Ouch

by Stacy · 3 comments

in Motorcycling, Safety

Out of the loop? Do a search for “Bobby Petrino motorcycle accident”.

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Ask Bolty: Fuel Mileage

by Stacy · 8 comments

in Motorcycling, SV650

James asked:

I’ve had my sv for 1 season now. I get about 124 miles on my tank or 200 km (I’m from Canada). when I bought the bike it had Power commander . 2 brothers exaust and k and n air filter. is this normal.. I deffinitely dont think so… what should I do to see what is wrong

There are far too many factors involved for me to give you a definite answer.

Some things to consider:

  • Modern bikes come lean from the factory (for improved fuel economy and pollution control). If the fuel map in your Power Commander is making the fuel mixture more rich, this will use more fuel.
  • Miles per tank is not a good figure for tracking fuel mileage, because it’s nearly impossible to gauge how much gas is remaining at the bottom of the tank or how much gas is put in at every fill. Save your gas receipts and start tracking miles per gallon, or kilometers per liter. This will give you a baseline to compare against.
  • Your riding style makes a great deal of difference in how much fuel you burn. The more you twist the throttle, the more gas you’ll use.
  • Riding in stop-and-go traffic is hell on fuel mileage. Conversely, the best fuel mileage I’ve ever gotten from an SV was when I rode at a rock-steady 70 miles per hour on an entire tank of gas.1
  • Winter gasoline blends have more oxygen blended in, and thus lower energy content. You’ll see less fuel mileage with winter blends.

My take? If you’re into riding two wheels for the fuel mileage, get a scooter. During the winter months, I’m lucky to get 35 MPG when I use my SV to commute daily. If I were smart, I’d ride the DR200 for its 70 MPG.

  1. I got 68.5 MPG in case you’re wondering. [↩]

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Deep Survival: Reasonable People Doing Unreasonable Things

by Stacy · 4 comments

in Motorcycling, Safety

I’ve been reading Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why, a book about those who live to make it home — and those who don’t.

It’s a book that attempts to explain why reasonable people do unreasonable things. Things like riding a snowmobile straight up a snow-laden hillside under a severe avalanche warning. Or choosing to raft down a river swollen with floodwater. Things that never seem to end well.

It’s a thought-provoking book, particularly for those of us who enjoy some of life’s more adventurous pursuits, like carving up mountain corners or riding fully-loaded bikes across rain-slicked precipices.

And, it even has some sections directly relevant to my interests:

Now, as we accelerated above [the land], touching it but lightly, it was soft as angora. But if my motion was disturbed, then this delicous frothy blanket would erupt into a thousand shards of rock and scalding sand, and all would resolve at once into the harsh reality of this lifeless lake. That’s what falling was all about. Riding was transcendental; it was rolling the karmic wheel in order to ascend with angels out of the temporal hell of the flesh. Falling was to reenter the world as it was, the low world. Falling, we were all fallen angels.

It’s a good book. I recommend it.

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