Bikers are a unique group of people that have certain things they do and want others to do when on the road. Today we'll cover why these things are so important and why we do the things we do.
@@jackwoods535so dont wear one. I think its a dumb law too. Only thing I say is if you dont you shouldn't expect the rest of us to pay your medical bill
i have a t120 with stock pipes. sounds very nice but fairly quiet to folks i ride by. a riding buddy said i should get some aftermarket pipe to not change the sound but to make it louder. but who for? not me cause I hear my bike's nice sound the whole time riding. no need to force others to hear loud engines.
Something to think about motorcycle lighting, When I started riding the only vehicles that had lights on in the daytime were motorcycles. Now 95% of new cars have DRL (daytime running lights.) While the lights on a bike helps to be seen, now days motorists are becoming numb to seeing light in the daytime, so we blend in more than we used to and have to be aware of that.
I’m so paranoid about lights. I have a road kind and a road glide. I swear people think I’m a faraway car when I’m on the road glide because of that double headlight. The roadking is superior for night riding with five round lights
Conside adding a Pulsating headlight and stop light accessary. I only use the headlight pulsating when approaching busy intersections with cages waiting to turn across my lane or into the lane. I also use them on rural roads when oncoming vehilles are in my lone passing cars.
Always expect that a vehicle pulling out from an intersection does NOT see you….Not to panic on the break…. but be aware and maintain the basics of “ride like you’re invisible “!…Be safe out there.
Avoid drinking alcohol when riding. Do stay hydrated when riding. Avoid loose fitting clothing. Always bring 2 helmets, wear a full face on hwy rides. Always bring 2 sets of gloves... And, be patient, do not hurry anywhere, enjoy the ride.
Yes, I agree, I've been riding since 77 & in those days there were no Motorcycle riding Instructors, You got Your licence & then You went out & taught Yourself how to ride & with most, if not all of the Driving school at the time, they did'nt really teach You how to ride or drive, they taught You how to pass a licence test.
@@tattaduhende9703 Bullshit expert, We're still here are'nt We, & He said We just figured it out, He did'nt say that We did it or figured it out quickly or that We needed to have somebody to show Us how to do it or figure it out, quickly or otherwise or have somebody making a video & saying this the way We should do it.
It's funny because I ride both a Ninja and a Genuine Buddy scooter and out of muscle memory I acknowledge all riders no matter what they ride. Hand signs not only show respect, but also gives you and the oncoming rider information on what's up ahead. Information is a key element and hey, two wheels is two wheels. As well, I live in a city where construction is everywhere so you have to watch out for those big metal plates they use for covers after they dig up part of the road.
When you live in an area with lots of wildlife, especially the hoofed variety, loud pipes absolutely save lives. I can't count the number of times I've spotted a deer or several deer headed towards the road, but then turn around and head for the hills when they hear my pipes. Repelled a few unobservant, distracted cagers as well. 😄😎
"Loud pipes saves lives and revbombing" one of the biggest myths in motorcycling and mostly untrue becaue of the Doppler Effect also called Doppler Shift in physics (an advancing bike has the sound wave behind the bike and not in front of it). And in most modern cars the sound insulation makes that you barely hear motorcycles even after they passed you. Even straight pipes on a bike are barely audible for a Rolls Royce driver, even for most German car brands with high sound insulation.
@@THEREALZENFORCE Thank you! Loud pipes don't really bother me till someone claims it's for safety reasons. It's for image, simple, end of story, and that's good enough for me.
@@THEREALZENFORCE Wow! I didn’t realize my bike travels faster than the speed of sound. Well then surely that sonic boom would scare away the animals for the guys riding behind me. 😂🙄 If the sound only traveled behind the vehicle, it would be traveling at least Mach 1.2. What’s the point of sirens on emergency vehicles if you have to wait for them to pass by before you hear them? 🤦🏻♂️ I’m not basing my previous statement on theory. It’s based on fact and experience. I’ve hit a few deer with a quiet car. Never had that issue on my loud piped motorcycle. Hit a deer with a car, no big deal. Miss a deer on a motorcycle with loud pipes, life saved. Therefore, loud pipes save lives.
