RIDING TIPS FOR NEW AND EXPERIENCED RIDERS

[shadowdreamer]

Originally Posted by goog49

When I took the MSF Experienced Rider course, the instructor said to get an air horn instead of loud pipes. The major advantage of the pipes is that they're loud _all_the_time_ You can't just lay on the horn all the time.

Correction
The major disadvantage of the pipes is that they're loud _all_the_time_ You can't just lay on the horn all the time.

And that's exactly why people hate motorcycles so much.
The loud pipes are on all the time, pissing non-motorcyclists off.
Causing legislatures to pass anti-motorcycle legislation.

[CaptCrash]

Should rookies avoid the freeway? Yes. Why? Because in many ways it’s too damn easy. How so? Simple: think about how you drive your car on the freeway or highway. You’re looking straight ahead, in a bit of a trance, Rush Limbaugh may be screaming at you or it could be Trent Reznor doing the screaming either way other than the idea of speed we all tend to look at the freeway as an easy drive in our cars once we have any skill at all.

Therein lies the problem for newbies and the freeway—everyone else tends to be asleep at the wheel.

The flow of freeway driving leads to a certain hypnosis for drivers and riders alike, it’s easy to ride between the lines, hold a steady throttle and let your brain shut down as we wait for those cues that tell us our exit is coming up.

Admit it. You’ve arrived at your exit and don’t remember the journey.
New riders on the freeway are subject to the same thing, that slip into comfort and thought where you’re considering whether to have lunch at Taco Bell or…is Del Taco a step up or a step across? Really? And what about Green Burrito? Is that the same par? Is Baja Fresh in a different league?

OH ****! Brake lights straight ahead! (Time for a rookie braking error yes?)

Or, “THAT CAR DIDN’T SIGNAL THEIR INTENTIONS!” (Time for a rookie swerve error?)

How’s about, “I’ll just gas it and fit into that gap…OH CRAP!” (Rookie throttle error?)

The danger for newbs is that if you’re coming from a car you’re in the mindset that the freeway isn’t that big a deal. Sure, a new is a tad freaked out and wide awake the first few times but after a couple of survival sessions on the slab? Old habits come back.

Plus? All those car and truck drivers are a tad asleep as well. They make more mistakes and poor decisions and if you’re a newbie you ain’t got the skills to get out of a 70mph hole with trucks and cars and HOV lanes with seams and diesel and potholes around you. The skill set to ride on the freeway requires you to be wide awake and if you’re not? You need the reaction skills to do the right thing.

Newbs ain’t there yet.

I realize that in some places using the freeway is close to unavoidable. Sometimes you simply can’t get there from here without a jog on the 405 or 101 or (insert your metro nightmare freeway here) but that doesn’t mean you can’t go! It means you need to be aware of your own abilities. Increase your following distance. Keep your eyes up and know where you are and what’s around you. Plan, plan, plan. Know when you need to be where and be in that place before you have to be in that spot. And Newbs? The longer you’re on the slab the easier it is to have that mental drift happen so don’t plan for long runs on the freeway. Look for alternates and look the opportunity to use an alternate route.

Should Newbs hit the freeway right away? Nope. But if you have to realize the dangers you face and the skills you might lack.

Be Safe.

[herbyreed]

When riding through an intersection use a car or truck as a 'buddy" and ride right next to their rear bumper (to the side- not tailgating) but only for the few moments you are going through the intersection. As you know there is a better chance the cager turning left will see the car than you.

I disagree with this one. You are not just worried about the cager turning left. You are also worried about the car you are next to. What if he decides to suddenly change lanes? People aren't supposed to change lanes in the middle of an intersection but they do - for no reason sometimes. Also, if the cager does turn in front of the car you are shadowing you have no place to go either. Anytime you are close to another vehicle you have to worry about getting hit in a secondary collision when another car gets pushed either into you or right in front of you. And If you are that close to the right rear bumper of a car you also may not see the guy running the red light from the left. And there is no guarantee that a cager will wait for the car but still not turn right into the bike - this actually happened a couple of years ago in PA where my aunt lives. The biker died. If the bike had been following a safe distance the car still might have turned right in front of him but at least he might have had some room to take evasive action.

I also don't think loud pipes do much except annoy the people in your neighborhood. The noise is mostly behind the bike. You want the noise in front and to the side. An air horn will do this much more effectively and doesn't affect your control of the bike - which rolling the throttle might, particularly on wet pavement.

[herbyreed]

Should rookies avoid the freeway? Yes. Why?

I think it depends on what "freeway" one is talking about. I actually feel pretty safe on multilane beltways around cities. A couple of reasons - one, everyone is going the same direction and there are no intersections. Second, for the most part, people are more attentive than they are on other roads - less texting, cell phone use etc. I think the reason is that because there is a lot of traffic people pay more attention because they have to. And finally, assuming no construction, etc, the most inside lane (fastest) is a great place to be for a motorcycle. There is usually a nice wide shoulder on the left which is very comforting, the traffic is moving along at a good clip, and if a yahoo does come screaming up behind you it is relatively easy to get over into the next lane if you have been paying good attention and time and signal your move in a timely fashion. Did I avoid it at first? Yes, but after a few days of traveling on roads with intersections with left hand turning cars, etc. I soon thought - "How much worse can it be?" and after the initial adjustment to the volume of traffic I realized the enormous advantages of a mc over a car on a multilane road in terms of visibility, ability to maneuver out of danger, etc. I would definitely rather be on my mc on these roads than in my car, as long as it is not raining.

[- D -]

I'm not going against spirtman here yet you cant always count on pipes, especially in warm weather, kids jack up the air condition and stereo, so to be aware is to alive. Sorry I didnt read it all but keep to the right going up hills in case someone is crossing the line, on corners try to look through the tree's, caught a UPS truck parked once that way I may not have seen, look under trailers in park cars for drivers and stopped cars always watch the wheels, not the driver, just because there looking your way dont mean they see you.

so watch for the wheel direction and if there rotating.

[Spiritman]

Originally Posted by - D -

I'm not going against spirtman here........

Just for the record, I just collated other people's input into the original post - it's not my work/effort/thoughts or assertions. So no worries about "going against me" it's all good.

[tedmass]

Great read..going to read again before it time to get out and ride

[Leathel]

Nice read, reinforced a lot that I have learned over the years, the only thing I have to add is when I was first told of the push right turn right I had to really think about right and left... a bit dyslexic on that I think.....

So I started thinking push on the inside on the corner...IE the inside of a right corner is the right hand side of the bar... less thinking and you cant get it wrong as it wasn't nice when I was doing the right left thing and getting it wrong at times.....Maybe I had one to many knocks to me head

(not read the entire thread yet so if this has been mentioned I apologize)

[CaptCrash]

Ever worry about losing the front due to gravel or whatever? Here's help:

Quick Tip: Front Wheel Skids - YouTube

Quick Tip: Front Wheel Skids - YouTube

[CaptCrash]

If you do fall and go boom, there's a couple of things you'll want to be physically on your person. Here ya go:

Road Work: On Your Person - YouTube

Road Work: On Your Person - YouTube