Best bike related inventions

[The Spin Doctor]

Stick on mohicans...

Mohican.jpg (7.06 KiB) Viewed 267 times

[Skub]

My first pair of "bike-boots" were Derriboots - fecking horrible things.

Boil in the bag for feet.

[Count Steer]

Waterproofs that are actually waterproof
Goretex boots

Unfortunately the best I could get for the feet were Derriboots - remember them? Waterproof, but basically wellingtons.

My first motorcycle boots were from Lewis Leathers and actually heavy duty pull on cowboy* boots. When polished and dubbined they were waterproof.

* A pedant notes: I learnt many years later that cowboy boots have higher heels, for grip in stirrups, so what I had were 'ropers'.

Oddly enough I had a pair of leather soled 'cowboy' boots - bought from a stall in the Grainger market Newcastle - for summer riding. They got a lovely patina across the left boot from the gear shift. Considering the purchase location they were remarkably well made and lasted for years and years. I think they were Argentinian gaucho style, quite chunky. I was heartbroken(ish ) when they finally had to be abandoned.

[mangocrazy]

Decent suspension and grippy (tubeless) tyres. I was forcibly reminded of this when riding the LC the other day and felt the spindly 32mm (!) forks flexing and wobbling over dodgy surfaces, aided and abetted by the skinny 18" tyres. Have I ever mentioned that I hate inner tubes?

[Bigyin]

Pinlocks are one of the things where i wonder how the feck we coped without them in the 80/90's

Heated grips are superb and allow me to wear thinner gloves all year round

As for slipper clutches and ABS i have them fitted on the Ducati and have yet to make either kick in after 35 years riding without locking the brakes or dumping the clutch lever. I have used the slipper clutch on track but thats about it and i can live without both easily

[Horse]

felt the spindly 32mm (!) forks flexing and wobbling

'Fond' memories of hearing the drilled disks on my R100RT making loud 'whirring' noises as the forks twisted mid-corner ...

No surprise that these were popular

[Skub]

Pinlocks are one of the things where i wonder how the feck we coped without them in the 80/90's

Fairy Liquid or Bob Heath visor spray for the posh. Or open visor and an eyeball power wash.

[Rockburner]

Pinlocks are one of the things where i wonder how the feck we coped without them in the 80/90's

Fairy Liquid or Bob Heath visor spray for the posh. Or open visor and an eyeball power wash.

I still prefer Bob Heath to a pinlock.

[Dodgy69]

Heated grips
QS
Tank bag ring thing.

[Taipan]

ABS

GPS.

I used to like going for a ride in an area I don't know. Then 3 lefts and a right etc. Some of my best rides have been when I didn't know where I'm going and I've found some nice places that I wouldn't have found otherwise. Not saying they don't have their uses, as they clearly do, but they are not a great biking invention for me.

[Mr. Dazzle]

places that I wouldn't have found otherwise. Not saying they don't have their uses, as they clearly do, but they are not a great biking invention for me.

Use number 1: Finding those places again

[Cousin Jack]

I started this from the other end. What do I remember (with some hatred) from my 1960s era biking.

Inadequate gloves, neither warm nor waterproof. My Dad (an ex-biker) recommended sheepskin mittens, but I was way too cool for them.
Boots - the only waterproof boot was a wellie.
Biking gear generally. The only real waterproof gear was oilskins. Not cool and not comfortable, never designed for biking so water always found a way in eventually.
So, in my book Goretex is the No1 biking innovation! In gloves, boots, and clothing.

Tyres were also a bit of a nightmare. They were mostly like narrow car tyres, vaguely rounded IIRC, but with pathetic grip by modern standards. So decent modern rubber is a massive improvement.
Related to that is brakes. Even the most pathetic modern disc brakes are massive improvement on the drum brakes I had. Even exotic 60's bikes with TLS brakes were pathetic.
Being able to stop and go around corners, even in the wet, is awesome!

And the final thing that I remember not-so-fondly is the kick start. Kicking a recalcitrant bike into life on a cold morning was not something I enjoyed. Even worse was trying to restart a bike that you had just stalled in heavy traffic - remember it will be pissing down with rain, and you are enveloped in oilskins and wellies. Any more than 2 kicks and you will be sweating like the proverbial pig, and will probably flood the carb and have to do the push of shame!
The electric starter is a wonderful thing!


