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50 BIKING MYTHS EXPOSED
Here is a list of frequently encountered myths and the REAL truth behind them.
Mechanical & Performance
1.
"Running my bike on a dyno will damage it..."
A. The answer is straightforward - it won't. If your bike is in good condition and the dyno operator knows what he's doing, there's nothing to worry about. During exhaust tests the same bike will do over 300 back-to-back dyno runs without a problem. But if your bike isn't sound or the operator has the same mechanical sympathy as a get-away driver, you could be in trouble - but then you would be anyway.
The myth largely stems from the days of two-strokes, where badly set-up dynos and over-enthusiastic operators could seize a motor in the blink of a rebuild. Heat, high revs and detonation didn't help, and before you knew it the dyno room was clanging to the sound of an unconnected conrod. Modern dynos are usually fitted with an eddy-current brake, which is used to quickly and efficiently reduce revs after the dyno run has ended, therefore greatly reducing the risk of any damage to your pride and joy.
2.
"Decreasing offset will give me less trail..."
A. Nope. The easiest way to remember this is that increasing one decreases the other and vice versa. So more offset equals less trail and less offset equals more trail. Sit on your bike and look at the top yoke. Offset describes by how much the forks are in front of the steering stem. Normally this ranges between 26-36mm - so the centre of the forks might be 30mm forwards from the centre of the steering stem. Trail describes how far the tyre contact patch is behind the steering axis. The higher the figure, the more stable and heavy the steering will be. It's the same effect that makes shopping trolleys wheels self-align.
3. "I ride hard so I need a steering damper..."
A. As is often the case, there is little logic behind this one. It's true that most 'fast' types like racers use steering dampers, or at least have them fitted to their bikes. However, it's not the steering damper that makes the person quick, it's the person. A steering damper is normally required as a result of someone being quick - not the other way around.
In itself this myth is harmless. But, and here's the catch, in some cases a steering damper can make you slower. Most people don't need a steering damper - not because they're slow - they just don't get the bike too out of shape. The problem is where the damper is set - wind it up too much and it will make the bike unstable in a straight line. It'll feel like the rear of the bike is steering the front. Or rather the bike will wobble at speed because you've essentially fused the front and rear together. If this is the case it will normally be a struggle to get the bike to turn into corners as well because the steering can't react as it wants to.
Damper force is speed sensitive. The faster you try and move the damper the more damping force you feel. So the resistance when you wobble the steering isn't the same damping force that is needed to prevent a slapper when the bars are going ape. The damper wants to be set just high enough to prevent instability and no more.
4. "Telescopic forks are best, otherwise we'd be using something else by now..."
A. The answer to this depends on how much paper you have. People with lots of paper will be delighted to use it explaining why 'funny' front ends are better than telescopic forks. People without any paper will ignore them and wave their hands in the air talking of better feel from forks. Those people who lack either paper to write on, or the passion to wave their hands in the air, ride BMWs and are considered by most as bi-suspensional (or as liking a bit of the old Sam Brown.) Either way, funny front ends are considered better than forks in theory because they separate the braking, suspension and acceleration forces. This means the only forces acting on the suspension unit are those trying to compress it. The forces trying to bend or twist the unit and handled by a separate body. The main benefit is finer suspension control and less dive. The downside of non-conventional front ends is the complexity of the steering system compared to forks and yokes. While history has recorded some successful funny front ends, it's unlikely they'll ever catch on in the mainstream.
5. "Race suspension should be soft, not hard..."
A. There are two myths wrapped up in this one because some people believe race suspension should be soft and an equal number believe it should be hard. Unfortunately, the real answer for everyone is that it should be set to do what you want to make you go fast.
If you've ever pressed on the seat or bounced the front end of a race bike they do feel firm compared to most road bikes. But that's not how they are set up - you don't just make things harder than a stock bike otherwise we'd all be racing successes. From a racing point of view the suspension isn't there to give the rider's Rockfords an easy time - it's there to help him get the bike around the track faster. That means keeping the bike off the floor during cornering and braking, and allowing him to steer the bike under power and during braking. What happens down the straights is largely irrelevant as long as it doesn't cause him to slow down.
