50 ways to save your life
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. – Aristotle
The
best bike in the world is scrap – or soon will be – unless you learn
how to use it. The most powerful piece of high-performance hardware is
between your ears. To help you program it with the right information,
we’ve assembled 50 potentially lifesaving bits of street savvy. Some
you’ll know, some you won’t. All are worth remembering, because when it
comes to riding motorcycles on the street, the people over at the
Motorcycle Safety Foundation (www.msf-usa.org) have the right idea with
their tagline: The more you know, the better it gets.
1. Assume you’re invisible
Because
to a lot of drivers, you are. Never make a move based on the assumption
that another driver sees you, even if you’ve just made eye contact.
Bikes don’t always register in the four-wheel mind.
2. Be considerate
The
consequences of strafing the jerk-du-jour or cutting him off start out
bad and get worse. Pretend it was your grandma and think again.
3. Dress for the crash, not the pool or the prom
Sure,
London Drugs is a 5-minute trip, but nobody plans to eat pavement.
Modern mesh gear means 100-degree heat is no excuse for a T-shirt and
board shorts.
4. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst
Assume that car across the intersection will turn across your bow when the light goes green, with or without a turn signal.
5. Leave your ego at home
The only people who really care if you were faster on the freeway will be the officer and the judge.
6. Pay attention
Yes,
there is a half-naked girl on the billboard. That shock does feel
squishy. Meanwhile you could be drifting toward Big Trouble. Focus.
7. Mirrors only show you part of the picture
Never change direction without turning your head to make sure the coast is really clear.
8. Be patient
Always
take another second or three before you pull out to pass, ride away
from a curb, or into freeway traffic from an on-ramp. It’s what you
don’t see that gets you. That extra look could save your life.
9. Watch your closing speed
Passing cars at twice their speed or changing lanes to shoot past a row of stopped cars is just asking for trouble.
10. Beware the verge and the merge
A
lot of nasty surprises end up on the sides of the road: empty
McDonald’s bags, nails, TV antennas, ladders, used condoms, you name
it. Watch for potentially troublesome debris on both sides of the road.
11. Left-turning cars remain a leading killer of motorcyclists
Don’t assume someone will wait for you to dart through the intersection. They’re trying to beat the light, too.
12. Beware of cars running traffic lights
The first few seconds after a signal light changes are the most perilous. Look both ways before barging into an intersection.
13. Check your mirrors
Do
it every time you change lanes, slow down or stop. Be ready to move if
another vehicle is about to occupy the space you’d planned to use.
14. Mind the gap
Remember
Driver’s Ed? The second’s worth of distance per 10 mph is the old rule
of thumb. Better still, scan the next 12 seconds ahead for potential
trouble.
15. Beware of tuner cars
They’re quick and their
drivers tend to be aggressive. Don’t assume you’ve beaten one away from
a light or outpaced it in traffic and changing lanes without looking.
You could end up as a Nissan hood ornament.
16. Excessive entrance speed hurts
It’s
the leading cause of single-bike accidents on twisty roads and
racetracks. In Slow, Out Fast is the old adage, and it still works.
Dialing up corner speed is safer than scrubbing it off.
17. Don’t trust that deer whistle
Ungulates
and other feral beasts prowl at dawn and dusk, so heed those big yellow
signs. If you’re riding in a target-rich environment, slow down and
watch the shoulders.
18. Learn to use both brakes
The front does most of your stopping, but a little rear brake on corner entry can calm a nervous chassis.
19. Keep the front brake covered – always
Save a single second of reaction time at 60 mph and you can stop 88 feet shorter. Think about that.
20. Look where you want to go
Use
the miracle of target fixation to your advantage. The motorcycle goes
where you look, so focus on the solution instead of the problem.
21. Keep your eyes moving
Traffic
is always shifting, so keep scanning for potential trouble. Don’t lock
your eyes on any one thing for too long unless you’re actually dealing
with trouble.
22. Think before you act
Careful whipping
around that Civic going 7 mph in a 25 mph zone or you could end up with
your head in the driver’s side door when she turns into a driveway
right in front of you.
23. Raise your gaze
It’s too late to
do anything about the 20 feet immediately in front of your fender, so
scan the road far enough ahead to see trouble and change trajectory.
24. Get your mind right in the driveway
Most
accidents happen during the first 15 minutes of a ride, below 40 mph,
near an intersection or driveway. Yes, that could be your driveway.
25. Come to a full stop at that next stop sign
Put a foot down. Look again. Anything less forces a snap decision with no time to spot potential trouble.
26. Never dive into a gap in stalled traffic
Cars may have stopped for a reason, and you may not be able to see why until it’s too late to do anything about it.
