2Wheeltips

You should always allow your bike to warm up before you start riding.  Your bike will probably stall if you try to ride it before the engine is warmed, not good if you are trying to turn into traffic. Watch the temperature gauge, if your bike has one. A bike will usually be ready to ride when it gets above 120F.   If you don't have a gauge on your bike, 2-3 minutes should get the engine warm enough. You should not leave your bike idling unattended, as it could tip over or overheat in hot weather.

When you first take off on your bike, remember that tires need time to warm up.  Motorcycle tires are softer than automobile tires because they need to grip the road better.  The gripping power of your tires is enhanced when they are warm; they become stickier and adhere to the road surface better.  So when starting out, remember to take it easy going around curves; your tires need time to reach the temperature at which they can grip they way you want (and need) them to. 8 miles or so of riding on a warm day will do the trick.

Any tips for  safety drive on high speed, especially on a suzuki hayabusa.

A question that often comes up is can you jump start a bike with a drained battery the way you can a car.

The short answer is yes. I had after market lights installed on my bike (by my dealer no less) which constantly drained my battery.....even when the bike and lights were off. I finally figured it out, but on one occasion my towing service had to come out and jump my bike. The jumper cables had needle nosed clasps specifically for attaching to motorcycle batteries.

The long answer is "it is not recommended" and may void your warranty. Most motorcycle manuals will advise against it mainly because the charging system and battery in a car can fry the entire electrical system on a bike. So not only will you have a dead battery but also a dead bike.

After reading the above, you will probably say..."well, I'm not going to leave my nice bike parked somewhere for it to get stolen." You can "bump start" the bike by putting it in 2nd gear, rolling it down an incline and releasing the clutch. The bike should start after 1 - 2 tries. If you have a fuel injected bike, bump starting will not work. The fuel injectors need power to operate and since you don't have any, you are out of luck.

If you are in a bind and must get a jump, here are a few things to remember:

    •    Keep the car turned off. A car battery has more than enough power to start a bike without it being on.

    •    Make sure the connections are correct. Positive to positive...

    •    Turn the bike on and start it only after the connections are made.

    •    Remove the connections immediately after the bike starts and keep the bike running until you make it to your destination.

Do you have a towing service plan (like AAA) for your car?  Well, as we all know, bikes can break down or you can be in an accident where your bike needs to be towed.  So, you should enroll in a towing service plan for your motorcycle.  And, by the way, there are multiple towing plans to choose from.  Try to find one that advertises in your area but offers coverage nationwide; you never know where you'll be riding when you need towing!

Like other accessories and motorcycle gear, you will find a big variation in prices for towing services, so shop around.  Unlike other accessories and motorcycle gear, there is no substitute for  a motorcycle towing service; it is geared to bikes and nothing else.

If you already have a car towing service with someone, check with them for a motorcycle towing amendment to your contract.  You can amend your car towing service contract to add motorcycle towing...at a very reasonable rate.

Knowing how far you can ride on the fuel reserve is something every biker should know. It lets you focus on enjoying a long day of riding without worrying about running out of gas in some out of the way place. Until you know, the fuel reserve will be a source of concern. Here is a simple way to calculate how many miles you can go on the reserve:

When does the reserve kick in?
    •    Fill up the tank and set the tripmeter to 0.
    •    Make note of how many miles you rode when the fuel reserve indicator came on or you needed to flip the fuel reserve switch.

I can usually ride 160 miles before needing to flip to the reserve. So let's use 160 miles for this example.

How big is your tank and reserve?
Look in your motorcycle owners manual and get the fuel tank capacity and the fuel reserve amount. Here are the amounts for my bike:
    •    4.76 fuel tank capacity
    •    1.16 fuel reserve amount

Remember the fuel reserve is NOT separate from the fuel tank capacity. So for my bike the total fuel tank size is 4.76 gallons......NOT (4.76 + 1.16)..... or 5.92 gallons. So you need to calculate the size of the main tank by subtracting the fuel reserve amount from the fuel tank capacity.
    •    4.76 - 1.16 = 3.6 gallons.

So here the main fuel tank is 3.6 gallons. This is how many gallons I used to ride 160 miles.

Calculate your miles per gallon(mpg)
Divide the number of miles you rode by the size of your main tank.
    •    160 miles / 3.6 gallons = 44.45 mpg
Some touring bikes will calculate mpg for you. If so, just use the amount on the display.