You forget that the Doppler Effect also effects horns yet you can still hear a horn of the person behind you. The faster you go the less distance the sound goes, so the louder the horn/pipe is, the further it goes.@@THEREALZENFORCE
I started out riding in 1969 and just sold my last motorcycle Nov. 2023, I'm to damn old. The loud pipe issue is mute to me. I have always listened for the sound of tires breaking air on the road which kept me from moving over in the next lane if I didn't see the vehicle coming up on either side of me in my mirrors. You have no Idea how many times that tactic saved my ass.
loud pipes just alert drivers of a motorcycle in the area, not the location or direction of travel. they're more of a distraction and a safety hazard than they are a driver awareness enhancement. the horn is way better for alerting cagers. to follow the logic of loud pipes being a safety enhancement, why not ride while beeping the horn the entire time? it's much more effective and equally as annoying to everybody around you.
Hope you don't mind if I throw in a couple of thoughts, I started riding back in the early 70's so I have a bit of experience. About riding in the rain, I live in Southern Nevada where rain is not a frequent occurrence and when it first starts raining it will lift the oil out of the road and bring it to the surface so it may be safer to let that wash away before you get too aggressive. You talk about following gravel trucks, I take that every day over following a livestock truck, the stench, the yellow rain, please know. And as for lighting:I ride a 20 year old motorcycle and as technology progressed I upgraded my lighting!! I currently run LED lights front and rear. Not only is it easy to see and be seen the white light is easier on these old eyes. This is the first time I've seen one of your posts and I enjoyed it!
I have been riding 65 years an still am at 79 one thing that’s kept me alive, you treat everyone on the road like an idiot. That includes guys riding motorcycles in the rain with sun glasses or tinted visors. If you check out Ryan F9 on this channel about riding at night he’ll tell you a bike with twin head lights close by, looks the same as a car in the distance due to the lights being close together. In the mean time as they say across the pond “keep it shiny side up” 💪😎
went through a locust swarm. Luckily, they only wanted to fly knee-high. even with leather motorcycle rated chaps, them suckers hurt. they were so thick and smashed onto the road. It was like riding on compact snow. bike sliding around you gave too much throttle the rear would start spinning. you didn't want to ride like you stole it for a few miles.
I had a grasshopper smash one lens on a pair of sunglasses. Luckily the lens held together but you could barely see through it at all. Gave me a wallop and a fright 😂
in the UK , instead of the wave, we tend to use a slow head nod or " tip the head", for the same sign of Respect to Bikers coming towards us , it's safer and can be done at any speed as we don't have to take our hands off controls, We do use the "clutch hand down" wave as an acknowledgement when we pass other Bikes, or as a " thank you " when passing vehicles who've moved over to give us space to overtake
@@sig2322 I don't know about the UK, but in Australia We do a quick flick up & down with the High Beam of the Headlight to warn other Road users coming in the opposite direction about Police Radar traps & speed cameras, & RBTs (Random Breath Testing sites) up ahead, but Ya gotta be careful because the Coppers over here know that one & if You get caught doing that, You can be in a lot of trouble & cop a heavy fine, that tap on the top of the Helmet sounds like a good idea though, but it would have to catch on first so that everybody would know what it means or at least until the Coppers caught onto that one too.
I was thinking about this today. I see a lot of motorcyclist on the road and on TV with their cell phones attached to their handlebars at 60 miles an hour you go on 88 ft./s. That’s about nine car lengths and they don’t have enough stopping distance a four wheel vehicle can stop twice as fast as a motorcycle so if you look down at your phone for one second, you’ve lost 88 feet of your stopping distance you’re a distracted rider my phone is in my glove compartment until I dismount my motorcycle and it goes back in when I Remount it
Don't like them on/in cars or bikes. We like to yell at the car driver for looking at their phones but yet we have them right there in our face too. Put that shit away and pay attention.
I take them painted lines personally now. Im a new rider, got my endorsement in May wrecked in early July from damp painted lines. I only recently been able to get back in the saddle, and I won't touch my bike with wet roads. The pain of a crushed foot and how insane my local county has gone with crosswalks still has me not completely over it yet.
