Shaun « Myrons Mopeds

Safety

September 8, 2004

Pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists must pay extra attention because texting car drivers don’t.

Take a motorcycle safety class and read other sources. The enjoyment and economy of riding is worth the effort.

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MOPED SAFETY: How to drive a moped safely.

By Shaun Strahm, Myrons Mopeds 714-992-5592 August 2002

This information is intended to supplement the California Motorcycle Drivers Handbook. You should read and thoroughly understand that book first. All DMVs have them at the front desk.

Safety is mostly in the mind of the driver. It doesn’t matter how fast the vehicle can swerve or stop, if the driver doesn’t see the object he or she’s about to collide with. It’s the driver’s responsibility to see and avoid all accidents before they happen, regardless of who’s fault it is. Lets say you go through a green light and get hit broadside by a car running the red light. In a car there probably would be no bodily injury, just damage to the car, which would be paid for by the person at fault. But on a bike (motorcycle, moped, or bicycle) if you get hit broadside you might lose a leg or die. Car drivers usually have the belief that the car will protect them from bodily injury in most cases and just go on through green lights without ever looking both ways first. This is a habit that must be broken in order to eliminate the chance, maybe 1 in 1,000, of that ever happening.

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GENERAL PRINCIPLES:

1. CONCENTRATION: It is hard work to always keep your mind focused on what’s about to happen ahead of you. If your thoughts wander off, wake yourself up by thinking about what it would feel like to hit the pavement. Be like a wild rabbit, with big eyes and ears, who sees and hears everything around him at all times.

2. DISTRACTIONS: On a bike you can’t drink, eat, smoke, tune the radio, talk on the phone or talk to a passenger because you are in a high wind. The only physical thing you can do is drive. Keep your eyes moving and don’t fixate on any one thing.

3. BEING SEEN: If you want somebody to see you, you wave your arms to get their attention. On a bike you can move your body in various ways, or you can change lane position and try to move across the vision of the driver you’re trying to get to see you. The worst thing to do is to go motionless straight towards their eyes. At night you can use your bike’s headlight as a beacon by weaving the bike sideways back and forth.

4. PLANNING ESCAPES: Know what’s behind and beside you at all times and mentally rehearse how you would avoid obstacles that might just pop out in front of you, especially cars turning left.

AVOIDING CARS:

5. INTERSECTIONS: Most accidents happen at intersections. Always look both ways before going through an intersection. Never trust stop signs or red lights. Never go through intersections at a speed faster than it takes to see both ways first and/or be able to stop, depending on the situation. Oncoming cars turning left are the #1 cause of death among motorcyclists.

6. DRIVEWAYS: Always check for any vehicle that might pull out in front of you. Always stay far enough to the left or slow down enough to be able to avoid cars pulling out in front of you. The nose of the car must sometimes stick out several feet into the lane before the driver of the car pulling out of a driveway can see around parked cars.

7. PARKED CARS: If you can see that there is nobody in the car then it’s OK to be on the right side of the right lane close to the parked cars, because the doors cannot suddenly spring open. Otherwise stay far enough to the left to avoid car door openings. Mopeds should usually stay to the right, but sometimes must take up the whole lane if it is hazardous to be on the far right.

AVOIDING ROAD HAZARDS:

8. OIL SLICKS: Be aware that oil and coolant usually leak from the middle of the car and occur most frequently where cars are stopped such as just before intersections, or in the middle of parking spaces. Avoid oil slicks by seeing the slight shininess of the pavement and going around it, and by staying to one side of the lane. If you do hit oil your tires will slip out easily and you must go more or less straight through and not try to turn or slow down too fast. If your tires do slip out you might be able to save it by stomping with your feet. This is also why you should wear good shoes. Remember that some oil might remain on your tires, so pull over and wipe it off.

9. GRAVEL OR SAND: Everyone has slipped on gravel or sand before when walking. The worst kind is when the grains are rounded and the surface it’s on is hard and smooth. Sand occurs mostly in rain gutters, drainage areas, and along hillsides and beaches. Slow down before you get to it and don’t try to turn or stop fast while you’re in it. Watch for it when you’re turning into a driveway.

10. WET PAVEMENT: Your tires have reduced traction and so they skid easier. If you use too much front brake, the front tire will skid (slide out). Since it’s the steering tire you will have no steering control and will probably fall down. But if the rear tire skids you can control the slide by steering into it. It is for these reasons that you should use both front and rear brakes about equally when trying to stop fast on wet streets. Likewise for sand and oil, but they’re more slick.

