Driver Visibility In Two Wheelers : BikeAdvice

Driver Visibility In Two Wheelers
Yamaha SZ-R Ownership Review by Sayan
Polaris Enters India, Plans to Set Up Assembly Site

Posted: 30 Aug 2011 01:24 AM PDT

Original Source: Driver Visibility In Two Wheelers from BikeAdvice.in

In transport, driver visibility is the maximum distance at which the driver of a vehicle can see and identify prominent objects around the vehicle. Visibility is primarily determined by weather conditions and by a vehicle’s design. The parts of a vehicle that influence visibility includes the Front Fairing, Huge Fuel Tanks and Wind shield (If provided).

The factors affecting visibility from driver point of view are helmet design, driving habits, driver's height and finally driver's ability. Good driver visibility is essential to safe road traffic. Blind spots may occur in the front of the driver when the fairing (also the windshield), rear-view mirrors, helmet and tank block a driver’s view of the road. Behind the driver, there are pillion passenger and goods that may reduce visibility.

Blind Spot

Blind spots, in the context of driving an automobile, are the areas of the road and surroundings that cannot be seen while looking forward or through either the rear-view mirrors. Blind spots can be eliminated by overlapping both the rear-view mirrors, or checked by turning one’s head briefly.

Detection of vehicles or other objects in blind spots may also be aided by systems such as video cameras or distance sensors, though these are not yet incorporated in two wheelers sold to the general public.

Blind Spot Areas

The areas most commonly referred to as blind spots are the rear quarter blind spots, areas towards the rear of the vehicle on both sides. These areas are shown with grey colour. Vehicles in the adjacent lanes of the road may fall into these blind spots, and a driver may be unable to see them using only the mirrors. Other areas that are sometimes called blind spots are those that are too low to see in behind as well as in front of a vehicle. Also, in cases where side vision is hindered by helmet design, areas to the left or right can become blind spots as well.

Forward visibility

The front-end blind spots caused can create problems in traffic situations, such as in roundabouts, intersections, and road crossings. Front-end blind spots are influenced by the following design criteria

Distance between the driver and the fairing
Width of the fairing
Angle of the windshield if provided
Colour of the windshield in the case of sport bikes
Height of the driver in relation to the windshield
Colour of helmet shield

Effect of Vehicle Type

Generally speaking, two wheelers with larger front fairing or body work have larger front blind spots. These blind spots are generated on the road surface and under the projected area of fairing. Obstacles on the road are partly or sometimes completely covered by huge fairings. Driver has to control his vehicle with the help of his experience only.

Scooters are also fall in the same category as having front dome. For example, the blind spot in front of dirt bike could only hide small objects on the road; we can say negligible blind spots, while the blind spot of a sport or tourer bike can hide big objects and obstacles on the road, under the projected area of fairing resulting in accidents.

Effect of Height of the Driver

Driver height can also affect visibility. In some bikes the windshield is fillet with the roof-line with a big radius. This fillet round intersects with driver's vision and creates visibility problems. Drivers with small height find problems to manage front and rear vision simultaneously in sport bikes because of turning limitations of rear view mirrors.

They also find difficulties in front vision while driving cruisers because cruisers are having low seating position and negative slope towards headlight. A driver may reduce the size of a blind spot or eliminate it completely by turning their head in the direction of the obstruction. This allows the driver to see better around the obstruction and allows the driver better depth perception.

Effect of Helmet Design

It is but obvious that helmet reduces the side vision angle by restricting the driver's vision. Without helmet, our eyes can catch the moving parts within 180 on our both the sides and we can grab our attention to those moving objects by little turning our eyes along with head. In the case of helmet, the angle reduces to 150 to 160 and we are unable to get idea about any movement beyond these angles. So with helmet it becomes essential to use rear view mirrors and turning our head from side to side constantly.