As an ex-Motorcycle Instructor with almost 47 years of Motorcycle riding experience behind Me, I'd like to pass on to You, as a new Rider, a little bit of advice to try & help You out a bit if I can, but before I do I'd like to start off by giving You a quote that We used to give to Our Students at the start of every Motorcycle riding course, it,'s a quote that's often used in the Bike world, "There's only 2 types of Riders, (No°1):- there are those who have, COME OFF, their Bikes, (& No°2):- there are those who are, GOING, to COME OFF, their Bikes" there is no 3rd category of Rider, so what that means is that every Rider will come off their Bikes at some stage, that's why We protect Ourselves with proper riding gear & lane positioning & so on, the number one rule, when riding Motorcycles is, always expect the unexpected, so don't be afraid of riding in wet weather, You need to practice it, You could be out riding on a nice sunny day & all of a sudden it starts raining, it might just be a light shower of rain, one minute it's fine, the next minute it's pouring with rain & then before You know it, it's fine again, that happens a lot over here in Australia, but all of a sudden the roads have become very wet & slippery, unlike the Cars around You, You have'nt got any windows that You can wind up or windscreen wipers that You can turn on & most times You can't just pull over & get in out of the rain, You just have to keep going, so You need to practice riding in the wet weather as well as in the dry weather, the disadvantage, of course, is that You actually have to wait for it to start raining before You can practice riding in it, it also means that You also have to increase Your safe following distance, between You & the Car in front of You, but that part can also be practiced in all sorts of weather not just in the wet, another piece of advice that I'd like to pass on to You is that whenever You're riding across Pedestrian Zebra crossings, always ride, between, the large painted White lines, &, not, on them, because they can also become quite slippery when they're wet as well, also always stay off all other painted lines on the roads as well, if You always practice that in the dry, You'll automatically do it in the wet, & as they say, practice makes perfect, not only that but it also makes these things become more like second nature & most of the time You won't even have to think about it You'll just naturally do things that way & not only with these two things that I've just given You here but with all aspects of Motorcycling, every time You ride Your Bike You should learn something new, I'm still learning different things even after almost 47 years of riding, as a matter of fact, only Yesterday, I learnt from watching a video about an even easier & much better way, than the way that I've always lifted My Bike, to stand My Bike up to the upright position from the leaned over parked position, & I'll always be doing it this way from now on, because My Harley Heritage Softail weighs 336 kilos & I only weigh 60 kilos so it was always a real struggle to stand the Bike upright, even though I got used to it, but now after watching this little 3 minute video, it feels more like I'm just picking up a bag of feathers, I only wish I'd been shown this many, many years ago, when I first got into bigger & heavier Bikes, I've also learnt that other Motorcyclists can also give You lots of little pieces of information as well from their own experiences, & one day You'll probably be able to pass on Your own experiences to other new Riders too, I hope this helps You out & You have many more Happy years of Motorcycle Riding experiences.
I've slipped on the wide white lines as well. An older rider recommended Night Dragon tires. I realize that it wasn't cheap but neither is going down. They worked for me! It's a personal choice.
Hi Hegshot Rides, thank you for all you do for the motorcycle community, I execute all these rider maneuver’s every day when I saddle up. Lot’s of cagers are distracted via phone, eating and even putting on makeup will behind the wheel. When I have to be next to cars, when traffic is packed, and I have cars next to me I always make sure I am lined up my handlebars with their steering wheel, side by side, they see me because it make look like I am racing them, to someone who doesn’t ride a motorcycle, but I am riding a little faster, like you mentioned so I am visible, heard and slightly ahead of their car. Can’t wait till the next episode, thanks for taking me on a ride in your beautiful state, ride hard, be Blessed, Aloha, Kenneth
The biker/motorcyclist greeting/acknowledgement in the UK is an exaggerated head nod. As a Haley rider here, the nod tends to be returned by riders on other bike styles but is less commonly initiated by them. In their defence, there is a chunk of HD riders here who are the midlife crisis bunnies and will be in a drop top coupe tomorrow and never became part of the rider community. Almost everyone gets the nod here, even scooter riders because they are a huge presence in towns and cities. Having said that, food delivery scooters are unlikely to nod back; but regular commuters will. If you head into mainland Europe the culture there is either hold out a v-sign but with palm down and hand held low (knee or even ankle); or to stick out the left leg
Yep, in the NL's: the headnod, the lowhanded (peace) sign, the kicked out leg are all used as a form of greeting. And also the helmet tap as a warning for Cops lurking.