11. SLICK DRY PAVEMENT: Be aware of old, rough, rocky asphalt and super smooth concrete. Concrete gutters that are frequently wet and well traveled over can be polished as smooth as a marble coffee table. Steel plates and manhole covers are also slick.

12. DRY PAVEMENT: On normal clean dry pavement you can stop about twice as fast with the front brake as you can with the rear brake, as long as you’re not leaned over. When you use the front brake hard enough the weight is transferred to the front tire and the back of the bike wants to lift up. This makes the front tire grip more but the rear tire grip less. On mopeds and cruiser motorcycles the quickest stop is with mostly the front brake. On sport motorcycles it’s with only the front brake. So you should use mostly the front brake on normal dry pavement, and mostly the rear brake on slick pavement, and 50/50 front and rear on semi-slick pavement.

13. UNEVEN PAVEMENT: Examples are the edge of gutters, the lip at the edge of a driveway, railroad tracks, and drainage grooves. If your front tire tries to cross over at too shallow of an angle it will follow the groove and you will lose steering control and crash. If you need to cross a groove that’s running almost parallel with the way you’re going, first turn away from it so you can then turn across it at a sharp angle. The bigger the groove is compared to the size of the tire, the sharper is the angle required to cross it. In a car you don’t have to worry about these things.

RIDING SKILLS:

14. BRAKING: Always do your braking early, while you’re still vertical, before you lean over to go around a corner. If you try to use too much brakes, especially the front brake, while leaned over far enough, the tires will skid out and you will probably hit the pavement. In a car you can brake and turn at the same time up to a point. That point is much lower on a bike so you have to break that habit if you’re used to driving a car.

15. CORNERING: On a moped you should always have your feet on the pedals so you can move the outside pedal to its lowest position (so the inside pedal won’t hit the ground) when cornering. If you then put weight on the outside pedal it makes the bike more stable and resistant to slipping out.

Wild rabbits never say “I didn’t see that cow’s foot”!

How does a waiter or waitress in Dennys carry multiple plates of food and drinks all day long and never drop anything?

Practice. It’s a balancing act similiar to riding a moped. Anyone can do it. With practice you get better and better.

A skilled waitress can look like she’s taking a lot of risk, carrying so much, but she’s not. To her it’s easy and normal.

As you ride bicycles and motorcycles you must be alert, aware, and making predictions of cars next moves.

Like learning a play a guitar, you read something, then practice it, read something else, practice that.

How do rabbits avoid getting trampled by herds of cattle or sheep? They have big alert eyes and perked up ears.

They’re lucky that they always stay alert and never fade out like we do. They never say “I did’nt see that cows foot”.

Wild rabbits don’t have accident forgiveness. As a pedestrian or a cyclist, try to be like a bunny in a herd of hippos.

Stay to the left of the gutter. There are many hazards there: nails, uneven pavement, cars pulling in or out.

A fresh classic oil slick at the centerline of the cars path. Beware of oil slicks and slippery surfaces.

Cars are only safe when you’re in them.

There’s a right way and a wrong way for everything.

9 People on 1 Motorcycle

Brakes slow you down better than skin.

Body Language

August 26, 2004

Steve and Eric remind all of us who walk, bike, or drive on the streets. Every day someone looses their life because of inattentive driving.

To counteract this a good defensive driver must get into the mind of all other drivers to root out zombies, or else take measures to avoid collisions and hazardous situations, constantly.

It’s like a good strategy game but with deadly consequences.

Communication by Body Language applies to Vehicles on the Street As Well as People

1. The only way to guarantee that another driver is aware of you is to do something that causes them to react.

2. Tactics like bright lights, bright colors, or loud mufflers help, but do not guarantee your presence is known.

3. Even eye contact is not a sure thing, unless you can see the drivers eyes react to your sudden movement.

Imagine you are in a crowded shopping mall. People are walking in all directions and crossing paths and yet no one hardly ever bumps into another person. As you are walking, you see a woman approaching you straight on. As she gets closer she notices that you are on a collision course with her, and moves to one side slightly. You see, by her body language, that she intends to go around you on your left, so you move a little to the right. The two of you pass without even thinking about it. This unspoken communication happens every time two pedestrians are on a collision course. If your paths are not straight towards each other, but instead are perpendicular, then the body language signal is a change in walking speed. One person slows down and/or the other person speeds up. In order to speed up you have to lean forward a little. That signals the other person to slow down.

