2Wheeltips

I was reading an article from the October 2009 issue of GQ magazine titled "Easy Riding - A GQ Motorcycle Primer".

There is a very interesting quote by one of the MSF coaches who contributed to the article. I've included part of it below:

"Once you pass (the BRC), you can ride on any road in America. "But practically speaking, you are qualified to ride in an enclosed lot with two instructors watching."

One of our members said that his BRC instructor told him:

"Congratulations, you are now qualified to ride a 125cc motorcycle around cones in a closed parking lot"
--------
As bad as they sound, the above quotes reflect reality.  Passing the BRC does not make you an instant skilled motorcyclist. You are now a person who has spent a few hours practicing the most basic motorcycle skills on a bike you cannot even purchase at a dealer.

I am not putting down or critizing the BRC or other basic training classes because they are important. Most motorcycle accidents involve people with no training. But once you get your license, you need lots of practice to become a skilled and safe motorcyclist. The BRC is the foundation on which you build your good skills.

It matters what and where you practice. Riding around in parking lots will help your slow maneuver skills and as a new rider you should go to parking lots and practice as often as you can. But you also need to practice road skills such as merging into traffic, switching lanes, target fixation, going around curves, wet weather riding, braking and acceleration. To become a skilled rider you should practice all of these things.

Think of the BRC as an excellent beginning rather than the finish line. You spend a few years, many hours and quite a few miles on your bike before you become a skilled rider.

Ride a motorcycle and soon you will realize that one of the most personalized accessories you can get  speaks volumes about you, but costs you absolutely nothing:  your biker nickname.  In this column, I invite everyone to respond by answering the following questions (and I'll be the first to provide my own answers!):
    1.    Do you have a biker nickname?  If so, what is it?
    2.    Now, for the really interesting part:  How did you acquire that nickname (without being too offensive, and avoiding those dreaded TMI (too much information) bits and pieces…?
    3.    If you don't have a nickname, what do you want it to be, and why?

Okay, everyone, here I go!

1.  My biker nickname is "Cookie".
2.  Friends that I ride with know me for my homemade cookies, so "Cookie"  seemed the appropriate nickname for me.
Do I look like a "Cookie"….who knows (you can decide for yourself when you meet me in person)?  But, "Cookie" it is, and "Cookie" I am!

Now, it's your turn to share!  What's your story?

I figure it is time to let everyone know about the David Hough (pronounced "Huff") interview.  David is the author of Proficient Motorcycling and More Proficient Motorcycling; the best selling motorcycle books of all time and a must read for every new rider. (both books are available in the 2wheeltips MarketPlace in the recommended reading section)

I'm sitting here reviewing the video now and I must say......I am just as impressed as I was 2 days ago. The interview lasted close to 2 hours!!  It was an amazing interview and we are all still.....totally speechless!!! We thought we knew a thing or two about motorcycling......that was until we got him talking. Not only is he full of knowledge, he doesn't have a problem sharing and he is genuinely  a very nice person.

I will try to clip a section or two from the interview to post here later tonight or tomorrow. The good thing is we will have a chance to work with him more in the future. Stay tuned.....

If you think that the back-seat of your bike is reserved for your “old lady” alone, then get a load of this.

A company called Beast Rider (http://www.beastriders.com/) makes a specialized basket for your canine companion. It fits on the back of your bike and has straps for added security.

Check out my dog blog at http://dogandogs.com for other facinating dog bits.

Ride Like a Pro has a franchise in NJ that is run by 2wheeltips members, Al and Bill.  Al and Bill sent us this notice regarding their 2010 schedule, which is now open for registration.  This is a great class to attend and we have several videos that we took at some of the 2009 classes.  Take a look at the videos and read the following letter regarding the NJ classes if you are interested and would like to know more:

"First I would like to thank you for showing an interest in our “Ride like A Pro” training course. For those of you who are looking to sign up for one of our training courses this year, here is the process that you need to follow.

Go to our website http://www.ridelikeapronj.com and pick a training date.
fill out a registration form (include the training date on it)
If you are a returning student, remember to fill in the comment section with your student number to receive the discount rate of $100.00.
E-mail the form and wait for a return e-mail.
If you receive an e-mail that states “no slots available” please fill out another registration form with another date on it. If your e-mail states “slots available” you will be sent a link to our paypal account to pay for that course (returning students must mail in a check) You will be allowed five days to do so, or may opt to pay by money order or personal check and mail it in.
Once we have received your payment you will receive another e-mail that will give you a student confirmation number for that class.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to call our office and leave a message, please remember that this is a part time business and it may take a few days for us to call you back.
Again, Al and I would like to thank you for taking an interest in our
Ride Like A Pro NJ classes. Are goal is to turn good riders into great riders by introducing them to these advanced techniques under the watchful eyes of Motor officer instructors who have a passion to pass on their experience and training, which will give you the CONFIDENCE that you need to CONTROL your motorcycle.
Thanks,

Al & Bill"

Note: 
All and Bill also added this note about preparation for the RLAPNJ training:

"PREPARING FOR TRAINING

We suggest to get the most out of the training is to purchase our “Ride Like A Pro V”, DVD and Parking Lot Pals from our website and practice the exercises as much as you can to prepare yourself for the training."