Effect of Other Automobile Design Factors

Other design factors may prevent a manufacturer from maximizing visibility. These include safety, as narrower headlights cannot provide better visibility at night. In the case of sport bikes, aerodynamics doesn't allow the designer to create their bikes without any fairing. The slope given to windshield is to reduce the drag; it also forms another limitation for the designers. Areas covered by rear view mirrors are affected by their sizes and shapes. Rear view mirrors have to provide sufficient rear visibility along with the good aesthetics.

Testing of Visibility

The vehicles are driven into the darkened lab and lights are mounted in a dummy driver's eye position which is being used to project shadows on to a screen which is surrounded the vehicle in front, rear as well as bottom. The grid on the screen should be marked with a scale so that the edges of the shadow could be measured in terms of their distance from the driver's eyes.

Firstly, a single bulb is used to project the shadow of blind spots on to the screen. Then, the coordinates of the upper and lower corners are measured to enable the area of vision obscured by the parts to be calculated. Then dummy's head could be changed to one which had both left and right 'eyes' (bulbs) so that binocular vision and parts thickness could be assessed.

The edge of each part is measured using one bulb, then the other. In this way, we ensured that only the proportion of the part which is obscured to both eyes is measured. After measuring the areas on screen, designers try to minimize them, especially in sport bikes as they are dealing with very high speed and driver doesn't get time to control the bike.

Some Tips to Improve Visibility

Vehicle seat height should appropriate for you.
Intersect both the rear view mirrors. A single object should appear in both the mirrors.
If you are driving in city, keep the rear view mirrors little outward going opposite to each other. This will improve your visibility in rear quarter blind spots and helps at the time of turning.
Never remove any of the rear view mirror.
Try to accommodate your baggage within the width of seat or maximum up to the width of bike.
Avoid extra fairing for aesthetics.
Choose proper helmet with wide shield. Try to get bit loose helmet to turn your head instantly.
Choose proper goggle for better visibility if not using helmet.
Improve your judgement about obstacles covered in blind spot if using bikes with fairing.

We predominantly ignore or don't feel the importance of visibility because it's easier to develop visibility skills with two wheelers than the cars. We are not solemn about using rear view mirrors as well. But facts are evidence for importance of visibility and maximum of the accidents happen because of ignorance about visibility, either directly or circuitously.

Regards,
Dhruv Panchal

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Yamaha SZ-R Ownership Review by Sayan

Posted: 29 Aug 2011 10:49 PM PDT

Original Source: Yamaha SZ-R Ownership Review by Sayan from BikeAdvice.in

Hi, this is Sayan Chakraborty, an M.Tech student of Jadavpur University. I am from Howrah, West Bengal and started my biking with a TVS Fiero-FX model. After taking admission to M.Tech program, I decided to buy a new bike for me. The change was required because there was a tickle in my heart pushing me towards a new bike. The Fiero was in perfect condition; still I decided to go for a change.

The Search Begins

Being an engineer, understand bikes and other factors is easy now, So this time I was pretty more confident and logical. I first of all select a segment for me which was 150cc. This is because in Howrah/Kolkata you need a blend of performance and economy. I am not a peed freak, So I knew 150cc is good for me.

Now, the list making time, I strike off Pulsar – 150 and Discover – 150 first because they were too common and reliability was not top class, Suzuki GS 150R was next to go due to poor after sale service. Then TVS RTR 160 follows the list because it has that small bike feeling. Honda Dazzler, Hero Honda CBZ Xtreme was off because I do not like them. R15 was out of my reach. I then sorted out bikes as-

Honda CB Unicorn
Hero Honda Hunk
Yamaha FZ-S

I choose Honda unicorn because it was the most reliable all-rounder of the lot.

Twist in the story

I knew about Yamaha SZ (didn't choose because it was lacking disc brakes, tachometer etc.) But all of a sudden came to know about the upgraded SZ that is Yamaha SZ-R. Went to Yamaha dealer the very next day and it was love at first sight.