Now imagine you are watching an NFL football game. A skilled offensive receiver or running back is running with the ball. The defense is pursuing him. Whenever a defender gets near, the runner “throws a fake”, causing the defender to miss the tackle. The runner scores a touchdown, without being touched. A good runner, besides being fast, is good at faking, or sending false body language signals. A twitch of the head and eyes, “look left and go right”, is one example. A twist of the upper torso to the right, while the legs go another direction, is another example.

Now let’s apply these principles to motor vehicles. It’s night time, another vehicle is moving slowly forward in the turning lane as you approach. How do you know they see you? You do something that causes a visible reaction. On a light motorcycle you can move your whole bike from side to side. A head light that moves across the field of vision is easier seen than a flickering or flashing headlight with no side motion. As you approach head-on you twitch towards the left, towards the suspicious car. Immediately the car will twitch as the driver applies brakes or steering. Then you know the driver in that car sees you. If not, then you immediately slow way down, to avoid the possible collision. What’s funny is they think you are stupid or not in control, for being “goofy” or “twitchy”.

There’s a way to “freeze the intersection”. As you approach an intersection where cars are turning left and right in front of you, you can change lane position quickly. This should get any turners who are rolling forward slowly, to stop, as they react simultaneously to your “fake”. It’s like a flinch. They think you’re a bad driver because you can’t go straight. You’re a couple of chess moves ahead of them. They don’t know that you got them to freeze up for your safe passage.

Getting a view of the driver can be a good way of communicating. In the day, standing up and sitting down, while watching their eyes, is one way of telling if they see you, when you are in close range. You have to see their facial expression change, and not just hold a zombie stare straight at you. All of this is defeated by tinted windows. That’s partially why tinted front and side windows are illegal in California and other places.

That’s the main idea. Two way communication is better than one way.

Stay safe and enjoy the streets! – Shaun Strahm Oct 2012

How to Cause Traffic Signals to Change to Green

April 19, 2004

Traffic Light Detectors: How to Trigger Them with Bikes

by Shaun Strahm, Myrons Mopeds, Oct ‘09

If you ride bicycles, mopeds, or small motorcycles you know how traffic lights do not often change for you like they do with cars. Many bicyclists will go over and press the pedestrian button to let the light know that they are there and are requesting a green. There is a better way. Understanding how the vehicle detectors embedded in the pavement work, and where to position your bike to cause it to recognize your presence, can be life-changing. Never mind those strap-on magnets. They don’t seem to work, and you don’t even need them anyway. All you need is an electrically conductive loop placed where enough magnetic field lines pass through it, and blink, you get a green light. And guess what, you got two of them already on your bike right now. They’re your rims. Your rims are your secret weapon.

The way modern on-demand traffic lights work is by buried metal detectors in the street. They are the same type of metal detector that finds coins at the beach, but bigger. In the past we had weight detectors, 5ft by 1ft rubber coated pressure switches that would trigger when a car tire rolled over them, but not someone walking. There are still a few around, but they’ve all been replaced by loops of copper wire buried in the pavement. The loop detectors work on electricity and magnetism, so even a ton of bricks or an all-plastic car would not set them off. You need a certain amount of metal close to the ground. Actually, it’s not the amount of metal, it’s the shape, size and positioning of it.

Dipole

Loop

Detector

Quadrupole

Loop

Detector

In a dipole loop detector, there are two poles, a north pole above the street in the center of the loop, and a south pole under the street. All of the magnetic field lines are perpendicular to and encircling the wire loop in a donut shape, pointing down inside the loop and up outside the loop.The idea is to put your rims on the wire, in line with it. That way the maximum number of magnetic field lines will pass through your rims. So you should stop on either side of the loop, not in the center of the circle. Furthermore you should turn your front wheel to follow the curve of the loop, to capture more field lines. Two bikes, side by side, on the loop is twice as effective.

In a quadrupole loop detector, there are four poles, a left north above the street, a right north below the street, a left south below, and a right south above. It is just two opposite pointing dipole loops side by side. In practice, the loops are very long rectangles, 1 or 2 car lengths long. With quadrupole loop detectors, the line down the middle is where you should put your rims. The middle wire is twice as sensitive as either side wire is, since twice as many field lines pass through your rims. These detectors are better at detecting bicycles than the dipole type. Some bicycle-friendly communities have small quadrupole loop detectors for bicycles with a white dotted line on the center wire and a sign showing a bicycle stopped on the white dotted line.

