2Wheeltips

If you created a statistical average of every person in the world, the statistically "correct" person would have one boob and one testicle. Goes to show that just because the mathematical equation ads up, it doesn't mean it's correct.

The "science" of statistics is one fickle bitch that cant be trusted. Not to mention the fact that all statistical analysis dispose of outliers. The mins and the max'.



Back in the real world, we are overflowing with outliers. 9/11 was an outlier. Bill Gates is an outlier. Volcanic eruption in Iceland is an outlier. I guess what I'm saying is that in the real world, there is that one in a million that statistics cant (or doesn't want to?) account for which makes all the difference.

So is the case with shark attacks.



Oft cited statistics regarding sharks is that sharks attack in shallow waters. Really? Attack who?

The studies are made by people and so these studies are people centric. Sharks, according to statistical data, will most commonly attack in 3 ft of water. Now that you know this, you can finally take that swimming route to the other coast via the Atlantic.

How many people can a shark find 100 miles away from the shore? Or for that matter, 1 mile away from the shore?

People scarcity outside the shallows makes it hard for a shark to attack if there is nothing to attack. Er go, statistical data would have you believe that you are perfectly safe from shark attacks in case you find your self stranded in the middle of the ocean. Statistically speaking of course.

Another piece of statistical data is that most motorcycle accidents occur within a 12 mile radius of your home. Really?



Could this be another example of the shark tricking the statistician? I think so.

Every time you get on your motorcycle you will pass through the 12 mile radius of your house. The routes beyond that 12 mile point are likely to be different (or at least not consistent), er go, you will spend more time (statistically speaking) within the 12 mile radius than any one spot outside it. Do you think this will skew the results? Most definitely.

Moral of the story? Be careful. Both within the 12 mile radius and beyond and don't believe all the math all the time.

Dino Out

If we were to step into a time machine and transport ourselves to 2110, what would we see? How would the motorcycling landscape change in these 100 years? Well, let’s do some speculation, shall we.

Just as people have transitioned from hunters/gatherers into agricultural societies, then into industrial and eventually reached this technological age; 100 years from now, people would have realized that there is nowhere to go in terms of technology and that the next logical development level is internal. Allow me to elaborate.

I’m not saying that everything there is to be invented is already invented; far from it.
But to paraphrase what His Holiness the Dalai Lama pointed out in his book How to See Yourself As You Really Are .

Reaching technological heights and modern living standards did not make us any happier.

In fact, there is scientific research that points to the fact that people were happier 100 or even 1000 yrs ago than now, despite modern standards of living and other conveniences.

So now that I’m hanging out in 2110, and looking over the last 100 years of human development, I see that people have realized that internal development is supreme and the last frontier left to conquer.

I am purposefully avoiding words like “spiritual development” because of its negative or inferior connotations in some people’s minds. How do you view such phrases?

History books made 100 years from now will tell a story of unprecedented human collaboration, greater social awareness than ever before, and fearless exploration of the innerverse.

Street riding is faster and safer than ever since the roads are no longer congested (cars are now hovercrafts flying about 100-400 ft in the air, it’s pretty cool).
Of their own volition, bikers spend countless hours practicing their craft, and people are not in a hurry anymore since there are no corporations to dictate the pace of life.

The most famous biker is Condon Parks Hough. He is, to street riding, what Evel Knievel was to bone-braking. I have to point out however, that Condon Parks Hough does have an unfair advantage since he was grown in a lab from genetic materials left by the motorcycle greats, Lee Parks, Ken Condon and David Hough.

How do you see motorcycle riding hundred years from now?

There are many options and countless variables that make securing our bikes very difficult against a determined thief. With that in mind, this article will suggest some (in my opinion best) methods for securing your bike in public places. Other locations (like your own garage) will be saved for a separate article.

