First time motorcycle

[BE Mike]

 

[Brad69]

Quit riding a few years ago.
I am not as sharp and strong as in my youth. Wife wants me to sell it.
But I need “stuff” and “things” !

BTW Dude I know hit a deer on a big HD he did not try to avoid it.
Kinda cut the deer in half.

 

[yeahbaby]

Quit riding a few years ago.
I am not as sharp and strong as in my youth. Wife wants me to sell it.
But I need “stuff” and “things” !

BTW Dude I know hit a deer on a big HD he did not try to avoid it.
Kinda cut the deer in half.

I would say that Dude is pretty lucky he did not wreck. Even kinda cutting the deer in half.

 

[edporch]

If you ride in rural areas be ready for a deer to suddenly appear in front of you. Deer have taken out many riders.

Some years back I was riding with cornfields on either side and a deer jumped out from the corn on my left and ran right in front if me to the other side of the road
It LITERALLY was no more than 3 feet in front of me as it passed.
Scared the crap out of me!

 

[Creedmoor]

I would say that Dude is pretty lucky he did not wreck. Even kinda cutting the deer in half.

We had a dresser rider at our Eagles that passed a few years ago that told me the same story a dozen times. He used to ride FX's like me until he got hit from a Canadian Goose in the chest and almost made him wreck.
He said the next week he bought his first dresser.

 

[tmschuller]

Head on a swivel. Always. 9/10 it’s not you, it’s someone else. Be abundantly aware and you will be just fine. Also avoid doing stupid stuff, ie. wheelies, racing, super hard cornering. Also be cognizant of the road conditions. A little sand in a corner can put you on the asphalt. Generally I advise my friends to ride very timidity with their new to them bike for at least the first 6 months to learn and understand fully the limitations of the bike. No two bikes ride the same. After that period, you can ride more confidently but still heed the advice above. Finally, dont skimp on protective gear. A good jacket and pair of riding pants are worth their weight in gold. Iv seen riders go down bad and walk away because of top tier protective gear. I really like agm helmets. I blew a tire on a track day and went down hard, nearly shaved the visor clean off my helmet, but that helmet did its job and I’m typing this out coherently because of it.

Stay safe out there brother!

+111 on this and as you ride your skills and anticipation should increase. Look for signs.. they are there, of more than the obvious dangers, at intersections, watch your mirrors for someone cutting in, yes head on a swivel is a great start. Its usually not if but when you are going to have a situation. You can out brake/maneuver most vehicles out there IF you are paying attention. Another thing is learn your bike.. balance and breaking.. how it tracks under hard braking. This is a good start.
Only many years of riding and good reflexes is going to start paying off. Not sure what type of bike you are looking at or have but the riding courses are a great start but practical knowledge you get from riding in different places will pay off also. Tim

 

[bold115uc]

Take the MSF course; was more useful than I thought it would be and lowered insurance cost. Buy all the right gear and actually wear it. One can be the smartest safest rider in the world and think they won’t need it until a deer jumps directly out in front of them at 55+. Trust me you’ll be wishing you were wearing it then. Don’t be a squid and always expect the unexpected.

 

[Robert B.]

I’ve never owned a motorcycle. I’ve owned dirt bikes mini bikes and all sorts of other stuff. Riding on the roads makes me nervous with phones. How do you ride the safest?

Keep your phone in your pocket, your head on a swivel, your eyes on everything that moves. Stay safe!

 

[bowhunter911]

i have been riding dirt bikes and street bikes my whole life. the #1 rule for your safety is to expect others on the road to do the dumbest thing possible, and you will find a lot of times they do. keeping distance between you and other drivers is essential to your survival.

 

[patience0830]

i have been riding dirt bikes and street bikes my whole life. the #1 rule for your safety is to expect others on the road to do the dumbest thing possible, and you will find a lot of times they do. keeping distance between you and other drivers is essential to your survival.

Following distance is your friend. Gives you precious seconds to react to idiots.

 

[bwframe]

i have been riding dirt bikes and street bikes my whole life. the #1 rule for your safety is to expect others on the road to do the dumbest thing possible, and you will find a lot of times they do. keeping distance between you and other drivers is essential to your survival.

Keep reminding and actually reciting, "Where you gonna go?"

...when that car waiting pulls out...
...when the oncoming car turns in front...
...when the vehicle going your way drifts into your lane...

Gotta ALWAYS have a place to go. Even if you are rolling slow enough to stop, the one behind you may not in time.