Multiply your mpg by the size of your reserve
    •    44.45 mpg x 1.16 gallons = 51.56 miles

On my bike I can ride an additional 51 miles on the fuel reserve. This number will vary based on how your ride, but I can safely ride 41 more miles before I need to get gas.

If you are going to install accessories on your bike, you need to know about Loctite.

Loctite is the brand name for a glue-like liquid you brush on the threads of bolts and nuts before you tighten them. Once dry, it prevents rust but more importantly it holds the bolt and prevents it from coming off. Loctite also goes by the generic name of "threadlockers."

Why is Loctite important? Because bikes vibrate constantly and this vibration will rattle off any parts that are not fastened securely. Regardless of how tight you install your aftermarket parts, your bike can vibrate the bolts loose in less than 10 miles of highway riding if they are not threadlocked.

So unless you want to see your $200.00 flyshield fly off your bike, or your $400.00 chrome engine guards pop off on a major highway, you better use a threadlocker when you install them. A friend almost lost his passenger floorboards and forward controls this way. Fortunately I had a small tube of medium strength threadlocker in my bag. It saved the day.

The sad thing is some product installation guides don't mention using a threadlocker. They assume a person knowledgeable about bike vibration, such as your dealer, will install them for you.

Threadlockers come in many strengths and some manufacturers color code the product to better identify them. But for motorcycling accessories, you will mainly use "light strength" or "medium strength." Stay away from "heavy" or "industrial" threadlockers as some of these are permanent and can withstand over a ton of pressure.

If you are installing heavy accessories such as engine guards, floorboards and forward controls you want to use the medium strength threadlocker. For items such as flyshields, seats and luggage racks, use the light weight threadlocker.

Have you been thinking about getting into motorcycling but you just don't want to deal with the hassle of shifting gears?  You should consider looking at the scooters on the market today....one thing is for sure..they aren't the scooters of yester-years!

Scooters today are built in a huge variety of sizes and shapes.  Some do look like what one would think of as a scooter...small, not very powerful, kind of like a compact, powered bicycle.  But other scooters might just surprise you...they are fashionable, look very much like motorcycles, are as large as (in some cases larger than) some motorcycles, and are powerful enough to handle highway speeds with ease.  You might also be pleasantly surprised to find out how much storage space some scooters offer and how quiet some of them can be.

Depending upon the engine size of the scooter and the requirements of your state, you may still need a motorcycle license to operate a scooter, so be sure to check that out.  It is still a good idea to  take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's Basic Rider Course to get your motorcycle license (which will allow you to ride a scooter as well) since you will learn all about riding on two wheels on roads with cars and trucks...but there are also services in some areas that teach you to ride on a scooter and some will provide a scooter for you to use when you take the test to get your license.

Also, if another reason that you are interested in getting into motorcycling is that you can save some money on gas, you should know that scooters get better miles per gallon than motorcycles. There are even some electric scooters on the market now and many can be charged with a conventional power cord.  Of course, most electric scooters still have a limited distance that they can travel between charges.  Check out some scooter dealers in your area (motorcycle dealers sell scooters, too!) and ask for the features and mpg of the scooters you are interested in.   You just might be pleasantly surprised!

And one last word of advice:  if you are going to ride a scooter, you should still dress as if you are riding a motorcycle.  Helmet laws apply to scooter riders as well, and good, protective riding gear is a must whether you ride a motorcycle or a scooter.

As your riding skills improve you will notice that a motorcycle can stop very very quickly. Making quick stops is a skill every rider should have but it does pose a unique problem at intersections.

Since a motorcycle can stop quicker than a car or truck, making a quick stop for yellow lights when traffic is close behind you can cause a serious accident. Since a car or truck can not stop as fast, you run the risk of getting rammed from behind.

In instances where traffic is close behind, it may be best to accelerate through the light as it turns red to avoid an accident.

Riders with 2 to  3 years of experience have accident rates that are just as high as a brand new rider. How is this possible? It seems that after spending 2 years mastering the basics,  these riders think they know it all and take additional risks such as unsafe passing, weaving through traffic and riding too fast.

Riding a motorcycle is a constant learning experience and in this case, having a little knowledge is dangerous and can be deadly. It is no accident that people who have many years of riding experience are very cautious. They know nothing good can happen when trying to pass a truck on a blind curve or assuming the car at the intersection won't cut you off. They have seen a good number of motorcycle accidents and have taken note of what went wrong. After years of riding, They develop a "sixth sense" which they use to anticipate and avoid dangers.

As your skills improve, you will no doubt push your bike to see what it can do. But at the same time push yourself to become a safer.