Overall the springs are used to hold the bike in the right attitude when cornering. That means when you're at maximum lean angle the front and rear suspension isn't compressed too much. Where this is depends on the bike and rider - but generally the rear shock will be between 28-38mm into it's stroke and the front between 65-85mm. The balance between the two determines the bike's pitch - which dictates how it feels. Nose up and it won't hold a line very well, nose down and it'll feel like tucking. Of course there's the damping too, but while this affects the pitch and position, it isn't really what sets it. It's used to condition the transition between acceleration and braking, and of course for bumps.
So the answer is that suspension should be as hard as it needs to be to hold the bike where you want it.
[back to top] 6. "Weaving from side to side warms up your tyres..."
A. We've seen it on TV and we've all done it ourselves, but weaving from side to side does not warm up your tyres any faster.
Let's look at what's happening. You're weaving because your tyres are cold - so it's safe to say you're not pushing them as hard as when they're hot. If you're lucky you might get to 25-35° of lean. And that's not going to generate the massive scrub forces you might imagine. In fact most of the heat will be generated by the tyre deforming and the friction produced as the tyre tries to push the bike along. Bearing this in mind, the quickest way to generate heat in the tyre is to generate as much friction as possible on a large area of tyre. We know the contact patch is normally at it's biggest when upright and the harder we accelerate or brake the more friction we generate.
So, the fastest way to generate heat is to accelerate and brake hard while upright. Lightly dragging the front brake while accelerating causes extra friction at the front tyre but be careful about it washing out. When you brake with the front wheel, engine braking causes the same effect at the rear.
What weaving does is clean the surface of the tyre - so it does have some benefit.
7. "Braided hoses can cause crashes because brakes are too sharp..."
A. Who comes up with these myths? Braided hoses will not cause crashes because the brakes are too sharp and it's ridiculous to suggest that they will. The reason we fit braided lines is twofold: First, they look good and second, they make the brakes more efficient by making more of the effort generated by your hand go into squeezing the disc. Hydraulic systems work on the basis that the fluid is incompressible. By causing fluid to flow into the system you push the pistons on to the disc. When they've all hit the disc they can't move any further. Obstruction to flow creates pressure and so the friction between the pad and disc increases.
The problem with OE brake lines is arguably, that they swell too much, especially when hot. So some of the pressure you create isn't used to brake harder at all. Braided hoses are capable of containing huge pressure - upwards of 13,000psi. While there will still be a degree of bulge it's almost imperceptible. Even if there was no loss in the system, your brakes aren't going to just lock up. You have to create the pressure in the system - if you're a club-handed muppet then you're going to crash whether you have braided lines fitted or not.
8. "It's only worth fitting a Power Commander if your bike is tuned..."
A. It's certainly worth fitting a Power Commander if your bike is tuned, but it's equally worth it if it's not. A Dynojet Power Commander is a small unit that simply plugs into your fuel-injected bike and is used to correct the fuelling. Just like changing the needles and jets on a carburetted machine.
On a tuned bike the fuelling can be far from perfect, so the Power Commander adds and removes fuel to give the bike just what it needs to work perfectly. But it's important to know that your bike doesn't fuel as well as it could out of the showroom. Manufacturers have to comply with emissions laws, or in some cases just haven't done a very good job of mapping the bike. By fitting a Power Commander to a standard machine you can solve all these problems. In terms of usability it's likely to make the bike a lot more rideable rather than adding loads of power - but then these are effectively the same thing.
9. "Nitrogen makes tyres run cooler..."
A. The real reason manufacturers run nitrogen has nothing to do with temperature, it's better at holding pressure for two reasons:
First, nitrogen is a dry gas (whereas compressed air contains water molecules - which are more excited by temperature), and so follows Boyles Law more predictably. To you and me, that means the pressure rises predictably with temperature. By using nitrogen manufacturers can be surer of the running pressure (Michelin say they simply use dry air). This means the size of the contact patch is what it should be and the 'suspension' properties of the tyre remain constant.
The second reason is that a nitrogen molecule is bigger than an oxygen molecule, and tyres aren't airtight. The rubber certainly isn't but even the butyl lining is a bit leaky. However, nitrogen takes about three times longer to leak from a tyre so its pressure needs checking less often.
10. "Lighter wheels are better..."