Accelerating ahead of traffic from stops...I've explained it as "I can't stop cars from being stupid. But I can make sure the stupid is behind me." Your explanation will probably tick fewer people off. I think I'll start using it.
Thanks for this. Liked and subscribed. Liked the first video on this topic too. I'm not a Harley rider - I ride a Beemer but all of this content applies.
I've heard car drivers say so many times "oh those stupid bike riders take off at the lights like it's a drag race, but I catch them again at the next lights. It doesn't get them anywhere" They don't get it. It is as you say "not showing off or trying to get somewhere faster" it is a matter of not being caught amongst a pack of cars, mostly being driven by inattentive drivers that could turn in front of you or change lanes into you at the drop of a hat. Something else car drivers don't get is motorcycles cannot brake as fast or as hard as a car. Motorcycles only have two tyre's on the road not four and those tyre's are only a fraction of the width of a car tyre. Braking is a function of rubber on the road and vehicle weight. Bikes have neither. So if a bike is hemmed in by cars and a car does something stupid, the other cars can just stand on the brake pedal and pull up. A bike won't do that, you will hit the offending car. Some dumb people will say that this is a reason for bikes to go slower than cars, but that will make the problem worse. With impatient car drivers tailgating slow moving motorcycles, frustrated by being forced to drive slowly but being able to see past the motorcycle and see a empty road in front of them. The car will then engage in a dangerous overtaking maneuver to get past the motorcycle with a corresponding offencive attitude to punish the rider for having slowed them down. I believe All motorists should be made to ride a motorcycle for two years before being allowed to drive a car.
I missed something. What have you got against scooters? I ride big Harleys and I ride little scooters and everything in between. 22 bikes. It depends on what I'm doing and where I'm going. I have a Vespa 300 GTS scooter that will go 83 miles an hour and get there quick. I wave at everybody. Even if you don't wave back. Ride for freedom.
Cool vid man. as for lights I run my high beams during daylight, both my bike and car. it doesn't blind anyone at all and stands out a lil better. keep it in the wind...
Always Always Dominate your lane position. A case in point... you are in a 2-lane left-turn scenario.If you are in the left most lane you want to be Right-most next to the white solid line separating the two lanes, not next to the double yellow, And if you are in the Right-most lane you want to be in the Right-most position as well. That way your lane space doesn't look empty to a cager looking to get into the turn lane at the last minute ... Otherwise you might get smacked into by the cager trying to occupy your spot in traffic. Same thing goes when traffic is moving, keep yourself visible to others, Don't ride where others can't see you.....There's an old adage about the dashed line creating the road's lanes... " The Line is my Friend" .... Use it .... Also the middle of the lane is usually oily, and gritty so riding in the traffic's left or right-wheel track is safer stability-wise.
I was driving a semi in the day, passing another semi, I hear what sounded like a stick of dynamite. guy had blown a tire, I get to a stop walked around checking out my rig, a piece of tire rubber had hit the back of my day cab, left a permanent rubber mark in the paint about the size of a dudes thumb. I never hang around trucks passing them.
I just bought a 2023 Indian scout rogue and a couple months ago i was behind 2 gravel trucks and it chipped the Paint on my forks and not to mention it felt terrible to be hit in the legs with little pebbles. I got around them as quick as i could but the damage was done by that point. Nothing huge but just enough to be annoying.
Ahahahahaha, funny how some of them even provide Motorcycle only parking spaces though, just like disabled parking spaces, putting in those Bike spaces outside the therapists offices must be a complete & utter waist of time because they'd be empty spaces all the time.
On the subject of lighting, I immediately noticed a difference in reactions from car drivers IN FULL DAYLIGHT after I installed a pair of Denali S4 lights. Fender mounted on my GSXS 1000GT+, they're low to the pavement but have dual pattern flood/spot throw down the road. I pulled out of the driveway, went 100 yards, this gal was on her phone at the cross street rolling pretty fast to the stop sign, not paying attention, then slams on her brakes. Yep, she saw me, and I noticed the same thing all during that day. For me, running both stock LED headlights hi and low, stock marker lights, the aux lights and hi viz jacket is a life saving combination. Light travels far faster than sound, and our brains react faster to light than sound. However at night, it's a different story, being all lit up only helps from the front, but man, it's really nice to see the full width of the road lit up, side to side and 500 yards downrange.
