MotoCAP has published the safety ratings on 13 pairs of leather gloves ranging from half a star to four stars, but has not released any comfort ratings.
In the latest round of testing, the highest performing gloves are the Rev’It RSR 3 unisex gloves which received a four-star rating.
One pair of Alpinestars gloves (pictured top of page) rated three stars, DriRider and Merlin rated two stars, six rated one star and three rated half a star.
The world’s first safety and comfort ratings system for motorcycle clothing provides comfort ratings for thermal comfort and waterproofing on jackets and pants, but not gloves.
That is despite some of the gloves tested having perforations for airflow.
However, three pairs of gloves were tested and rated for water resistance because they were advertised as having this feature.
The highest performing pair are the DriRider Apex 2 unisex gloves, which received a score of eight out of ten for water resistance.
MotoCAP ratings
A dummy dressed in riding gear is tested for abrasion resistance
MotoCAP has now tested 31 textile and leather jackets, 18 pairs of jeans and leggings, seven pair of leather pants, one pair of textile pants and 26 pairs of gloves.
Deakin Uni Institute for Frontier Materials Senior Research Fellow and Honda GB400 rider Chris Hurren says the site will have 150 clothing products on its site by the end of June.
“We have purposely targeted only 10% of the market in the first year so that manufacturers have a chance to come along with the scheme,” he says.
“We do not want to put a manufacturer out of business as we want them to improve their products and think about protection and thermal comfort in their design.”
“If they follow this path like car manufacturers did for ANCAP then the rider will always be the winner.”
So far, no article of motorcycle clothing has been provided by a manufacturer.
All have been bought by MotoCAP using a secretive buying system to guarantee integrity.
Swann Insurance has dropped its age cut-off for motorcycle insurance after a 76-year-old professor was denied insurance for his Indian Scout motorcycle last year.
Dr Marcus Wigan had been trying to enter an online Swann Insurance MotoGP competition in which entrants only had to apply for a quote. The competition gave no stipulation of an age limit.
However, when he filled in his birth date, the online application rejected his entry with the comment: “Age is not acceptable”.
The emeritus professor of transport tried to fill out the competition several times but was repeatedly rejected for his age.
“Ageism takes many forms,” says Marcus who has been riding for 62 years “without a single accident” and had been insured in the 1990s with Swann.
He phoned Swann’s parent company, IAG, who told him they had a “business rule” that no quotes were handled for ages over 75.
Marcus made several follow-up phone calls.
“Finally a junior manager entered my details manually. I didn’t win,” he says.
Marcus left a formal complaint and received a phone call from IAG’s lawyer who followed up with a letter stating that they felt the manual entry had covered Swann’s requirements in this case.
Human rights issue
Marcus Wigan
Marcus then rang the Australian Human Rights Commission and asked if he had a valid age discrimination complaint.
“After a while I was asked by HRC to state what would resolve my complaint. I stated effectively exactly what IAG finally decided to enact,” he says.
Marcus received the following letter on April 1, although it is no joke!
Swann’s Guidelines and acceptance criteria will b e adjusted to accept quotations for motorcycle riders aged over 75 automatically, without any requirement for discretion. Further, Swann’s online systems rules and ratings will reflect the automatic acceptance of quotations for motorcycle ridders aged over 75. Swann will ensure that all relevant staff are aware of the updated acceptance rules. Whether cover is offered is otherwise subject to the usual underwriting criteria.
Marcus says the Swann decision is a good model for the insurance industry to adopt.
“It is what I asked for, it’s perfectly sensible and allows normal underwriting analyses and decisions to continue without arbitrary age cutoffs as ‘business rules’,” he says.
Age restrictions on licence
There is no age restriction on motor vehicle licences.
However, each state does have certain restrictions on aged licence holders.
They may be required to carry a current medical certificate and have annual or biennial medical check-ups to assess their suitability to hold a licence.
They may also be restricted to the use of a vehicle within certain times and areas.
There is no distinction between licences for cars or motorcycles.
When you stop at lights or roadworks, it is always advisable to position your bike in a wheel track and leave it running in case a vehicle behind does not stop.
Then you can choose an escape route, let the clutch out and get out of the way.
