The Silent Long Way Round: Yarets Vladimir

You may have heard of "Long Way Round". A couple of celebrity actors, Ewen McGregor the Jedi knight and Charly Boormen, riding their motorcycles across several continents.

But are there real people who are doing it?
I mean real actual riding without a whole caravan of logistic vehicles behind you to bail you out?
Real people who are not millionaires?
Real people who can do this thing even better?


Meet my friend Yarets. He is from Minsk (Belarus), formerly USSR.

I tell you why he is better?
1. He has rode his motorcycle alone to over 40 countries!
2. He has been left his home and been riding eversince, 2000. That is 8 years!
3. He is 67 years old.
4. He is deaf and mute.

And he is in Singapore now.

This is your chance to catch him before he lives Singapore.


Where Yarets has been



The map shows where this remarkable man has ridden to:





42 countries and still counting (42th is Singapore):




He has been to s0 many places I have never heard of.



The Man and His Bike

This is what 67-year old Yarets look like now:





This is his bike:




Yes, not another BMW. A single cylinder 650cc BMW.
Note his bike's side "panniers"--actually a pair of suitcase.
They are Samsonite.


Yarets did not always look like what he looked like now.
In fact, he did not even started off with a BMW.



























This is what he looked like then, when he first started on his russian bike.

Then, he met an accident when in America. He was seriously injured. And his bike was badly damaged.

BMW kindly donated him a new bike.























His Local Host: Moto-V, Singapore


I am part of the Moto-V community (http://www.moto-v.sg). Moto-V is a motorcycling enthusiast community in Singapore.

By chance, one of us met him in Singapore. At first, we didn't know much of his story. We just wanted to help when we know of a fellow motorcyclist who is all alone in Singapore and seemed kind of lost. So we played host to him during his current stay in Singapore.







We hanged out with him and keep him company:



Sometimes, I wonder what does Yarets do for a living (before he left his home).
He dress simply. And his bike looks weary and tired from its long trip.
But he never ask for money from us.

Why is he doing all this for?


The Man and His Mission

Once, I forgot. I saw him from a distnace and I called out to him, "Hi, Yarets!".
But he did not hear me and just walked past by me.


And he can't speak. But this is why he is doing all this:




Some of What We are Doing to Help Him




We noticed that the spectacles he was wearing was broken.
I helped to chip in and buy him a new frame (he preferred to keep his lens).
Photo above is Yarets at the spectacle shop, with the spectacle shop person (left) and my moto-v buddy, Spectrum (right).


We also noticed his bike's fog lights are not working anymore.
So we decided to get him a new pair of fog lights.






















Liew, one of the moto-v members, helps to fit the new fog lights.






















New fog lights are working!
Yarets look pleased!






















The foglight was supplied by Anadoise of moto-v.
Anadoise works for Hella and he has managed to get his company to sponsor the lights.
Yarets decided to express his gratitude by sticking the Hella logo on his bike.




Yarets Going On TV


Another thing we want to help him with. We want to tell Singapore and the rest of the world, of this brave and remarkable man, Yarets.

Again, by chance or the work of God, one of the Moto-V members happened to tell a friend of Yarets and this friend works for MediaCorp, the TV station of Singapore. The friend agreed to feature Yarets in one of the station's programme.






Here's how we shoot Yarets on the move: We put the camera man on one of our bikes.






How You Can Catch Yarets

Yarets is thinking of leaving Singapore in May 2008.
As he is not on a fixed schedule, he might leave later, or he might leave tomorrow.

Here is your chance to catch him in person before he leaves Singapore.



In Person

Go to Peace Center, along Selegie Road.

He is there everyday from 6 pm to about 7.30pm.





















Yarets outside Peace Center, next to the MacDonalds, along Selegie Road.

He wants to share with people his story and inspire people.

Go support him!






















Your chance to take a picture with Yarets!



Website

You can read up more about him at:

Yaret's very own website:
http://www.yarets.com/index_eng.html

Yarets in Singapore at Moto-V website:
http://www.moto-v.sg/forums/index.php?showtopic=973&pid=24968&st=0&#entry24968



On TV

18th April, 2008. At 10.30 pm.
MediaCorp, Channel 8, 前线追中 (Frontline).

Maybe you will see me being interviewed :)


Here's to Yarets. Dare to Dream and Go Do It

The Art on the Science of Stopping Motorcycles Faster

Ever wish that there was an easier way to brake a motorcycle quickly?

Ever wonder how Combined Brake System (CBS) or Linked Brake System (LBS) works?

Ever why some bike manufacturers like Honda put in CBS or LBS?

Ever wonder how ABS works with this CBS or LBS?

Well, my biking kaki Floppy, found this wonderful website:

http://www.world.honda.com/motorcycle-technology/brake/p1.html

It talks about the various braking technologies used by Honda.
It is a bit technical and cheem. But it is readable.
But I help to simplify for you below:
























Ever brake so hard and you go "Woooh!!!" and feel like you and the bike are going to flip foward?

This article basically says that braking for motorcycles is different from that of cars. Motorcycles experience greater degrees of nosedive than cars because of higher center of gravity and shorter wheelbase. Pictures all extracted from www.world.honda.com.











Fear not. Honda to the rescue. Honda developed CBS (Combined Brake System) to make braking for motorcycles easier. Think using CBS or LBS brakes are not macho or manly because using traditional un-integrated front and rear brakes is a more difficult and delicate business? Well, CBS was developed out of Honda's racing. Then you shouldn't be sitting on a modern motorcycle because many parts are developed out of racing too, like the disc brakes.

























This article shows how Honda's dual CBS works. In short, press your foot brake, the rear brake works harder, but the front brake still works. Press your front brake lever, the front brake wors harder, but the rear brake still works. Press both front lever and foot brake, you get all the front and rear brakes work to their max.




























This fancy looking chart above is basically saying that those macho-but-dinosaur-brained sports riders who say, "Oh, I can like the traditional unlinked brakes because I ride a sport bike and I go to the track, so I have Rossi's braking skills, and therefore I can brake within a shorter distance using unlinked brakes." Ya, maybe you are right. But only under very optimal and very limited conditions that you can achieve your optimum effectiveness. Whereas the dual CBS allows you to achieve shorter braking distances in the vast majority of the time.

























Not satisfied with just putting dual CBS into their VFR, ST1300 and Blackbird, Honda added in ABS. This diagram shows how ABS sits in-between your brake controls and the brake pistons so that the ABS can jump in and smooth things out. More interestingly, the techno-crazy but always understated Hondarians also have an angle sensor in their ABS! So when your bike is leaned over, the ABS will work differently compared to when your bike is upright.
























Think all ABS are alike? Well, there are ABS and ABS. Above shows that the motor-driven ABS is much smoother when it comes in. That's why there are reports of some manufacturer's bikes experience more abruptness when the ABS kicks in, whereas some others are much smoother.

























This chart shows that CBS+ABS gives up to 2.3 times more stopping power than conventional brakes.





Still don't like Honda motorcycles?
Well, before you were even borned, Honda Soichiro already applied for his ABS patent design back in 1959.