getting settled onto the bike is very nice. It has a riding position on the more sporty side of Sports Tourer but it isn’t uncomfortable. I have ridden for over an hour on it and not felt any real pressure on my forearms or wrists. The suspension is quite supple. It absorbs the bumps without unsettling. There is also some minimal adjustment. It is somewhat of a shame the single swing-arm is largely covered by the exhaust so the VFR’s defining feature can’t be seen easily.

Overall I love the bike. Most of the problems I found with it are niggles, tacked on switchgear, buttons not in easy reach, although possible the self cancelling indicators are a real issue. The rest of the bike feels really well put together. The styling is conservative and lacks the multi-colour paint jobs of sports bikes, but works well and will hopefully age well. The VTEC gave me no issues and the engine is smooth and torquey with a great V4 soundtrack. It is an expensive bike, yet it feels really well put together and worth the premium.

Hein Gericke Streetline GPS Bag

Satellite Navigation is a great tool to help you get to a place you haven't been to before. Unfortunately the selection of sat-navs for bikes is rather limited and expensive. It is somewhat annoying given that you can pick up car versions for around £99 (although quality at that price can be suspect!).

Enter the Streetline GPS bag from Hein Gericke. This is a waterproof bag that can attach to the central section of your handle bars with Velcro ties. Of course if you have clip on bars then this won't be of much use, although it will attach to HG's line of compatible tank bags. Lets get down to the essentials. It is waterproof, has a small port to allow power/audio connections, easily removable and cheap. Taking that last point first, the bag retails at £14.99. An amazingly low price that offsets some of the lesser points. As said, it attaches to the handle bars via a pair of Velcro strips. On my ER-6F they just about reach around the connector and provide a sturdy support. It is a little tight and does take some fiddling to get it right. A problem is that it slightly obscures the key switch and makes it awkward to get the key in a turn. Previously mentioned that it will not fit onto clip-on bars as standard, so not a universal attachment.

To get your device into the bag you undo the zip, with its weather proof seal, and insert your GPS between the window and two crossed over elastic strips. The strips help to keep the sat-nav in place and against the clear plastic.

In use the clear window can be a little too reflective and it is sometimes hard to see the screen underneath. However it does allow a resistive type touch screen to be used without problem, although my HTC Desire's capacitive screen will respond even with my gloved hand.

GPS normally takes a lot of power, generally because the screen is always on. There is an opening to allow power and audio leads into the bag without compromising the weather seal. Obviously the assumes you have some way to connect to your bikes battery and that the GPS has a headphone output. If it does have the latter, then you will need some way to pump that into your ears. In-ear headphones are a start but something like an Autocom is ideal, allowing you to listen to music at the same time.

Good

• Very, very cheap,
• Easy to fit,
• Provides access for power/audio.

Bad

• Not suitable for clip on bars,
• Window a little too reflective.

ER6F Long Term Review

Having now owned my Kawasaki ER-6F for a year now I feel it is time to give a bit of a review having used it over the longer term. So what is my overall view? Excellent, but with room for improvement.


Engine

The little parallel twin gives out plenty of poke, especially low down. Having done much riding around town this is of great benefit, making it easy to filter and pull away from the lights without having to rev the engine. When you want to be a bit more spirited you can be, although you do need to keep it revving a little higher. Once above 9000rpm you start to lose it and really should change gear. The biggest problem with the bike being a parallel twin is the amount of vibration. On this 2009 model not much of it comes through to the rider, but some does and on longer motorway trips I have found my left hand getting partly numbed by it. Perhaps the worst aspect of the vibration is that the mirrors tend to show mainly blur. Shame that they haven't been isolated as the pegs and handle bars have been.

Fuel economy on this bike can be great, I have had nearly 60mpg on one run, although averaging around 50. However it drops when you are just doing short trips around town and even more when you want to use the poke of the engine. 38mpg was my worst. Still it is a cheap bike to run fuel wise.


Body

Beauty is in the eye of... well you know. Anyhow I think the bike looks great, certainly compared to the pre-09 model. Sharp angles and lines make it look much more like its Ninja sibling, but without the sporty riding position. Ahh the riding position; I haven't ridden a supersports bike so I can't comment too much, but while the more upright sitting position is great for around town and cruising, it isn't much cop when you want to ride that little more aggressively. I found that I can improve that by moving my feet up on the pegs and that in-turn moves my body forward, putting that little more weight over the front and makes me more confident in faster corners. However I am unsure if that is the right thing to do!

Another thing with the body of the bike are the mirrors. Considering it seems to be aimed at newer riders and commuters, you can't see directly behind you. People will know if an ER rider is looking behind as they have to move their arm in to get past their elbow (or elbow out). Annoying when you do a manoeuvre; either you look like you are doing a chicken impression or have to physically look over your shoulder. One day I may look at getting the mirror extensions and see if they 'fix' the problem. However this shouldn't be a problem to be fixed it should be right out of the box. That is, however, a minor thing really and takes nothing away from the rideability of the bike.

There are some very nice touches to the bike, the side mounted rear shock being one. It gives the bike some distinctive character without looking like it is trying. As I understand it is there to even up weight and allows the battery to be moved to a better location. Along with the rear hugger, stops it being caked by the back wheel throwing up road dirt. Oh yes, it also has a rear hugger. Again this is something I am led to believe is not what you would expect to see on a budget bike.