Some say it damages your clutch to hold the lever in and leave the engine running.
RACQ technical and road safety officer Steve Spalding says that if it’s a short wait, you will not do any damage to your bike’s clutch.
“The wear point is actually on the linkage that holds the clutch in the disengaged position,” says Steve, who owns a Suzuki Bandit and Triumph Bonneville.
“If you are waiting a long period and your bike has a wet clutch, you might like to switch off or pop the bike into neutral as there will be drag on the clutch pack and driveline,” he says.
Time to switch off
Once traffic behind you has stopped and the rear-end collision danger is mitigated, you may choose to switch off the engine.
This will not only save fuel and emissions but also help reduce the heat on your legs as you wait, often in the hot sun.
Also, you should think about your engine.
Air-cooled bikes don’t like idling for long periods.
While modern liquid-cooled bikes don’t have that problem, they are tuned to burn lean which makes them very hot on your legs when idling.
It involved surveying 61 male riders and one female from Australia and Europe who had been riding an ABS-equipped motorcycle when they crashed.
The pilot study found that the correlation between speed and serious injuries was random and indicated that riders overwhelmingly recognised the risk of injury and thus wore protective clothing and helmets.
Now Elaine is again seeking riders from around the world to participate in her new survey.
“We don’t know if there is any difference between riders in the UK, US or Australia, which is one of the reasons for doing the survey,” she says.
“I don’t know the most common causes of crashes for motorcyclists apart from what ever information is ‘out there’, hence the survey.”
Elaine says she will provides with a report on the study at the beginning of next year.
Crashed riders’ perspective
“From a rider’s perspective, we are constantly being criticised for speeding, being risky or being responsible for our own crashes and injuries,” Elaine says.
“But we know that it’s not that simple. In fact it’s complicated and it would be really helpful to understand what happens, how it happens and why it happens.
“There are numerous factors that need to be considered in all crashes and it’s time that you the rider gave your perspective about the circumstances.”
The survey will remain live for six months and the aim is to produce a report for the beginning of 2020.
Survey analysts
Elaine says everyone in her team of investigative analysts is also a motorcyclist.
The analysts are: Stephane Espie, Research Director IFSTTAR, France; Elaine Hardy, Motorcycle Research Analyst, UK; Dimitris Margaritis, Research Associate, CERTH/HIT, Greece; James Ouellet, Hurt Report co-author, USA; and Martin Winkelbauer, Senior Researcher, KFV, Austria.
The new survey is designed to provide a better understanding of the dynamics of motorcycle crashes.
It expands on the pilot study and is provided in eight different languages: French, Swedish, Norwegian, German, Spanish, Italian, Greek and English.
The survey will be disseminated throughout Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia, South America and beyond.
“This time the survey looks at motorcycles with and without ABS in order to provide a comprehensive comparison of these braking systems,” Elaine says.
Riders are asked 39 questions divided into four sections: 1) About you and your motorcycle; 2) Background; 3) Crash Details; 4) Comments.
None of the questions is mandatory and responses are anonymous.
Click Here to participate in the “Dynamics of Motorcycle Crashes Survey”.
How would you like to earn credit points toward your degree by learning to ride a motorcycle in a special uni course!
It sounds like a dream come true and a great way to encourage millennials to ride.
Unfortunately, it is so far only available at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
It’s yet another smart marketing move by Harley-Davidson to get more riders on motorcycles.
Harley-Davidson Marketing Programs Manager Claudia Garber says the company is committed to “building the next generation of riders and meeting them where they are – in this case on campus”.
The pilot uni course is being operated by the Harley-Davidson Riding Academy who hope to roll it out as a course option at other colleges and universities.
Harley-Davidson Australia marketing head honcho Keith Waddell says the integration of the H-D Riding Academy into the local “uni is a great idea and a great way to encourage the next generation of riders”.
“We will be watching the progress of the initiative with interest, however we have no plans to roll out for Australia or New Zealand at this stage,” he says.
Such a course would teach young people some much-needed skills about spatial awareness, road craft and vulnerability in traffic.
It may also make them better future drivers who look out for motorcyclists.
