Most Important Things to Know For a Motorcycling n00b.

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I'll have a go at answering this question re: saccading....
a) When I am at a junction in a cage or bike, I make sure that my head stays still for a moment so that I have time to take in the whole scene. Stops me pulling out in front of another vehicle.
b) When there is a car trying to turn across - or even into - my path, I will ease off the the throttle until I am sure they have seen me. If the drivers head has stopped, that is a good sign. This applies whether I am in town or the countryside. What does experience tell me might happen when a driver is at a junction?
c) In terms of passive safety, I usually wear something bright on top and have some auxiliary lights set create a triangle of light. Something bright moving along might catch the attention of someone whose head is still moving.
d) I do not spend to much time in driver's blind spots because drivers often do not stop moving their heads - or eyes - when checking mirrors. Thus they do not get a clear picture of what is in the mirror.

RE: looming. This terminolgy was used by our police instructor because it is easy to understand. I accept that it might not be technically accurate.

re: b) - I have zero confidence that I can tell when another driver has seen me, unless it's demonstrated by some behavior - like stopping (different from staying stopped). Just because someone has their head pointed at me doesn't mean they've seen me - there's simply no way you can tell from 50-100 feet away, while going perhaps 30 mph, that another person's eyes are focused on you.

Because a bike is smaller than a car, drivers will tend to think it's further away than it really is (small = far away). Slow down: if you're going faster than traffic, not only will you be closer than they think (because you're small), they'll have even less time available to pull out than if you were where they thought you were (because you're taking less time to cover the reduced distance).

The SMIDSY weave can be helpful, this video also has a good illustration of looming.

For a long time I used to think that it took but 3 things to operate a motor vehicle on the street. 1- control of the vehicle itself. 2- traffic management. 3- routing. Of the three, only routing could be given up to concentrate on saving one's hide. Being lost but alive is better than trying to make a too-late turn. Granted routing oneself into the ditch is better than hitting a stalled vehicle.

I now think that the most important thing is taking a few moments before getting on the bike to clear one's mind for the task at hand. Leave the mental worries and aggravations aside for duration of the ride and enjoy the task of riding smoothly. Proper mindset before the ride starts will make the riding that much easier, safer, and enjoyable.
fran

Always be extra cautious while riding in parking lots. Cars backing out quickly without looking will hurt.

Park far away from assholes and walk a few extra steps.

What an excellent video (with life-saving advice)

I am going to die because of free coffee. Nothing is free. The $10 hamburger was not free. The little kid coughing and his mother also. Covid from a free coffee. We all die some day. Lickman Rd A&W is going to kill me. Bye bye

Beware of nice days ... they’re killers. No one hardly ever goes down when it’s wet and shitty ... don’t ask me how I know this ..

It's important to note that your loud pipes rarely bring joy to anyone other than the immature part of your psyche .

I'll admit I found humor in and laughed at that video; however, at the same time, I feel as if those guys are too lame to ride and in lieu of doing so, they ridicule those who do...

I don't think they are ridiculing those who ride in general. I think they are ridiculing those who ride in an excessively attention-demanding way.

Good video. Movement is such a good way to get spotted. This how an instructor explained it to me.....

A rabbit hunter, or a sniper for that matter when looking for a target on a wide landscape struggles to spot it's kill for two reasons. Camouflage and lack of movement. As long as the bunny remains still it has a chance of making it back to the burrow for carrot cake.

But even with the best Camo, as soon as it moves the human eye can pick you up in an instant even if it's not directly looking at it. Then it's rabbit soup instead of carrot cake for bugsy.

Moving your bike at an intersection will enable you to be seen much easier and quicker - even if the motorist doesn't register the bike chances are they will register the movement and look again allowing you to 'hare' past them safely.

Read Face plant.

Work at being SMOOTH with throttle, brakes, clutch, steering input.

It will pay huge dividends both in safety and riding enjoyment.

Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.

Don't focus on fast. Slow down and focus on smooth. The fast will come.

Did a weekend course at SoCal Supermoto. Learned a LOT. But the fastest guy at the track, by a WIDE margin was not a trainer, but the mechanic. WHen you watch him on the course, you did NOT notice the speed. You noticed how smooth he was. It was non-stop flow. Only after watching him for a while did you notice that he was passing everyone (and i mean everyone) on the track. He wasn't catching them on the straights with more power. He was just so smooth through entire track - turns, straights, esses, that he just ate up the distance. It was impressive to watch and it was all butter smooth technique.