The following information was compiled from personal riding experiences and is only for reference.  The author or BIKEBOLTS.COM is not responsible for any accidents or injuries that are attained by referencing any of the information below.  This information was provided only with the intent to promote the safe operation of a motorcycle.

Foreword

I’ve found that riding a motorcycle is an exciting, liberating, and an above all enjoyable experience that demands both physical and mental skills.  Regardless of how small, big, or powerful a motorcycle is, they all require an equal amount of respect.  Most all of us learn about defensive driving skills early in our middle teenage years and typically don’t learn to habitually execute them until our mid-twenties.  All Insurance companies know this the best as a result of proven statistics.  (i.e. insurance rate drop at age 25+)  Early in my motorcycling experience, I found that operating a motorcycle is almost purely defensive.  All of us have heard the story from the rider that had a car pull out in front of them or a car change lane into them, etc.  Interestingly enough, according to the rider that got in to the accident it’s always the car or truck drivers fault.  Consider this:  Next time you’re riding along on the highway and a car starts to change lane into your position, did you put yourself where the driver of the car could see you?  Did you make eye contact with that driver to insure that they saw you?  Ok – Yes… it’s the car driver’s responsibility to look before they make a move, and legally it’s their fault.  But who wants to get into an accident.  Nobody I know.  When you ride a motorcycle, you need to believe that car & truck drivers are not going to see you on their own without your help.  And remember, if you bump them, you might get a scratch or dent, but if they bump you, you’re not likely to recover so easily.  So protect yourself, always drive defensively!

The Golden Rule

Motorcycles accelerate fast, stop fast, and can turn fast, but can never perform a combination of any 2 or more at the same time.

Do's and Do Not's

1. Never ride side by side with another vehicle on the road.  Always either pass or stay behind.  When around other vehicles, position yourself to them at 45 degrees.  Make sure you can see the other drivers around you in their vehicles mirrors.  If you can see them in their mirrors, they can see you!  Make sure they looked at you.  If you are making yourself visible to them and they don’t look at you, get away from them quick, speed-up or slow down.  They aren’t paying attention.

Here’s one:                I was riding down a double lane roadway one evening when suddenly the truck next to me started changing lane into my lane.  I was directly side by side with the vehicle in plain site of the driver.  (all the driver had to do was look over to me riding next to him, much like he would a passenger in the front seat)  The truck just kept changing lane and by this point I was laying on the bikes horn.  After no response from the driver, I simply reached over and tapped on the driver’s window.  It was then that the driver quickly zipped back in his lane.

2. DO NOT exceed the posted speed limit in rural and congested areas.  Because motorcycles are small, it is much more difficult for other drivers to judge their speed.  If you are doing 55mph in a 25mph zone, the car pulling out might think there's plenty of time to pull out in front of you.

3. DO NOT TAILGATE other vehicles.  Ok, motorcycles can stop fast and maneuver quickly (with an attentive operator), but tailgating another vehicle makes you blind to up-coming road obstacles such as: truck tire caps, large dead animals, pot holes, etc.  Drive smart, maintain a position far enough back that lets you see what the vehicles ahead of you are about to encounter before it gets to you.

General Tips

1. THE BRIGHT SUN - Be aware when the sun is at your 6 o’clock.  Having the sun behind you might not bother you, but it might be making it difficult for other vehicles to see you coming.  A vehicle entering a roadway might not see you or an on-coming vehicle might not see you before turning in front of you.  Likewise, when the sun is glaring in front of you, watch for other motorcycles that may be in front of you.  In addition, keep an eagle eye on your rearview mirrors, you could be disappearing in the sun rays from the driver's view behind you.  Unfortunately this is a very common accident.  The car driver following the motorcyclist didn't see the motorcycle's brake light come on and rear ended the motorcyclist.

2. SKILL - Riding a motorcycle demands some physical skills that are not at all instinctive.  Save up about $1000.00 and go buy yourself an old motocross bike.  Don’t forget to spend a little extra on the proper protective gear (i.e. Helmet and pads).  Spend a summer riding around on a dirt bike and you’ll quickly develop some skills that will stick with you the rest of your life.  Practice high speed turns, maneuvers, tail sliding, brake lock-ups, everything!  There just isn’t a better way to learn how to ride.  Taking time to sharpen your skills in the dirt will prove in-valuable on those days when leave the house with a cold tire and find yourself tail sliding around a turn.

3. Tire warming.  YES! When your tires are cold, they are slick.  Don’t ever just hop on your motorcycle when the tires are cold and expect to have good tire contact.  For the first 5 miles at least, take extra care on turns and expect a tire slide.  To warm them up make gentle swerves side to side.

4. Before you mount your machine, take a minute and observe its condition.  Like Aircraft pilots carefully checking their aircrafts out before each flight for safety, please always take care and do the same with you motorcycle.  Typical things to check include: Tires (inflated?), fluid leaks/puddles, loose chain, loose fasteners, etc.  The motorcycles today are amazing power packed instruments of performance.  Taking an extra 5 minutes before every ride to make sure everything is in safe working order might prevent a serious accident or just a serious headache.

