Let me start by congratulating you on taking a safer approach to begin exploring the world of motorcycling. My goal with this text is to talk about things I wish someone taught/told me back when I started. As someone on his way to become a MSF coach himself, I understand the level of information the average student has vs. what a seasoned rider knows about riding. This text conveys my own thoughts and opinions and does not in any way represent the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. Also, whenever I mention MSF course below, I am referring to the MSF Basic Rider Course.
Google Is Your Friend, But Everyone Has An Opinion
Forums are a great place to learn about a specific model while bike shopping and after you’ve bought a bike. Find the forum for the bike you’re looking at and see what they say about what to check when buying that specific model. The people who do bike reviews on YouTube can only tell you what they think about that bike compared to other bikes on the road after riding it for a week or so. They won’t be able to fill you in on what that bike is like to live with in terms of maintenance, potential problems, popular upgrades etc. and keep in mind they may not be doing the same type of riding you will be doing with that bike. But the folks on the forums will be able to enlighten you on potential issues with a specific model that you will want to keep an eye out for when checking out a bike or negotiating.
You can learn to become a motorcycle guru by just browsing the forums (not really). However, you’ll find lots of people posting without explaining their backgrounds so don’t believe everything you read. While motorcyclists tend to say motorcycles set them free, you’ll notice there’s a big sheep mentality when it comes to talking about motorcycling, especially with aftermarket upgrades and maintenance items. You’ll see that everyone raves about the thing they paid money for and they’ll say stuff like: “really transformed the bike”. So don’t buy the first aftermarket product you see because some guy on the internet said it really changed things for the better for them.
Best Bang For Your Buck Modification
The biggest bang for your buck “mod” you can do is to set your bike to your weight/height/shape. Mostly because you’ll see the difference immediately and it’s free. This doesn’t just entail suspension. Adjusting hand and feet controls to yourself will improve your comfort no matter what bike you’re on.
Think about the motorcycle you rode at the MSF course. When shifting up or down, did you have to move your foot in an uncomfortable position? Possibly hyperextend your ankle to reach the shifter? Or your clutch would grab at the very end of the lever and it was difficult to control? Or you had to turn the throttle quite a bit before it would actually start increasing rpms? All that stuff is adjustable but it’s not feasible to adjust each motorcycle to each student every weekend so the schools don’t do it. You should invest the time on your own motorcycle.
You can tilt the brake and clutch levers up or down to find the most comfortable angle for yourself. You can adjust the shifter and rear brake pedals up and down so you’re not working extra hard to shift or to brake. You can take the slack off the throttle cables so you’re actually giving throttle as soon as you start turning it.
The suspension on your motorcycle should also be adjusted to your weight and riding style. Adjusting the suspension will also help you feel more confident on the road but it is intimidating to do as a beginner so try to seek the help of someone more experienced. Take note of the current adjustments you have so you can always go back to the initial settings if you don’t like the effects of your adjustments. Also, if you’re going by feel (you didn’t take your bike to a suspension specialist), change one thing at a time so when you notice an change, you know what’s causing it.
Basic Rider Skills 1.1
The MSF BRC is a great course with a constantly updating curriculum to make sure people are safe to get out on the road. But it doesn’t teach everything. Schools aren’t allowed to color outside the lines of the MSF curriculum much so while you’ll learn the basics, great chance you won’t be 100% comfortable riding by yourself on the road with what you’ve learned. Below, I’ve added a couple things you should keep in mind when riding on the street. Take your time practicing these things and don’t overwhelm yourself.
Check your Mirrors
Being rear ended on a motorcycle is a real threat in today’s traffic where people are glued to their phones. They’ll look up every other second, but with such little attention spent on where they’re going, they’ll easily “not see” you. So it’s your responsibility to make sure people coming from behind have noticed you and are slowing down as they approach you. You can always honk the horn if you’re not sure they’ve seen you. It is good practice to check your mirrors for a split second every time you’re braking just so you’re aware of what’s going on behind you as you slow down.
Ride Your Own Ride
You’ll hear this a lot as a beginner. “Ride Your Own Ride”. This usually means stay within your comfort zone and while it’s good advice, it doesn’t mean much for a beginner as they are easily overwhelmed since the whole thing is new to them. A good approach is to play it safe and take your time getting used to everything going on around you, then start taking small risks to learn more and expand your comfort zone. Small risks will mean different things to different people. I’m mainly talking about riding a little faster or leaning a little further, or braking a little harder/later than you’re used to. For example if there’s a curve you’re comfortable with that you usually ride at 50 mph, try going 53 mph and see what happens.
