Safety and riding skills

A lot of stories this summer about motorcycle accidents have reminded me about the importance of safety.  The biggest profile story out there in the news is a man who wanted a motorcycle for over 20 years and finally got one and killed himself on the way home from the dealership.  (Article Here) It's being used all over the internet as an example of how "dangerous"  motorcycles are.  What is dangerous is a person on a motorcycle that doesn't know how to ride.   And sadly I know and see people that have been "riding for 20 years" that do not know how to ride a motorcycle, in fact the motorcycle forums are full of them.  A lot of major mistakes and superstitions are given more credibility than real riding, and that makes me very sad.   Yes, we still have the problem with cagers (cars and trucks) not seeing us when on two wheels, but I see a lot of motorcyclists riding as if they are invincible.   When you are lane splitting at 70 mph through stopped traffic  YOU become the problem and the cause of the accident.  And it's not just obvious mistakes like that, I see motorcyclists every single day tailgating cars, Jack rabbit launches at red lights, Riding way too fast for the road conditions, not paying attention to road surface, not paying attention at all.   And that doesn't even start to cover the things we cant see, the mistakes that riders make that are based on either a lack of education or a listening to an "old biker" that actually doesn't know anything or has horribly outdated knowledge.

Mistake 1 - Don't use your front brake, you will flip over.   Really? are we to assume that all motorcycle makers are out to kill bikers by adding an unsafe front brake?  In fact most big bikes have linked brakes that force you to use the front when you only use the rear for this exact reason.  Many bikers just do not have a clue as to how a motorcycle stops.  70 to 80 percent of your stopping power is in that front brake; not using it is asking for an accident. Many bikers claim their accident was from a car turning in front of them, and yes that was the start of the event,   but the 200 foot long black mark from their rear tire tells me that they did not know how to ride and use only the rear brake.  This is why they were unable to stop and they hit the car.  Almost all modern motorcycles have exceptional brakes and can stop you faster than a car could ever stop, some now have ABS that have a spooky short stopping distance.   when you react you should be bleeding off speed first and looking for an exit second.   Clamping down on the brake until you hit the car is a rookie rider mistake that a lot of old timers and "20 year" riders make.   Slow down and look for and take that evasion path.  I would rather blow out the front rim and forks on my bike hitting a curb at 45mph than plowing into the car.

Mistake 2 - Highway pegs used all the time.   No, highway pegs are for...... the highway.   I see a lot of guys riding in town with their feet up on the highway pegs.  How are you supposed to react to a car pulling out in front of you when it takes you a second to get your feet back on the controls?  you will travel almost 50 feet in that 1 second.   Stop using your highway pegs in town, you need to be ready to react to the bad drivers that you know are on the road with you.

Mistake 3 - speeding.  yes I know it's fun to do 120 on your sportbike, but do that on a track.  There is no excuse for racing on the streets when there are so many race tracks that have bike days.   High speeds on public roads are pure stupidity for two major reasons.   First, the roads are in garbage shape. Sand, gravel, dirt, trash, etc are all over the roads.  Any of that can cause you to wipe out and crash.  Second you can not predict what a car will do.  If you are riding 120 and a kid walks on the street what are you going to do?  What about a deer?  you can not react fast enough to avoid the accident and die, and at those speeds if you over react you will have an accident and die.  This is not a track where you have a nice clear skid space and soft barrier to hit.   hitting a tree with your arm at 100mph removes the arm.  And lastly, do you hate riding? Why are you trying to make your ride as short as possible by speeding?  I want to ride as long as possible because my happy times is when I am in the saddle.

Mistake 4 - Not knowing the bike.  most motorcycle riders have zero clue as to how their bike will react in an emergency.  none of them have practiced any evasion or emergency maneuvers, so they are completely clueless as to what will happen when they need to react quickly to avoid an accident.  Do you know what happens when you try to brake in a turn?  Some bikes can not hold any grip and will slide out, others will pop up vertical, etc..  What will your bike do under hard breaking and you try to avoid an obstacle?  Big touring bikes have wet noodle suspension in a panic you can turn the handlebars hard and the front wheel will not react almost "bending" the forks from all the stresses involved.

I am not going to get into safety gear here,  It is a "personal choice" and a freedom issue for most people, but I will just say I ride with a helmet gear most of the time for my wife and daughter.   I love them more than any "freedom" of riding  with nothing on to protect me.  At a minimum they can at least have an open casket funeral, but my gear significantly increases my survival chances in the event of a crash.

I see a lot of riders that just ride, they do stupid things on their bikes that put them and others at risk.  They don't know their bike, they don't know how to ride, they don't learn and update their knowledge.  There are a HUGE number of riders that don't even know how to pick their bike up if it falls over.  Some claim, "my Harley is 900 pounds you cant pick it up"  and I can show you videos of a 80 pound 50 year old woman picking up that 900 pound bike easily.  These bikers do not know how to ride a motorcycle or how to handle a motorcycle.   Please at least buy a DVD like the "ride like a pro" series or take some classes on advanced riding so you can avoid accidents, and be a top 1% motorcycle rider.

One last thing,  unless you are a outlaw 1%er flying fast in the night without any lights on, you don't need to ride in all black leather.  Something bright to get the attention of the car driver that is eating a burger, texting, and painting their toenails (Yes I have seen this on a highway) goes a long way to increase your visibility.  There are a lot of "bad ass" looking bright colored jackets, shirts, etc that you can wear to be more visible.

I am not preaching,  I just want most of you to keep riding every day.  I want all bikers to become old bikers that can tell stories to the young kids about the trips they made and the fun they had on two wheels.  If we all ride smarter and better, we all will live longer and avoid the cagers.