[Evotion]

It never hurts to read the usual riding tips again and again, time after time.
Many are commonsense and obvious but still have to be remembered.
There are other tips but this is a selection of tips I accumulated from different articles on the web.

1. Numero Uno, number 1 - Wear a helmet, any helmet is better than nothing and will help avoid damage to the brain, the biggest killer of motorcyclists.
2. Check your bike over before a ride - fluid levels, lights and tyres for sure.
3. Be careful on bends and don't overtake if you can't see the road ahead
4. Learn how to handle the power of the motor bike or, if in doubt, do not buy a bike you think that you not be able to handle.
5. Wear protective clothing all of the time - ATGATT
6. Don't succumb to peer pressure when riding in groups. Your friends may have moe experience or are just reckless. Do only what YOU feel is safe and never show off.
7. Don't ride if you feel tired or unwell - your reactions and ability to foresee danger will be compromised
8. Be aware of the blind spots cars and trucks have - ride in the road where you think you have the best chance of being seen by those around you
9. Flash your brake light when you are slowing down and before stopping. to give following vehicles a heads up. You do not want another vehicle hitting you from behind
10. If a motorist doesn’t see you, don’t be afraid to use your horn.
11. Constantly search the road for changing conditions
12. Give yourself space and time to respond to other motorists’ actions
13. Give other motorists time and space to respond to you.
14. Wtch for turning vehicles. or for vehicles that might suddenly turn - prepare for the worst
15. Signal your next move in advance - let that car know you are turning so that they don't undercut you.
16. Pretend you’re invisible, and ride extra defensively
17. Know and follow the rules of the road, and stick to the speed limit.
18. Don't go out just after rain as it lifts the muck and oil up to the surface. Give it time to wash away
19. Practice, practice, practice - Perfect your riding techniques in quiet areas. Understand how the bike reacts in wet, windy or uneven roads
20. Get formal training and take refresher courses - become a more confident and safer rider and perhaps lower your insurance premium too!

Ride Safe!

 

[u3c307]

Two cool links to check out for tips:

http://www.msgroup.org/articles.aspx
http://www.ridinginthezone.com/the-zone-blog/

 

[Evotion]

One I have learnt...

Always look ahead to where you wish to be on a bend..
Your bike will go there like magic,.

The worse thing to do is worry and then concentrate on the kerb, hedge or oncoming car.. it will likely steer you there - it's called Target Fixation and is a habit one must never get in to.

 

[Lollingthunder]

If at all possible, when you are in your learning phase of riding around to get in the miles, try to stick to hours that are not commuting hours. Such as ride between 10am to 3pm. The hours of 7-9am and 5-7pm are the prime hours where people are going to work groggy and coming home from work tired and zoned out. More chances for them to make mistakes that are not in your favor.

Also if you can asap find an empty little-traffic road hill you can practice stopping on so you can get down taking off from stop on a hill (incline). Practice until you can do it without much thought.

And this one might be a tall order. try to find a road, once again with little traffic, that has a camber in it. Both slanting upward and downward. Learn how it feels to put your feet down on the camber going eitherway (slanting down towards the curb and slanting up towards the curb).

Your goal as a rider is to learn to adapt to all possible situations the road throws at you, you can learn on the fly but whenever possible, try to learn in controlled low traffic environments to get you ready for unexpected run-ins with the situation.

And try to do some safety mods on your bike before vanity mods. Such as getting a stronger horn, or getting a brakelight modulator (flashes your brake lights quickly when you apply brakes).

 

[foothills]

I would modify #10 : "If a motorist doesn’t see you, don’t be afraid to use your horn."

TO:

Use your horn ANY time you have ANY suspicion they don't see you and are a threat. You really don't know when they see you or not, even if they are looking right at you. I'd rather irritate 1000 with a horn blast than be hit by one. Even if they're irritated or wondering why I'm hitting the horn, at least they are aware of me - mission accomplished!

 

[FangShui]

I would modify #10 : "If a motorist doesn’t see you, don’t be afraid to use your horn."

TO:

Use your horn ANY time you have ANY suspicion they don't see you and are a threat. You really don't know when they see you or not, even if they are looking right at you. I'd rather irritate 1000 with a horn blast than be hit by one. Even if they're irritated or wondering why I'm hitting the horn, at least they are aware of me - mission accomplished!

And change out your horn for one that can actually be heard!

Buy a FIAMM Low Tone horn on eBay for $13 and sound like a truck!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FIAMM-72012...Bracket-New-/281705639596?hash=item4196f6eeac

 

[Huskercowboy]

If you do 16 and 19......the rest will fall into place. Always keep your guard up and be prepared.

 

[foothills]

One I have learnt...

Always look ahead to where you wish to be on a bend..
Your bike will go there like magic,.

The worse thing to do is worry and then concentrate on the kerb, hedge or oncoming car.. it will likely steer you there - it's called Target Fixation and is a habit one must never get in to.

YES this is a biggie - I think just about everyone learning will experience this at least once early on. For me it was fortunately just going off the road into a field on the dual sport I learned on. On the second ride I went on venturing out of my yard, crested a hill right into an unexpected tight curve and all I could do was stare at the edge of that curve and wonder why I couldn't make the bike turn!

 

[savagebasher]

Good stuff.. I have also been doing controlled sudden stops and quick swerves on items that are not a hazard.. for example, road markings like the diamond in the HOV\Carpool lane. Sounds silly, but I feel it will better help me react in a real hazardous situation. These are the similar types of exercises they did during the MSF course.

 

[Kojiiro]

Good stuff.. I have also been doing controlled sudden stops and quick swerves on items that are not a hazard.. for example, road markings like the diamond in the HOV\Carpool lane. Sounds silly, but I feel it will better help me react in a real hazardous situation. These are the similar types of exercises they did during the MSF course.

Not silly at all. Practice emergency stops. Practice them at the speed you ride. Same for swerving. Literally every MSF instructor I have had preaches the same thing. Practice emergency stopping at the speed you ride, it does no good to ride 75 mph and only know how to emergency brake at 35.

 

[YZFR3-Owner]

Good stuff.. I have also been doing controlled sudden stops and quick swerves on items that are not a hazard.. for example, road markings like the diamond in the HOV\Carpool lane. Sounds silly, but I feel it will better help me react in a real hazardous situation. These are the similar types of exercises they did during the MSF course.

In slow traffic I swerve my bike side to side as I go over drain cover and potholes as a bit of practice, the drivers behind see this and back right off as they're thinking there must be something wrong with that rider or the bike

 

[YZFR3-Owner]

Not silly at all. Practice emergency stops. Practice them at the speed you ride. Same for swerving. Literally every MSF instructor I have had preaches the same thing. Practice emergency stopping at the speed you ride, it does no good to ride 75 mph and only know how to emergency brake at 35.

Yeah, sure do emergency brakes at 75 mph but do it where there is no traffic, so if you lock up and come off it doesn't f*** with other road user or get you run over. The reason I'm saying this is that Savagebasher doesn't have ABS, in his other post he stated he's already had a "oh I've sh** my pants" moment at 60 mph locking the rear nearly ending up as roadkill on the back of a MPV, truck or lorry. If in doubt do the 75mph emergency braking in a car park or on a quiet road where you won't cause an accident

** And do yourself a favour, I know you think you're superman, but wear some protection when you attempt this ... cause we know you like to ride as a Squid nekkid