Suspension

Basic is the work of the day, budget may be another. This is a budget bike and as such all you get is pre-loading on the rear side mounted shock otherwise nadda. Not that I would expect to see much more, this isn't the sort of bike that would have all the adjustments, at least not at what it was sold at. Possibly do to its low cost there are times the bike feels a little on edge, especially on bumpy B-roads. The rear end feels as if it isn't always in good contact with the road. Maybe more expensive suspension would improve that, but at the moment I have little idea of how to adjust it for the best setup.

I love this bike, it has enough poke to get you going to the wrong side of motorway speeds, feels confident pootling around town, but is also a lot of fun around the B-roads. Having taken it on a trip to Land's End it was commented at how well it pulled out of corners, this was by someone who used to race bikes. I have no doubt that his GSXR750 would run circles around me most of the time though!

If you are looking for a first 'big bike' or something to run around town on with the occasional weekend blast, you can't go too wrong with an ER6F. Yes it has its faults, the mirrors are vibey and not long enough and the rear suspension can sometimes feel a little hard. However this is overshadowed by just how fun it is to ride, and how cheap too. It is in the group 10 for insurance, costs £70 in road tax (I am sure that will go up), and does around 8.7p/mile on fuel (again that will go up if only as fuel goes up!).

Musings

My first bike, Suzuki GS500

There is an old saying "time flies when you are having fun". It don't seem that it has been 3 years since I learnt to ride. I have owned two bikes in that time, still do in fact. What an eventful time it has been. Owning my first bike, the little Suzuki GS500. I still don't see why it gets berated so much. It is a great first bike and an ideal commuter. Having said that when I first had it it never seemed to run right and then there was the first winter where it wouldn't start at all and was left in the garage until the spring. The little GS is now waiting patiently to be sold at my parents house.

ER6F - Great bike!

Then I went on to my brand new Kawasaki ER6F. That had a turbulent first few months too. Got it in September and then ran it in for the first 500 miles. Never had to do that before even in a car. Being stuck at 55mph (4000rpm) made for some interesting trips. I tried my hardest to avoid motorways and dual carriageways, and I almost succeeded. Once ending up on a dual carriageway and being overtaken by a lorry, that wasn't fun at all. Running in for me is a time to get to know your bike. You can try out the handling without the worry of extra speed and it is surprising what fun you can have a low speed on a few country lanes! Then December came. It was a wet day and I pulled into my local Morrison's to get some milk for work. Just as I pulled into the car park a car pulled across the parking area straight into my line to travel. Nothing I could do but dump the bike. There was a sickening crunching sound, thankfully not from me but the bike as the fairing trashed itself (not that I walked away unscathed either). Fortunately it was all low speed so the damage to me was only to my knee and shoulder.

Land's End Carpark

It ended up taking close to 2 or so months before I had the bike back but when I did I was so glad to have it back. Thankfully I was given a Suzuki Bandit 600 while mine was convalescing. Didn't really like it, much to heavy for a naked plus none of the protection that I get from my ER's fairing.

After two summers that were rained out, finally got to go on a biking trip. Five of use down to Land's End over the Easter break. It was an absolute hoot and the weather was very kind to us. Compared to the congested south I live in, the wide open roads down there are wonderful to ride round. I envy the people who have it as their 'backyard' so to speak.

I have been to the NEC and ExCeL shows which are both great fun to go too. Just waiting now to see what the new styled NEC show will be like this year. I attended the Westminster M25 parking charge protest, amazing to see the M25 clear of traffic just before hundreds of bikes go past.

12 volt Pressure Washer

Love it or loath it cleaning a bike is the one thing that needs to be done if you want to keep it looking good. Even more so in the winter months with all the salt on the roads, it helps to prevent any rust buildup. There seem to be many ways to clean a bike, pressure washers, hoses, buckets. With the layout of my house I am unable to get any mains water out to the bike. This leaves me with the only other option, the bucket. Not any more!

I have never really liked using pressure washers, it is too easy to get that little too close and take off the paint etc. However I discovered a non-mains 12v pressure washer. This has three benefits over a mains version. Firstly it runs off of 12v, so you can use it to wash your bike anywhere (within reason it is a bit bulky!). Secondly it stores its own water supply so no need for hose pipes. Thirdly, as it is only 12v it can't get anywhere near the pressures of a mains version. This one can get up to 130psi, compare that to over 1000psi for mains. However for washing a vehicle it is more then enough. You can also set the nozzle to go from a jet to a wide, almost misting, spray. The latter giving good volume of water to wash off the soap.

It is able to store 17ltrs of water and consumes about 60watts of power when in use. Given most bikes batteries are around 10Ah that would give you a run time of 2 hours continuous use. It gets through its water in about 6 minutes and most bikes can be rinsed twice (once before washing, once after) on about a tank and a half, assuming it isn't heavily soiled.

Of the few complaints I have the most annoying is the power lead. It is just that little bit too short. True the way I power it isn't the way most would think (see below) but even coming from the bike it makes it a little hard to move it fully out of the way. And that is the other aspect, it only comes with a cigarette/cigar light type power plug. I would have liked to have seen the option of alligator clips to connect directly to the battery, does make it a little tricky to connect to a bike.