Here are some more specific ways to make traffic lights turn green for you. If there’s more than one circle, as you pull up follow the curves of each circle with your tires. As a last resort, you can lay your bike down flat above the detector. Always try to let cars trigger the detectors for you, when possible. The following things cause more magnetic field lines to be enclosed by a conductive loop and thus trigger the detector easier: bigger diameter rims, thinner or lower-profile tires (by lowering the rims), bigger and lower engine. Better than any bike would be a 6ft by 6ft sheet metal about 1ft above the street. That would look just like a car to the detector. Better than anything is an extension cord, plugged into itself, and placed on the street exactly over the buried wire. It’s time to stop being penalized for not being inside a steel and glass cage. May you live long on two wheels and feel free to make as many left turns as you wish.

Links and References

August 15, 2003

Online Parts Sellers: ********************************************

Motor West: http://www.motorwestmotorcycles.com/ Vintage Puch, Sears Allstate, and pre-1985 BMW parts. Located in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Online parts for 1950 to 1986 Puch motorcycles, scooters, mopeds. Vintage Puch and BMW restoration and service.

Steves Moped: http://www.stevesmoped.com/home/ Located in Dumont, New Jersey, Steves has been selling and servicing mopeds since 1978. They sell parts online for Solex mopeds. They are experts in moped performance parts.

Treatland: http://www.treatland.tv/ Located in San Francisco CA, they have a huge online inventory of mostly aftermarket performance items plus many original or ordinary replacement parts, tools, and accessories. What a masterful job of sourcing thousands of hard to get items from around the world, and keeping prices low. Hats off to them.

1977 Mopeds: http://www.1977mopeds.com/ The greatest show on earth for vintage moped parts, aftermarket performance parts, and everything to do with mopeds. A massive inventory and a huge online store, ever growing and improving. Essential to life as we know it.

Garage – 1977 Mopeds: http://garage.1977mopeds.com/ A art gallery of customized mopeds and light motorcycles known as “builds”.

Classic Vintage Restorations https://www.classicalvintagerestorations.com/ A software tool with manuals and helpful info for classic and vintage motorcycles and mopeds, with a focus on UK models.

Local Shops : ****************************************************

Electric Bicycle Center: https://electricbicyclecenter.com This is by far the best place to buy an electric bicycle or electric scooter. Located in Fullerton CA, 2 miles down the street (east) from Myrons Mopeds, they are also known as Myrons Extreme Machines (MXM). Sam has sold and serviced over 10,000 2-wheelers, from mopeds and motorcycles in the 1980’s to go-peds and stand-up gas scooters in the 1990’s to electric bicycles and scooters in the 2000’s. Legendary Sam worked for Myron himself in the 1980’s. See more in Showcase/Shop Tour. They sell E-Moto, E-Zip, EG, Hebb and I-Zip electric bicycles, Go-Ped and E-Zip electric scooters, and Go-Ped push scooters. Rated A+ by BBB, and 5-star by Yelp.

Note that Myrons Mopeds and Myrons Extreme Machines, both have the same first name, are on the same street, are in the same city, and have the same phone number except for the last digit. Despite all that in common, they are separate businesses, and often confused with one another. Believe it or not!

Vespa of Laguna Beach: http://vespaoflagunabeach.com/ This excellent Laguna Beach shop sells Vespa, Kymco, Sym, and Genuine scooters, all high quality, highly rated and recommended. Great hard working honest professional people in one of the world’s most beautiful locations.

Pasadena Moped: http://www.pasadenamoped.com/ A very small shop with a lot of experience and enthusiasm. Doug at Pasadena Moped has decades of experience riding, racing, and repairing bicycles, mopeds, and motorcycles. A believer in small personal transportation, he sells used mopeds, and parts for Puch, Derbi, others.

Huntington Beach Scooters: http://hbscooters.com/home HB Scooters serves Orange County’s often congested but beautiful coastal cities. They sell Sym and Lance scooters, plus Pedeco and A2B electric bicycles. They do service, but not on Chinese kinds.

J and J Motorsports Inc: http://www.jjmotorsportsinc.com/ Located in El Monte CA, they sell Lazer 4-stroke mopeds, scooters, and small motorcycles, all made in China. There are many merits to a four stroke, including: able to idle like a heart beat for long periods, better fuel economy, no surging (yang yang yang) when decelerating, they sound more pleasant and less chaotic, and they are able to meet emission standards with less catalyst in the exhaust than a two stroke would need. On the other hand, two strokes make way more power, weigh less, cost less, and are easier to service.

Massimo’s Vespa Shop: http://www.massimovespa.com/ Located in Costa Mesa, Orange County, CA, Massimo Dimarco delivers a lifetime of experience and passion to customers of his a wonderful little shop. He services vintage Vespa scooters, and occasionally Vespa mopeds.

