The Best Advice I ever got...Please contribute

[Black Hat]

Don't take anything on the road personally. Anger is one letter away from danger.

[Alf]

Ride like all vehicles are out to get you.

[CTRider]

If you're running late, tired or upset - take the cage. Don't take chances on two wheels. What might be a minor collision in a car could be a fatality on a bike.

[rbentnail]

When going right, move right. On country roads, when you get to a right hand curve, move to the right in your lane. For the folks coming the other way it's a left hand turn and they will always at least ride the center line and most of the time be across it into your lane.

[rbentnail]

And 2 bits of advice from an uncle right before I dumped a Suzuki in Vermont:

1- you can go as fast as you want as long as you stay in your own lane.
2- if you have to use the brakes, you're going too fast.

I passed these along to my daughter when she was learning to drive too.

[MR.S7]

Well this one is for Newbies.. but Helped me A LOT when i started..:

If your newbie and wanna make a turn.. and u feel the bike is falling. DOnt brake with Front BRake, actually u must accelerate a bit to recover ur balance.

i know misgth sound newbie but Trust me is a good one. the first thing newbies does when the bike is falling on a turn is Brake. and of course the bike will fall with no reserve. have a good one.

[MR.S7]

Originally Posted by LuckyArmpit

Very sound advice so far!!!!
Never ever let your guard down no matter what time or where your riding because anything can happen in a split second.
Myself, I constantly got my "radar" working, scanning side to side, up ahead and even checking the mirrors frequently. By doing this, I have avoided possible "situations" that have happened or were going to happen up ahead (knocking on wood here). If a car/truck/van/suv looks like he/she is going to pull out in front of you, chances are they will.

Lucky...

+1 TOTALLY AGREE, on a Car u can Hesitate.. on a Bike u just Cant

[Razorbladesmile]

I think it was....learn to ride on the smallest and oldest motorcycle you can find, so when you lay it down it neither hurts you or your wallet.. I learned how to ride on a little Honda 175...yep all 6 feet and 250 pounds of me on that little bike!

Hmm off topic but also good advice..never poke a sleeping bear with a short stick.

[MR.S7]

Originally Posted by Razorbladesmile

I think it was....learn to ride on the smallest and oldest motorcycle you can find, so when you lay it down it neither hurts you or your wallet.. I learned how to ride on a little Honda 175...yep all 6 feet and 250 pounds of me on that little bike!

Well Thats a Good one!.

I learned on a kawa 400 so messed up .. so my first meters i learned how to push a heavy bike. then i learned a Lot about fuses, sparkplugs, cdi oil..

Yee it was a really pain but now i have a good motorcycle business.. learned fomr my experiences..

So if u wanna ride pro.. start with a messed bike.. thas a Real good one pal.

[Tod]

Don't sweat the petty things...and don't pet the sweaty things either.

[capncalyx]

here is mine..

take the MSF course..and then it was...look where u wanna go!

[rbentnail]

When you go hiking, and you gotta "go", make sure it's not poison ivy before you wipe with it.

[mrblanche]

Best motorcycle platitude:

"There are old riders, and there are bold riders, but there are no old bold riders."

[David Madden]

Wear your full face helmet.

D

[Xgenn]

Ride Hard or stay home..... ok ok umm hers is mine

treat you bike like a lady, take her out and show her off to the world buy her everything she needs , pay attention to those little things, DONT BEAT ON HER youll regret it , be proud of what you own.

~X~

[stefano]

Originally Posted by Slacker

Don't drive/ride faster than your guardian angel can fly.

Problem is mine's a speed demon

Good idea for a thread, this.

Most important thing I've learned so far about riding bikes is countersteering. I almost got sideswiped one day with my (then) NINE YEAR OLD DAUGHTER on the back and was basically helpless - no way I could have swerved out of the way quick enough at the time, since I didn't know how to use countersteering to my advantage.

That gave me a wake up call, I put my mind to learning how to do it and making it become second-nature, and now I've got it down. It's revolutionised the way I ride my bike and if I found myself in that same situation I would have no problems getting out of trouble - your maneuvrability is increased 10-fold.

Trust me - if you haven't already learned to... learn to countersteer. If you don't know what I'm talking about (as was the case with me when I started reading up about bikes) - look it up, you'll thank me for it

[Thunder Lizard]

Best advice I've gotten about night riding... watch the ditches as much as the road.... look for the glowing eyes of that critter that just LOVES motorcycles so much it has to leap out and get a look at yours....

[stargazertony]

Originally Posted by rbentnail

When going right, move right. On country roads, when you get to a right hand curve, move to the right in your lane. For the folks coming the other way it's a left hand turn and they will always at least ride the center line and most of the time be across it into your lane.

Hi rbentnail: That's interesting. However, most riding courses and books say the opposite (outside, inside, outside). Enter the curve on the outside and aim for the apex (or delayed apex) on the inside and finish on the outside. Entering a curve on the outside gives you sight further into the curve and more room to maneuver if needed.

Has your technique of ever caused you to run off the road or into unseen debris on the road?

Tony

[A2rider]

Wear gear, pavement hurts! Always keep your eyes open, there is someone is a car trying to take you out!

[antiq]

I've two best advices. 1 The biggest with the mostest is always firstest. 2 every vehicle you see think of the stupidest thing they can possibly do and plan for it. Nine times in ten they will.