A. While there's truth in this statement it's not a clear cut as you may think. There are several reasons for this. In no particular order, lighter wheels will allow a bike to change it's velocity more easily. This means it can speed up and slow down faster because there's less rotating mass. As well as this is it takes less effort to flick lighter wheels from side to side - so although the bike may be less stable, it's easier to turn, which is good news for you and bad news for the person in front of you. Finally lighter wheels give a better ratio of sprung to unsprung mass. Unsprung mass are those parts that the suspension does not support. To think of it another way, if you turned a bike upside down so its wheels are in the air - the only parts you could move up and down would be the unsprung parts. From a suspension point of view it would be nice if the bike simply followed a flat trajectory while the wheels moved up and down below it. Of course, that doesn't happen, but because it's easier to move something with less mass, by fitting lighter wheels you make it more likely that they will deal with whatever bumps they're presented with.
However, you should bear in mind that simply bolting lighter wheels to your bike doesn't always work. If the wheels are much lighter than those they replace you'll need to get your suspension changed to take full advantage of them - and possibly set up your bike to suit as well.
[back to top] 11. "Carbon discs are better than steel..."
A. It's clear that for a money-no-object GP bike carbon discs are better than steel - if conditions are right. However, this isn't an outright rule and it certainly doesn't apply to road-going bikes. The main benefit of carbon brakes is their weight - or rather their lack of it. This significantly reduces gyroscopic inertia and unsprung mass. So the bike will steer quicker and the suspension will have less work to do. However, carbon discs need to get up to temperature before they can work properly, and are no good in the wet, so they don't make sense for road bikes.
Carbon brake discs don't fade like steel discs when they're hot, so they give more consistent stopping power when they're being used hard, which is useful when it comes to racing. That said, GP bikes are subject to exactly the same rules of physics as the bike in your garage right now. And not even the latest GP bike can slow down at more than 1.5G - which is only about 0.4G more than you can manage on your road bike.
However, set up your road bike properly, chuck slick GP rubber on the front and you might get close to this figure when braking from very high speeds.
12. "You should always fit the stickiest rubber you can afford..."
A. Nope. This myth stems from the fact none of us likes falling off. We associate coming off with a lack of grip with sticky race tyres. It's an easy connection to make - but it's wrong. Given two identical bikes, one fitted with cut Michelin slicks from Rossi's bike and another with Bridgestone BT-020s fitted, which would you rather ride on the road? If you've already plumped for the 'cut slicks' then you're wrong. You need to start by asking where are you riding? In the same way you wouldn't across America on a wet race tyre, you wouldn't want to ride along a German autobahn on Rossi's slick tyre because the chances are it'll delaminate.
Tyres are designed to do different jobs. So if you ask a tyre to do something it's not designed to, it won't do it as well, or as safely as one that is. So if you're fitting tyres to a track-only bike, then fit the stickiest tyres you can. But if you're fitting hoops to your road bike, and you're looking for good grip, fit a fast road tyre - because it'll work better and for longer than a race tyre. By the same token, if you're not a peg-down merchant, go for a road tyre. You'll have all the grip you need because it's designed to work in those conditions and temperatures and it'll last longer too. Stickiest is not always best.
13. "Radial brakes are simply a fashion..."
A. Not too long ago this was believed to be the case, but after testing it seems that there is an advantage, albeit a small one, from a radial caliper mount. The story goes that radially-mounted calipers don't flex as much as conventional ones, this translates into more stopping power. Because of this, smaller diameter discs can be used, which have additional performance and handling benefits.
In relatively simple tests a radial set-up gave about 50% less flex than conventional mounts - although this was compared to a GSX-R1000 mount, which is quite weedy. In absolute stopping terms there was less advantage. On average the radial set-up stopped in just under two metres less. Mind you if that means you stop 1.99 metres away from a wall or the car that's pulled out in front of you, you'll probably be glad of your 'faddy' radial brakes.
Another area of improvement is in the caliper itself. The adoption of bridged calipers, or of other stiffer designs, means more of the pressure you generate goes into squeezing the disc rather than splaying the caliper. And that helps contribute towards less fade, more even pad wear and better overall performance. Now wavy discs, that's a different matter...
14. "Steeper steering causes instability..."
A. When a bike doesn't handle as sharply as we'd like, one of the first things we know to do is lift the back end or drop the front to make the steering sharper. What does it mean to make the steering sharper, though?
