| Author | Message | ||
     Schmity |
Hey All, i'm a new rider (2 days) and I've taken the Rider's Edge class but I was wondering if any of you experienced riders could pass on a little extra knowledge, wisdom, or advice that you've acquired through your years of riding onto to a new rider. Thanks! | ||
| Mark61 |
The most important thing to remember when riding on the roads is that EVERYONE else IS going to do the worst thing they can and YOU will end up suffering for it! I am a GREAT driver/rider---everyone else doesn't know what they are doing! mark61 | ||
| Kilroy |
You must ALWAYS ride assuming you are invisible to everyone else. Always assume that nobody else sees you out there, then you will (hopefully) be prepared for the time (and it WILL happen) that someone doesn't see you. Also, never ride beyond your capabilities. This is especially true if and when you start riding with other riders. Don't try to keep up if you can't - they will wait for you at the next turnoff. | ||
| Dgp |
I agree with Kilroy, I started riding last year and riding within your capabilities is super important, dont let anyone try to push your limits, enjoy riding at your own pace and you will get better with time. | ||
| Massgirl |
sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride...I tense up a lot as a new rider as well, but then I remember that, and I loosen up...remember...you're supposed to be having FUN! haha | ||
| Jumpinjewels |
The best thing I've done is to get on the track with instructors. I've been riding fairly consistently for the past 3-4 years (total of about 10 yrs) and the track has taught me a lot about me and my bike. I now have over 13,000 miles in less than 2 yrs on my Scg. My last track lesson was in May 2008 and I grew leaps and bounds after that experience. I hope I can get back on the track before the summer is over for another lesson. It is a great learning experience. Me and my hubby will be heading to Vegas for the Inside Pass track day and a day on the track with our own bikes thru Femmoto in October. (Message edited by jumpinjewels on July 21, 2008) | ||
| Babired |
Ian, find a riding Mentor that understands a new riders needs. I hope everybody in your class did a contact list as well. And if your Rider Coach is receptive to it bother the heck out of them to go for your first few rides. How did you find out about Badweb? kudos to the instructor if they shared information about it at the end of class. If you have a bike take small rides at first then keep adding miles. K | ||
| Phwx2 |
There a lots of good articles on the net for safe motorcycle riding. About 5 years ago when I got a running bike again (vs. my old triumph) I pulled about 100 pages of this stuff and read it. Now in the spring before I ride I pull it our and read it again. There are also advanced schools. Basic advice - stay off busy roads for a while and ease into it. Buy the best safety equipment you can and use it. Assume every car can't see you but wants to kill you. Riding is so enjoyable that a little negative thought will keep you grounded but off the ground. | ||
| Court |
Ian: You are to be commended for taking the toughest first two steps:
The advise already given is great. Find a mentor, bug one if yu must to take you to a local parking lot early on Sunday mornings. If you learn to ride well within your personal comfort zone you'll find the wisdom will serve you well for all your years of fun ahead. Welcome to the wonderful world of Buell, Court | ||
| Royintulsa |
Being in the insurance business I pick up all kinds of useless information until a great question like this is asked. 50% of all lethal motorcycle accidents occur after consuming two drinks. Being from Oklahoma, never put yourself in a situation where you say "Hey Bubba, watch this!" | ||
| Reepicheep |
Amen brother. And 100% of "two drinks" occur after consuming one drink. It's not that your riding ability is that impaired after two drinks, you can probably do everything fine before and after. It's the risks you choose to take and the way you respond to them that change. I only have about 60k miles on streetbikes, but I have only had one situation where it would have been even a little bit awkward to touch no drinks until the bikes are parked for the day. And that was just a failure to pay attention on my part, on the road with bikes only and I thought we were done for the day and grabbed (was actually handed  ) a drink. I didn't realize we still might ride to get dinner. We just ordered (way too much) pizza instead... | ||
| Babired |
http://www.saferoadmaps.org/home/index.htm check this site out its pretty neat.K | ||
| Shadyplace20 |