All the other stuff (ABS, heated grips, FI, decent lights, traction control, etc) is icing on the cake!

[Count Steer]

ABS

GPS.

I used to like going for a ride in an area I don't know. Then 3 lefts and a right etc. Some of my best rides have been when I didn't know where I'm going and I've found some nice places that I wouldn't have found otherwise. Not saying they don't have their uses, as they clearly do, but they are not a great biking invention for me.

Vice versa, by letting the GPS work out routes I've also found places and particularly roads that I wouldn't have found as well.

(Me and Hairy Ben did negotiate a route once by heading to the right of the setting sun once knowing we needed to head north though ).

[Horse]

ABS

GPS.

I used to like going for a ride in an area I don't know.

I had two instances of knowing [almost] where I was that convinced me that GPS might be beneficial.

One was out in countryside, within a couple of miles of where I wanted to be. The council had taken the signs down.

Other was two names meeting on the same stretch of road. I was knocking on the wrong number 112 - correct one was 50 yards away.

[The Spin Doctor]

Pinlocks are one of the things where i wonder how the feck we coped without them in the 80/90's

Fairy Liquid or Bob Heath visor spray for the posh. Or open visor and an eyeball power wash.

I still prefer Bob Heath to a pinlock.

And I still use Fairy Liquid.

Tried a Pinlock for about a week... vision at night was significantly worse.

[The Spin Doctor]

Vice versa, by letting the GPS work out routes I've also found places and particularly roads that I wouldn't have found as well.

(Me and Hairy Ben did negotiate a route once by heading to the right of the setting sun once knowing we needed to head north though ).

I had an early Garmin GPSIII which couldn't do routing. It simply put a line on the map which told you the direction to head to your destination. I rode from one of the ports (Caen IIRC) down towards the Pyrenees simply following that line. It was a wonderful ride. Bits of autoroute followed by a section of twisty minor road, and even a couple of dirt roads, one of which took me out through the farm yard where the farmer was stacking bales... much to his surprise to see a fully loaded GP plated FZ750 emerge down his farm track and turn out onto the road. The only tricky bit was that I'd completely forgotten I'd need to cross the Loire and it's a BIG river at the seaward end with not so many bridges... I was really lucky to emerge into a town with a car ferry!

[Skub]

Fairy Liquid or Bob Heath visor spray for the posh. Or open visor and an eyeball power wash.

I still prefer Bob Heath to a pinlock.

And I still use Fairy Liquid.

Tried a Pinlock for about a week... vision at night was significantly worse.

I'd agree with that. I rarely ride either at night or in crap conditions,so I can enjoy the benefits of a visor insert without the penalties. Pinlock isn't a perfect solution for everyone,but it's viable for some.

[Cousin Jack]

I still prefer Bob Heath to a pinlock.

And I still use Fairy Liquid.

Tried a Pinlock for about a week... vision at night was significantly worse.

I'd agree with that. I rarely ride either at night or in crap conditions,so I can enjoy the benefits of a visor insert without the penalties. Pinlock isn't a perfect solution for everyone,but it's viable for some.

One strange feature of a pinlock was when I used one with my polarizing sunglasses. Absolutely weird colour effects (like blue grass!). Somewhat off-putting!

[Skub]

One strange feature of a pinlock was when I used one with my polarizing sunglasses. Absolutely weird colour effects (like blue grass!). Somewhat off-putting!

Sounds like an infrared thing. Old IR film used to turn grass blue.

[Mr. Dazzle]

And I still use Fairy Liquid.

Tried a Pinlock for about a week... vision at night was significantly worse.

I'd agree with that. I rarely ride either at night or in crap conditions,so I can enjoy the benefits of a visor insert without the penalties. Pinlock isn't a perfect solution for everyone,but it's viable for some.

One strange feature of a pinlock was when I used one with my polarizing sunglasses. Absolutely weird colour effects (like blue grass!). Somewhat off-putting!

I find that glass and clear plastic in general often look weird through polarised glasses. Tempered safety glass in particular often looks odd, you can see the built in stress patterns.

I have a pair of polarised sunglasses which turn most orange LEDs neon green. You have to make a mental note of jt when driving.