2Wheeltips

Every rider should know about crampbusters and throttle rockers. They are plastic "paddles" you wrap around your throttle. You rest the heel of your hand on the paddle and it keeps the gas open. Sorta like a poor man's cruise control. 
 

You can get the permanent metal ones that are more stylish,  but the originals work great and are very affordable.

So, if you don't have a few hundred dollars to give your dealer for electronic cruise control, throttle rockers and crampbusters are the ticket.

You never know when you will need to park your bike on a soft surface, be it grass, sand or loose gravel. For that reason you will need a kickstand puck.

A puck is a small plastic disk you slip under your kickstand that gives a wider area to support you bike. If you plan on going on tours, you will definitely need one because you never know where you will need to park.

Many cheap hotels use soft asphalt to pave their parking lots. Your kickstand will sink into that stuff in no time flat. I experienced this while at Americade in '07. Luckily, I went out to check on my bike....and found that the kickstand had sunk about 3 inches and the bike was about to tip over.

Most motorcycle rallies will give you a puck for free so there is no need to pay $5 - $7 at the dealer. If you are in a pinch, just use a crushed soda can.

Perfect, dry roads exist only in a perfect world, and this is not a perfect world. Being prepared for the unexpected will make you a safer rider and will enable you to ride on many roads during most seasons of the year. Always  use the “S.E.E.” (search, evaluate, execute) riding strategy as taught in the Motorcycle Safety Foundation courses. Here are some road conditions that you should be prepared to encounter:

How often have you heard the slogan “loud pipes save lives”?  It is a common explanation by riders who either purchase bikes with loud exhaust pipes or replace the original exhaust pipes on their bike with loud ones.  Before you put loud pipes on your bike, consider the following:

    •    In some towns, you may be fined for riding with loud pipes.
    •    Motorists may still not hear you until you are right on top of them.
    •    Loud pipes can irritate drivers and pedestrians.

Accident avoidance is your goal, and you should practice the following tips:

    •    Wear bright clothing during the day.
    •    Wear retro-reflective clothing at night.
    •    During the day, ride with your high beams on.

Headlights on later model bikes come on whenever the bike is on but riding with the high beams during the day will make your bike more visible and it does not blind drivers as it can during the night.

   •    Use your turn signals!  Using hand signals will not help you be seen; lighted turn signals can.
    •    You can tap your brake to show drivers that you are slowing down before you actually start to brake completely.
    •    Use your horn!

  If you see a potentitally dangerous situation coming up, use your horn to get someone's attention.  Remember that your horn is not a substitute for maneuvering around a dangerous situation.  But, in some cases, it is all you need to get the attention of a driver or pedestrian who may be about to cut in front of you.  Don't hesitate to use your horn in the two most dangerouss situations:  oncoming vehicles making a left turn, and cars pulling out from side streets (never assume that others see you).

A common response from people who collide with motorcyclists is “I never saw him....he  came out of nowhere...”  By understanding that many motorists and pedestrians simply do not notice motorcyclists, and making yourself more visible to them with what you wear and what you do when approaching them, you can help prevent many accidents.

Rather than paying a lot of money to upgrade the pipes on your bike, consider upgrading the horn on your bike.  It will cost significantly less and you can bet that people will hear it!

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.

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.

It is dangerous enough to hit a deer with your car...but hitting a deer with a motorcycle is even worse.  And one thing is totally predictable about deer:  they are unpredictable.  You never know where they are going or what they are going to do.

Be prepared to encounter fawns whenever you ride in the Spring and early Summer.  They are curious animals and you will see them wander on to roads all the time, even when a doe is with them. Deer travel in groups, so if you see one, there are always others. If one jumps across the road, slow way down or stop. There is at least one more waiting to follow.

Ride with extra caution when going through wooded areas. It is amazing how quickly deer can appear.  In areas that have a known deer population, keep your speed down and be extremely attentive to the roadside.

If you can do so safely, slow down or swerve to avoid hitting small animals such as squirrels, skunks, groundhogs and racoons. Sometimes you may have to run over a small animal so prepare yourself for the impact so you do not loose control of the bike.

So, you have done your motorcycle practice skills and now you want to ride with others. You need to be prepared for one more thing:  your ability to ride may not match the abilities of the others you are riding with. One of the most important things you can do as a novice motorcyclist, is to admit your limitations.  Your skills will progress with time but, until they do, you need to ride within your own comfort zone.  

When preparing to ride with others:

    •    Inform the other riders in the group of your status as a novice biker; this is nothing to be ashamed of, since every experienced biker was once a novice!

    •    Know the route you will be traveling and carry a map or GPS unit.

    •    Consider the variation of riding skills of the people you will be riding with.  If others are riding at speeds that are beyond your capabilities, do not speed up to keep up with them.  Stay at speeds that are comfortable for you.  This is especially important when taking curves.

Prior to heading out on a ride with others, make it known that, if you get separated from the group for any reason, you will meet up at an agreed-to location (this can be a refueling point, for example).

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.