Most Important Things to Know For a Motorcycling n00b.

[JRWooden]

So I'm not a n00b, but we've all got a little n00b waiting to get out and cause us grief some day...
I nearly got myself clocked a few days back - here's how it went:

I think in my entire life of motorcycling I've only ridden in areas with one-way streets a handful of times...
I don't ride in metro areas much at all, and they are just not very common where I live...

The other day, it was one of those rare occasions where I was riding on a downtown metro street.
I was in the right "curb" lane of what was a two lane one-way street.
I needed to make a left turn "across" traffic I looked ahead and there was no on-coming traffic



I started to make a left and fortunately checked my mirrors and realized ...
whew ... I damned near blew there...
as there was indeed a vehicle in the left lane that was on a path to overtake me....

I hope this plants the seed of "extra awareness" for other riders like myself that don't have much experience with one-way sections of tarmac....

[DAKEZ]

Originally Posted by JRWooden

Has anyone taken a stab at condensing this thread into a document that was reasonably concise that could be passed on to n00b riders?

One of my best friend's daughter just got a bike ... she's got a good head on her shoulders, has taken the MSF class

I think a condensed version of this thread would do her a world of good............

Already done. It is called Proficient Motorcycling by David Hough

[Ahboon]

Originally Posted by JRWooden

Has anyone taken a stab at condensing this thread into a document that was reasonably concise that could be passed on to n00b riders?

One of my best friend's daughter just got a bike ... she's got a good head on her shoulders, has taken the MSF class

I think a condensed version of this thread would do her a world of good............

Agreed - and I guess you don't mean a book you have to go out and buy but a well editied collection of the positive input, free on this web-site. Also elimiating the pointless, endless arguments about "dirt" verses "tarmac". ALL two wheeled experience is valuable.

[woolsocks]

Ok, I need some help with an issue that I’ve been having.

I tend to like to go faster than traffic by about 5 to 10 mph. No one here follows the left lane rule (keep right, pass left) which means we get long lines of traffic in the left lane, a few cars in the middle lane and long lines of traffic in the right lane. I’m in the left lane behind the long line of cars and I’m passing cars in the middle lane. It takes people forever to pass in the left lane, so I switch to the middle lane and throttle to the front, shoot the gap and get out of the way…I do this frequently, but it makes me nervous when I’m gunning down the middle lane since I don’t really leave myself an out. I feel the need to really open the throttle to gtfo of the cluster of cars which means I am going really fast to get away. I feel fine going that fast, but I get worried about cars cutting over. The cars from the right lane who want to speed up tend to want to move over to the middle lane, or people merging into traffic force the cars in the right lane to move to the middle lane because most people suck royally at merging around here. I could sit in the left lane behind the long line of cars and just wait it out, but oftentimes it takes minutes for the cars in the left lane to pass the cars in the middle lane and I don’t like sitting with the cars. Any advice?

[slide]

Wool,

I"m in the same situation as you and also concerned about just the things you are too. My solution isn't ideal but it's what I got. I shoot the middle fast enough that even if cars started to move into the middle lane, I'd not be there when they finally lumbered into where I'd been.

My general rule for road survival is to not be where a car can get you even if he's aiming - from a sideswipe sense. Since I note that cages tend to clump up, I can usually shoot into the gap between clumps and ride there.

[DAKEZ]

It is the same on I-5 in Oregon. Just be sure to look FAR ahead at all lanes and take note of lane changes and brake lights in ALL lanes.

I had a truck do the left lane block thing on me Sunday. He pulled into the left lane to pass another truck got beside said truck then just decided to hang out there. WTF? After a couple of miles he cleared the truck and was going for the next one... Lane split time with a friendly ADV salute!!!

Whipped past then back to the left lane and SHIT shit shit... LEO'S lights come on... Off the throttle... drop 15mph... LEO waves... I think this might be expensive. LEO PULLS OVER THE TRUCK!!! WOOT!

[swann]

Wow DAKEZ, I thought your anecdote was going to have a totally different ending. Woohoo!

[LuciferMutt]

Originally Posted by woolsocks

. Any advice?

Speed doesn't kill. High speed differentials kill. So yes, I have advice -- stop blasting down the empty lane at speeds significantly higher than surrounding traffic. You're right to be nervous of somebody cutting over suddenly. I'm surprised you haven't been hit already.