Schmity, I read "Proficient Motorcycling" and "More Proficient Motorcycling" by David Hough before I took the MSF class. As you could guess the theory/book knowledge all made sense once the practical experience started. Can't hurt to give them a read. | ||
| Schmity |
thanks to all of you! i cannot say just how much this means to me that a) you're willing to welcome a beginner to your group and b) that such a big group of responses i got! i've been checking this thread every 2-3 days when i get a chance, and riding every weekend when i can. i can say that i feel a lot more comfortable riding since i've gone with my dad and a couple of my friends, but i still haven't put more than 300 miles on. coming up is the Harley 105th Ann'y, and I've been wanting to take 2 days off of work to ride around with my dad and his friends who are coming up to visit (we only live less than half an hour away from MKE), and i still want a little bit more riding time. i've been taking in every little detail i've received both on this board and from my own experiences, and i hope to grow on those before the time comes when i need to use them. Thanks to all of you and happy riding!!! | ||
| Iamike |
Ian- Never forget that every vehicle out there is going to do the absolute wrong thing at the wrong time. If you find yourself daydreaming while riding, stop it! Now! That has kept me alive for over 30 years of riding. Just yesterday I was doing a 400mi. ride on the western side of your state following those great winding roads that come up from the Mississippi. I found one that had great sweepers and virtually no traffic. I had warned myself not too long before to keep focused. Sure enough as I topped a hill with an intersection a car coming the other way just about turned in front of me. We couldn't see each other until we were right there. I would have been toast if he turned. Needless to say, I was ever more focused after that. | ||
| Smiley1eye |
Rubber has a higher friction coefficent than aluminum. So keep the rubber side DOWN! You would think that it would be obvious, but I can think of at least one occasion where I just had to verify it for myself... So, always, always leave yourself an "out". Never never give up on a turn. Lean a bit more if it gets tighter. Once you straighten back out, you can pull over to remove the seat from your sphincter. Don't tailgate, don't get right behind someone at a red light. Leave enough room for you to turn out from behind that car in front of you. Once you stop at a light, shift your attention to the mirrors and get ready for the guy that isn't paying attention. When he starts coming up behind you, flash the brake lights to get his attention. And don't shift into neutral at red lights either, always be ready to move. I don't know how many Harley riders I see pull up, stop, then just pose. But one of those guys got rearended two cars up and one lane over. He was frantically trying to clutch, shift and go when he got smooshed. Mistrust of all other drivers will save your life. Get a LOUD air horn. hehe. I prefer the Stebel. 139dB. They'll spill their coffee all over themselves after they cut you off and you hit that. Or, and I'm still trying to see this one happen, they'll jump and drop their cellphone out the window! Getting caught up in close, crazy traffic? Slow down, don't speed up and try to weave through it. Better late than dead. AVOID MINIVANS AT ALL COSTS! They will try to kill you. Next on the list is SUVs. Then teenaged girls that are jabbering away on cell phones while reading Cosmo cruising along at 65mph (yesterday on I-695). Other than that; go have fun.  | ||
| Jstfrfun |
Initialy, don't ride alone, ride with someone who has experience on there bike and the roads you will travel, watch the line they take in and out of corners(so long as it's not one of those hooligans), and copy them. Try to stay out of traffic for a while, at least till you get more familiar with your bike and your reflexes. Focus on the job at hand! Remember, people in cars are in a micro environment and don't allways use sufficient S/A(situational awareness), you could be the victim of there failure! | ||
| Echo15 |
Disconnect your ego (and connect your anger management abilities) before heading out. Actually, this probably won't apply to you for awhile yet. After several months, you'll start thinking you're getting pretty good....this is when you should start to worry. | ||
| Schmity |