Here are some pics I got from one of my friends on facebook and is a perfect example of what can happen to you if you are not careful at intersections. This is a classic case of a car turning in front of a motorcyclists and the rider not being able to stop. I don't know if anyone survived, but I seriously doubt it.

1 out of every 4 motorcycle accidents happen just like the one in these pictures. Always pay attention and reduce your speed when there are cars or blind spots at any intersection you cross.

So, there we were...at Americade 2010...up in the beautiful Adirondack Mountain region of New York State...  And, like so many other Americades, which start on the first Monday of June, the weather was, as usual, unpredictable.  We arrived on Wednesday of Americade week and it was dreary, rainy, and cool.

 This year, we didn't sign up for any of the scheduled tours, though, so we were pretty flexible when it came to what to do, where to go, and whether to brave the weather!  We clocked out a route from Lake George for a Thursday trip with some friends of ours.  Of course, Thursday morning arrived and guess what?  Yep...it was raining again.  So we canceled our plans for the day trip and tried to figure out what else we could do in the cool, wet weather.  Of course, going to a motorcycle rally, we wanted to get on our bikes and ride, not wander around the village of Lake George.  So, when the clouds cleared a bit, we decided to give it a go and we hopped on our bikes and headed north.  We rode up the western side of Lake George, on Route 9N, a very curvy, twisty and scenic road that snakes its way north.  Lake George comes to an end and Lake Champlain begins and we continued north until we got to Fort Ticonderoga, where there is a ferry (really just a little barge) that carries people, cars, and bikes across Lake Champlain between New York and Vermont.  Once in Vermont, we took a few more roads and before we knew it, we were at our destination:  the Woodchuck Cidery in Woodbury, Vermont. 

Well, my friends, this is not your regular ol' cider mill.  These people make HARD cider!  Normally, the cidery is not open to visitors for tours but they made an exception for us, and in we went. 

We were given a brief overview of the cidery and, although we weren't given any samples of the ciders they produce, they did send us away with tee shirts and cider glasses (on one side of the glass you get the proper measurement of Woodchuck draft cider and lager for a "snakebite" or turn the glass to the other side to get the measurements of Woodchuck draft cider and stout for the perfect "black velvet".  Sounds yummy!)

Our next stop was the Otter Creek brewery, a stone's throw from Woodchuck.  We walked in and were greeted by some really friendly people who   offered us samples of the ales that they brew! 

We were given a few sips of a bunch of varieties and then off we went for a tour of their facility.  It was fascinating to learn a little about how they brew their ales.  We stood over some mightily large vessels that were used in the storage and fermentation processes.  Then, we watched as the different ales were bottled and packaged. 

Of course, we had to find out who, in our area, sells their products since there were several that were delicious enough to want to buy! 

With our curiosity (and a teeny bit of our thirst) satisfied, we headed out to our bikes to continue our day trip.  And, of course, with such unpredictable weather, wouldn't you know it?  It was POURING!  Thank goodness for rain suits, waterproof boots, full face helmets, good tires and dependable bikes!!  We had a couple of other places on our list to visit but, due to the torrential downpour, we decided to just go grab some lunch and head back to Lake George.

One of the people at Otter Creek recommended a restaurant in downtown Middlebury, called "Two Brothers." 

It was a GREAT place for lunch and it gave us enough time to dry out before heading out into the rain again.  After lunch, although the rain had let up a bit, we decided to just head back to Lake George Village.  I kept looking in front of us and behind us to keep track of potential rain clouds.  On the ferry back to New York, I turned around and saw some clouds that looked like they were following us! 

Of course, at that point, what difference did it make?  I mean, we were dry INSIDE our riding gear….the outside of us was completely drenched. 

So, if you ever venture up to Americade, keep in mind that you are not limited to just the standard tours listed in the Americade brochure.  If you do a little research before your trip, you will find that there are lots of places that you can visit in the region.  And, DO keep in mind that, the first full week of June, when Americade is held, is a very unpredictable time, weatherise.  You should be prepared for cold, heat, sun, rain, and even (yikes!) the possibility of snow!!

Here I am again, writing about something that I'm sure I've covered many, many times. There has to be a video, audio or pictures on this topic somewhere on 2wheeltips.com, but just not under this heading. So here goes......

