I'm sort of new here too. This is my first welcome to the forum post, so welcome and be careful at all times. I'll just say that at low speed ,especially coming to a stop or trying to park be carful with using your front break , if your front wheel is turned lift or right and you hit the front break you stand a good chance of going down . If you do this and lay your bike down first look around , if no one is looking get your bike up as fast as you can and act like nothing happened .If there are people looking ,put your bloody hand in your pocket and say I'm fine ,that didn't hurt me. Just joking but true.
New rider just got my first bike
- Thread starter Spicoli1442
- Start date
Welcome and congrats!! There's already a ton of great advice already provided.
For my part, I grew up on dirtbikes. Ive had numerous street bikes including a Honda cbr 954rr. Did a little hobby racing at the tracks for fun. I rode the racebike hard but never let a better rider passing me get to me and exceed my comfort zone. And there was always someone better. LOL.
On the street, it is always about hyper vigilance. I make eye contact with cars stopped at the intersection--do they see me? Or are they about to pull out in front of me.
The pavement can be a killer. Do the lines/cracks parallel to your direction in the pavement have a significant lip/edge? If they do it can cause the front tire sidewall to fail to grip if you come up against the crack and you'll pancake sidewise.
Potholes are a thing pretty much everywhere. Watch for that.
And road grit can be hard to see but it's a crash course in cornering. Watch for that.
Pretty much any sort of seam in the pavement is something to watch for. Some roads/bridges will have a metal seam that looks like a train rail. The often run somewhat towards a parallel angle to your forward direction. DON'T hit those for more than a second. I'll line the bike up to far side of my lane from the rail and then pop back sideways to make my time of contact with the rail as brief as possible and create the most perpendicular angle across the rail.
That's true for all cracks and road seams. It can be hard to judge the size of the cracks lip and a front tire running parallel to even a half inch lip can fail to obtain sidewall adhesion and get over it. Even experienced, Ive hit one of those at 70mph and started to go down. As it was I just casually brushed against it and was able to recover barely. The bike experienced head shake and I luckily knew to hit the throttle to get front end to iine back out. (head shake is essentially the front end/tire being out of alignment with forward momentum of bike--known for happening with wheelies).
At the sum of it all--a motorcycle puts you completely out there with unrestrained visibility on your part. That's your best tool. Watch the road surface and other drivers. When in traffic I always go with the stream instead of being constantly passed. And when you pass, make it fast. Less time for the car/truck to come over on you.
The final thing I'd suggest is preparing for when the above vigilance doesn't work. There's a thing called "high-siding" which occurs when you go over the bike instead of laying it down. IF accident is imminent lock rear brake and lay it over (my natural is to the left, your's may be to the right). You want to slide into the wreck not hit head on. Sliding is bad but flying through the air is much much worse.
The best way to get this down, absent wrecking dirt bikes LOL, is to practice emergency braking. Find an isolated area/road where you can get comfortable with increasingly hard braking. Youll get a ton of confidence in riding when you explore your braking limits.
Could prolly say more but already apologizing for saying too much. Enjoy your bike for what it is--not a car. The new riders who ride like their driving their cager are the ones who I worry for. The fact you asked means you should be riding!!! Enjoy--its the best thing to be in the wind.
For my part, I grew up on dirtbikes. Ive had numerous street bikes including a Honda cbr 954rr. Did a little hobby racing at the tracks for fun. I rode the racebike hard but never let a better rider passing me get to me and exceed my comfort zone. And there was always someone better. LOL.
On the street, it is always about hyper vigilance. I make eye contact with cars stopped at the intersection--do they see me? Or are they about to pull out in front of me.
The pavement can be a killer. Do the lines/cracks parallel to your direction in the pavement have a significant lip/edge? If they do it can cause the front tire sidewall to fail to grip if you come up against the crack and you'll pancake sidewise.
Potholes are a thing pretty much everywhere. Watch for that.
And road grit can be hard to see but it's a crash course in cornering. Watch for that.