Jstfrfun -- today i went for a ride **by myself** for about 50 miles, and i was going to a friend's house just as the sun was setting, and as i was going through an intersection that i had the right of way in, some lady didn't see me and almost hit me while taking a left through the opposite end of the intersection. mid-turn the swerved her car the opposite direction and we both came to screeching halts in the middle of the street. i looked at her and just shook my head. i revved my engine as to make a point that i was actually there, and sped off. it angered me obviously, and i wanted to give her the old bird, but i figured that might just escalate things to be worse. echo15-- i started to think i was a good rider until today when that happened. my dad also told me this before i started riding, and i've always thought about it before i get on the bike, but today it rang true louder than ever... | ||
| Ulynut |
Glad that lady didn't hit you. Getting to the point that Iamike was making about daydreaming, you can daydream in a car too. Flash your brake light when you slow down, even if you don't need to use the brake. Sometimes you become sort of hypnotized if you've been following a vehicle for a while, or if you are tired, drunk, or whatever. It can be difficult to tell if you are closing in on the guy in front of you. Hopefully the brake light will alert whoever is behind you that you are slowing down. Use your mirrors. Don't leave your turn signals flashing, and use your high beam in the daylight hours.  | ||
| Poopermcdoodoo |
Schmity, Welcome to Buell! When I was a new rider, I flipped of this dude in San Diego who almost killed me. You're right, it never ends well. That guy chased me down into a parking lot to give me a piece of his mind. He was pretty miffed. When crap like that happens, I've learned to not let it stay with me. If I focus on some jerk in a car for too long, I'm not paying attention to what's going on around me. When I get upset at other drivers, I get away from them (so I don't have to see them) and I forget anything ever happened. My basic plan is to stay ahead of the car in front of me, but I wouldn't try telling that to a police officer! Finally, there is a retired police officer who makes a series of videos called "Ridelikeapro" (dot com). You probably don't need to buy them all, but watching one or two could show you some tricks. They ride Electra Glides and Street Glides, but the principles are the same. I think they have some clips on you tube so you can check them out before you buy. Oh, and I agree with Smiley1eye. Minivans are LETHAL!!! | ||
| Irideabuell |
Schmity, One huge piece of advise I would give is keep your distance from the vehicle in front of you. I know it's tempting to roll right up on someone, but it's deadly. I've seen a bike on I-4 do that and have the, yes, you guessed it, minivan stop short in front of him and over the handlebars he went. He was very lucky. On another occasion this past week I took Wednesday off and was riding in my car toward downtown Orlando and watched a Gixxer 600 fly past me and run right up on the back of, and yes, you guessed it again, a minivan. He stayed maybe 3 yards off the their left, rear bumper and the blue and red lights in the back window came on. I about died laughing and would have loved to have been a love bug on the minivan watching that conversation. Paul | ||
| Nigelgreaves |
If you ride in the Los Angeles area, wear a bullet proof vest. Not for the freeway shootings, but the LAPD. They tend to shoot you 47 times, then ask for your license!  | ||
| Calidrew |
Schmity, 1. Nigel makes a good point about gear. ATGATT stands for All The Gear, All The Time. When using the bike for transportation I wear (and recommend) a full face helmet, an armored motorcycle specific jacket, leather gloves, heavy jeans, and over-the-ankle boots. For more spirited canyon rides I use motorcycle specific boots, kevlar pants and Bohn Adventure pants. I also pull that little piece of foam out of my jacket and wear an articulated back protector. Now some people will say we SoCal riders are spoiled because it is always 72 and sunny. But we wear the same gear for desert rides at 110 degrees. I believe it was Ebear who said, "Sweat hurts less than blood." I have totaled bikes with gear and without. They both suck, but without gear sucks worse. ATGATT. (I'm thinking about a Leatt neck brace.) 