I almost always downshift going through intersections even if I don’t need to slow down just so for 1 I make more noise so crossing traffic is aware I’m there and if I do need to get out of a situation it’s easier to accelerate or stop
I haven't been riding all my life, I started when I was 8 and I'm 66 now. I try to pass on my knowledge and experience to others. And I still learn from others as everybody should. Some advised about riding in adverse weather. In high winds, keep your room's high. It'll keep you more stable. Think gyroscope. The faster it spends the more stable it is. On wet roads. Keep your rpm's as low as possible. That way if you just slightly twist the throttle your back tire won't spin possibly losing traction. Just think 'riding on ice'.
I run a Bridgestone Ecopia 205/15/R17 on my 14 Wide Glide ..I do not have to worry about wet lines/manholecovers ..even at full lean they just do not effect me at all..been Darksiding for 30 yrs with 57 years of riding under my feet .. ...best mod for a crusier .IMHO 😀
Thanks, im a new rider. The thought of using rpm's for traction probably wouldn't have crossed my mind if not for someone like you. Im on a small Yamaha Virago learners bike too, so not all of us have the luxury of weight and mass on our side as mentioned by others, so your comment is very helpful.
@@CrazyPalidin57 It's good your starting off with a smaller bike instead of going right to a heavier bike. Weight and mass will work against you in some cases. I started on a Bridgestone 100 riding up and down ditchbanks and church parking lots. Be sure to wear protective clothing(boots, chaps, gloves, long sleeves and a good helmet) and remember to dress for the slide not the ride. You will drop I but hopefully not at road speed. Ride like everyone is out t get you. Always know what's ALL around you. Stay out of vehicle blind spots and curb lanes. Be safe and enjoy.
Which part of the engine do you think has enough revs to keep you stable? The stability of the bike comes from the tires (wheels). If there's enough wind to overpower the gyroscopic effect of those two big spinning mass wheels, there's nothing you're higher revving engine is going to do to counter it.
As I RIDE, I watch, I look, I listen, ... then I look again both ways, more than just once. Some cagers might simply think my head is on a swivel. By the time you look only once and fail to look again, you may get punched by a car's bumper. They come up on you much faster than you may realize, unless of course you've been riding for awhile, with good experience under your belt. Consider those (insufficiently circulated articles) on the subject of driver blindness. It's not physical blindness, rather it is mental blindness. Cagers, many that is, do NOT acknowledge what is right in front of them, a motorcycle or even a pedal bicycle. It's been studied, documented, recorded, but again not enough attention given to this phenonium. True, cagers are distracted, but this 'mental blindness' issue is a real thing. I challenge videographers to research for themselves & more aggressively publish the matter to Bikers and auto organizations like triple AAA, and others. .As for Lighting, I replaced my regular marker bulbs with Yellow/Amber bulbs for the safety factor. I also added 2 more lights (amber) on my front engine guards. Anything to make it easier for others using the roadways with you to SEE you a lot better. . Back rest, it makes all the difference in the world to have a longer pain free ride. It may not be completely pain free given your age, but at 77 y.o. I can attest to the fact, it is a great pain reliever. White lines & yes yellow lines too are a slippery slope. Tar snakes present the same sort of traction issues. Also where pavement layers are not tightly joined, or uneven due to shrinking, sinking & where pavement patching exists, it's a hazard causing you to drift unintentionally. Oncoming traffic may imagine you're trying to play 'chicken' but it's the bike loosing the straight line of travel. New riders need to learn. When you're not in familiar terrain, be aware the roads ahead may contain some of these sketchy situations. .
Those grooves in the interstate roads where someone has driven a wheel into the pavement will grab your front wheel, remain calm, drive through it without trying to control the direction, and it will correct it's self.
"Loud pipes saves lives and revbombing" one of the biggest myths in motorcycling and mostly untrue becaue of the Doppler Effect also called Doppler Shift (an advancing bike has the sound wave behind the bike and not in front of it) And in most modern cars the sound insulation makes that you barely hear motorcycles even after they passed you.