5. Got Protection?  Wearing the right protection is a no-brainer.  The bear minimum protection any rider should wear should include a full face helmet with official DOT & SNELL approval.  $50 helmet for a $50 head? not anymore.  You can get a fully approved helmet for a mere $50 these days.  There’s no excuse.  Although cheaper helmets don’t offer the dazzle and comfort the more expensive ones do, they do work.  Like the turns, speed and the stunts? better be ready to except the consequences when something goes wrong.  Get some leather gloves, jacket and pants, it’s worth it.  Remember those little road rashes you got when you were a wee kid from wrecking your bicycle, well times that by about 100 to 1000.  Some really bad road rash from a motorcycle wreck will make you want to shoot yourself.

The BASIC's

1. Where do I ride in the lane?

Single lane roads

When riding on a single lane road with on-coming traffic, it is best to ride on the far right side of the lane (the side furthest away from the on-coming traffic).  This gives a little extra space and time for you to react to on-coming vehicles that suddenly decide to cross over the center line.

When riding on a single lane road without on-coming traffic, it is best to ride on the far left side of the lane.  This basically puts you near the center of the road giving you the best possible visibility to vehicles entering the roadway.

Double lane roads

When riding on a double lane road, in the right lane, it is best to ride on the far right side of the lane.  This puts you in the best possible position to be seen in the mirrors of vehicles next too and in front of you.  NEVER ride on the left side of this lane unless avoiding obstacles.  Riding on the left side of this lane puts you right in a driver’s blind spot.  Make sure you can see the other drivers around you in their vehicles mirrors.  If you can see them in their mirrors, they can see you!

When riding on a double lane road, in the left lane, it is best to ride on the far left side of the lane when other vehicles are around you.  This puts you in the best possible position to be seen in the mirrors of vehicles next too and in front of you.  DO NOT ride on the right side of this lane unless avoiding obstacles or if there is no other vehicles around you.  Riding on the right side of this lane when other vehicles are around puts you right in a driver’s blind spot.  Make sure you can see the other drivers around you in their vehicles mirrors.  If you can see them in their mirrors, they can see you!  If there are no vehicles around you, it is best to ride on the far right side of the lane (the side furthest away from the on-coming traffic).  This gives a little extra space and time for you to react to on-coming vehicles that suddenly decide to cross over the center line.

Multi lane roads (more than 2 lanes)

When riding on a multi lane road, in the far right lane, it is best to ride on the far right side of the lane.  This puts you in the best possible position to be seen in the mirrors of vehicles next too and in front of you.  NEVER ride on the left side of this lane unless avoiding obstacles.  Riding on the left side of this lane puts you right in a driver’s blind spot.  Make sure you can see the other drivers around you in their vehicles mirrors.  If you can see them in their mirrors, they can see you!

When riding on a multi lane road in any of the center lanes, with other vehicles around you, maintain a position that makes it possible for you to see the other drivers around you in their vehicles mirrors.  If you can see them in their mirrors, they can see you!  However, try not to ride in these middle lanes when there is a high volume of traffic.  Driving in these lanes increases your work load and decreases your attention to the road ahead.  Stick to the outer most lanes to be safe and keep things simple.

When riding on a double lane road, in the far left lane, it is best to ride on the far left side of the lane when other vehicles are around you.  This puts you in the best possible position to be seen in the mirrors of vehicles next too and in front of you.  DO NOT ride on the right side of this lane unless avoiding obstacles or if there is no other vehicles around you.  Riding on the right side of this lane when other vehicles are around puts you right in a driver’s blind spot.  Make sure you can see the other drivers around you in their vehicles mirrors.  If you can see them in their mirrors, they can see you!  If there are no vehicles around you, it is best to ride on the far right side of the lane (the side furthest away from the on-coming traffic).  This gives a little extra space and time for you to react to on-coming vehicles that suddenly decide to cross over the center line.

Steer Clear of the Center of any Lane

When riding in any lane, its best to remain on either the right or left side of the lane (depending on the type of road).  The center lane is typically where vehicles drip any grease, oil, other fluids, or rough debris.  Therefore the center of the lane can be a slick place.  Be especially cautious of this zone when coming to stop signs, stop lights, or any place a vehicle might stop frequently.  Tire contact with the road is key to any motorcycle.  These spots are usually visually obvious and are recognizable by a blackish stain on the road.  In addition, watch where you put those feet down when coming to a stop.  Although you might be keeping clear of the center where the oil is, you might still be putting your feet in it.  A little oil on your shoes can cause you to loose your footing when coming to a stop, which will may end up causing you to fall over.  A little oil on your shoes can also cause you to loose your footing on your foot peg causing you to slip off your bike.

On heavily traveled roads, the center of the lane can tend to be very rough due to the asphalt being squeezed to this portion of the lane; and causing valleys in the portions of the lane where the vehicles tires track.  These valleys are often the smoothest, but also tend to puddle water.  When a tire hits a puddle at a high rate of speed, the tire will often skim across the top of the puddle, better known as hydroplaning.  If you get caught out in the rain, try to watch carefully for puddles and drive close to but not on top of the lines of the roadway to help avoid them.