To answer the original OP's question, I say get a nice fun car to drive. Maybe a sporty little car with manual tranny and sunroof? I don't advise anyone to start riding a motorcycle on the street these days. The risks are just too high.

Heck, even driving on four wheels, nearly every trip into town has some sort of close call.

 

[montanamag]

Amazon.com

Excellent book- author no relation.

I have this book! It was great. I re-read it often. I have a few other books as well. Reading about riding is very helpful. Watching YouTube videos can be enlightening as well.

I've been riding for years but I still like to go out to an empty lot and practice turning and other skills.

Always looking for curvy roads to practice cornering. Brown County area is my favorite place to ride.

Like others have said....THE GEAR is so important! Helmet, boots, gloves, etc.

Don't let anyone discourage you. It's a great sport.

 

[montanamag]

Sir, I have given a lot of thought about carrying while riding. Here are my Ideas. I have "dismounted" my cycles (crashed) a few times, once needing hospitalization. I thought through where on my body the imprint of a 1911 would be acceptable. The last accident I broke ribs on both sides. A 1911 would have hurt really badly. I have generally ridden sport or sport touring bikes. I ended up carrying in the top pouch of a tank bag. Still accessible, but will stay with the bike while I am grinding pavement.

That's what I do if I carry on the bike, put it in my front pouch.

 

[tscherry70]

I rode all my life starting with dirt bikes in Nebraska in my teens.

I use to ride HD Street Glide in Texas. Paid $28k new for the bike back in 2013. I was struck from behind by a corvette while stopped and sitting at a red light on my way to work in Arlington Tx.

Launched my bike forward like a missile while i fell backward onto the hood of the corvette. I never saw it coming. I had some injuries, but nothing major. I had full protective gear on: half faced helmet, gloves, boots etc. The helmet was cracked and scuffed and probably saved me the most. I just put new pipes on it the day before. Luckily, a cop saw it happen across the street and had the intersection shut down pretty quick.

The guy hit me because he wasn't paying attention. He told the cop that his windshield fogged up and couldn't see, which is BS. I sued him and his insurance company settled with a $16k payout, lawyers got half of that. The bike got rebuilt and I sold it after that.



The devil sitting on my left shoulder has me looking at the new Goldwings...

 

[Tradesylver]

I've been riding since 1970, one crash no broken bones. Ride like everyone is trying to kill you, there is a deer ready to pop out behind every tree and never let your guard down. Now that I put that in writing, I'm wondering why I still ride at all. Anyone want to buy my 2018 Triglide?

 

[Leo]

Some years back I was riding with cornfields on either side and a deer jumped out from the corn on my left and ran right in front if me to the other side of the road
It LITERALLY was no more than 3 feet in front of me as it passed.
Scared the crap out of me!

Deer can be a really problem. We had a man in our group that we nicknamed "Deer slayer" He was riding point one evening through a wooded area, beautiful evening for a brisk ride. As we came around the curve a small deer jumped out and he clipped it. He recovered control just before he left the left shoulder. as he headed for the center line, he hit another small one, and before he could really get control, he hit a big one that took him all the way down. He recovered, the Kawasaki did not.

The worst Animal hit damage I saw was in 1984. I had just started selling bikes at River Oaks Honda / Yamaha. The very first Goldwing I ever sold came back the next day on a flatbed looking like a barrel. The man had hit a full grown hog at speed, he went over the handle bars and the bike started doing flips as the hog stopped the front end completely. There was not enough bike left to fix. The customer made it but he was torn up as badly as the bike. don't know what happened to ol' porky.

 

[Scott58]

I rode most of my life until a heart attack at 58. My first bike was a 58 Triumph tiger cub 200 and owned many many since then. My one hard and fast rule was nothing over 500 lbs after a particularly hair raising ride on a 64 panhead. You need to have the best chance of maneuverability when things get dicey. A monster bike might be fun to show off and talk about, but not good when things go wrong.

 

[PSOD]

+111 on this and as you ride your skills and anticipation should increase. Look for signs.. they are there, of more than the obvious dangers, at intersections, watch your mirrors for someone cutting in, yes head on a swivel is a great start. Its usually not if but when you are going to have a situation. You can out brake/maneuver most vehicles out there IF you are paying attention. Another thing is learn your bike.. balance and breaking.. how it tracks under hard braking. This is a good start.
Only many years of riding and good reflexes is going to start paying off. Not sure what type of bike you are looking at or have but the riding courses are a great start but practical knowledge you get from riding in different places will pay off also. Tim

Agree 100%