Fantastic post by another member on another forum.
There are several items listed here that many people will hesitate to agree on or completely disagree with. I am not perfect. These rules are the best I have come up with from personal experience, talking to lifetime riders, and reading accident reports/ motorcycle studies.Your results may vary. I am writing this to keep people safe. Even if something is wrong in here, it is making riders think about it. Corrections/ discussions/ new ideas are welcome.
What I have learned about motorcycling.
More fatalities are caused by oncoming cars making left turns in front of you than any other traffic situation.
Sportbikes are less stable the slower you go. That means the parking lot, approaching stop signs/lights, making turns in intersections are places where youll just drop the bike without knowing what happened.
Take the MSF course. Practice what you learned in there.
If youre tired, sick, upset, or just dont feel sharp, dont ride.
Get the right gear: full face helmet, riding jacket, boots with ankle protection, and good gloves
wearing jeans as a bare minimum.
Try to get long term disability added to your health insurance. Its murphys law. If you get it, youll never need it.
Assume no one sees you. Plan accordingly.
Learn how to double swerve. That means making an evasive maneuver to avoid a car, person, dog, bicycle, tree, and then make another maneuver to get you back in your lane.
Always be aware of your options. They are typically: Slow down. Stop. Swerve. Double swerve. Or downshift and add power.
Front brake is 80% of braking. If you get on the rear brake hard youll skid and wreck. They make you experience this in the MSF course.
The rear brake should only be applied to supplement the front brake. Using them together 80/20, you can minimize the bikes braking distance.
If you brake really hard while the bike is leaned over in a sharp turn, the bike will stand up. Always be aware of your entry speed into a turn.
Where you look is where you go. Commit this to memory. This means when you identify a road hazard, use your eyes to find your evasive maneuver. If you stare at a hazard, youre going to hit it.
Countersteering: Above 10mph, push right go right. Push left, go left. It will make sense when you give it a try.
The physics behind the dynamics of a motorcycle are complex enough to write a graduate thesis paper on them. Fortunately, you dont have to. But you do have to learn, understand, and experience the forces involved in controlling the bike, the throttle, and the using the traction of the road.
Racing a car is a quick way to become a grease spot on the road. 99% of all bikes are faster than 99% of all cars. You can pretty much beat any car hands down. If you have to prove it on a regular basis, go fill out your last will and testament.
Plastic fairings are expensive. Look into frame sliders.
Frame sliders can break easily, especially of you drop the bike at 25mph or more.
Oil, water, cold weather, manhole covers, painted lines, sand, gravel, paper bags, plastic bags all will reduce traction and cause you to lose control of your bike.
If you are riding on a low traction surface, minimize the amount of steering/braking/acceleration changes you make, until you get back on clean pavement. (Just like driving a car over an iced bridge.)
All rodents, cats, dogs, squirrels, deer, etc can and will eventually decide to be in the same place in the road as you are at some point. Plan accordingly.
Motorcycle tires are good for a fraction of the miles of a car tire. They are made of a softer compound to give you more traction. The contact patch of a motorcycle tire is much smaller than that of a car, since they are round (and there is only 2 of them). Aggressive riders go thru tires once a year/season.
The amount of traction you have at any moment is limited. Its like you have a traction budget. Turning, accelerating, braking all take away from your budget. If any one exceeds the amount of traction you have, youre going to lose traction.
Turning uses some of the traction budget you have. It can use all of it if you push it too hard. Accelerating/braking while turning will quickly use up your traction budget.
Bugs can hurt. They can also explode on contact with your body/face/helmet etc.
Always be aware of your chain tension. If it is out of spec, its shortening the life of the front and rear sprocket, as well as the chain itself.
Lube your chain as often as it takes to keep it properly lubricated. Silicone lubes are easy to use and clean off, are applied easily with aerosol cans, and should be applied after every hard ride.
Chicken strips are the unused parts of the tire that are furthest from the center. Dont judge riders based on how thick their chicken strips are. Some riders can have large chicken strips and will burn you in the corners. Its all about the lean.
Shifting your body weight towards the inside of a turn will make the bike turn more with less bike lean. Getting your weight off the center of the bikes vertical axis can make the bike more stable through a turn, but it can also put you in a vulnerable position if you encounter a hazard. Shifting your weight excessively / dragging your knee in corners on the street should be done conservatively on the street. It does look cool, feel cool, and its lots of fun, but extreme riding needs to be contained to controlled situations, such as a track.