27. Don’t saddle up more than you can handle
If you weigh 95 pounds, avoid that 795-pound cruiser. If you’re 5-foot-3, forget those towering adventure-tourers.
28. Watch for car doors opening in traffic
And smacking a car that’s swerving around some goof-ball’s open door is just as painful.
29. Don’t get in an intersection rut
Watch
for a two-way stop after a string of four-way intersections. If you
expect cross-traffic to stop, there could be a painful surprise when it
doesn’t.
30. Stay in your comfort zone when you’re with a group
Riding
over your head is a good way to end up in the ditch. Any bunch worth
riding with will have a rendezvous point where you’ll be able to link
up again.
31. Give your eyes some time to adjust
A minute or
two of low light heading from a well-lighted garage onto dark streets
is a good thing. Otherwise, you’re essentially flying blind for the
first mile or so.
32. Master the slow U-turn
Practice. Park
your butt on the outside edge of the seat and lean the bike into the
turn, using your body as a counter weight as you pivot around the rear
wheel.
33. Who put a stop sign at the top of this hill?
Don’t
panic. Use the rear brake to keep from rolling back down. Use Mr.
Throttle and Mr. Clutch normally – and smoothly – to pull away.
34. If it looks slippery, assume it is
A
patch of suspicious pavement could be just about anything. Butter
Flavour Crisco? Gravel? Mobil 1? Or maybe it’s nothing. Better to slow
down for nothing than go on your head.
35. Bang! A blow-out! Now what?
No
sudden moves. The motorcycle isn’t happy, so be prepared to apply a
little calming muscle to maintain course. Ease back the throttle, brake
gingerly with the good wheel and pull over very smoothly to the
shoulder. Big sigh.
36. Drops on the face shield?
It’s
raining. Lightly misted pavement can be slipperier than when it’s been
rinsed by a downpour, and you never know how much grip there is. Apply
maximum-level concentration, caution and smoothness.
37. Emotions in check?
To
paraphrase Mr. Ice Cube, chickity-check yourself before you wreck
yourself. Emotions are as powerful as any drug, so take inventory every
time you saddle up. If you’re mad, sad, exhausted or anxious, stay put.
38. Wear good gear
Wear
stuff that fits you and the weather. If you’re too hot or too cold or
fighting with a jacket that binds across the shoulders, you’re
dangerous. It’s that simple.
39. Leave the iPod at home
You won’t hear that cement truck in time with U2 cranked to 11, but they might like your headphones in intensive care.
40. Learn to swerve
Be
able to do two tight turns in quick succession. Flick left around the
bag of briquettes, the right back to your original trajectory. The bike
will follow your eyes, so look at the way around, not the briquettes.
Now practice till it’s a reflex.
41. Be smooth at low speeds
Take
some angst out, especially of slow-speed manoeuvres, with a bit of rear
brake. It adds a welcome bit of stability by minimizing some unwelcome
weight transfer and potentially bothersome driveline lash.
42. Flashing is good for you
Turn
signals get your attention by flashing, right? So a few easy taps on
the pedal or lever before stopping makes your brake light more
eye-catching to trailing traffic.
43. Intersections are scary, so hedge your bets
Put
another vehicle between your bike and the possibility of someone
running the stop sign/red light on your right and you cut your chances
of getting nailed in half.
44. Tune your peripheral vision
Pick
a point near the center of that wall over there. Now scan as far as you
can by moving your attention, not your gaze. The more you can see
without turning your head, the sooner you can react to trouble.
45. All alone at a light that won’t turn green?
Put
as much motorcycle as possible directly above the sensor wire – usually
buried in the pavement beneath you or located by a round or square
pattern behind the limit line. If the light still won’t change, try
putting your kickstand down, right on the wire. You should be on your
way in seconds.
46. Everything is harder to see after dark
Adjust
your headlights, carry a clear face shield and have your game all the
way on after dark, especially during commuter hours.
47. Don’t troll next to – or right behind – Mr. Peterbilt
If
one of those 18 retreads blows up – which they do with some regularity
- it de-treads and that can be ugly. Unless you like dodging huge
chunks of flying rubber, keep your distance.
48. Take the panic out of panic stops
Develop
an intimate relationship with your front brake. Seek out some safe,
open pavement. Starting slowly, find that fine line between maximum
braking and a locked wheel, and then do it again, and again.
49. Make your tires right
None
of this stuff matters unless your skins are right. Don’t take ‘em for
granted. Make sure pressure is spot on every time you ride. Check for
cuts, nails and other junk they might have picked up, as well as
general wear.
50. Take a deep breath
Count to 10. Visualize
whirled peas. Forgetting some clown’s 80-mph indiscretion beats running
the risk of ruining your life, or ending it.
If you’re ever on public roads, you should go back and read those again.
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