A couple of tips for beginners
Jun 12 '00
Things I learned from riding motorcycles (street-riding... I may do a dirt article in the future), which the reader should realize pertain to MY perspective... the perspectives of others may vary:
Motorcyclists make better car drivers
You WILL become a better motorist (car driver) because you learn not to feel invincible (something a lot of people in steel cans... I mean cars... feel). When you realize your vulnerability (you only need to fall off once to get a sense of this), you take extra care to do the things ALL people on the road should do:
-- REALLY LOOK both ways when you're about to pull out of an intersection or driveway, etc.
-- Know AT ALL TIMES what is around you as you ride. This means knowing that the car behind you is coming up rather fast and you wonder if he even sees you, or knowing the driver of the car on your left maybe is looking for CD he wants to hear because he sure isn't paying attention to which lane he's supposed to be in, or knowing that the car on your right is being driven by a frantic-looking woman with five kids and a bunch of balloons and you doubt she can even SEE you there anyway. THESE are the kinds of things you instinctively look for as a motorcyclist... and it's a good habit to be in as a car driver too.
-- Being a motorcyclist gives you, as a motorist, more respect for other motorcyclists. They're not all Hell's Angels (do they still exist?), nor are they all speed-demons out to cut you off by zipping right in front of you. It suddenly becomes less of an "us" and "them" feel. And you have a new respect for the dangers of motorcyclists and may cut them more slack and also hopefully give them a wider berth... DON'T tailgate a motorcycle. What would feel like a little tap to a car if you hit it from behind, can be lethal to a motorcyclist.
When in doubt, gas it
This may sound odd, but hear me out. I've seen more motorcycle mishaps from people who panicked and put on the brakes or hesitated than from almost anything else.
-- Anyone who rides a motorcycle should know about "high-siding"... this is (usually) when you apply the rear brake, then let off, and the bike basically flips and you go flying, very VERY hard. Actually, you pretty much get "slammed" to the ground because the bike flips one way, then reverses and throws you back over as it reverses direction. If you want to see what this looks like, rent some Havoc tapes or some FIM Grand Prix road-racing tapes. The general rule among many motorcyclists is don't ever use your rear brake... at all.
-- The point of THAT rant was to say that a lot of people (particularly people who've driven cars for a while and are USED to putting their foot down to stop) automatically (and dangerously) apply the rear brake because it's the foot brake. The hand brake controls the front tire and may cause a bunny hop (where the front stops so suddenly that the back tire raises off the ground). And although this may be scary and at times dangerous, it's significantly easier to control than a high-side (my opinion, of course).
-- When you ride over things (branches, rocks, weird car parts, bumps, etc.), having two tires feels a LOT different from when you ride over things in four tires. It's very easy to upset the balance of a bike if you ride over something too slowly. It took some practice, but I learned to gas it over small obstacles (once even over an abandoned car tire!) rather than slow down. This serves two purposes: One, the bike is more stable at faster (not ridiculously fast) speeds. And two, when you gas it just before the object, the front end of the bike lifts up a little with the new momentum, making it easier to get over the object.
-- It has been my experience that getting out of a sticky situation almost always works better when I try to ride it out (veer around something, maneuver around something, speed away from something, etc.) than when I try to slow or stop.
Some bikes aren't heavy enough for all detectors
What I mean by this is simple. There are some intersections that work by the appearance of a car, meaning the light won't change until a car comes to the intersection. These cars are detected by a metal plate under the pavement which doesn't always detect the presence of a bike. If you find yourself at a light that doesn't change for more than 10 minutes, you can: try to back up and go over that section again, or pull forward and signal the car behind you to come up close so HE can activate the device, or safely go through the intersection (these are usually very out-of-the-way and hardly trafficked lights), or change your plan to make three right turns which will eventually put you on the road you wanted to be on.
Small things suddenly become important... and the rest of my miscellaneous advice:
-- That little rock you wouldn't care less about in a car, suddenly becomes something you really need to notice because hitting it with your front tire can change the direction of your bike.
-- Leaves are VERY slippery when they've been rained on.
-- Black ice looks just like pavement.
-- Winding canyon roads are slipperier in the shadowy patches.
-- You never REALLY know what's on the other side of that hill you're cresting.
-- Even if you're really considerate and respectful, some people still won't like you OR your bike and there's nothing you can do about that. The "right of way" isn't an important enough issue to die over. Keep away from motorists who scare you.
-- Keep your tires inflated to the perfect pressure at all times and don't use slicks (tires without tread) unless you're on a racetrack.
-- Always expect motorists to do the most bizarre and dangerous things. Even so, there will still be things you'll see that will astound you. A popular way to take out a motorcyclist is the person in a car who pulls an illegal "U" turn right in front of you.
-- A full-face helmet will do a much better job than the other options.
-- Full leather gear may be really hot if you're riding in the summer, but road rash hurts so bad it's hard to even think about it without flinching.
That's it. It's not all-inclusive, but these are some of the things I can think of off the top of my head.
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