It would be very easy for an organized group of bike-thieves to load a heavy-ass motorcycle onto a tow-truck and drive off into the sunset leaving you stranded like a girl who refused to put out. What we can do to prevent that is to send them a message basically saying “move on, nothing to see here, pick an easier target”.

These methods should be used in combination and not considered enough all by them selves.

Here are few suggestions that might work for you.

Method #1



One easy and yet overlooked method of securing a motorcycle is to simply cover it up. Your bike will be insulated against heat, rain and other unfriendly elements, but perhaps more importantly; it will be hidden from the prying eyes. Bike thieves usually target specific bikes (Harleys are a common target since they can re-sell them in Europe for three times the selling-price due to incredible demand) but you bike - I am sure - could make their list as well. Not being able to see what bike is under the cover will – at the very least –slow them down. They would be required to lift the cover in order to see the bike which makes your bike less desirable then the one that’s not covered.

Method #2

While it may not stop a determined thief – but then again, nothing will – having your bike chained to something is definitely a good idea. Note that I said “chained to something”. Having a wheel-lock or a chain that’s not fastened to something can be quite useless in preventing theft when the bike can be picked up and loaded into a van.
Check out youtube link at the bottom of the article.

Method #3

Alarm.

Method #4

Low-jack

Method #5



Use some un-common sense. Always try to position your bike in such a way that it would be impossible for someone to pick-up the bike and toss it onto a truck. Some parking lots will have ample space between cars and a dividing wall, use it. At my job, there is plenty of room underneath the stairs leading out of the parking lot. There is enough room for a bike to get out and in but if someone tried to pick it up it would be a giant pain. Also, there is a lot of foot traffic in the area which means more eyes on your bike. Be friendly to people and they will keep an eye out for anyone lurking around your bike without you even asking them to do so.

That’s all folks. I have left out one very cool way of securing the bike – consider it a challenge - and I am counting on you to fill in the gap…add your ideas and suggestions to the comments and you get 100 points redeemable for absolutely nothing other then my love and devotion.

youtube link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D96QM-lzLM8

Salute

One of the reasons we all love to ride our bikes is so that we can lay into those curves and feel the heart pumping. Even if you like to take it nice and slow while riding, a situation may present itself where you will need to make a split-second decision. So let me ask you a question:

Are you accustomed to making decisions while your heart-rate is elevated?

I know we can all be great decision makers when we have ample time to think about our options, but how are you under pressure? What kind of decision-maker are you when your heart is going boom boom boom out of your chest?

To be a great decision-maker while your heart-rate is elevated you must train under such conditions. How? Glad you asked…

All you have to do is speed-up that inner-metronome every once in a while. Go for a bicycle ride with your dog; maybe some tennis with whoever rides on the back-seat of your motorcycle; don’t forget that humans are made to run, so put on those moccasins and get out there; try my personal favorite, mixed martial arts…whatever gets your ticker in the upper register.

I wish I could say that I am some kind of genius who has figured this out all on his own; alas, that’s not the case. Those guys who make motorcycle-riding their profession figured this out a long time ago.

Of course, there will be a few other beneficial “side-effects” from all this heart-pounding. Being in better shape will allow you to ride longer if need be and will improve your overall health…it’s what I call a win-win-win.

All this talk of running, tennis and so on makes me wonder…what type of other hobbies do 2wheeltipsters like to do? What is your favorite non-bike related activity? And please don’t say “watching golf”.

by Dino Dogan

If you walk down the aisle at your local amazon.com you might see an attractive book cover with a motorcycle casually leaning on its kick-stand in front of its house; i.e. garage. The book is Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work by Matthew B. Crawford.

Personally I don’t rate books on a 5 point scale –all amazon like- instead I prefer to think of them in terms of worth-reading or not-worth-reading and this one falls deep into the worth-reading pile.

You will learn as much about your motorcycle as you will learn about yourself when this book takes an M. Night Shyamalan turn into the modern-corporate-dweller psyche.