Essentially we're reducing the rake angle (the angle of the forks from vertical) and at the same time reducing the amount of trail, which governs the self-centring nature of the steering. For this reason it's true that steeper (or more vertical forks) reduce stability - but they don't actually cause instability. Remember, we need instability to ride our bikes. If they were perfectly stable, corners would be something of a problem. To give you some idea of the numbers involved, it's normal to drop the yokes down the forks 5mm at a time, and you might end up with a total of 15-20mm depending on how bad the bike was before and how much ground clearance you have. At the back end you may adjust the shock length or ride height adjuster in 2-3mm increments - although because of linkage ratios this equates to around 5mm at the wheel. Steering head angles can be safely adjusted by + 1.5°.
15. "Increasing preload makes the suspension stiffer..."
A. Increasing preload does not make the spring stiffer and never will - although it feels like the suspension is stiffer. The only way to make the spring stiffer is to use a stiffer spring - that means one requiring more force to compress it.
All preload does is increase the amount of load required before the spring moves. So imagine if you will an elephant balancing on a rear shock, and imagine that this compresses the spring to half its length. If we politely ask the elephant to step off the shock, then use the preload adjuster to squash the spring until it's half its length, when the elephant gets back on, the shock won't move. This is because the spring has already been squashed to half its length by the preload adjuster. If we now pass the elephant two bags of shopping to hold, the shock will compress a little because we've put more load on it.
Using preload allows us to choose the spring action we want for optimum handling while keeping the rear shock the correct length. The same rules apply to our front forks.
[back to top] 16. "High flow aftermarket air-filters give more power..."
A. Another half-truth. The only definite thing you can say about high flow air filters is they should offer less resistance to the flow of air than the filter they replace. The extra power is rather conditional. The important thing to understand is how engines work. Fuel has to be mixed in the correct proportions with air and enough of that mixture has to get into the combustion chamber. It's one thing having a 1000cc twin, but if each cylinder can only ever get half full you might as well have a 500. By the same token, if the engine has more than enough air already, but can't get enough fuel, then fitting a high flow air-filter is pointless. Likewise, if an engine was already able to fill its cylinders completely with the correct mixture, there's nothing more you could do.
So, while performance air filters will help give you more power, that's dependent on a few other things as well. If you've had the head ported or fitted an aftermarket exhaust system, you probably will benefit.
17. "A wide tyre is better than a narrow one..."
A. Depends what you're looking for. A 190 section tyre on a 125cc machine would slow it down immensely - as would an 80 section tyre on a 1000cc machine. Tyre sizes are a compromise. Looking purely at road bikes, three things affect what tyre it gets. In the beginning the bike designers will look at the weight of the machine, how much power it's likely to make and what use it will be put to. From this they'll come up with an appropriate size. Next the test riders will try different tyres to see which suits the bike the best. This may also be the point at which the OE fitment is decided - and it may also be that a mislabelled tyre fitted. So a tyre that says one thing but is actually another - it might say 180 but actually be a 175 section. Finally the marketing people get involved, which is partly the reason for the mislabelled tyres. After all, if your direct competitors have 190 tyres, but your bike is as good as them, if not better on a 180 section tyre, there's still pressure to fit a 190. From a showroom point of view it must look good - although from a cornering point of view a narrower section tyre will generally behave better.
18. "Super unleaded petrol makes your bike faster..."
A. It's not believed to be the case. The difference between regular unleaded and super unleaded is in the MON and RON numbers. These numbers, which you'll find on the pump somewhere, are Motor Octane Number and Research Octane Number. The higher the number, the better the fuel is in performance engines.
A fuel with a lower number will detonate before one with a higher number - which is why people who raise their compresssion ratios or run a lot of advance should use super unleaded fuel. If they use regular fuel they risk damaging the engine, unless they use octane boosting additives, because the fuel will pre-ignite under compression leading to overheating. And you won't do any damage by using super in a standard engine - it'll just cost you more.
There are a number of performance fuels on the forecourt. These are designed to increase performance - normally by burning faster and sometimes by cleaning the engine in the process - thereby reducing losses. This is better than fitting external devices that claim to make the fuel behave differently.
19. "Fuel injected bikes can compensate for changes such as fitting a race exhaust..."
