Riding Safety Gear Within City Ride

Bike riding gear is important on highways, but is also important on city rides. If you are riding more than 20km everyday on Indian roads, then you should consider wearing riding gears everyday to office. It might sound ridiculous. But with the same logic people laughed at wearing helmet some 20 years back. And some still do on wearning them on long highway journeys.

You may laugh on it, but even in one incident if it saves you serious injuries then its worth the pain of wearing them everyday. I do understand the pain of wearing them in hot weather but I cannot emphasize more on its importance.

Tips On Saving Money On Fuel

How to buy fuel

1. Buy gasoline during coolest time of day - early morning or late evening is best. During these times gasoline is densest. Keep in mind - gas pumps measure volumes of gasoline, not densities of fuel concentration. Fuel bunks are tipped up with fuel @ 23c
2. Choose type and brand of gasoline carefully. Certain brands provide you with greater economy because of better quality. Use the brands which "seem" most beneficial. I would recommend shell in India. Reason being, its most pure and full of all others.
3. Tank full/Empty. The emptier the vehicles tank, the fuel will vaporise more. Try keep you tank more than half full. Avoid 5Ltr top up if fuel capacity is 40Lts.
4. Avoid filling gas tank to top. Overfilling results in sloshing over and out of tank. Never fill gas tank past the first "click" of fuel nozzle, if nozzle is automatic.

Selecting A Good Helmet

A motorcycle helmet serves two important goals: first, it protects your head in a crash. Second, but equally importantly, it protects your head and keeps you comfortable while riding.

How does it work

The helmet has a hard outer layer - polycarbonate, fibre glass or composites - meant to absorb and spread impacts. It resists penetration by sharp objects and the shell disperses the forces of the impact.
Between your skin and this shell is an energy absorbing layer, usually polystyrene, that is designed to gather this energy and self-destruct, transferring as little force as possible to the head.
The polystyrene is covered with a comfort-oriented layer of fabric, which is sometimes removable for washing. Add a good, scratch resistant visor and a secure retention  system, and you have a helmet.

Types of Helmets

There are four basic types of helmets: full-face, 3/4 helmets, half helmets, and flip-face (or modular) helmets.

	Full-face helmets Full-face helmets wrap fully around your head, and offer the best protection both while riding, and in a crash. All full-face helmets that I'm aware of have a flip-up visor, which is typically removeable without tools. This is the type of helmet I own. This is the only type of helmet I recommend.
	Flip-face (modular) helmets Flip-up (or modular) helmets are a compromise between the protection of a full-face helmet, and the convenience of a 3/4 helmet. Being a compromise, they are neither as protective as a full-face, nor as convenient as a 3/4. However, if you can't stand the thought of a full-face helmet because of glasses, or being able to talk to people with your helmet on, a flip-up may be a good choice for you. I am personally undecided on them, but stick with a full-face because I don't feel hampered by the design. A good flip-face helmet is a far better choice than a 3/4, so always pick the modular if you feel a full-face isn't an acceptable choice.
	3/4 helmets The three-quarter helmet seems to have been very popular in the 1970s, when there was a huge surge in motorcycle ownership in the US. I've read that full face helmets of that time were bulky and heavy, making a 3/4 helmet a much more comfortable choice. This is no longer the case, and 3/4 helmets are not a wise choice. They leave your chin and face exposed, both to oncoming objects like rocks and bugs, and to the pavement in a crash. Take a look at this diagram, which shows where crashed helmets took hits. Note how the areas with the largest percentages are on the chinbar. Note how a 3/4 helmet has no chinbar.
	Half helmets Half helmets, also called "brain buckets" and "puddin' cups" offer very little protection either in a crash or while riding. The market for these helmets seems to be cruiser riders who want to project a tough or scofflaw image. They have the greatest feeling of freedom of all types of DOT-approved helmets. If you value your life at all, avoid half helmets.

Park and Rides - Enablers of Public Transport

Park and ride stations are popular concept in developed countries, where you drive your vehicle to nearest bus/metro station, park  the vehicle and catch bus/metro. This not only increases the promotion of use of public transport, also reduces the stress of driving around. Finding a parking option within the city is a daunting task. Citizens sometimes feel its easier to catch auto/bus rather find a parking place in Bangalore.

 In last few years, Bangalore has been developing bus/metro terminals (under JNNURM) under similar concept. They are also called traffic & transit management centers.  45 such centers are supposed to come up in Bangalore. Such almost/working centers are at  Jayanagar, Vijayanagar, Banashankari, Koramangala, Shantinagar, White Field (ITPL), Kengeri, Yeshwanthpur, Domlur & Banneraghatta.

Marcopolo: A New Class

I am writing this while sitting in marcopolo. Volvo buses are a hit in bangalore. Primary reasons being

•  Agility - It has extremely good acceleration
•  Pleasant interiors 
•  Sound and pollution proof
•  Good gentry and less crowded

Tata's have in general done a good job on Marcopolo as its definately bring a different class of buses in India. In Delhi, old buses are rapidly being replaced by new Maropolo (CNG). Wide an big glass windows gives a good look.  I believe introducing marcopolo is generating/adding a new class of riders. Although once you take few rides you would realize Marcopolo's are nowhere close to replacing volvo buses. Although there were news articles of stopping further procurement of volvo buses as:-

• volvo's are double the cost
• less fuel efficient 
• higher maintenance cost
• Import cost added as tax benefit has been removed.