The Battle Begins

It was a duel between SZ-R and the Unicorn. Unicorn had the reputation of good mileage and performance and SZ-R had the looks and the promise of much more determined Yamaha Motors India.

Yamaha was one of my favorite and the quality of Honda was nothing but "Honda-class", the only word that came into my mind describing the quality of Honda. It was a tough choice and I was in great confusion because I want this bike for really long term use. I started search the web where BikeAdvice.in helped me a lot but there was good reviews for both the bikes which keeps me in dilemma.

The Deciding Factor

SZ-R costs 8000 INR less than Unicorn though it lacks power as much as 1.3 Bhp but as I told earlier I do not need that extra power, and also, the carefully designed torque curve of SZ-R having peak torque of 12.8 Nm @ 4500 rpm was the thing I needed. I assumed maintenance of the two bikes to be same, even if the Unicorn returns 3km/l more mileage than SZ-R, think how much time it will take to cover the amount of 8000INR.

This was the perfect strategy Yamaha needed to increase their share in the market. I checked the bike and find no quality issues. Yamaha was a brand that can always be trusted, still I made the checks. I finalize Yamaha SZ-R. Went for the Quality-Red color and booked it.

The Day

3rd August 2011, I sat on the bike, twist the keys, the green (N) light goes on, touched the starter switch and the sleeping beauty wakes up. Pulled the cutch, rolled into the 1st gear and off we go.

Review Time

The honeymoon ended and real marriage begins for a bike owner from that very moment when he is handed over with the keys and gets off to his baby but for the lover/bikers, it never ends.

The Engine – Heart of the bike

The Engine is 153cc SOHC 2valve producing peak power of 12.1PS@ 7500 RPM and peak torque of 12.8Nm @4500rpm.
It's the same engine that serves in FZ series but has been detuned for better fuel economy.
The engine is butter smooth though it's not as quick as the other competitors. But it is carefully designed torque curve having peak @ only 4500rpm makes life easy in heavy traffic.
You will not feel vibration though have not pushed it far than 6500 rpm and that too is done after first 500km because the engine is new and the good thing is that you will not feel the engine heat on your leg due to its well designed sitting posture. It's best if you don't cross 4500 rpm for first 500 km and avoid more than 6000 rpm till you clock 1000 km on the odometer.
The gearbox is just perfect. No more words. There was a bit notch till first 50km but then it becomes butter smooth.
This is not the one to jump from a signal to another and zoom past the traffic but if you want comfort and ease of driving, this one is for you.

Design and looks

I personally feel it looks better than many other 150cc bikes and definitely better than the bikes of 125-135 cc segment.
The look is sporty though it has been mated with very conventional and comfortable upright sitting posture. It's very well suited for tall men.
It has a very good ground clearance of 165mm and wheelbase of 1320mm.
The front mudguard, rear tail light is unique and adds a distinct look. The side cowls are aerodynamically designed and add a special appearance to the bike.
It has an analogue cockpit and I love to see the needle oscillating. I don't like digital meters.
The rpm meter is unique and gives a very special look. There is also a engine malfunction light.
The fuel tank is very large (14L) and adds extra miles at a single refueling. It's really an eye candy color quality.

Handling

This is where every Yamaha is good at and enjoys being on top and this one is also not an exception. Its handling is top class. Disc Brake is not as sharp as pulsars but still very good, do not have that sudden bite but it's quite effective.
Suspension system handles the potholes very well. It's presently in the middle of Hard-Soft settings i.e. the factory settings.
I found the confidence of curve in my very first ride with this baby, but it will still be better if the tyres were made of MRF.
SZ-R is equipped with tube tires. Tubeless tire such as in FZ series is not implemented here.

Overall Performance

If you are looking for a race breed don't choose this one. But if you are in search of a (150/135) cc bike that has good mileage, awesome handling, very good comfort, good looks and low investment cost than this one is for you. It takes time to reach high on the Speedo but it's really smooth through the rev range.