A. Fuel injection systems work by reading information from several sensors, then use this data to look up reference values. From this, the ECU arrives at a time value - that's how long it needs to open the injector to deliver the right amount of fuel. The sensors normally measure things like air temperature, revs, throttle position and coolant temperature. So if the engine is cold it may deliver more fuel than if it's hot. Likewise, if the throttle is wide open it'll deliver more fuel than when it's shut. So, in one sense, a fuel injection system is capable of making changes to compensate for other variables.
However, this information is largely pre-programmed into the ECU. This means that the system thinks it's fuelling a bike of a particular capacity, with a certain exhaust system, specific injectors and so on. If you change any one of the hardware components you will change the required feeling. So by fitting a full race system you will let the engine breathe more freely. But the ECU doesn't know this and continues to fuel as though the old system was still there - probably making the bike run lean.
The only exception to this is a closed-loop system. This fuel injection system has a lambda sensor in the exhaust which reads the air/fuel ratio and tells the ECU what it is. If the ECU knows what figure to aim for then it can adjust the fuelling. If the engine is running lean - because you've fitted that pipe - it knows and compensates.
Very few bikes have closed loop systems, though - and those that do tend to use them for fuel efficiency. This is where a Dynojet Power Commander comes in. You effectively remap the bike to suit the current state of tune.
20. "You should only make one change to a bike set-up at once..."
A. Yes and No. This applies to racers as well as people trying to set up their road bike. While the statement is based on common sense and has been adhered to for many years, there's a complication with motorcycles that's often overlooked - it is almost impossible to change one setting without affecting many others.
For instance, simply adjusting the chain will slightly alter the wheelbase, weight distribution, rake, trail, front and rear sag to name but a few. If you really want to evaluate the effects of one change you would need to make many other changes as well.
[back to top] 21. "Bike speedos are wildly inaccurate..."
A. Don't be wholly convinced by what your speedo tells you. In tests, bikes that read 186mph on the clock have only been doing a true 170mph. So when that bloke in the pub tells you he 'had 160 on the clock the other day', that's exactly where he had it - on the clock. But don't rely on your speedo reading high, they have also been known to read low. A typical inaccuracy is around 10 per cent. That's why the cops traditionally allow you 10 per cent plus 3mph before nicking you. Hence you'd have to be over 36mph in a 30 and 80 in a 70 before being busted. Automated systems like Gatsos don't have to be so lenient, but there is still some leeway.
Of course, unless your speedo is driven by the wheel, any gearing changes will also affect the read-out on the clock. It's up to you to do the sums...
The largest known speedo discrepancy in recent times is with the latest Fireblades. In an uncharacteristic lap of quality control from the Big H, some of the speedos on the CBR1000RR were reading a whole 25 per cent low. Surely grounds for appeal on a speeding rap? There's been a recall, and corrected bikes will have a punchmark in front of the VIN number on the headstock.
22. "Cars stop faster than bikes..."
A. Once upon a time this might have been true, but that was back in the age of drum brakes. With ABS and all the niceties afforded the modern motorist they can pull up pretty damned smartish - supposing they're paying attention, that is. And there are more bikes around, too, with that there fancy ABS stuff, but most importantly bikes are mostly lighter, brakes are mostly better, which means that while a bike may take a comparitively long time to stop, it will do it in less distance.
23. "When it comes to stopping, distance is more important than time..."
A. Speaks for itself this one, really. You want to stop before the wall or other obstruction rather than after it or even by it. Today's bikes are equipped with some mighty impressive stoppers and highly efficient, grippy tyres and, of course, they usually have less mass to haul up. The thing with braking is that it isn't always linear. So if a bike's brakes are slowing it down very quickly on initial application, there is less distance left to cover while the brakes do the rest of their work.
In other words, if you can get down to 30mph in less time than on an older bike, you have covered less distance, and you'll hopefully pull up comfortably in the space remaining - especially given that your highly efficient modern brakes are far less prone to fade than they were even a few short years ago.
24. "Lower tyre pressures give more grip in the wet..."
A. Absolutely and most definitely not. Dropping tyre pressures for wet weather riding can in fact lead to less grip, because as the footprint changes the tread closes up. The result is that the tyre can't disperse water as quickly, and standing water in particular can become a very real problem. In racing, you may find that wet weather tyres are inflated to even higher pressures than slicks are. So we should overinflate our road tyres for wet weather use? Again, this is an absolute no-no. The best pressures to run your tyres at are the ones recommended by the manufacturer for your make and model of bike. A tyre maker's suggested pressures are far and away the optimum for year-round use. The only time you should really consider messing with tyre pressures is for track day riding in dry, warm weather. As the tyres are getting hotter quicker and for a lot longer than they do on the road, (and hot air expands) you can safely drop a couple of PSI. Just be sure to reinflate them for the ride home.
