Most Important Things to Know For a Motorcycling n00b.

[®êšïš†ø®]

Originally Posted by danman

Letting off the gas solves most of your problems.

Maybe if your bike is on fire...

[duck]

Originally Posted by danman

Headlight on high beam all the time during the day.

I'd recommend not doing this is you have a decent headlight. I used to but stopped after the popo told me not to a couple of times.

[digitalcaptive]

"Until you've made eye contact assume they haven't seen you"

The very first lesson my instructor taught me

[msport]

Originally Posted by duck

I'd recommend not doing this is you have a decent headlight. I used to but stopped after the popo told me not to a couple of times.

in which state did the popo tell you not to run your high beam during the day? it is legal in Washington state, and was recommended by my msf instructor.

I installed and use a pair of hella fogs during day for extra lighting, vs using the high beam. my reasoning is that fog lights have a much wider dispersion of light so they look bright from all angles in front of the bike not just where your headlight is aimed. makes for a better chance for cages to see you. also, 3 lights are suppose to be better for other drivers to determine your speed on approach (all trains now have 3 lights so drivers/pedestrians can tell approach speed quicker.) I suppose you could argue that on a bike it would be pretty hard to get the lights far enough apart to help. but at any rate, the extra lights can't hurt.

[DAKEZ]

Originally Posted by msport

in which state did the popo tell you not to run your high beam during the day? it is legal in Washington state, and was recommended by my msf instructor.

While it is legal the same rules apply for dimming them. Approaching and following they need to be dimmed.

[duck]

Originally Posted by msport

in which state did the popo tell you not to run your high beam during the day? it is legal in Washington state, and was recommended by my msf instructor.

I don't know if it's legal or not but twice was told by the SPD (Seattle Police) not to do it. Legal or not, I avoid doing things that irk LEOs and I sure as heck am not going to start an argument with one.

[duck]

Originally Posted by digitalcaptive

"Until you've made eye contact assume they haven't seen you"

The very first lesson my instructor taught me

This is BAD advice. When someone points their eyes in your direction and you ASSUME you've made eye contact you have no idea if your presence has actually registered in their gray matter. A better instructor would have told you to always assume you're invisible.

[DAKEZ]

Originally Posted by digitalcaptive

"Until you've made eye contact assume they haven't seen you"

The very first lesson my instructor taught me

Originally Posted by DAKEZ

Good post but the "make eye contact" part is extremely bad advice.

The faceplant forum is littered with riders who said they made eye contact.

It is the classic. Looked but failed to see.

Here is a link to one from just this past week: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=568430

"...She looked right at me , made eye contact, and proceeded right into my path."

DO NOT LOOK AT THEIR EYES!!!

LOOK AT THE TOP OF THE FRONT TIRE. / (wheel)

Hope this helps you lose the bad advice taught you by your instructor.

[45LC]

Headlight on high beam all the time during the day.

I'd really prefer other riders didn't do this. I see it alot around here and it's not safe at all.
It just blinds oncoming motorcycle riders and generally pisses off people in cars.SPD included I'm sure, those Silverstar bulbs are freakishly bright.

Back on topic..As for stuff I wish someone told me about bikes.

Thre simple adjustments that make all the difference in the world with handling.

#1 Tire pressure. I always followed the psi molded into the tire. Wrong, try different pressures for different conditons front and rear and note the difference.
#2 Suspesnion settings. Again middle is just a starting point. Spring preload, rebound and dampening all have profound affects on handling.
#3 Chain tension. Often overlooked or simply neglected. At least on my dual sports it affects shifting and drivetrain noise.

Something I often struggled with when I first rode on pavement was stopping in gear and searching in vain for neutral.
1st,3rd,1st,3rd on and on. Figured out the rolling "N" click pretty quick but nobody ever told me to do it, learned the "hard way".

[dwoodward]

Originally Posted by 45LC

Something I often struggled with when I first rode on pavement was stopping in gear and searching in vain for neutral.
1st,3rd,1st,3rd on and on.

*BLINK* 1st... 3rd? Really?

Figured out the rolling "N" click pretty quick but nobody ever told me to do it, learned the "hard way".

Hint- why might you want to stay in gear while stopped in traffic? here, let's try something.

Close your eyes, picture yourself sitting at a stop light. Now imagine behind you the

SCRRREEEEEEEEEEECH

of car tires, locked up and not stopping. Betcha wish you were in gear...

[daq7]

People like to say to stay in gear to keep from getting rear ended, but I am quite sceptical that by the time you hear brakes you could react fast enough to prevent a crash. You may be able to see someone coming too fast as long as you are willing to be on a hair trigger...

[daq7]

I addressed the question of mirrors in my reply, and I am just as sceptical that you can always make a decision that someone is coming too fast and do something about it. I admit that you MIGHT.

[eepeqez]

Until they look you in the eye assume they haven't seen you.

You can be sure of this!


Addressing someone's concern that this might suggest that once they've looked at you, you're safe:

After they've looked you in the eye, assume there's still a good chance either they haven't seen you or they consider motorcyclists targets.

Where I live, you're required to dip your headlight for oncoming traffic and traffic you are following, regardless of the time of day.

On the other hand when I started riding, we had dismal pre-focussed headlights which had a pretty hideous low beam pattern anyway. Low beams were more glary than modern halogen lights and high beams were pretty dismal. Riding on high beam in the day made you a bit more conspicuous without causing undue glare.

This is the downside to modern decent headlights. Hopefully the super bright LED running lights appearing on European prestige cars will trickle down to bikes.

Ride with headlights and/or LED running lights on in the daytime, reserve your high beam in daytime for getting attention.

As for complete newbies braking; I remember very clearly riding my first bike (which makes it my first 3 months), approaching downhill a complex double intersection on a wet highway and realising very late that I needed to stop RIGHT NOW, not at the second half of the intersection.

With just a few weeks experience, I hauled on the brakes and watched in a strangely detached way as my front wheel stop turning, several times, while I modulated the brake force, knowing I needed as much braking as I could get but that a stopped front wheel was a BAD THING(tm). I was well aware that the only reason I was getting away with it at all was that I was travelling bolt upright in a dead straight line.

I stopped just short of the crossing traffic.

This incident made a very strong impression on me. I learnt that in a dead straight line, I could brake to skidding if necessary.

As a newby with just a few weeks experience and NO training whatsoever (just a multi-guess test for my learners permit), I would have been very poorly served by any advice other than:

Use both brakes.
Carefully.
Especially on bends.

[Roadrunner]

Originally Posted by 45LC

I'd really prefer other riders didn't do this. I see it alot around here and it's not safe at all.

It just blinds oncoming motorcycle riders and generally pisses off people in cars. Something I often struggled with when I first rode on pavement was stopping in gear and searching in vain for neutral.
1st,3rd,1st,3rd on and on. Figured out the rolling "N" click pretty quick but nobody ever told me to do it, learned the "hard way".

In all the time I've ridden with my high beams on - mind you, only in daylight hours, I've had only 1 old white-haired guy flash his lights at me. That is one out of oh....about a zillion cars. I'd say it is worth my life.

You shift from 1st to 3rd?

[Rottweiler]

Originally Posted by Roadrunner

In all the time I've ridden with my high beams on - mind you, only in daylight hours, I've had only 1 old white-haired guy flash his lights at me. That is one out of oh....about a zillion cars.

And this proves what, exactly?

I'd say it is worth my life.

Do you really, truly want to claim that you'd be long ago dead if you didn't irritate every cage driver you meet?

If your riding is THAT dangerous, why do you do it?