Masterfully done, tremendously put together and brilliantly illuminating. A must read for all.

Dino Out

My grandpa bestowed a few words of wisdom on me when I was a kid. 
He said “son, don’t get caught with your pants down; don’t wait to shit your pants before buying an extra pair of underwear and go tell grandma to iron my pants.”
I don’t know what his obsession with pants was all about but once, while in Prague, he traded his Levis for a car. Or was that just a commercial I saw?

What does this have to do with motorcycling? Glad you asked.
Turns out, everything.

Don’t Wait to Get Caught in the Rain

If you never rode in rainy conditions, perhaps you want to do a practice run on a drizzly Sunday afternoon. This will give you a chance to get the

By Dino Dogan

For those of us prone to introspection, I'll bet the answers will go beyond the usual…

“Oh, I love the sense of freedom” or
“It’s the wind in the hair” or
“I like the fact that I can’t be reached on the phone” (my personal favorite), or
“It’s the rebel in me” and on and on…

I decided to dig a little deeper and this is what I found. Tell me if you agree.

A famous psychologist (as far as psychologists go, anyway), Abraham Maslow, proposed that we (humans) have various levels of needs.
This is also known as Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as published in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation.

The story goes like this.

By Dino Dogan

First time I rode a motorcycle I knew 3 things. Don’t eat the yellow snow, don’t piss against the wind and don’t up-chuck while wearing a full-faced helmet . Only one of these pertained to motorcycling.

My high school girlfriend got a brand new motorcycle for her birthday. I am pretty sure I’ve spent more time on that thing –the bike, not the girl- than she did. I believe it was an Italian-made step-up from a scooter that was good on the gas and soft on the ass.

I was unconscious-incompetent when it came to riding a motorcycle. In other words, I had no idea what I didn’t know and how much there was to know; but I managed to get around town and even survived to tell about it. Later, I rode on my friend’s 150cc Suzuki and 400cc Honda. Yup, schooldays were fun but then it came time to focus on career and leave this motorcycling nonsense behind. Yeah right.

In my twenties, I kept going back to the idea of actually getting my own bike for once; my procrastinating nature and the high entry cost kept derailing me but I didn’t give up. However, I had to wait a good 10 years before I would actually sit on my own bike...but I’m jumping ahead.

The “high entry cost” is something that many new riders don’t consider. You might put aside a few grand for the bike, but there are a slew of other

In Part 1 of the Motorcycle Accidents guide (must be read with a dose of sarcasm for full effect :-p ) we’ve examined things we can do to make sure we get into an accident. In this article, I will share a few pointers regarding the best way to “act” during an accident as related to me by a few motorcycle experts. So, without further ado, let’s crash.

Disclaimer:
While this article contains – in the opinion of the author – valid and useful information, it’s meant for entertainment purposes only.
In other words, be responsible for your own actions and don’t try this at home. Moreover; if you do try it at home, don’t blame anyone but yourself if you break your ass.

On with the show.

We will divide motorcycle accidents into three different types. You can suggest additional types in the comments section if you can think of any.

Type 1: Didn’t cause it; couldn’t prevent it.
The kind of accident where there was nothing you could do to prevent it and there was nothing you did to cause it. You are sitting at an intersection and a drunk driver rams you from behind. A total freak

The previous article was written entirely from memory; so I decided to open up Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell and re-read the chapter on airplane accidents and once again I was amazed at how similar the accident-factors of a plane crash are to the accident-factors of a motorcycle crash. So with that in mind, let’s pin few additional tails on this donkey.

Profile of the captain:
The captain of the Flight 801 had been employed by Korean Air for four years. Prior to that, he was a pilot in the Korean Air Force with a combined flight time of 89,000 hours, including thirty-two hundred hours of experience in jumbo jets. A few months earlier, he had been given a flight safety award by his airline for successfully handling a jumbo jet engine failure at low altitude.

In other words, he was an experienced and seasoned operator with years