Revving At a Danger Is Silly. Use Your Horn
The point of the horn is to get others’ attention. So instead of waiting for someone to make a mistake so you can “punish” them by revving your bike, when you see a potential danger, honk the horn to alert others of your presence. I realize the YouTube videos that get millions of views are full of aggressive people revving at others, but becoming one of those people won’t win you anything. You win the ride if you can take a shiny bike home.
Lane Choice On The Interstate
If your destination is more than 3 miles from where you are, good chance it’ll be faster to take the interstate. The safest lane on the interstate is the fast lane. The idea is there is only one side cars will be coming from so it is easier to monitor. Any other lane, you have to pay attention to both left and right. There’s also the threat of that one person who realizes they have to exit last second and cuts across 4 lanes to make their exit.
I understand that the fast lane requires you to go a certain speed which may be out of your comfort zone. So if you’re not comfortable going speeds the fast lane requires, stay in the slow lane, but make sure you’re aware of your surroundings.
Look Where You Want To Go
This point is made over and over in the MSF BRC but I’m going to mention it because it’s so so important. Motorcycles are super capable in what they can manage with the correct inputs. As a beginner, you may not know what those inputs are, but a good rule of thumb is you should look up and look where you want to go with your head, not just your eyes. Target fixation is a very real thing. When I first started riding twisties, I found myself going wide in turns, I was way out of my comfort zone in roads with blind corners and I realized my eyes would lock onto the trees or the cliff that I’m supposed to avoid. Track riding helps a lot with this as the corners are usually not blind and after a session or two, you know what’s coming next. I realized in order to survive the twisties, I need to make a conscious effort to make sure I turn my head away from what I don’t want to hit and point my chin and eyes to where I want to be. This was rule number one and I worked on this until it became second nature.
Rain Is Not That Scary, Puddles Are
You can look at the forecast before each ride, but at some point, you will get wet. You should make sure your bike is ready to handle rain with good tires and brakes. Slowing down to 70% of your pace will help you stay safe in the wet.
The other day I got caught in a storm and I had to power through my 25 minute ride home. I found myself paying extra attention to be visible either by flashing my high beams, or by honking at others to alert them of my presence. Atlanta interstates like to flood when there’s heavy rainfall. While I trust my tires and brakes to stop me when I need to stop, what scares me is puddles that I don’t see coming. So I was avoiding riding alone on a lane, I would rather have other cars go in front of me (with a proper safety margin) so I know if there’s a big puddle there as they will either slow down or make a big splash and then I know to avoid that area. Middle lanes are usually safest in this scenario.
One thing to keep in mind if you are riding long distance is that rain comes from clouds and clouds aren’t everywhere. So if you’re riding on the interstate and it starts raining on you, it’s usually a better idea to power through if you can see clear skies ahead instead of pulling over to put rain gear on or to try to wait it out.
Take More Courses
While the BRC is great and it gives you the basic information you need to practice on your own and eventually ride on your own, it is not meant to teach you everything you need to be safe out there. It is a good idea to take more courses so you can enhance your skills and learn more. There are courses for all types of things. You can take police training where they teach you how to do tight turns effectively in addition to emergency braking (Look up ProRider). You can do a track day to get comfortable going fast and leaning in a controlled environment. You can take dirt bike courses to learn how to control a motorcycle in low traction environments. You can take a stunt riding course to learn some cool tricks (I’m sure they apply to street riding somehow, though I can’t place it right now).
When you take more courses, make sure to bring a notebook with you and write down the drills you’re doing and what they’re supposed to teach you in addition to general notes about what you’re learning. No course can teach you to ride like a pro(whatever that means to you) in a day or 2. You have to put in more effort. It is a great idea to spend time at an empty parking lot practicing what you learn from these courses so you are comfortable with the exercises for when you need to perform them out on the street.
Pick a Discipline, or Do It All
As you talk to more people who ride, you’ll notice that some people have a certain type of riding they prefer and/or focus on. You’ll run into (hopefully not literally) people who ride on the race track, people who like to ride dirt, people who enjoy adventure riding, people who like to ride long distance, people who like to go as fast as their bike can go on the interstate, and people who commute on their bikes. While you’ll be somewhat limited by what bike you get, you can try to explore all these and more types of riding and decide what you like best. It is perfectly normal to like more than one, or for your likes to change over time as you try more things. Take your time and do your research.
There’s nothing wrong with trying them all and see what you like best (except going over the speed limit and doing wheelies, some say those are illegal..). There’s no rule that says you have to stick with one type of riding either. I like riding motorcycles on the race track, but I also enjoy commuting and going long distance. I have a good friend who likes commuting and riding dirt and gravel roads on his adventure bike. There’s something for everyone out there.
In Conclusion
Congrats again on joining the ranks of millions of people who enjoy the roads on two wheels. I’m very excited that you decided to explore the world of motorcycling and hope it brings you the happiness it has brought me and I hope I see you on the road soon.