Motorcycles and the head light. Back around 1973, my family lived next to a highway that didn't have a lot of traffic and was about 2 miles outside of our itty bitty town's limits. In the winter, my siblings and I had to kick through, then eventually climb our way over the piled up snow the snowplows made, so that we could catch our bus. I was about 10 years old, and for some reason, was going to school alone that day, without my 3 siblings. It was dark, and in looking down the road I thought I saw a motorcycle coming..and I thought it was weird that someone would be driving on such a super cold morning with snow on the highway. I stood along side the road, as behind that single light I could see the lights of the bus on it's way too. Fortunately, I realized in time that it wasn't the sound of a motorcycle that I was hearing and I stepped off the pavement shoulder of that road, and a pick up truck with it's right light out, went by. If I hadn't been paying attention, I would have probably been hit by the truck. But yeah, it seriously looked to me like a motorcycle driving closer to the center lane line the whole time I watched it coming up the road. I didn't have a lot of room between the pavement and the pile of hard snow, so even as the truck went by, I was still very close to the truck. The road shoulder only had about 2 feet from the white line to the edge of the pavement. I think most riders stick the the center of the lane...but again, I was only 10 at the time, and just thought the rider was closer to the yellow line. I know this isn't much about why riders ride like they do, but I sure learned a lesson that day in not assuming a bike was coming down the road!
I think educating the public about motorcycling should be a part of getting a driver's license. Questions about visibility, maneuvering abilities, physical vulnerability, and stopping distances for motorcycles, should be on the standard driver's test.
Also people need to realize that just because we have two or three car links in between us and the other cars in front of us doesn’t mean that you can just cut us off
Dude. I ride a BMW F800ST, more often than not a little over the speed limits. When I sit upright on the bike people just clear out the left lane. So very nice of them ;)
After reading the comment, I just saw those tar strips used for fixing cracks, almost caused me and my wife to crash, back in the 80s on the way to the Harley rendezvous in upstate New York. We took the exit and they had fixed a bunch of cracks on the offramp with that tar patch shit, up between my 21 inch front wheel and my fender and it jammed it up. I had to pull over thank God was in crash and pull the shit off my tire so riders beware be safe.
I buy 3 things every time I buy a motorcycle, even before I leave the dealership. I buy highway pegs, a backrest and handlebars. Those 3 things set the bike up for me personally.
During the lock down I had to go teh the super market and they had just put gravel in the roads during resurfacing and I was almost blinded by kick back from some of the trucks even though I was a good 15 to 20feet behind them and not going that fast either. From then on if I am wearing a helmit with no vizor I wear safety work glasses. I do not care how stupid it looks, So my number one tip would be eye protection at all times on teh roads. especially around buiding and and road works. The kick back is a real and ever present danger on some roads.
Yes I understand and as I have matured I really try & afford extra courtesy’s to Motorcycles I am a retired Truckdriver & part time Triker I admire Professional riders because they are more focused on the road than anybody even more than some truckers because of pavement imperfections and debris can be a major disaster if your on two wheels I hate traffic and that is why I am ultra selective when I do any Triking four wheelers are terrible and Crotch rocket jockies are nuts I do understand the over heating issues on air cooled motors but I still do not fully agree with the lane splitting I know it is being tolerated in a lot of western states but not here in Illinois a lot of Big rig truckers are bikers too so they can relate to each other more than the four wheel cage drivers cannot anyway let’s all be courteous to each other & try & enjoy the Ride/Drive I wish more law enforcement departments would put more Motor Officers on the street
Where I live they leave a gap in traffic so if cars want to cut across well just last week the guy right in front of me on a motorcycle t-boned a car because of that.
Now if i may ask, why not scooters? I'm riding a Yamaha Tricity 300 and i'm doing exact the same as all the other riders. I know it isn't a "pure bike" but the feeling is there and honestly, when i ride and give the wave, i'll get a wave back 9 out of 10 times. Some even act nuts in a very funny way and i respect that. So why not the scooters?
