Motorcycle Seating Position

I’ve owned three motorcycles, and ridden several others. I prefer the sportbike seating position to the standard cruiser riding style. I’ve never liked the idea of having my heels forward and down.

I came across the https://cycle-ergo.com/ website earlier today and had some fun with it.

I bought a Honda CBR600F3 in mid 1997.

I bought a Honda VFR800 when the new model was released in late 2001, as a 2002 model year. I was never as happy with the VFR800 as I had been with the CBR600. I owned them both for a while, during a time I was splitting my time between Texas and Washington state. I had the CBR600 in Washington and the VFR800 in Texas, then in 2003 consolidated everything to Washington. The flat four in the CBR was a smoother machine than the V four in the VFR. The CBR had a shorter wheelbase and was a more nimble machine. The VFR looked better, and I sold the CBR to a friend in 2004. I was in a collision with the VFR in 2006, and when I got the check from the insurance company, I didn’t get around to replacing the motorcycle for several years.

In 2018 I bought my first used motorcycle, a 2014 Ducati 899 Panigale. A Ducati had been on my wish list for many years, but the desmo valve operation, maintenance, and general cost, had kept me away. I’ve been extremely happy with this bike since I’ve owned it. It’s the most powerful and lightest bike I’ve owned and easily the fastest. Maintenance hasn’t been the issue I was worried about, beyond Seattle Ducati dealerships closing up and replacements not being close to home.

One of the things I’ve noticed is that I remember with wither of the Hondas. When I was driving leaned forward significantly, my elbows would rest against my knees. When I’m riding fully forward on the Ducati, this doesn’t happen. playing around with the cycle-ergo website showed me why. The reach forward to the handlebars is more in the Ducati than it was on the Hondas. The Ducati hip angle is 20° difference from either of the Hondas.

Annoying Flashing High Mount Stop Light on newer cars

I know that to some extent I’m yelling at the cloud. I’ve mostly seen this feature on new Toyotas, but I also recently saw it on a new BMW. 

The CHMSL flashing feature seems to happen when a person first applies the brakes after a period of not using them. It blinks the lamp three times before leaving them on constantly. This feature might be useful when traveling at highway speeds and it’s been a long time since the person has put their foot on the brake, but when traveling in city traffic it seems that the light is just strobing constantly. With modern LEDs there is no warm up time, so it’s like a red strobe light is going off at eye level.

The last update I found on Wikipedia said that the lights were generally not permitted to flash, with a couple of linked rulings from 2010.

My searching for details found various forum questions and answers, including how to add blinkers as after market options, but no details as to where the rules may have changed, or if it’ll be a new requirement going forward.

I certainly hope that it’s a temporary trend that goes away.