Having used it now for a couple of times I can honestly say it is so much better then using the 'throw a bucket of water' method. It is simpler and uses much less water. Plus we have a 12v solar system that I can run it off of so don't even have to worry about using the bikes battery or the power costing me anything.

Good

• Low pressure means unlikely to damage paintwork etc.
• Good flow rate.
• Holds own water supply.
• Able to run it wherever there is a source of 12v.
• Good way to get around a hosepipe ban ;)

Bad

• Although technically portable, not something you can carry on a bike easily.
• Could do with a longer 12v lead.

Archos 1 Vision

For the last couple of years I have been using a cheapo MP3 player. It had numerous problems, but it was cheap and done the job, just. However it recently died on me so I had to look for a replacement. I had a couple of items it had to be, firstly good value (not cheap but worth the money) and it had to have some form of navigation for the music. The previous one wasn't able to navigate the music other then to go back and forth. There was no sorting by artist or album etc. For the most part it was never a problem, it was just set to random for all the music. It would be nice to sometimes select one album to listen too rather then all the music on the device.

I had looked at an iPod, to which I used to have a 2GB 1^st Gen Nano. Apple really have worked well on the interface of the iPods. It works well and seems to do all that you need in a simple responsive way. The problem with them is the cost. I refuse to get the Shuffle as I want a screen and hate that whole one button rubbish. The Nano is just too expensive for the use I want from it, this is only for use on the bike. Some investigation later I found a promotion for an Archos 1 Vision. MyMemory were selling it with £5 discount bringing it down to £20.99 inc p&p.

With 4GB of flash it has more then enough space to store the music I want to listen too. Trying to find reviews of it though, that is a different story. There were none that I could find online, only some saying its specification and a little about it. I bit the bullet and brought one. A few days latter I get to answer the door to the postman, Saturday morning and I was still in my dressing gown, not a pretty sight! Still I pulled the Archos out of its box and the first thing that struck me was how really light it is. It actually is a little too light, even though it is very well constructed. Like most gadgets you are suppose to charge before use, however like most things there is enough juice in the battery to get it going to play. To get you going Archos have included a few music files, pictures and a video. Yes, video. It is something that isn't advertised anywhere, even a 'review' said it wouldn't play video. On the front of picture and video, it works well, but I can't imagine watching a full film on such a small screen. Anyway back to the box. Included is a USB lead (charging and transfer), pair of headphones and a CD with software to convert video files. There is no software for managing or transferring music. A reason for the being so cheap I imagine. Not that it is a problem, Windows Media Player 11 picks it up and you can simply drag the music from your library. As it is a mass storage device you can drag and drop directly to it or use any software that allows syncing to mass storage (Winamp spring to mind).

So in use the system works okay. It certainly isn't up there with the iPod in terms of slickness but it is functional. There are a few weird buttons on it to get used to but you soon do. The screen, although small and LCD, is very clear and readable although looses a little in direct sunlight. Would have been better to have been OLED. Sound wise, the included headphones work in a pinch but don't really do justice to the machine. Upgrading them shows off the sound quality which is impressive given the units size and cost. If you dig into the menus there is even an equalizer which includes a 3d setting, which I felt is the best setting to have it on. You can even define your own. The buttons have a positive click on them so moving around the menus is easy. Speaking of menus, there is a noticeable flicker as the screen refreshes as it scrolls down (see video clip below).

One of the biggest annoyances on it, which shows its reduced cost, is the hiss you can hear while it isn't playing. It is only quiet and you certainly do not notice it once the music is playing. It also changes note depending on what the screen is doing. Should you wish to use it for video, the included software does the job, but it sat saying 1% complete even though it had actually finished the encoding. Looking at the output file it seems to be a 128x128 pixel image at about 380Kbps and MPEG audio at 128Kbps so using your own encoder is possible. There is also a voice recorder should the need take you. You can also view text files on it, not sure why you would though. While music is playing it shows off a graphic equaliser. It is so slow as to be pointless, I would rather seen more track information or cover art, a more productive use of the screen. Despite it being advertised, as far as my speed tests go, this isn't a full USB 2.0 device. When transferring files I get a top speed of only around 1.3MB/s. That is USB 1.1 territory not USB 2.0 as such transfers can take hours if you do a bulk transfer.

For the use I plan for it none of the issues above will prove a problem, even the hiss, which the wind noise drowns out anyway. If you are looking for a cheap and capable MP3 play with a few features this is a great unit. It is in need of a few tweeks. There needs to be a little more weight to give it that solid feeling it is missing and deserves. The processor needs to be faster in order to scroll through menus without flicker, or the firmware needs updating to reduce its effect. The graphic equaliser needs to be removed and replaced with a user selectable option of cover art or just track information. Lastly there it really needs to loose the hiss, although they may increase the cost. There is the main thing to remember, this is a very cheap MP3 player.

Good

• Bright and clear screen.

• Cheap.

• Excellent sound quality (once the headphones are changed!).

• Feature rich: music, photo, video, voice recorder and text reader.

• Easy syncing with WMP11 or Winamp.

• Numerous equaliser settings.

• Positive action on buttons.

• Really light...

Bad

• maybe too light?

• Video and photos screen too small to be something to use regularly.