Its high torque characteristics reduces need of shifting gears frequently and it is very comfortable for long drives as it's posture is very comfortable for your back and you will never feel back pain. People complains about it for being low on power but remember that it costs same as 125/135cc bikes and returns similar mileage figure and the advantage is it can breathe easy being an 150 cc so I found out the disadvantage to be an advantage.

Mileage

I am presently getting 44km/l before my first service. This is good for a 150cc machine. I will advice not to choose a bike only for the reason of better mileage because there might be other expenses that might rip your pocket after 3-4 years. Better to have a little low but consistent economy.

Drawbacks

It also has some demerits such as

Kick starter has been excluded (But you can fix it later).
There is no pass switch, engine kill switch, trip meter.
Has rigid footrest for the driver like old bikes (Though I feel it's not a problem at all).
No digital console for digital-fans. And it consist tube tires.
And lastly the battery MINDA make and I am not very sure about its long term performance.

Final Verdict

It will be good if you consider all the factors before choosing your machine. All that I can say that SZ-R is a quality product and complete value for money. It is priced similar to 135/125 cc machines and gives similar performance and economy. Think twice before buying a 135/125 cc overlooking this baby.

And lastly, before I finish, all I must say is love your bike, take care of it. Always wear a helmet, obey traffic rules and fly safe. I thank Mr. Deepak for giving me the opportunity to express my views; readers please let me know what you think by your comments.

Note – The photos were taken at that very moment I decided to write this review and that was while coming back from university. It was raining that day and I thought to wash my bike before I take the pictures but then I thought we saw enough of Barbie dolls in the showrooms, our bikes rule the streets and that is how they look in rainy season, so welcome to ground reality, welcome to the beauty that stands in the mud. Hope you enjoyed the review. Right?

Regards,
Sayan Chakraborty

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Polaris Enters India, Plans to Set Up Assembly Site

Posted: 29 Aug 2011 10:07 PM PDT

Original Source: Polaris Enters India, Plans to Set Up Assembly Site from BikeAdvice.in

Greetings! Indian automobile market is luring as it is studded with opportunities and many consumers in search of better products from the vehicle manufacturers. As a matter of fact the market is luring automobile manufacturers from across the world to try their luck on the Indian soil. Recently Polaris Industries, a US based off-road vehicle maker, talked about Indian markets and motorcycles. Polaris Industries recently have forayed into Indian market with plans to set up an assembly unit within the next five years as it aims to clock revenue of up to USD 400 million by then.

Polaris Industries has started its operations in India through a wholly owned subsidiary is now looking to set up research and development center in order to introduce high end premium motorcycles in India in the next 3 to 5 years. There effort looks solid and the company plans to take over and establish their brand in the market more firmly. In order to enhance their working, Polaris Industries has earlier appointed Pankaj Dubey (Former National Head of Yamaha India) as the Managing Director of Polaris India Pvt.Ltd.

Speaking on Polaris Industries making their way to India, Mr. J. Morgan (President and COO of Polaris Industries) said that the company sees significant growth opportunities in next five years India and is aiming to clock revenue up to $5 billion globally. He further said that the company is seeing India from a long term perspective and they are expecting revenue up to USD 400 million by the end of five years.

Mr. Morgan also said that India will play a major role in helping them achieve the global revenue target along with Brazil and China. When asked about the manufacturing facilities, Morgan said that the company is currently paying huge duty and thus once the volume increases the company would look to open the manufacturing facilities. He also said that the company might partner with local manufacturers to produce products under a contract manufacturing agreement.

Polaris Industries Vice President was of the opinion that the company is looking to study the Indian market conditions and will roll out products based on the taste of Indian consumers. He also added that the company is looking to establish a design center in India in the coming 3-5 years that will probably strengthen the company's portfolio. Lastly he said that Polaris India have already partnered with TCS and L&T for technical and engineering services.

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Tuesday, August 30, 2011