Riding on the street is never riding in a controlled situation.
Even if you make eye contact with another driver, they still can and will fail to realize they have to share the streets with you. Plan accordingly.
When you get surrounded by 1, 2 or more cars, in an urban setting with side streets and / or a shared turn lane in the middle, its ok to downshift and get the RPMs up in case you need to make an evasive maneuver.
The more, sporty the sportbike, the closer to redline the powerband is. Know how to get into the powerband if you need to scoot.
Most bikes will wheelie with the flick of your right wrist. Know the limits of your bike. A surprise wheelie in traffic can be unpleasant.
Wheelies can turn into you falling off the back of the bike quickly. Technically its called a high moment of inertia, non-technically its referred to as: you just fell on your ass and your bike is probably totalled up since its tumbling end over end down the road.
The faster you go, the higher the chances of serious injury or fatality. Its not a linear relationship though. Generally speaking, above 50mph is when the chances of serious injury increase dramatically.
Large trucks on the highway can be hazardous to your health. They can lift things like 4ft by 8 ft sheets of plywood, not to mention rocks the size of walnuts. (see my helmet)
You have no bumper, seatbelts, airbags, traction control or ABS brakes (save a few high end Honda cruiser/tourers). Your error margin is small. You have to stay within the safety envelope. Every rider breaks this rule at some point. Try not to break it often.
If youre going to lose control of your bike at 120+mph, your gear only benefits the fire department in cleaning up the accident scene.
Most helmets meet all of the safety requirements (DOT, SNELL). The cost of the helmet is directly proportional to the comfort of the helmet. Also, as cost goes up, the weight goes down.
Different helmet brands are shaped differently. Some fit oval heads better. Some fit round heads better.
Despite what people will say, its very difficult to purchase helmets / riding boots without trying them on first.
Boots that claim to keep your feet dry from rain will cause your feet to get wet with sweat.
All motorcycle maintenance items / repair costs cost 2 4 times more than for cars.
Tire pressure affects handling characteristics more than with cars.
Most bikes have adjustable suspensions. The suspension damping/preload should be set for the weight of the rider/passenger/gear/equipment.
Carburetors are finicky. They give bikes personality. Learn as much as you can, and resist tweaking a bike thats running fine.
Most bikes have multiple carburetors. Synchronizing carburetors regularly can help with how smooth the engine runs.
Don’t forget to turn the choke off once the bike is warmed up.
Carbs are sensitive to: temperature, humidity, altitude, fuel octane, engine timing, engine temperature, brand of fuel, fuel additives, valve clearance. You name it.
Motorcycles vibrate. A lot. Check bolts at every major servicing.
If you have to use your reserve, dont forget to put the petcock back to on after filling up. You dont want to push the bike. It will kill your back.
Use the bikes odometer to gauge when you need to stop for fuel, even if your bike has a fuel gauge.
Get a factory service manual for your bike, even if you have a shop do all the service. They are generally inexpensive, and knowing your machine is an important element in riding safe.
Riding a motorcycle is much more interesting, exciting, entertaining, thrilling, demanding, and fatiguing than riding a car. Dont expect to ride 600 miles per day on a crotch rocket until youre actually done it.
The sportier the bike, the less time you can ride it without a break from the numbing vibration/ harsh suspension/ cramped position.
Motorcycling is a unique, diverse, and challenging experience. Mastering it is one of the most rewarding experiences that doesnt require a member of the opposite sex. Inclusion of the opposite sex is highly recommended, as long as its not diverting your undivided attention to the road.
Riding in groups is fun. The newest riders should lead the group. They need to become accustomed to deciding where to go, identify hazards, and be responsible for other riders. New riders in the back of a group learn to fixate on the rear tire of the person in front of them. (This was a factor in my wreck).
The testosterone level in a male rider in a group is equal to the sum of the testosterone levels of all the males riding in a group. Dont push yourself beyond your means.
As dangerous and scary as all these things make motorcycling sound, there is still nothing like it, and its completely worth it, as long as you do the right things to mitigate the risks involved.
Have fun!
By falcongsr honda-tech.com