• Reflective front a fingerprint magnet.

• That hiss when not playing.

• Apparently not USB 2.0 speeds.

-UPDATE-
After writing this I have run into problems with the little Archos. The system won't list out the full number of tracks I have put onto it. Now it reports that I have over 2000 songs on it (only put on around 600!) and the music directory, according to Windows, is 75Gb! Have spoken to MyMemory I am going to get a replacement. Will update when I have more information.

-UPDATE 2-
Recived the replacment unit and this one works much better. The transfer speeds are what I would expect from USB2.0 and transfering large amounts took about 30mins (approx 3GB). The hiss seems to be less on this unit, although still noticeable if you are in a really quite area and nothing is playing. Another function I have found on it is the ability to read LRC lyric files, but when it is playing them you have to remember to deselect the auto backlight off function. Overall a good little machine for what I need.

Autocom update

Have finished getting the parts to complete my Autocom unit. Purchased the Midland G7 off of eBay. Most places seem to be selling the radio for about £50 per unit. Going onto eBay, got two units with base station for £48. Bargain! So having got the radios I had to get the lead for the Autocom to connect it. Ordered from BikeBitz in Yatley online. Really quick service, ordered 3pm Monday, received Tuesday morning, very impressed. Opened up the parcel and noted that the lead I ordered for the radio was the wrong one. A quick phone call later and I had organised to pop into their store (was passing that way) and get a replacement. Wednesday afternoon went into the store and got the replacement. Really quick and really professional 10/10 for those guys.
Using the radio requires a change in the way that you speak. As anyone who has used PMR radios before know they are 'half-duplex' or can only receive or transmit. Where as a mobile phone is 'full-duplex' so you can speak at the same time as the caller. There is also a delay in the time between speaking, the transmitter sending and the receiver picking up. Autocom's manual suggests that you have a key-word that you start what you want to say with. So for example if you said "Turn left at the roundabout" the receiver would get "left at the roundabout". The suggestion is to start with "OK", thus you would say "OK... Turn left at the roundabout". With the use of radios there is a certain etiquette and when you finish a sentence to end with "over". Although the G7 radios have a tone they play once transmission has finished.

The range of the G7's is reasonably normal for PMR, however don't expect them to work over longer distances if you are in a concrete canyon. I would say, in a builtup area out of line-of-sight, about 200-300 meters is it.

For thier intended use as communication between riders though it works very well, with the speech through the Autocom being very clear. As long as you don't get too far away when entering a built up area they are great to be able to give instructions; or just chat on those longer trips.

AutoCom L1 Logic

For Christmas I was brought an AutoCom L1 Logic system. I have finally installed it into my helmet. The unit comes with the main unit, headset and two connection leads; one for music and the other for mobile phones.

Once I figured out how to remove the padding from my helmet I was able to get the mic and speakers installed with little fuss. The instructions provided give a comprehensive overview of the install process, and it is a good idea to read it a couple of times before attempting. Depending on the design of the helmet you may well be able to easily remove one or both of the cheek pads for easy installation. Most of the wiring can be fitted behind the pad, with the speaker wires running around the helmet. Fortunately the wiring for the right speaker is longer allowing it to be run around the back of the helmet and to the right side. Supplied is a length of Velcro hoops which can be used to stick the cabling to the helmet shell.

Once that is all in place the helmet can be put on to check final position of the mic and speakers. My last set of speakers had a cover on them which made them very soft and comfortable. These are a plastic shell and when I put on the helmet there was a noticeable pressure on my ears from them. There may be some playing around to get them to fit comfortably.

Although I have yet to use them in anger, the test I have done shows them to work quite well. I had music playing on one input and when I spoke, after adjusting the VOX level, the music faded down and my voice came clearly over the speakers. I then connected my mobile. Using it to call a friend, we had a quick chat and the system worked faultlessly, with the exception of a couple of times where I didn't quite speak loudly enough for the VOX to kick in.

Aside from the comfort of the speakers, the only other issue comes from size. Although the main unit isn't that big, it is what you need to carry with it. Just with my test rig above I had an MP3 player, mobile, the AutoCom and all the leads to connect them. This isn't a small rig. Add onto that a bike-to-bike radio and satnav, this is going to be something that isn't going to be able to fit into a pocket. AutoCom do sell a small magnetic tank-pack which can be used to house it all or you may be able to get a 'bum-bag' to help contain it all.

On the note of a mobile. All that is supplied with the kit is a 2.5mm to 3.5mm lead. While there are some mobiles that have a 2.5mm jack on them, mine doesn't. HTC use the magic of a EXTusb connection. That means the need to buy an adaptor to convert it with. Unfortunately the only one I could find is a bit of a brick and again takes up more valuable space.

Once I have had a go with this on the road I will update the review of it all.

Good Points

• Very clear audio
• Easy to connect
• VOX works well, once setup

Bad Points

• Speakers a little uncomfortable, may just need adjusting better
• Rig can get very big very quickly

Grip-Lock

Security is one of those things that people often know they should do, but - ah I'm only popping into the shop... There are a few types of security for a motorbike, disc locks, chains & padlocks and alarms. Now there is another one; a Grip-Lock. The operation is similar to a disc lock, in that it prevents someone wheeling your bike off, except that this actually applies the front brake. This has a couple of additional benefits over a conventional disklock. Firstly it also acts like a handbrake so that your bike physically can't run away down the hill you have been forced to park on. Secondly you can't miss it once it is on, so no embarrassment of riding off and promptly falling off (been there done that!). It is absolutely massive, which brings on the one issue with it, storage when not in use. This isn't something you can just slip into your pocket. It will need to be stored either under the seat or in a bag.

