Most Important Things to Know For a Motorcycling n00b.

Oh I see.......it's Olde English

To determine how slippery the road is or how much grip it can afford you; carefully place the sole of one of your shoes on the road while moving. A slippery road will feel like your shoe is skiing, while a grippy road will try to kick your shoe back.

This method has helped me adjust my speed, lean angle, braking distance, et... to varying conditions.

I just stomp on the rear brake, and let the ABS tell me how slippery it is. I do use the foot method to check for loose gravel though, you can feel it roll under the sole.

You really think its a good idea to recommend that nOObs (see title of thread) slide their boot along the ground? You might want to warn them about what happens when the toe or heel (depending upon the boot) hits a crack when traveling at any decent speed.

So true, Practice makes permanent!

Take a MFS course

Buy a small used bike to practice on (I started with a Yamaha 650 Star)

Know your limitations: I rode my "new" bike out of the dealership and within 2 blocks I new I was paying more attention to the bike than the traffic. I pulled over, walked back to the dealership and told them to deliver it for me. Then I spent every waking daylight minute running drills for a couple of weeks after work till I felt good enough to get on the street.

Don't drive like you're invisible, drive like you have a target on your back!

Put 5000 miles on your bike before you ride 2 up.

Buy a modulator and a very loud horn.

Follow the maintenance schedule.

Go on a tour!

For superslab, that is indeed a beautiful ride!

Dont ever rely on horn or the modulator, stay alert, extra careful in the first few week's, ride at your own pace, if you go with mate's.
Good luck!

it took me weeks to notices that my horn was broken as i never use it.
dont rely on hi vis gear as it dont not help much.

Do not wear a steel banded watch.

There's a vid on YT, but do I really need to post it?

If you crash and wrench your hand, it can, and most likely will, cut your wrist.

mine hasn't worked for at least 5 months. not sure when exactly it stopped working. probably one of the several times i've half buried the bike in a mud hole.

i don't miss it on the street at all. i do miss it on trails every now and then. it's an easy way to get the attention of the rider in front of you when you are stopped in a line on the trail.

Just last week, I was stopped in the right lane of a small street waiting for a car to turn left into my street crossing in front of me. The old lady was cutting the lane short and coming right at me. I don't think that she saw me because of her thick door post. My extremely loud air horn caused her to slam on her brakes. There was no way that I could get out of the way because I was stopped and she turned toward me from 10 feet away. Yeah, a loud horn can do a lot of good.

A bit late to the party but better late than never:

You may be tough skinned but your skin ain't as tough as the asphalt. Wear protective gear.

A tool is a tool. Every tool has a function. If you need to perform that function, having the right tool can make a difference.

There's a fire extinguisher in my garage. I've never had to use it, but it's there. I check to make sure it's charged up when I replace the batteries in the smoke detectors.

I know where the horn button is on my bike, and I check to make sure they work every once in a while.

If you use either one very often, you're doing something wrong.

I am a part-time mechanic in an independent shop. We work on anything that comes in. We sell a lot of tires. Something to keep in mind is the tires are all that's between you and the road. Do some research before you buy new tires. Then buy the best ones you can afford, and keep them properly inflated. I've lost track of how many customers bring their bike in for the spring tune-up, and that's the only time tire pressure gets checked all year.

Occasionally take some time not to ride, but give the bike a bath. This will get you down closer to it so that you can really look it over while you wash it. Otherwise you might not notice little things before they turn into big things.

Oftentimes on my way to the shop on weekends I ride past a riding course, so I'll stop and observe for a while. Almost every time I see the student-riders almost rigid in the saddle, back straight, elbows locked, and looking uncomfortable. RELAX! Get comfortable with your bike. Pretend you're dancing with your favorite partner. Enjoy the ride. If it starts to feel more like work than fun, maybe it's time to park the bike for a bit until you get your head back where it belongs for the ride.

Plus one. I use it every time there is an obstruction between me and a car.

The possibilities are endless, from a car entering a parking garage obscuring the vision of a car exiting that garage, or you're going down the left of a two-laner in the city and someone stops on your right to let a left turner out... :eek1

I've also used it to let stupid people know they've stopped in front of someone and need to GTFOOTW or they are going too slow and I need to get out of the firing line of traffic.. Just because I like sandwiches, it doesn't mean I want to be one...


Lay on that fkr! To my knowledge it's not illegal to over-use... Just like a turn signal...