Scooter Dynasty: http://www.scooterdynasty.com/index.aspx Located in Monterey Park, near central Los Angeles, they are a large scooter dealer, and they do service on Chinese scooters. They were voted Best Scooter Dealer in Los Angeles in 2010.

Local Moped Service: *********************************************

Rock N Wrench: mopedrescue@msn.com Honest Bryan specializes in vintage mopeds and late model scooters. He operates out of Garden Grove, and also does basic mobile service to Orange County, by appointment. He has serviced 100’s of mopeds. Highly recommended.

Motorcycle Insurance: *************************************

The article Average Cost of Motorcycle Insurance in 2018 talks about the overall average cost of motorcycle insurance, the states with the least and most expensive premium coverage costs, factors that affect motorcycle insurance cost, and much more. You can view the full article here: https://lendedu.com/blog/average-cost-of-motorcycle-insurance/

The article Motorcycle Safety Guide includes how motorcycle drivers can stay as safe as possible on the road with tips on finding the right motorcycle that suits their needs, wearing appropriate safety equipment, and the latest motorcycle safety features to look out for: http://www.buyautoinsurance.com/motorcycle-safety-guide/

Myrons Mopeds

Myrons Rides 2009

Ride 68 Queen Mary Tour Fountain Valley to Long Beach 42 miles 54 riders Jan 11 ’09

Ride 69 enoZ deepS Fullerton to Industry (backwards) 31 mi 20 riders Feb 8 ’09

Ride 70 Tom’s Farms Corona to South Corona 43 miles 35 riders Mar 8 2009

Ride 71 Hollywood Hills Chinatown to Griffith Park 32 miles 33 riders Apr 5 2009

Slow Ride 72 Garden Grove Fullerton to G.G. 25 miles 41 riders May 10 2009

Ride 73 Beach City Mopeds F. Valley to Laguna Beach 42 mi 53 riders May 10 ’09

Slow Ride 74 1953 McDonalds Fullerton to S.F. Springs 24 mi 39 riders Jul 12 ’09

Slow Ride 75 Redondo Pier Signal Hill to Redondo Beach 45 mi 35 riders Aug 9 ’09

Myrons Rides 2008

Ride 56 The Rose Ride Arcadia to Pasadena 30 miles 37 riders Jan 13 2008

Ride 57 Queen Mary Tour Long Beach to Long Beach 48 mi 36 riders Feb 11 ’08

2008 L.A. Moped Rally Los Angeles to Malibu 80+ riders Feb 17 2008

Ride 58 Chino Airport Fullerton to Chino 56 miles 37 riders March 2 2008

Ride 59 Bahooka and El Monte Fullerton to Rosemead 44 mi 28 riders Apr 6 ’08

Ride 60 Getty Museum II Chinatown to Bel Air 50 mi 31 riders Apr 27 2008

Ride 61 O.C. North Coast Fountain Valley to H.B. 43 mi 47 riders Jun 1 2008

Ride 62 O.C. South Coast Costa Mesa to San Clemente 56 mi 50 riders Jul 6 2008

Ride 63 Palos Verdes San Pedro to Palos Verdes 30 mi 38 riders Aug 3 2008

Ride 64 Huntington Harbor Fullerton to H.B. 43 miles 43 riders Sep 7 2008

2008 Run for the Border Corona to San Diego 230 miles 7 riders Sep 20-21 2008

Ride 65 Lake Mathews Corona to Corona 38 miles 29 riders Oct 12 2008

Ride 66 Descanso Gardens L.A. to La Canada-Flintridge 30 mi 38 riders Nov 9 ’08

Ride 67 John Force Car Show Fullerton to Yorba Linda 33 mi 37 riders Dec 7 ’08

Safety

MOPED SAFETY: How to drive a moped safely.

By Shaun Strahm, Myrons Mopeds 714-992-5592 August 2002

Wild rabbits never say “I didn’t see that cow’s foot”!

Body Language

Steve and Eric remind all of us who walk, bike, or drive on the streets. Every day someone looses their life because of inattentive driving.

It’s like a good strategy game but with deadly consequences.

How to Cause Traffic Signals to Change to Green

Traffic Light Detectors: How to Trigger Them with Bikes

by Shaun Strahm, Myrons Mopeds, Oct ‘09

Dipole

Loop

Detector

Quadrupole

Loop

Detector

Links and References

Online Parts Sellers: ********************************************

Local Shops : ****************************************************

Local Moped Service: *********************************************

Motorcycle Insurance: *************************************

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