Unlike a disclock you need to set it up a little before you can use it proper. This entails setting the adjustable slider to hold the brake lever to apply the brakes while the lock is on and changing one of the rubber pads to fit your grip. It is a simple process and something that is done once, assuming you don't have to change bikes.

All in all it is a device that will act as a very visible deterrent for the opportunist and for those that tend to forget that they have left a disklock on.

Good Points

• Easy to fit
• Very visible
• No risk of riding off with it on
• Acts like a parking brake
  

Bad Points

• Its HUGE!!

ER-6F Long Term Review (MCN)

Here is a review from MCN reporter Laura Kennerley on her experience with the ER-6F. For the most part I agree with everything said, especially the part with the mirrors.

Dynomaster

Why is it I find things to play with on my bike when I don't seem to have it?! Quite by accident I discovered a program for my Android phone called Dynomaster by Trackaroo (click title to go to website). In short it is a program for dyno-testing your vehicle, bike, car, truck you name it. Seeing as I don't have my bike back yet I can't run this on it. Even more annoying is I can't even test the software with my hire bike; as my road is currently sheet ice from all the snow we have had recently.

Currently the software is at version 0.3 and isn't available to buy in the UK. That means you are stuck with an 18 day trial version. I wish programmers would put this sort of information on the apps description. Otherwise I would have waited until I got my bike back or was able to get out on the hire one.

Still it has an interesting amount of options. Able to give you 60ft, 1/4mile and 1/8mile speeds. It seems that once you have done a run you can also input your own Elapsed Time (ET) to determine other information such as your 0-60 time. The data can then be outputted to Twitter, Google Earth or as a XLS spreadsheet for use in Excel or OpenOffice. Within the program you are able to view graphs for you crank power, wheel power and speed. Another graphic will show you your G levels in any given direction.

Possibly one of the more interesting abilities of this software is that it is able to speak the speed and time information to you. Granted not the most amazing feature but as a biker you can't see the screen so this, as long as you have a way to hear it in your helmet, is a great way to know when to start and stop.

That main reason that some people may want to use this for is, as its name suggests, to find out what your vehicles power is. Anyone who has been on a 'proper' dyno may well ask how can this figure it out if it isn't actually connected to the bike. Not that I will be able to tell you in detail, but with the information provided as you set up the software, it can mathematically figure out what the power is based on speed, distance, time taken etc.

Once I am able to get onto a bike without the risk of sliding off it on my ice rink, er, road, I'll try to give a more complete review of using Dynomaster.

[UPDATE]
The program has now gone to version 0.4 and has reset the number of days to 30 when I downloaded the update.

Click Here for details on the V0.4 update.

CoPilot Live 8 for Android

Having brought an Android phone (the HTC Magic) I was keen to find a replacement for the satnav software I had on my old N95 for use on my bike. The only option it seems is ALK Technologies CoPilot Live 8. Searching Android Market I came across it in two flavours, UK maps and full European maps priced at around £25 and £55 respectively. Quite a good price overall for what promises to be a full satnav program. Unfortunately it does come with some caveats but before we get to them lets look at some of the more positive aspects. Firstly it is cheap so it can be forgiven for some of the problems. The actual rendered display is actually very good with full anti-aliasing giving a nice smooth appearance, with a good layout. Menus are reasonably clear, although we now start to go downhill from here on in.


The menu structure is very confusing. Although the buttons are large and describe themselves well, there are just too many layers and it is hard to remember how you reached a certain options later. It can also be very unresponsive if there is anything running in the background. So much so that I recommend that you download TaskKiller so that you can get rid of everything else running beforehand. Instructions come through very clearly with the included female voice, even more so when using headphones. The instructions themselves aren't always that clear in terms of their directions. Quite often you will hear a 'keep left' (or right) instruction when in reality it is a turn you need to do. However one of the biggest issues with instruction clarity has to be roundabouts. As I am on the bike I can't see the screen and rely on clear vocal guidance, something CoPilot isn't good at. Approaching one roundabout I was told to take the 7th exit, not an issue as I have seen large ones before with many exits. This particular one only had three exits, not including the one I was entering from. The roundabout in question is the Crooked Billet on the A30 by Staines. The A30 goes across the middle of it and the system seems to have counted the entrance points to the 'fly through'. As I couldn't see the screen so had no idea which junction it actually meant, I also couldn't pull over to get it out to look so took a best guess (got it wrong too!). After a small trip through and around Staines I ended back at the roundabout with CoPilot telling me another exit that doesn't exist. This time I could stop and pull over to see on the map that I actually needed.