Pretty much any sort of seam in the pavement is something to watch for. Some roads/bridges will have a metal seam that looks like a train rail. The often run somewhat towards a parallel angle to your forward direction. DON'T hit those for more than a second. I'll line the bike up to far side of my lane from the rail and then pop back sideways to make my time of contact with the rail as brief as possible and create the most perpendicular angle across the rail.
That's true for all cracks and road seams. It can be hard to judge the size of the cracks lip and a front tire running parallel to even a half inch lip can fail to obtain sidewall adhesion and get over it. Even experienced, Ive hit one of those at 70mph and started to go down. As it was I just casually brushed against it and was able to recover barely. The bike experienced head shake and I luckily knew to hit the throttle to get front end to iine back out. (head shake is essentially the front end/tire being out of alignment with forward momentum of bike--known for happening with wheelies).
At the sum of it all--a motorcycle puts you completely out there with unrestrained visibility on your part. That's your best tool. Watch the road surface and other drivers. When in traffic I always go with the stream instead of being constantly passed. And when you pass, make it fast. Less time for the car/truck to come over on you.
The final thing I'd suggest is preparing for when the above vigilance doesn't work. There's a thing called "high-siding" which occurs when you go over the bike instead of laying it down. IF accident is imminent lock rear brake and lay it over (my natural is to the left, your's may be to the right). You want to slide into the wreck not hit head on. Sliding is bad but flying through the air is much much worse.
The best way to get this down, absent wrecking dirt bikes LOL, is to practice emergency braking. Find an isolated area/road where you can get comfortable with increasingly hard braking. Youll get a ton of confidence in riding when you explore your braking limits.
Could prolly say more but already apologizing for saying too much. Enjoy your bike for what it is--not a car. The new riders who ride like their driving their cager are the ones who I worry for. The fact you asked means you should be riding!!! Enjoy--its the best thing to be in the wind.
Dyna Dave117
New Member
My wife bought a 1200 Sportster last fall. She took the four day rider course offered by our local HD dealership and loved it. Whenever we talk with new riders she is always the one that brings it up and recommends the course. Also, look for this book and read it in the evenings, "Proficient Motorcycling: The Ultimate Guide to Riding Well". A ton of great information, you can find the book at Amazon and many other places. Happy Trails!
Scrappy
Active Member
Welcome,
MS coarse, and reading is good advice. In the mean time find a big empty parking lot, and ride around it at slow speeds. ride in slow circles, maybe figure eights. Get comfy on the bike. Then when bored get speed in straight line and practice quick controlled stops using both brakes. You can stop quick without locking up the tires. you'll want to know where that point is and have the muscle memory to use and find those brakes without thinking about it.
couple other quick tips:
-Dont trust cars and their blinkers, they often lie! I've seen people signal left, get left in the lane, and turn right at the last moment. Had I went around them on the right side, I would not be typing this right now.
-cars crossing intersections, or coming into traffic. hard to tell if a car is stopped or moving slowly, watch the wheels. Easiest way to tell if they are in motion. Prepare for the idiot to pull out right in front of you... It happens way too often. You must be ready, see it before it is too late.
Enjoy the ride.
MS coarse, and reading is good advice. In the mean time find a big empty parking lot, and ride around it at slow speeds. ride in slow circles, maybe figure eights. Get comfy on the bike. Then when bored get speed in straight line and practice quick controlled stops using both brakes. You can stop quick without locking up the tires. you'll want to know where that point is and have the muscle memory to use and find those brakes without thinking about it.
couple other quick tips:
-Dont trust cars and their blinkers, they often lie! I've seen people signal left, get left in the lane, and turn right at the last moment. Had I went around them on the right side, I would not be typing this right now.
-cars crossing intersections, or coming into traffic. hard to tell if a car is stopped or moving slowly, watch the wheels. Easiest way to tell if they are in motion. Prepare for the idiot to pull out right in front of you... It happens way too often. You must be ready, see it before it is too late.
Enjoy the ride.
NewHogRider
Member
Welcome to the bike world and the HD Forum.
Best advice I ever received - Do not ride beyond your level of experience.
Best advice I ever received - Do not ride beyond your level of experience.