Most Important Things to Know For a Motorcycling n00b.

TCLOCKS — don’t forget it.

ended up behind a guy on an older FJR earlier in the week. Rear tire had a strange ‘white patch’ at slow rotation. Stayed behind him until we came to a stop for some construction.

pulled up next to him, had to wait for him to turn off his earbuds. Then got yo tell him that 1) one of his two taillight bulbs was out and 2) part of his tire was worn completely through. (Which was strange as some of the tire was not that work — almost like he’d done a long rear brake lockup).

he tells me his tires aren’t that old.

I tell him he better take a close look when he gets home before it blows on him. Thing was pretty squared already.

TCLOCS - don't forget it , but we get the idea.

I like to train riders with "cut-in-half" tennis balls.

They work very well, and are easy to "pick up" with your eyes.

Only need about 16 halves to do most any exercise.

Running over them is not very dangerous, either. They pop right back into shape.

so you're the one who invented this space-saving lifehack!

I like that, but unfortunately, I cannot take the credit for that.
I guess I’m “old school.”
But, I can carry about 40 of them at a shot...


I can't believe I just took a picture of some of my training aids...

Hearing protection. I didn't really use much until around 15-20 years ago. Now I have Tinnitus and hearing loss.

Been on bikes and loud things since I was 10.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

I know that life.

Wind noise gets you the eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee and popping ears. AMHIK

And hearing loss can be a good thing. The trains are a lot quieter now. And so are my asshole neighbours.

And wives

Tinnitus sucks, I tell everyone I see who is at risk to take care of their hearing. Once you have it there is no going back.

Had it for 60 years, it masks the voices telling me to do bad things. Sometimes it goes away. Shit happens.

^ I wish the voices in my head had told me to wear ear plugs.

I had to figure out things the hard way. As usual.

Tinnitus can be debilating. Just spent $120 on the Tinnitus 911 and it helps. Now I wear hearing protection as much as I can.

For newbies...If you’re flying along and come upon a “slower” rider...think about if there could be a reason for that rider to be approaching a turn slower than you think is necessary.

I had a couple younger guys on cruisers fly up behind me yesterday on a twisty road. I was keeping a good clip for the majority of the road, so they had to have been really flying to catch up to me.

Anyways...I dropped down to the posted/recommended speed prior to entering one turn that is deceptively tight (my usually joyride stretch). I round the turn in the middle of the lane and check the mirror...rider one is on the double-yellow line, rider two is halfway in the middle of the other lane/opposing traffic and was lucky that there were no vehicles coming at that moment.

They then proceeded to ride my bumper to a traffic light, at which point I was able to see that they were a good bit younger (not necessary relevant, but I believe it could have been a contributing factor for them in this case).

Once the light went green and one lane became two, they zoomed on by at 20+ mph over the speed limit.

In traffic, remember if you can’t easily see them, they probably can’t see you at all.

yesterday:

Four lane divided state highway with crossover ahead, and I’m in the left lane of two lanes approaching a popular gas station. It’s a 45mph zone. Car in right lane moves to turn lane and a woman in a SUV crosses the road in front of me.

having been past here many times, I already expect stupid shit to happen so when I can barely see her vehicle I’m slowed to 35mph. Fast braking, no T-bone. Missed that fun stuff by about a car length. Had I been doing 45mph there we’d have ‘met’ under unfortunate circumstances.

anticipate .

Today:

approaching a signal controlled intersection with two lanes each direction plus both left and right turn lanes. Circle K station across intersection on the right (my direction) a very popular place and where I’m headed.

two car lengths space in front of me, maybe 5 car lengths space behind me. So of course the guy with the pickup in the lane to my left has to speed up to cut in front of me instead of dropping in behind me. He HAS to make the right turn to later make the left into the station. I just shake my head slowly at him for doing it, go straight thru the light and turn right into the same station.

guy end up on the opposite side of the same pump from me, gets out and apologized. I was nice about but just said “so much space behind me I just don’t get it...”.

people out there do some crazy shit. I feel fortunate most of my road riding is away from most of these people nowadays...

What is Tinnitus 911? It's been 2 years since I got mine, it's driving me nuts!

Just a little helpful tip...don't ArmorAll the seat.

Or the tires.