Our readers say it should be the other way around – car drivers should first have to get a motorcycle licence.
While that will never happen, several European countries allow young teens to ride 50cc scooters.
This promotes a healthy attitude about safety and respect for riders that seems to carry on later in their motoring life.
Anyone who has ridden in Europe will have witnessed the motorcycle awareness of drivers who sometimes wave you through or even move over to let you pass.
Uni course
A great way to get this process started is with education.
But maybe not just as uni course.
What ever happened to driver education in schools?
The Milwaukee uni course, riding Harley Street 500 motorcycles, will be an elective subject as part of their health sciences degree.
MBW on the Harley Street 500
Students will not only learn to ride, but also be required to attend classroom lessons about the parts and functions of a motorcycle and safe riding behaviour.
The uni course includes use of a training motorcycle, course materials, and insurance.
Students who complete the course will not only receive one general credit toward their degree, but also an MSF completion card.
In many states that means they are exempt from the riding portion of a state motorcycle licence test and may qualify riders for discounted motorcycle insurance.
Interested students must have a valid automobile driver’s licence or learner’s permit and the ability to ride a bicycle.
Clear vision and protecting your ears seem to be important for our readers so we are offering a special reader deal of a free set of MotoSafe Tour earplugs with each Visorcat wiper/washer tour pack bought through our shop.
When we published a review of the Visorcat a few weeks ago, we expected a lot of negative comments. There were a few, but there was also a lot of interest.
We tested the system and found it was a handy device for not only wiping off the rain, but also washing off bugs and grime without scratching the visor. (See our review below.)
So we decided to sell it through our online shop.
We are also big supporters of wearing earplugs to prevent fatiguing tinnitus and permanent hear loss when you ride, so we also sell the MotoSafe Tour or Race earplugs from $29.95.
Special reader deal
Since both the Visorcat and MotoSafe earplugs are distributed by xenonOz, we have offered the two together for the price of the Visorcat tour pack at $115.
The tour pack includes extra washer liquid and sponge refills and comes with a free pair of Tour earplugs as a special reader deal.
The reader deal ends at the end of May, so be quick and protect your eyes and ears!
Visorcat review
Dirty visors are not only a nuisance but a safety risk, but the glove-mounted Visorcat washer/wiper allows you to clean your visor on the go.
Visorcat is made of rubber with a webbing strap that goes around your hand.
There is a rubber loop to go over your finger or thumb, a reservoir for the provided visor wash and two 75mm-long (3”) windscreen-wiper-style blades that sit on the back of your hand, below the knuckle.
Underneath the blades is a sponge.
You wipe right to left to remove rainwater with the double rubber wiper blades.
Wipe right to left to clear your visor with the double rubber blades
If your visor is dirty and needs a wash first, you wipe left to right.
The curved edge of the wiper flap pulls back automatically to reveal the sponge underneath which is moistened by the supplied washing liquid.
Wipe left to right to use the sponge
There’s a wick connecting the sponge to the reservoir to keep it moist.
Make sure the sponge is wet to start with and the reservoir is full.
Due to the favourable response from many readers, we have decided to stock this safety product in our shop.
Click here to buy now. The washer/wiper with a bottle of liquid is $99, the touring pack with extra liquid and sponges is $115 and the refill pack with a bottle of liquid and three sponges is $24.95. Postage is extra.
Our view
I was initially quite sceptical of this product. It looked cumbersome and, frankly, a bit ridiculous.
However, it’s easy to fit over your left glove and tighten with the strap to stay in place.
Once in place you can hardly feel it’s there and it doesn’t in any way limit your clutch hand movement.
I also thought it would be a nuisance every time I took my glove off or put it on, but it actually stays in place, so there’s no need to remove it.
If you do want to remove it, just undo the strap and it comes off in a second.
The wiper blades are great for quickly and effectively wiping rainwater off your visor.
On wide visors you may have to wipe up to three times to cover the whole field of vision, but generally one wipe will clear enough of the visor for good vision.
I prefer to wash off grime, insects, dust, etc with water or a cleaning liquid. If you wipe it straight away, you are liable to scratch your visor.