Probably the biggest issue I have with the instructions is the distances that you are told about the upcoming change. They are preset at 2 miles, 1 mile and 500 yards. These are way too far unless you are on a motorway. I mean, how many side roads in a town can you pass in 1 mile? Or even 500 yards? Quite a few it seems. Then it will sometimes tell you as you are almost on the junction (normally when you are at speed) that you need to turn, or it will tell you almost straight after the 500 yard warning. Another problem with having these preset distances is if you have one manoeuvre straight after the previous one within 500 yards. Once again it will sometimes says “do this, then do that” but most often it will tell you nothing until you hit the “ahead do this”. Which can be too late if you say at a roundabout that you need to go right on and stuck in the left lane. As a last problem with this is the time difference the distances are depending on the speed you are going. A 1 mile warning at 60mph is a minute in time, but at 30mph it is 2 minutes and that is just too long. The system needs to either have finer gradings on the distances, I would say 50, 200, 500 yards and a mile, or be time based so that you would get a 1 minute warning, 30 and 15 seconds and maybe a 2 second warning as you approach the turning. The advantage of the time system is that the distance would change depending on the current speed (or the average speed from the last minute or so). Another plus side for time based warnings is that it doesn't matter if it is miles or kilometers.

If you are expecting to run this off of the phones battery be prepared to need a recharge soon. It will last about 4 hours then you'll need to find power. To be fair this seems to be true of any phone with satnav with the GPS sucking power and the screen being on all the time. You can change a setting that will adjust when and where the screen is on for to help conserve the battery. Otherwise pluging it in is the best option. One of the more annoying aspects is when the battery does start to get low and Android wants to warn you about it, CoPilot crashes and quits. The same is true if someone tries to call while you are navigating. This may be due to the lack of memory and Android kills tasks to free memory up. However maybe CoPilot is using a little too much memory and resources. If, like me, you want to be able to listen to music while you ride then you can't with your phone while navigating, it just stutters and stalls. This could well be from the memory problems mentioned above, but I can't see any reason why CoPilot couldn't integrate with Android's built in media player to be able to play music which then pauses as navigation instructions are played.

Lastly we move onto the PC software that supports the device. Firstly when you connect to the PC you do not need to have CoPilot running. In fact you can actually remove the card from your phone, insert it into a card reader and the software will pick it up. This wasn't something that was particularly clear. Once you have it connected you have access to all the additional POIs, voices and maps etc. Aside from the map section you can expect tons of nothing in the rest of the areas. There is nothing there, at all, nada. I tried to add the camera database from PocketGPS which the software said it had sorted and sent to the card. Upon running CoPilot again it came up saying it was integrating the POIs, took ages doing it, then I couldn't find them in the POI list.

As a cheap satnav for a phone you already have it is okay, not great and certainly not brilliant. It does what it needs to do without any bells or whistles you may have come to expect from the likes of TomTom. In a pinch it will do, but you do need to be able to see the screen to make sure the instructions even make sense and you will need to plug it in if you plan a long trip. Visually and auditory it is great, the graphics are very clear and look good. The voice quality is very good and the voice comes through clearly, so you can clearly hear a bad instruction! The supporting PC software is lacking in content and doesn't seem to really do anything that you can't actually do on the device anyway. POIs, other then the built in ones, don't seem to work at all.

Overall it is a cheap and cheerful satnav that is full of problems but does what it needs to do... After a fashion.

Test ride of ER6F

I'll admit that I have lusting after the ER-6F ever since I saw its refreshed looks back at the 2008 NEC show. Today I finally got my chance to ride one. I arrived at ADT Kawasaki after having got a little lost and stuck in roadworks in Southampton. Before being allowed to take the bike out I had to sign a disclaimer saying I'd pay the excess of the insurance should I damage the bike. After that given the once over with the controls and the "if this light comes on don't got any further" talk. Finally I was able to get out onto the road.

The first thing that should be said is that I do not know Southampton at all well, in fact I don't know it at all other then the roads I came in on. After heading out I just went where the roads took me. Initial thoughts on the bike were really good, the acceleration was excellent and most importantly the brakes worked so much better then the GS'. The problem was the traffic, it was a nice sunny day and everyone was out. However as my confidence grew with the bike I started to do a little filtering. One of the comments that I remember reading about the ER6F is that the mirrors show nothing other then your elbows. Not something the I noticed, yes there was a large view of mine, but once adjusted wasn't any more of a problem then I have with my GS.

Bimbling along at 30mph one thing I did notice is the vibration from the engine. My GS being air-cooled has tons of vibration due to the lack of water to dampen it, but I was surprised how much there is on the ER6F. Considering that this new '09 model has the rubber mounted engine etc. I expected much less then I got. The riding position did make up for some of that vibes that I got, it was an excellent posture for riding around town in all the weight of my body feeling shared across the pressure points (bum, shoulders and wrists).

Eventually I somehow ended up on the M27, not sure how but I did. This was the first opportunity that I had to really open her up. Pulling onto the motorway I was stuck behind a car doing 60mph, as soon as I could I checked and pulled out into the middle lane and opened the throttle. The grin that was plastered to my face was immense. I am the first to admit that I have not been on many powerful bikes, I haven't ridden any. My most powerful bike to-date has been my little GS500. If this is what 70 odd BHP feels like, I am glad I have yet to ride a superbike. I was doing a large amount of speed before I realised what I had done! Quickly I backed off the throttle, got the bike into sixth gear and cruised at 70mph. You notice when you are doing 70mph on my GS, even with the little fly screen which takes a brunt of the force, you know you are at speed. The ER6F's fairing done its job at keeping most of the wind away from me, to the point where the speed was creeping up and I hadn't noticed because I wasn't being hit by the wind. Again the vibrations were becoming noticeable again at certain speeds. It is almost as if there is a number of revolutions the engine has to do and it sets up a minor resonance though the bike.