25. "Stainless steel fasteners come undone..."
A. There's a whole heap of lore floating around the subject of fasteners. The facts are rather more straightforward. When it comes to stainless, it's true to say that it's less prone to corrosion. The downside is that due to it's hardness, it's less likely to stay done up. The way a thread works, be it on a nut on a bolt or a fastener into a casting, is that the threads deform slightly on tightening and that helps to keep the components together. A stainless nut going into a stainless bolt both have a lesser degree of deformity because of the toughness of the material, so they don't grip as well. Star or spring washers or good old Loctite are the answers here. The other problem with stainless is that it can give alloy threads in castings a bit of a hard time leading to the possibility of thread stripping on the casing, especially if the threads aren't as coarse. Stainless fasteners going into alloy are less likely to seize than ordinary steel, but because of the differentials in the materials they still can. Use a good quality anti-seize compound and a careful hand on the socket driver.
[back to top] 26. "A supermoto can hammer down a twisty road as fast as a race-rep..."
A. This one has been put about by weekend heroes on technologically retarded, trailie-styled singles for the last few years. Poor performance and a fuel range barely adequate for the laziest Sunday rider are just two of the supermoto's problems. The reasons the supermoto exponents recite to justify their preposterous choice of bike range from licence-preserving top speeds (they'd be right there), through to radical geometry for quick steering, to the punchy torque that launches them from bend to bend. Bends they take, apparently, at flat-out speeds and impossible angles of lean. Well let's look at the facts. A supermot is usually so slow that any bend would most probably be taken flat out, and when you're perched at vertigo-inducing heights, even modest lean angles feel extreme. Anyhow, on testing a supermoto against a GSX-R1000 on a twisty little kart track, guess what, the Gixer won. So there. That kind of settles that argument.
27. "Sunlight wrecks carbon fibre..."
A. This one must have sprung from the jealousy of those without carbon fibre niceties on their bikes. But as is found so often, some confusion of the facts has led to this story growing arms and legs. There are basically two types of carbon fibre used on bikes. There's what's known as wet lay-up, where the gel coat is put in the mould. Unless the carbon item is finished with a UV resistant lacquer then the gel will discolour, going a yellowy-brown colour over time. The integrity of the carbon itself will not be affected, and in any case it would take years of exposure to sunlight for the discolouration to start to happen. So no worries there, then. The second type of carbon is known as pre-preg where the material is impregnated with a UV resistant lacquer. The material has also been shown to withstand temperatures of over 400°C.
28. "Underseat pipes look cool..."
A. Bit of a contentious one, this. It's more about taste than myth. Rarely has a biking innovation caused so much polarity of opinion. There's no denying that they did on the 916 when it came out, but that was in the early 1990s when most other sports bikes wore fairings that looked like shellsuits. To the underseat pipe detractor, that was the high and low point of the concept. But what about those panpipes poking out the back of the MV Agusta F4? Height of biking cool or should they only be seen on an end-of-pier Wurlitzer? Underseat pipes seems to be a must-have for bike designers, but Yamaha are sticking with a 'conventional' can for their R6. Perhaps the worst thing you can say about underseat cans is that aftermarket ones are a bastard to fit and they give your plums a right good roasting, which can't be good for the old custard containers.
29. "Honda have the best build quality..."
A. This one has its roots in the very dawn of the mainstream Japanese bike industry. Back in the days when Britain still had some claim to the word 'Great', its bikes were, in fact, the greatest. The notion that Honda have great build quality was born with the arrival of 1969's CB750/4. Here was a bike with disc brakes, electric start and other such magic, not least a set of horizontally-split crankcases that didn't piss oil in the way that vertically-split Brit bike ones did, especially after they'd been reassembled by some bodger or other.
With the Honda stall emphatically laid out, the simple truth was that they weren't always that great, but they were for the most part better. Perhaps the best analysis is that Honda are a company without compromise, even if that means eating into their bottom line. Other Japanese manufacturers once often relied on cheap finishing that couldn't handle the rigours of our British weather, but nowadays the playing field is fairly level with only the odd aberration.
