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ADVICE
Advice: Nifty tricks to save a few bucks
If you don't have enough cash to buy all the latest and greatest, you can save a few bucks with these nifty tricksBuying a bike isn’t where the retailers make their money – it’s in the accessories. You’ve seen them: silicone laminated carbon fibre pannier liners, satellite radio direction finding headsets, auto-altitude compensating valve caps and self-inflating solar powered seat warming covers.
Okay, so that’s all a bit fanciful, but you know what I mean. However, being the frugal bikers that we are here at Bikesales, we look for the grunge solution to our accessory needs – the ones that you can often find in the scrap bin, and the ones that cost peanuts. Here’s a few to get you started:
- Visor anti-fogging device – Think you need Pinlock inserts, or a new pair of double glazed goggles on winter mornings? No way. Just drip a couple of drops of wash-up liquid on the inside of the lens/visor then rub it all over with your finger. No more fogging, ever.
- Heated glove liners – Cold days, tingling fingers, but inner gloves or heated mitts are way too expensive. Simple – nick a few pairs of thin plastic gloves from the diesel pump at the servo, put them on under your normal gloves and revel in toasty (albeit sweaty) hands.
- Sidestand lock – Adventure bikes in particular can roll off the sidestand on uneven or sloping ground – or on a ferry crossing. Go to eBay or the Reject Shop and buy a pack of velcro straps, and use them to lock the front brake on. No more rolling, toppling-over bike woes.
- Jacket liner – Some textile jackets come with zips for a liner – but no liner! Most times the liner costs an arm and a leg, but for quick and dirty windproofing, do like the Tour de France riders used to do in the mountains: shove a newspaper down the front of your jacket. Cheap, warm, climate friendly in one go.
- Stinky helmet – When summer arrives, so does helmet pong. You can get special deodorizer sprays, remove the helmet liner and wash it but that kills the ozone layer as well as your wallet. Get yourself a cheapo balaclava and just wash it when it gets sweaty.
- Tool wallet – Got all the tools rattling round in your bag or pannier, wearing holes and driving you nuts? Don’t splash out on a fancy canvas or neoprene tool roll for $40-50. Grab a pair of old socks, pop the tools inside and wrap the socks back on themselves for a tidy, rattle and wear-free solution.
- Snaggy waterproofs – We’ve all been there – doing the rain dance at the side of the road as you try to force your boots into your rain pants, possibly ripping the seams in the process. But you can’t afford the fancy SupaZip pants that open up wide enough to let a boot through – so what to do? Easy, sneak a couple of thin plastic bags from Woollies meat counter, put them over your boots and gasp as your feet slide through your pants like a well-oiled snag into a slice of white.
- Backpack woes – Get neck-ache every time you ride out with that tatty K-Mart backpack, but can’t afford a special biker backpacks with a waistband? Just slacken the straps right off so the pack rests on the pillion seat, and stop it flapping about by putting one of those Velcro straps across the front between the two over-arm straps. Comfy, cheap, no neck-ache.
And here’s a couple of free tips that only old time bikers tell you (apart from always carrying a roll of duct tape with you):
- Always back into parking spaces – That way when a crowd of other bikers arrives you can just ride out, still looking cool instead of paddling frantically backwards out of the slot, looking dumb and pulling several muscles.
- Dye your hair grey – That way when you get pulled over by the Feds for ahem, sporting riding, you can pull off your helmet and appear to be a regular old fart having a bit of unusual wrist spasm, rather than a habitual hoon that needs teaching a lesson. This works.
Related Reading:
Top nine motorcycle jackets for winter
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Written byJeremy Torr
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Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
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