Eventually I managed to find my way off of the M27 and back onto the streets of Southampton. Another item that I soon realised compared to the GS is how stable it is at lower speeds, walking pace. I find with the GS I am having to make constant corrections if I am doing anything less then about 10mph, but the ER6 was letting me go along at almost walking pace with no problems. Due to its narrow frame and seat gripping the tank was easy and provided a surprising amount of grip. Seeing as I was back to low speeds, the engine has a great purr to it and a double thump noise from the exhaust, most importantly the engine has tons of low end grunt. With that it made getting away at lights a simple matter, not something to be worked at as with the GS.

I am sure I am going to find flaws with the ER6 eventually as I did with my GS. I love my GS, it is my first bike, let along my first big bike. It has done the unenviable job of taking a very green rider, and all the problems what go with that, in its stride. It has been restricted, dropped, knocked over and come away saying "is that all you've got?". For the most part it has been a dependable workhorse that I will be sad to see go. Still I don't have enough room for two bikes so it will have to go!

All that is left to do know is wait for the call on Monday to say that the finance has gone through and then wait for the bike to turn up. This may be the longest ten days of my life!

Going for it

Well went to George Whites today to have another look at my 3 contenders for a new bike (ER6F, GSX650F and XJ6 Divvy). Okay I was a little bit of a chicken as I took the car, although glad I did as it hammered it down for a while there and back. Given the 100 mile round trip I wasn't unhappy that I didn't get drenched and then had to walk about wet. My comeuppance was that I forgot to take my kit with me and couldn't get out on the bike to test ride. Sitting on each though gave me a chance to reflect on them.

The GSX650F is a very nice bike, looks good and has a whopping great bike exhaust bolted on the side. My problem with it is when my feet are on the ground part of the faring rubs against my leg. Not a deal breaker, after all how long do you spend like that on a bike? But when I lifted my knees into a riding position they rested on part of the tank, which could cause a problem if there was any vibration. The seat was very comfortable and I could imagine being able to sit on it for quite some time. The Divvy again, very nice although I think it is lighter then the GSX it felt much heavier when bringing it up from its side stand. One thing the Divvy had which neither of the other too seemed to, was a center stand. Although not the most glamorous if biking accessories, it does make working on the bike easier. The seat though felt rock hard when sitting on it, which was weird as poking it with a finger felt really soft. Defiantly one for a test ride. My biggest 'issue' with the Divvy is the front lamp suite. I have no idea what Yamaha were thinking when they put that 'jewel' for a running lamp on top of the main lamp! The red it comes in though is stunning.

Last is my favourite, the ER6F. It feels nice and light and like the other two has a good riding position. My body shape wraps around the bike with little or no problems that I noticed and despite the latest edition of Bike saying the ER6F had the most cramped riding position of these three (they also had the Aprilla Shiva but I am not interested in that bike), I actually felt the GSX was more cramped. Again that could simply be because of my body shape. I'll admit I am a little bias with the little Kawasaki, I have long lusted after it, however I am hoping to have a test ride next weekend to see if it rides as well as it looks to me!

In-helmet headphones

Some time ago I brought the SHS-300 helmet headset by Midland. These are Velcro backed speakers that sit inside your helmet just about where you ears go. Aside from the obvious function of pumping music into your ears while you ride, they also allow you to still your earplugs to block out potentially damaging wind noise. As said the speakers Velcro to the inside of your helmet, and you can run the cable out to the socket under the padding. If you have removable padding then the wire can be routed around to where ever you want the socket. Should you not have removable padding, like me, then you should be able to tuck it into the folds of the foam or carefully pull the padding up to push it behind. The socket that connects to the lead to your MP3 player isn't a standard connector, or rather, isn't your usual 3.5mm jack. Instead it uses a 6 pin "mini-din" plug/socket. I assume this is because it is the same connector used in Midland's full headset/microphones for PMR radios and the like.

The problem has been that since the cable sticks out of the helmet it gets caught by the wind and over time cause the cable to break inside at the plug. If Midland had used a normal 3.5mm jack then there wouldn't have been a problem, as I can go to many stores and get a 3.5mm jack to jack lead for a few quid. As it stands I got my soldering iron out, popped down to Maplin's to get a 3.5mm plug and socket and replaced the mini-din on the headset and lead. One of the other advantages is that the mini-din could only be inserted one way, there are arrows to show you. However if you already had the helmet on and then went to plug it in, you soon found out what a pain it was trying to figure out which way it goes! With my DIY botch job with the jacks I can now insert the plug into the socket without worrying about its orientation.

The sound quality is medium to high. There is enough clarity to be able to hear the music over the road noises and with earplugs in, while still being a good full sound to it. Despite their small size and thinness there is a fair amount of bass and voices come across very well. Of course you don't have to use these just for music, I have used them with my phones SatNav so I can hear the instructions being passed too me, rather then trying to see the screen in broad daylight.