If there is traffic, deal with it intelligently -- don't freak out and twist the throttle to "GTFO" of the situation.

[JRWooden]

Originally Posted by Ahboon

Agreed - and I guess you don't mean a book you have to go out and buy but a well editied collection of the positive input, free on this web-site. Also elimiating the pointless, endless arguments about "dirt" verses "tarmac". ALL two wheeled experience is valuable.

I've read Proficient Motorcycling and may get her a copy of that book also, but yeah the wisdom of this forum is typically in nice "distilled down" bite-sized pieces (well except for the dirt/tarmac stuff ) and would lend its self to a format something like the horoscope of the day, or calendar with the zen saying on it .... most of the contributions here are typically short and to the point ...

e.g. today's N00B wisdom:

Wet railroad tracks are slippery as hell, cross them as close to 90 degrees as possible.
Wet manhole covers and leaves can suck also.

[JRWooden]

Originally Posted by DAKEZ

It is the same on I-5 in Oregon. Just be sure to look FAR ahead at all lanes an take note of lane changes and brake lights in ALL lanes.

I had a truck do the left lane block thing on me Sunday. He pulled into the left lane to pass another truck got beside said truck then just decided to hang out there. WTF? After a couple of miles he cleared the truck and was going for the next one... Lane split time with a friendly ADV salute!!!

Whipped past then back to the left lane and SHIT shit shit... LEO'S lights come on... Off the throttle... drop 15mph... LEO waves... I think this might be expensive. LEO PULLS OVER THE TRUCK!!! WOOT!

AWESOME!

[woolsocks]

Originally Posted by LuciferMutt

Speed doesn't kill. High speed differentials kill. So yes, I have advice -- stop blasting down the empty lane at speeds significantly higher than surrounding traffic. You're right to be nervous of somebody cutting over suddenly. I'm surprised you haven't been hit already.

If there is traffic, deal with it intelligently -- don't freak out and twist the throttle to "GTFO" of the situation.

So basically you're saying sit with traffic? What's significantly faster? Isn't the intelligent thing to get out of the way? Just trying to understand here. I mean, are you recommending that I just sit behind the cars and wait it out?

[Jon_PDX]

I'm not LM but I think the point is use caution when in that type of situation, look all around reading the traffic and other drivers, pass with care and don't get stuck in someones blind spot.

Jon...

[Arrowhead300]

Well I'm one of those those nOObs that this thread was directed at so thank you everyone for the great insight and pointers. I've taken the safety course and have ridden dirt bikes, atvs and snowmobiles all my life but never spent much time on the street (being that I'm 48 and just starting out on the street, I guess I should hang it up now or I'll be dead according to one poster ). Yea right! I recently got a DL650 that fits me well and brings me back to my dirt bike days.

There's not much I can add to this thread but have noticed a couple of things. It's a good idea to check your speedometer once in a while until you get the feel of your bike. It's very deceving how fast you are going on a bike, 60+ mph feels like nothing and you can get into trouble pretty quick if your not paying attention to your speed comming into a corner.

I'm also torn about riding with an experianced rider vs solo. I did that recently and had to tell him (a very good friend) from the get go - no more than 5 mph over the limit cause I know he likes to fly. He understood and was cool about it, but I still felt a little distracted following him. I find that riding solo I can concentrate on my form and not concern myself with what he's doing.

Keep the great suggestion comming!

[ar1814]

So, I need some advice.

I need to teach a noob to ride offroad (no street riding noob, just first time offroad), what's the best method ?

What are the first things you need to know and to do to be a successful dual sport rider ? That's just light offroad with big DS bikes (aka Dakar or KLR for example), no endure or hardcore offroard riding...

[slide]

I suggest you get an instructional DVD and learn from that what to convey to your noob. Here's one of many:

http://www.touratech-usa.com/Store/P...tructional-DVD

Were I teaching one such, I'd make sure the bike is easily handled by the noob. Frex, I'd not put a short woman on a GS because it'd intimidate her. Mass and seat height seem to be the most intimidating factors to these guys.

I'd start on well maintained forest roads with some loose stuff on top. Get the noob used to the idea that the bike will 'walk' around some but will always average out to going straight. That will take some time and use that time to review the DVD and learn more lessons to convey.