Yes, Hondas are well made, but then so are most other bikes. It would be commercial suicide to do anything less.
30. "Italian bikes are unreliable..."
A. Don't be overly concerned by this one, Italian bike owners, if the British were still making cutting-edge bikes people might be saying the same about them, too. The truth is that the last few generations of Italian sportsters were often bought by people, who, if they didn't expect their bikes to be as reliable as their cars, thought they'd be at least as dependable as the Japanese bikes they'd owned and could get away without maintaining adequately. But in truth, when people talk of the unreliability of Italian bikes these days, they mean Ducatis, which in fact are a whole lot better than they were, provided they're maintained properly. Innovation has long been the key for Ducati, and often their ideas have got ahead of the engineering, especially when ill-equipped and inexperienced dealers jump on the bandwagon. Aprilia's big V-twins have long been dependable, although admittedly they have Austrian Rotax power. Part of the perceived and real problems lie with the Italian desire to use as many locally sourced components as possible, rather than using the best parts.
[back to top] 31. "BMWs don't rust. Ever..."
A. BMW earned their well-deserved reputation for exemplary build quality right from the very start. This was considerably enhanced in the 1970s, mainly because every other manufacturer's fell some way short. So it's not a universal truism that BMWs don't rust. Anything that's made out of metal will corrode eventually. But the type of raw materials and the quality of their plating or painting makes all the difference as to how long the process will take.
The GCSE Science explanation as to why things corrode is fairly straightforward. When a metal comes into contact with air, oxidation takes place. And the process is considerably accelerated by the salt the local authorities insist on coating our roads with in winter. This effectively acts like an electrolyte in a battery hastening the process. On iron or steel items the result is our flaky red friend rust, which falls away in layers exposing more of the metal underneath. And as unattractive as it is, the oxidation that takes place on aluminium serves as a protective coat.
32. "Honda originally planned to make the FireBlade a 750..."
A. Before looking at the facts, let's consider the implications of this one. If Honda had made the Blade a 750, then the evolutionary chain that gave us the R1, GSX-R1000, ZX-10R and indeed Honda's own mighty fine current incarnation of the Blade, would not have been set in motion and the world would be a very much poorer place. So say a prayer of thanks to your deity of choice for Honda's decision to make the first Blade an 893cc masterpiece that weighed less than other manufacturer's 750s of the day.
So where does the 750 FireBlade myth come from? Honda themselves have long remained tight-lipped on the subject, but the mythical 750 Blade did exist, at least as a working prototype. It makes sense that Honda at least explored the idea of making a 750, after all there was still a very strong three-quarter litre class back then. But Blade designer Tadao Baba was after a power-to-weight ratio the biking world had never seen before in a production bike. So the capacity would have to be closer to the big sports missiles of the time - GSX-R1100, FZR1000 and so on - and the weight had to come down. So the prototype 750 FireBlade was abandoned, only to become a historical legend.
33. "Honda asked Bridgestone to make thousands of 16in tyres for the Blade 'by mistake'..."
A. Still on Blades, a persistent industry rumour suggests that Honda made an error by specifying a 16in instead of 17in front tyre for the Blade. Bollocks they did. The rather more pedestrian truth lies somewhere between the hyperbolic extremes. OE tyres arrived at after careful testing for the first production Blades were either 16in Bridgestone BT50s or Michelin Hi Sports. The bike prototype's testers found that it steered quicker on a deep-walled 16in tyre (taking the diameter close to 17in in any case) than it did on a 17in. At the time the thing for racing was a 16.5in front wheel, so a deep-walled tyre was probably closer to the race optimum anyway.
34. "Bridgestone once made a prosthetic fin for a dolphin..."
A. This one is definitely true, and shows that the whole automotive trade, cars and bikes, does have a caring side. Fuji, a mother dolphin had three-quarters of her tail amputated following an accident. This can make life tricky for a dolphin. Tyre manufacturers Bridgestone stepped in to help out back in 2003. But it took several attempts to get the rubber texture right so it didn't trouble the dolphin's sensitive skin. Over £50,000 was spent on the effort on a rubber tail, which was bolted on to what the dolphin had left. The good news is the she can now jump as well as she ever did. Perhaps after this, Bridgestone tyres will handle even better in the wet?
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