Most Important Things to Know For a Motorcycling n00b.

Smooth is fast, and don't try fast until you're smooth.

Move like a car.

True. I've got over 20 years riding experience. Two years ago, while out on my supermoto, I had a moose dart out in front of me. It was 6 am, I was doing 80 km/h, and was riding in a heavily forested area. I managed to avoid the moose because I was ready. I had practised tons of emergency stop manoeuvres in my early years. I brought the bike from 80 to zero in no time, the rear tire locked up slightly, enough to chirp (which I think frightened the moose causing him to turn and run away). It all happened in a blink.

I've avoided many other accidents, mostly cagers who've pulled out in front of me or into my lane. I only laid a bike down once: too much front brake pulling off a road into an empty parking lot (there was sand at the entrance to the lot). I was cold (riding in 5 degree Celsius), tired, had a headache, had been riding for 90 minutes. A bone-headed split-second decision to pull over to adjust a neck warmer I was wearing and BAM I was down. I could hear my helmet hit the ground and I slid. No injuries due to wearing all leather (during my cruiser days). Only thing hurt was my pride.

Cold sneaks up on you and and you sometimes don't realise how badly until you stop to fuel up and look for your wallet and try to remember to zip up all those jacket pockets before you go. Being even a little cold for several hours will burn up so many more calories it can really effect your concentration so always eat when you are out for those big days.

If you are forever telling stories about those stupid cagers who constantly pull out on you and the near misses you keep having then you have got it all wrong. Stop, think and change the way you are riding because you will get hurt eventually...or worse. People who ride bikes (and pushbikes) who think they operate under the same road rules as cars and upwards are sadly mistaken.
My frame of mind in traffic is always, "if someone does something dumb and these cars start bouncing around like a pin ball where am I going to be"
...30 metres back in the extreme outside of the lane. If someone wants to run over me on the freeway they are going to have to be parked in the emargency stopping lane with me. I can't stand watching guys 10 feet of someones bumper almost on the centre line under the premise that you can see whats happening up ahead better. The car beside you changes lane without looking and they only have to travel 3 feet to get you.

Wait until the kamikaze bugs dry out before you try to wipe them off your face shield.

Ron

Good one!

For me, the most important thing to know, have the attitude that ONLY you can really do anything to improve your riding situation.

Don't expect anyone else on the road to anything for you to make your riding easier, safer, less crowded, less hectic, etc. It's ALL up to YOU 1st. When you strive to reduce YOUR risks of riding as your guiding attitude it will positively impact all aspects of your riding.

Try to ride for 50 years, not for 1 year, 50 times over...

In other words, don't stop learning after the first year...

You mean don't watch the range rover expecting him to stop?

Open cuffs catch a lot of nice air to cool you, but that air sometimes contains bees and wasps.

Also Bugs crawling around in your sleeve is unpleasant...

Also: beestings in your armpit hurt like a bastard.

Don't store your bike where rodents roam, or at least put moth balls in openings (and remember to take them out).



DAMHIK

Profound but simple. I like it! What does "Eppur Si Mouve" mean, by the way? I have that Enigma CD and I've always wondered what it meant...

A healthy respect for the hobby of motorcycling, and the fact that it can kill you. Other hobbies can't. This one, much like firearms, does not suffer idiots and mistakes particularly well. You need not be paranoid, but failing to understand and respect exactly what can go wrong, how it can go wrong, and how you build the skills and attitude to prevent that, is the cornerstone of riding. For me anyway...

Barry

"And yet, it still moves".
Quote from Galileo Gallilei when he was obliged to refute his claim that the earth revolves around the sun in stead of being motionless.
Apologies followed only recently, three centuries late.

Haven't read the thread but what I have to continually work on (like weighting the downhill ski & keeping one's head down in golf) is look up the road, loose on the grips and bent elbows. Ian, Iowa

Pardon me, I've had a few!

Treat a bike as you would a plane preflight/preride check no matter if its been parked 15 months or 15 min . Bikes can be finicky bastards

Seriously? Wow.

LOL!! Im kind of bad about that. If the tires have air and the bike starts.....its good to go.

yeah, the pre-flight inspection idea is a good one. but, if you ride your bike every day, it becomes a bit burdensome.

i'd say it's a good idea if you only ride once a weekend or something, but my DRZ (daily commuter) only gets a thorough pre-flight every month or so.

no oil on the ground under it? check.
tires are not completely flat? check.
brakes work OK as i' getting on it? check.
starts up? check

i'm good to go...

(it's obvious if the head light is not working and i do check to make sure the tail light is working every now and then.)