2. Seriously, you are invisible. Expect the worst and leave yourself room to maneuver. Someone is going to turn left across your lane. Someone is going to pull out in front of you. A couple years ago I was rear ended by a young lady (on her cell phone) in an Explorer. But I knew she was going to hit me. I was riding with a group on a Harley Poker Run and we left a traffic light only to have traffic blocked on the other side of the intersection, bringing us to a halt. I glanced in my mirror to see the driver of the Explorer notice that all the vehicles in front of her were gone and punch the gas without looking down range to see us all stopped, me in back. I was in gear and revved it and dropped the clutch just as she hit me. Instead of becoming a dead hood ornament I became an M2 missile. A busted turn signal and bent luggage were the worst of it. 2.5 Road rage. So what. She certainly didn't mean to hit me. When someone cuts you off, passes you too close or rushes carelessly into an intersection, I recommend you pray for them. I can't imagine if my life were so small and out of my control that being in front or behind another vehicle on the freeway determined my mood or self worth. What if that person on the cell phone is distracted by bad news about her husbands illness or her child's truancy or his brother's drug abuse. My wife took a guy's car door off with our truck. Instead of blowing up at him for throwing his door open into traffic she calmly asked him what was wrong. Turned out he was taking his two kids to their first visit with Mommy who was in drug rehab. A dented fender on the truck seemed very insignificant then. 3. Squids are fine if they are polite squids. I used to ride with a group of very talented rider/stunters. They were much faster than me, BUT they told me before we left the first time, "We will wait for you at the turns." And sure enough they did. Every weekend, every turn, every rider stopped and we regrouped. And I never felt pressure to ride over my head and I never got lost or left behind. (I didn't know any of these guys at first, but I found out later the best one was Jason Britton, one of the fastest, nicest guys I've met.) 4. Gas. I just read an article in one of the Moto mags that said "the best thing you can buy for your bike is gas." In other words, practice, practice, practice. Have fun Schmity and welcome to the club and thanks for being a part of something we all love. | ||
| Calidrew |
Oh, and LAPD is a nice bunch of fellows I guess. Here in the LBC we have our wives actually shoot us before we walk out the door, just to make sure the trauma plate is in straight on the body armor.  | ||
| Ourdee |
And when you get 6 months in you'll crash if you start relaxing cause you know how to ride now.  | ||
| L8_br8ker |
Good advice guys hehe, here is my 2 cents 1.) Be aware. A) of the road surface ahead B) of the position, and possible intention of other drivers. 2.) Move your eyes actively. A) check mirrors very often, but briefly. B) dont stare straight ahead, pan the road and shoulders slightly. 3.) You have nothing to prove. A) enjoy your ride, but remember that pushing the limits of ability, and safety will increase your possiblity of not going home. 4.) Actively make yourself visible. A) identify blind spots on cars, and avoid staying in them. B) even when near a car do not assume they know your there, make sure they do 5.) Ride with others when you can A) drivers in cars arent afraid of a bike, or the biker, and dont allways give them room, or even lane rights. B.) they are indeed afraid of 6 bikes and give much more room, and ussually wont intrude on your space. 6.) Dont modify your bike to be stealthy...thats for fighter planes 7.) Wear good gear, (everywhere you can) | ||
| Diablobrian |
It's been a few months Schmity, you still with us? There has been some really good advice given on this thread. Learn from our mistakes wherever and whenever you can! Also, ATGATT (All The Gear All The Time!) is a must. You are never going to be such a good rider that you no longer need protection from the asphalt and other vehicles that may hit you. It is never too hot to go without gear. Mesh jackets with armor can be had for around $100 new. It's cheap insurance. Anyway, chime in and let us know how it's going. (Message edited by diablobrian on February 07, 2009) | ||
| Slipknot |
There are a lot of good books and videos that will give more specific pointers and even some visuals that will help. Check with White Horse Press. | ||
| Gunslinger |
If I could sum things up: Get a shop manual and some basic tools and learn to do a little maintenance yourself, even if it is just changing your oil. You will be surprised what you will pick up on. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Bikers love to talk, and they have more respect for the new guy who knows he needs help than some poser who thinks he knows it all. I will second everything said about protective gear. My one big accident was in a 25MPH zone about three miles from home. I will also second what has been said about riding within your limits. |