I found a small coolant leak on my bike prior to washing it one day. 15 bucks and 4 hours later she's as good as new (minus 3 weeks waiting for 15 dollar parts ) This was this past summer in Texas, I could have done some serious damage to the bike had I not known about the leak. I wasn't really bummed about missing out on all those 100+ degree days of riding opportunities

This may have been posted already but here is my two cents:

If you can't stop in time, swerve instead.

This has saved me a few times already. Now when I ride, especially on the freeway (in a congested city), I try to stay near lanes that have a shoulder for me to escape onto. If no shoulder, then I usually pick a middle lane that would allow me to split lanes for second if I have to. Construction areas usually have no shoulders, but porter barrier everywhere, so be extra careful there. Remember, bikes are smaller than cars, so we can fit places they can't.

I learned this lesson the hard way, but was saved by the grace of God. I came up on a construction zone where traffic was stopped on a blind corner, under an overpass. A lane closure was set up so I had to merge but the cager wouldn't let me in, so I gunned it to get infront of him. When I changed lanes and looked forward, I could see traffic stopped dead in front of me.

I hit the brakes, but since I was on a corner, my rear locked up and my bike went sideways. I let of the rear to gain control, keeping my front wheel forward, then mashed the rear again to have the bike go sideways again. I let off the rear brake to right my bike, then hit it again and went sideways again. I was still going about 30 mph headed right for the rear of the car infront of me with about 30 feet to spare. At this point, the rear sliding out had left my bike slightly headed to the shoulder, which was barrelled off with orange barrels. Iv'e worked road construction for well over a decade, so I knew that those orange barrels pop off when hit, leaving a heavy rubber base on the ground. So I quit braking, swerved left, and plowed the barrel, popping it off its base, but still able to keep the bike upright. It took me two more car lengths to stop. I turned off the bike, got off and started breathing heavy. My bike had orange barrel smeared on it, with bits of orange reflective material. This all took place in about 3 seconds.

I probably looked like an asshole, or a damn lucky stuntman, putting the bike sideways and righting it twice, only to smash an orange barrel and still keep the bike upright again. Since then, I have always looked out for places to escape.

I was riding a KLR 650, and had a total of 2000 motorcycle miles under my belt. But Iv'e had lots of mtn biking experience, which made me comfortable with sideways borne bike. Still, the grace of God was there, and I said a prayer afterwards.

Remember, bikes can fit in small places, even if you have to plow a barrel to get there.

"Plus one. I use it every time there is an obstruction between me and a car."


What... so they can move out of the way in order to facilitate you hitting the car?


Dude... you stepped right into again!

I'm guessing he meant the obstruction kept the car driver from seeing the bike/rider. Horn says "I'm here, but you can't see me because of the obstruction."

As a noob to riding motorcycles on the street, I gotta say... What a helpful thread.

See, i've been driving my car since I was 15... Started of with a manual transmission and never went back.. I hate driving automatics.. I think they should never have made automatic transmissions to start with. Just my opinion..
In fact, I almost crashed one time driving my sisters car to the groceries cause I was reaching for the "invisible clutch"!!! (daily MT drivers who have had to drive a AT car once in a blue moon know what im talking about)
Been through plenty of crashes caused by dumbass driving mostly on my young n dumb mentality. Went through that whole racer phase.. and I went through it HARD. Ticket after ticket almost like i'd never learn.

I am now 27, pushing 28 this month. I can safely say i've grown out of being a dumbass on the road. In retrospect, I used to put everyone on the road in danger to say the least. I was "that guy" who would pull out carelessly and wreckless thinking i was the shit and knew everything about driving. I am now over that shit and love to drive safe. Safety is my main concern now that I have been blessed with a baby girl. I have to be a good father for her and good husband for my wife to ensure we keep happy.

Now, going back to loving safe driving/riding: I've learned that you can never be too cautious when it comes to thinking everyone on the road is not necessarily a dumbass, but at least accept the fact that they don't know how experienced or how much lack of experience they have. I for sure always have to remind myself that I am still learning as my body and mind are changing. You have to adapt along with your capabilities. Driving is something we weren't meant to do by nature. People get carried away and get extremely complacent with their safety. After all, it is like riding a sci-fi beastly machine. Driving/riding is absolutely exhilarating and seasons the soul.

Just remember, you can never ever be too careful. Use your general knowledge and life experience of the rules of the road and how people do/do not follow them.
Find that balance between "OH SHIT MODE and Wow, I love this." and you'll be alright. You're gonna crash once or twice. Try and make it a soft landing.

My .2 cents.

Happy riding!