Now that you have finished your motorcycle class and have a bike, it's now time to hit the road. Before you do, you need to understand how important it is to put on the right clothing.

Now, some of you are probably thinking, "I'm not going to dress up like a crossing guard. Part of riding a bike is looking good and there is no freaking way I can look good dressed up like Capt. Safety." I agree......some stuff that passes as motorcycle gear looks like it belongs at a construction site and not on a biker. But that doesn't mean you should ignore the need to protect yourself from the dangers you will encounter when on the road.  

Take a step back and think of the many everyday activities that are considered dangerous and how those who participate in them handle the danger:

• Construction site? Hard hats, safety lines, steel toe boots
• Baseball? Batters helmet to protect you from a 100mph fast ball to the head
• Football? Helmets & pads to prevent concussions and broken bones after a tackle
• Soccer? Shinguards to protect your legs from cleats
• NASCAR? Helmets & harness to keep you from snapping your neck in a crash
• Airline luggage handler? Earplugs to keep you from going deaf
• Road worker? Gloves to protect your hands from cuts and abrasions

            .......
            .......

• Motorcycling??? Hmmmmmmm.......
  

Motorcycling is just as hazardous as any of the above. If you fall off your bike at 55mph without the proper gear, guarenteed you will get hurt worse (perhaps death) than anything you could get from the above activities.  But guess what? Many people will go out riding dressed like this:

Instead of this:

Do you think the hot exhaust pipe can melt her flip-flops? Or how about a piece of metal hitting her at 55mph? Do you think it will split her arm open? What if they crash? Will that tight t-shirt and shorts protect her skin from road rash? We all know the answer to each of those questions.

I'm not deceiving myself here. I know that some people will never wear anything but jeans, t-shirts and novelty helmets. That image goes with a certain biker lifestyle and it will never change. However, you do need to understand, just like a football helmet or a safety line, how the right gear can prevent serious injury.

In the upcoming articles, I'll discuss why you need to wear:

• A helmet (a real one)
• Jacket & Pants
• Gloves
• Belt
• Boots

Stay tuned.......

So, you curse those darned "cagers" on the road as you are out there enjoying your ride....  Well, fellow bikers, it is not just the people in automobiles and trucks and buses that we have to watch out for; we also have to pay attention to the irresponsible bikers who share the roads with us.  Below is an e-mail I received today from a friend of mine who is a very experienced biker and an MSF rider/coach.  I thought it was worthy of sharing with all of you!

" I ride to and from work in Newark almost every day.  On my way home from work yesterday around 1620, as I merged on to Rt.78w,I was very nearly hit on the left side from behind by a sportbike doing well over 100mph. ( I couldn't tell you what brand of bike it was,color of bike or what rider had on if anything. Did have a dark full face.)
I was in the merge lane doing about 45,looked over my left shoulder,saw it was clear and continued to accelerate into the right lane when something screaming almost hit my left side,close enough to feel the wind blast and cause my body to jump.Two others blew past my right side an instant later.I felt rage flush through my body and wanted to give chase,but we were in moderate traffic and they were weaving through the traffic so fast they were more than a 1/4mi.ahead in a second. I even found myself wishing they'd crash!
Glad they didn't only because of the trauma they'd cause the innocents. They just pissed me off big time. You expect things like that at bike rallies,but not where we all travel on a daily basis. Guess I forgot I was in Newark NJ. It bothered me all the way home. I guess this is why I have always believed the "Angels" ride with me! (God's Angels,not the other ones)
We tell our RENJ BRC students to "Turn your head" after a mirror check. We urge Car drivers to "Look twice,save a life!"
I guess the moral of the story is   "Look twice, Save your own life!""

There are times when we open our mouth,
and all the scent in it comes out;
It depends upon the type of bike you ride,
whether your breath is one that gives you pride;
Now I know what you are thinking,
Is it the bike that I ride make it stinking;
When I say bike I am not talking about brand,
But that which you keep behind your underpants.
Please don't get upset and rude with me,
I am just trying to help you just to see;
See what is what I can hear you say,
 It is what you friends have been trying to tell you all day;
When ride 600 miles a day, and in the saddle you do sit,
Please don't take pride and not stopping for a quick;
Ahh be brave and say what's on your mind,
Do not chicken out and cut your words short,
2wheeltip will not take you to biker's court;
What was it you were going to say that rhymn with sit,
but you did not have the nerves, so you use the word quick;
I really am trying to keep it clean, I really did not want to be mean;
I know you love not to change clothes,
or take a bath when on a roll;
You try to see how far you can ride, and how many days as well,
and you forget that your body begins to smell;
You love to stand close in the face of others,
and open your mouth and we smell trouble;
Because you are really kind,
We do not tell you what's really on our mind.
That is why you keep asking yourself,
IS IT JUST ME OR IS IT MY BIKER'S BREATH?