Even if you can’t see the scratches, you may have made very small scratches which cause a blurry “starring” effect when looking into the sun or car lights at night.
I was reticent to use the sponge washer, so I tried it first on an old helmet.
You have to make sure the sponge is well and truly moist before wiping across your visor.
I preferred to pull over and check that the sponge was wet first. I even added an extra dob of the liquid directly on to the sponge just to make sure.
I tried it several times on the old helmet and it worked fine without any visible or even minor scratching. That made me confident enough to try it on a brand new visor. It left no scratches.
However, I would not use it on a very dirty or dusty visor. I’d douse the visor with plenty of water first.
The Visorcat works just fine for light grime such as a small bug straight after you’ve hit it.
And isn’t that usually the case? You’ve just cleaned your visor, hopped on your bike and in the first kilometre you hit a bug right in the middle of your field of vision!
With the Visorcat you don’t have to stop; you can keep on riding!
While motorcycle companies are developing integrated motorcycle sensors to detect and warn of an impending rear-ender, Senzar has produced an aftermarket device.
Companies such as Honda, Ducati, Kawasaki and Suzuki are developing radar sensors for their bikes.
However, they have all been beaten to the punch by Taiwanese company Senzar.
Their compact Senzar device mounts on the back of the bike and can detect vehicles up to 10m.
It then warns the rider withflashing lights attached to the mirrors.
It’s not a wireless system, so you have to fit a long wire connector.
The Senzar BlindSpot Detection System is available for pre-order at a 50% discount price of $US399 (about $A570). That means it will eventually cost a whopping $800 ($A1140).
When the motorcycle manufacturers start fitting these devices, it will no doubt increase the price of the bike, but probably not by that much.
There is no word on when the device will ship.
Motorcycle devices
Most cars have sensors that detect blind spots around the vehicle.
Motorcycles are lagging behind despite that fact that rear-ender crashes are among the most common involving motorcycles.
Motorcycle manufacturers are now approaching this very real problem in different ways.
A motorcyclist has died after his bike left the road and hit a pile of rubble near Walgett in central NSW overnight.
Police believe the 20-year-old man was travelling along Opal Fields Road, Cumborah, between 7pm and 7.30pm (Wednesday 1 May 2019), when the crash occurred.
“He failed to reach his destination and people went looking for him,” police say.
The rider is believed to have died at the scene.
Officers from Central North Police District established a crime scene and are investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.
A report will be prepared for the information of the Coroner.
Lone riders
He is the third rider in the past week to have crashed and died, lying for some time before being located.
The body of the 46-year-old Stockington man and his Harley-Davidson motorcycle were found the following morning down an embankment in the Lake Macquarie region.
Our sincere condolences to the family and friends of all riders.
Honda has been busy recently applying for patents for a range of out-there inventions including this helmet that integrates with the bike and monitors for of an impending rear-ender.
The helmet features a rear-facing camera that monitors traffic behind the rider.
This information is sent to a processing unit which detects a fast-approaching vehicle and sends a visual warning to the rider via the motorcycle’s instruments.
Rear-ender crashes are among the most common involving motorcycles, so this could be a useful safety device.
Honda helmet radar monitors for rear-enders
Bike radar monitors for crash
It is similar to systems already found in many cars. Now it appears to be coming to motorcycles.
There are several problems with integrating such technology into a helmet.
It makes the helmet heavier, more expensive, limits the choice of helmet that can be used with the bike, and, since helmets should be changed every five years, it would be obsolete long before the motorcycle.
Some might think this is a great idea as it lifts these important lights higher where drivers are more likely to see them.
It could also be a good safety feature with its brake light that illuminates when the rider slows down on the throttle, rather than the brakes.
How inVIEW works
The inVIEW unit has bright LEDs and is powered by two AAA batteries that they claim will last for months.
Riders get a warning when batteries are low or if there is a problem with the system.
inVIEW comes in red or clear lens
It snaps on via a 3M hook and loop mounting system that Third Eye Design claim is unobtrusive when the unit is not attached and snaps off in the event of a crash.
There is also a small transmitter that can be located close to the rear brake light and indicators.
They say it draws “almost no power and works on all motorcycles, including those with CANBus electrical systems”.
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