The best way to improve your safety is to get more training. Improved skill=Decreased risk. Top 7 Reasons We Crash*: Lack of Focus Rushing corner entry Abruptness Overconfidence Cold tires Repeating the same mistake Not adjusting to change *YCRS
Hegshot Rides this is a little off topic, but I just want to ask you something real quick. I have an Indian Pursuit Dark Horse but I also have a 2023 Slingshot R. I get some evil looks from other riders when I'm in the Slingshot as if they know me, but what a lot of riders fail to realize is that a lot of Slingshot owners own, our have owned motorcycles. What is up with the discrimination when we're all just trying to ride in peace?
Hi there...the remark about car drivers thinking we accelerate hard from traffic lights etc is down to their perception of speed.....motorcycles even using moderate acceleration will out distance a car and reach the legal speed quicker......just my opinion guys.... oops missed a similar comment......I'm bad lol....
Many moons ago I was hit on the knee by a half brick thrown out from between a truck's twin rear wheels. To say it hurt would be underplaying it a bit. Thankfully the road I was on didn't require me to use my rear brake or put my feet down for the next half hour until I could trust using my leg again. Typical biker thoughts went through my head, I was more concerned about damage to the bike than myself.
Space and distance - always. Every other vehicle and person on or near the road is trying to kill you. Tailgaters - let ‘em pass or leave em behind. Space and distance - always!
I’ve been riding for 40 yrs. I ride a 1000 pound Raider S. It’s built and that fact itself has helped me. I also have Vance Hines exhaust. My bike has car horns. But the best defense is keeping my head on a swivel. I ride 10,000 miles a season here in Wisconsin. I’ve only been put down hard once(knock on wood). Btw, thanks for blowing out my ears using headphones! Not cool!
Bawhahahahaha, loved that last part, so wadda Ya sayin, You do'nt have a volume control switch on Your device that You could use to turn it down a bit with then eh?
I would add car , truck drivers wonder why we ride in a tight formation. They need to not try and enter a group of bikes most of all. Just wait till they pass
"Freeway traffic jambs" !!!, getting caught in heavy traffic due to an accident or good old rush hour, people need to understand that a lot of bikes Harleys in particular dont have radiators, they are called air cooled which means they need moving air to cool them. so when I can feel the heat radiating off my motor due to lack of movement I have resorted to slowly riding down the emergency lane in effort to cool the bike down, Im not doing it to advance my positionin traffic, its merrily to cool down a hot engine
Here in Aussie we nod and most riders will nod back except Harley riders. I ride an adventure bike. They never nod so once a group of Harley rider rode past to a man they eyeballed me and saw me nod they as usual didn’t nod back so I shook my head and the double take from all of these middle aged midlife crisis dudes was hilarious. 😉
Being faster gives you a "buffer" against traffic? It gives you a buffer against the guy behind you and closes the buffer against the guy in front of you. If you want a buffer, you have give yourself space and be willing to slow down as much as speed up. Maintaining a buffer is simply not possible if you're going faster than traffic.
loud pipe are one number one reason car drivers hate bikes. no accident has been avoided by having a loud bike. partially due to the sound is behind the bike far more than in front. when on the freeway. in the town i live in the local and state patrol is heavy here, so harleys go slow, and have to keep revering the motor to just keep it running. bad tuning i guess. but the sound bounces all around. hard to truly say were the bikes are at. i do have a car horn on my bike, far better than the little squeaky.but if any one intrudes into my driving space i honk the horn..(i say driving as for 40 years i drove a big truck, and people do not see us, let alone a bike. revving your motor is just stupid. space management is a joke. so many car drivers feel they have to squeeze in between another car, truck, bike, etc. that think it is a race. it's not a race. that room in front is for safety. no matter what your drive/ride, having space in front of you works, it is to keep you from res ending whats in front of you. but then most drivers are on idle brain mode in there cocoons. and do not see any thing around them. or think they are the only thing on the road.
The WORST thing I've ever ridden near is a truck carrying hay! Those bits of hay that come off the bales at freeway speeds feel like needles coming at a biker. That's a time when I'm grateful for a motorcycle's acceleration for sure.
60 years riding now......15,000 to 25,000 miles a year.....I calculate gas mileage every fillup. Tells me level of tune ....I no linger do fundraisers......only close calls are other bikers drinking and getting more careless aster each stop......in Fla rain I ride in a bathing suit keeping my cloths dry.....when body is air dried......put cloths back on. no rain gear....no helmets .