When performing rapid lane changes on roads with multiple lanes, be aware of the valleys and hills of the lanes.  These non-uniform surfaces can greatly upset your motorcycle's suspension and send you into an uncontrollable steering head shake and/or high side.

2. Riding with other motorcycles

When riding among other motorcycles maintain a single-file and staggered position.  Never ride side by side in a lane.  By riding single-file and staggered, you are able to maintain emergency space for maneuvering and stopping, whether it’s for avoiding obstacles or avoiding each other.  Position yourself to the other motorcycles in the lane at 45 degrees.  Make sure you can see the other riders around you in their vehicles mirrors.  If you can see them in their mirrors, they can see you!  Remember, bikes stop and turn fast, so be alert!!!  Its always a good idea to allow for extra space between you and the motorcycle ahead.  Unfortunately there are a high volume of motorcycle accidents each year that result from two or more riders colliding.

3. Carefully examine the up-coming road surface

While riding a motorcycle, it is imperative that you maintain a careful watch for road debris.  Sand, gravel, leaves, grass clippings, dirt, oil, trash, etc. can all cause your motorcycle to quickly lose contact with the pavement.  Loss of contact can cause situations to numerous to mention and will largely result in some type of accident.  NEVER make a sudden move when encountering road debris unless the debris is far enough ahead to make a safely planned maneuver.  If you see debris coming up and it is un-avoidable, just let off the throttle, maintain your present direction, run over the debris and maintain directional control of the motorcycle.  Making a sudden move prior to running over road debris will just simply put your tires at large traction disadvantage and typically results in a loss of control.  It's not worth trying to zigzag away from that pesky possum, you will likely be sacrificing your self and your bike.  IF YOU CAN AVOID THE DEBRIS - THEN BY ALL MEANS - DO IT!!!

Stunts

    1.  Wheelies

Ok, so you want to ride wheelies.  Not a problem.  Save up about $1000.00 and go buy yourself an old motocross bike.  Don’t forget to spend a little extra on the proper protective gear (i.e. Helmet and pads).  The street is absolutely no place to learn how to ride a wheelie.  To get the correct level of comfort riding wheelies, find it on a motocross bike in the dirt.

Here’s the how too (Just a pop-up):

1. On a motocross bike, travel along at a steady pace in the first gear. (about as fast as you can run – no more)
2. Place your foot on the rear brake lever and prepare to press.
3. Holding on with both hands firmly around the handle bar grips (specifically using your left index finger, pinky, and thumb to grasp the left grip while using your ring & middle finger to move the clutch lever), pull the clutch lever in, wrap the throttle with your right hand, and let go of the clutch lever.  BE READY FOR THE BIKES FRONT WHEEL TO POP UP OFF THE GROUND!!!
4. As soon as the bikes front tire leaves the ground, quickly depress the rear brake lever, release the throttle and the wheel will quickly settle back down to earth.  You need to perfect the smoothness of this transition, dropping the front wheel of your street bike to quickly can result in damage to your street bikes front forks.
5. Practice this procedure until you get comfortable with obtaining a repeatable and desired height.  If you flip the bike, don’t forget to let go and be expecting your pride to get hurt.  (Be aware that flipping any bike over can cause the rider to attain serious or permanent spinal injury)
6. Riding long wheelies is a function of balance and throttle control.  Part of mastering the procedure above will include these functions.  Perfect it in the dirt before you take to the street!

    2.  Endos

Ok, so you want to do endos.  Not a problem.  Save up about $1000.00 and go buy yourself an old motocross bike.  Don’t forget to spend a little extra on the proper protective gear (i.e. Helmet and pads).  The street is absolutely no place to learn how to do endos.  To get the correct level of comfort performing endos, find it on a motocross bike in the dirt.

Here’s the how too (A quick lift):

1. On a motocross bike, travel along at a steady pace in the first gear. (about as fast as you can run – no more)

2. Holding on with both hands firmly around the handle bar grips, use your right ring and middle finger to pull the front brake.  Evening, firmly, and aggressively apply pressure to the front brake taking care not to stop or break the front tire loose. Stopping or breaking the tire loose will likely make you loose control of the front end and you may find yourself quickly slammed down on the ground.

3. Simultaneously while the bike comes to a quick stop, shift your body forward, almost onto the fuel tank, and grasp the tank with your knees.  BE READY FOR THE BACK WHEEL TO LIFT OFF THE GROUND!!!

4. Keep the bike straight when the rear wheel leaves the ground and prevent the rear end from twisting around to the left or right.  If the rear starts to twist, quickly release the brake lever and let the rear tire settle back to the ground.

5. While the rear tire is in the air, just prior to the bike coming to a complete stop, release the lever (allowing the rear end to settle back down to the ground).  Do not let the front wheel stop and do not let the back wheel get too high or the bike will flip on top of you. (Be aware that flipping any bike over can cause the rider to attain serious or permanent spinal injury).

6. Practice this procedure until you get comfortable with obtaining a repeatable and desired height.  Height control is maintained by the force held on the brake lever.

7. Riding long rolling endos is a function of balance and front brake control.  Part of mastering the procedure above will include these functions.  Perfect it in the dirt before you take to the street!