Overall I would definitely recommend these, even with the problems with the cable. If you are happy wielding a soldering iron or know someone who is, I would certainly suggest replacing the mini-din connectors with normal jacks.

MCN ER-6F Review

MCN have reviewed the ER-6F and seem on the whole to like it (although in the paper they only give it 3 stars despite almost singing its praises?!). Here is the video of the bike 'test'.

Tank Pack

In my last post I mentioned that my mother had brought me a tank pack from Lidl (of all places). I have to admit that I am very surprised at the overall feel and quality of it. For £13 it is has a map pocket; an expandable main compartment (with loads of little pockets for holding things it); three little compartments around the outside, one of which is removable and can be converted into a "bum bag"; and the magnetic base can be removed from the bag and left on the bike, which also has another map pocket if you don't wish to carry the full bag. Carrying wise, it fixes to the bike using magnets (so useless for anyone with an aluminium or plastic/carbon fibre tank) and has two straps to help hold the bag in the unlikely case of the magnets failing, can be held with a handle in the top, over the shoulder or as a backpack.

It has a good weight to it as the fabric seems of a good quality and feels very robust. Overall it is a good buy for what little money it costs.

Tail pack and tank bag

Having used the bike for a couple of weekend jaunts, I was putting the stuff I needed to carry into a backpack then securing it to the pillion seat with a couple of bungy cords. Not the most elegant solution. Last week I got a promotional email from Busters for a reduced price tail pack. It is a Tech7 bag reduced from £39.99 to £14.99. While I was playing with my bike on Saturday, putting in the new gasket, I popped it onto the seat to check the fit. Not too bad. My only comment is the bag itself is HEAVY, coming in at 1.6kg on its own with a max 5kg for anything in it. So it isn't a light thing, but is reasonably big on the inside, with enough room to lay a 6-pint bottle of milk (from Tesco!) in the bottom. Should be enough to carry a weekends worth of clothing. As an aside it will also snugly fit a 5l petrol can if you so desire!

Bless her, my mother also brought me a tank bag from Lidl (I believe). Haven't got that yet from her, but will be interesting to see how it fits onto the bike. My main thing I am looking for with that is to hold my phone in, so that I can see the screen when it is in GPS mode.

New Mirrors

I have always had problems with my right side mirror with it not holding its position. This didn't use to be a major problem, just and inconvenience of having to adjust it regularly. However recently it became harder and harder to get it to keep in place, and now refuses to give me any view other then the floor. Had it been the left side I wouldn't have worried so much, but as it was the right it makes overtaking much harder as I am unable to see what traffic is coming up behind me. So I brought some new ones from Busters. As the bike is merely to get me through my restricted period on my license I didn't want to have to spend a fortune replacing them. Hunting through Busters website turned up a pair for a mere £12. I was worried that they may be really poor quality but decided to give them a go.

As always with Busters the item was in my hands a short two days later (well with my neighbor two days later, I wasn't in when it was delivered!). Once I had them I got them installed on the bike. Unlike the ones that I have taken off, the new ones have a slight reduction in the reflected image. I guess, should they have been factory fitted, it would have the little sticker saying; "Warning, objects may appear smaller then they actually are!". This seems to be a good thing in reality as it shows less of my shoulder and more of the road around me. Have yet to take them out on a good old road trip but hopefully they will be as good, if not better, then the last pair!

Honda DN-01

Friday 22nd August 2008, heading down to J2 Honda in Southampton. The mission today was to check out the new DN-01 motorbike by Honda. For those who have no idea what I am talking about (not even sure I do!), the DN-01 is a kinda "production concept sports cruiser moped", that is my definition of it anyway. With the styling it is very much a sports bike with the full fairings and aggressive projection headlamps up front. Cruiser due to its riding position which is much more reminiscent of a Harley, the shaft driven rear wheel and handle bars that have a really large rake on them. Finally a moped as it has an (semi)automatic gearbox on it or as Honda call it, the HFT or "Human Friendly Transmission". I won't pretend that I fully understand the way that this system works, although it doesn't seem to operate in anyway that conventional car auto-boxes work. Annoyingly I am not able to ride the bike because I am still on my restricted license, however I am not too sure that it is any more friendly then a normal manual box.

Despite that it is a fantastic looking bike with very sleek lines and aggressive styling. Due to it being an automatic it doesn't have a clutch lever or a gear selector for your foot, so you have nothing to do with the bike on your left hand side. Unlike a moped you still have the rear break controlled by your right foot. Gear selection is either done automatically (duh!) or you have a manual control via two buttons on the left control gear. It would be interesting to find out how intuitive that control system actually is and if having the gear selector still done by your foot would be any better or worse. The HFT features 3 modes, two fully automatic and one manual. The two auto modes allow for different riding styles; a "D" mode for normal riding and an "S" mode for, well more sporty riding. In these two modes you get a CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) for a smooth ride with no gear changes. In manual the 'box seems to simulate gear changes with 6 distinct 'gears'. The engine is a rather nondescript 680cc V-Twin 8v developing 60bhp(45kW) and 47ftlb(64Nm) torque. From asking around it seems the bike should be available for around £10k which does seem a little steep but for such a unique looking bike with its futuristic styling and choice of gearbox modes to suit your fancy, it could be a reasonable buy for those looking for an interesting commuter bike.

DN-01 website.