Please share with new riders!

[Pidgey]

Good advice, passing MSF training should be MANDATORY before getting a license. Here in Alberta there is talk of bringing in a graduated system rated to engine size. As usual with government, nothing has been done yet.

Interesting though, when I was in the hospital last year after being hit by a speeding van that crossed into my path, I noticed that of the young guys on my ward, most were there due to quadding accidents.    Let's make training mandatory for quads also.

[Tx RN]

Pidgey, it is just like with the operators license here. You drive through a course with a DMV licensing official and manuver around obstacles, make turns, and weave through the cones. Bingo, you are now licensed to operate any CC motorcycle on the US highways. Any kid with a weeks practice on a friends' bike can do it.

I'm not sure I want mandtory government intervention involved in the riding process. MC dealers should be self policing enough that they won't sell a street bike to an inexperienced rider. (Just like the bar that shares the DWI responsibility for letting a drunk patron behind the wheel). Upon completion of the MSF course, the hope is that the new rider will buy a smaller cc motorcycle for their first year to gain experience without all the extra HP's. That just does not happen. With the exception of Honda, the other Japaneese manufactures only require liability insurance coverage to factory finance a motorcycle including the ZX-14 and Hyabusa. Unfortunately we can not determine the riders experience level prior to their purchase. So if the new rider goes from the successful completion of the MSF course straight to the MC dealer and lays down cash for the Busa', is a dealer going to turn that down? NOT!

There is no objective way for each MC dealer to judge the potential buyers experience level prior to the sale. I too am totally against the stoppies, wheelies, road surfing, and all the other stunts these young guys pull on public roadways. I would like to see some serious law enforcement intervention in these acts of stupidity. Perhaps, like the purchase of a firearm or the legal consumption of alcohol, there could be a minimum age limit established that one must achieve prior to being allowed to purchase a high performance MC. The loophole is private sales and just having someone who qualifies buy the bike for them.

We have all heard the sad stories of the new rider leaving the mc dealer on their new high powered crotch rocket only to crash/die within a mile or two.  

I don't have the answers. I would like to see more aggressive enforcement and better ethics at the dealers.

[Red01]

Try as you might, you just can't legislate common sense.
As soon as you make something foolproof, along comes a new type of fool.

[Tx RN]

So true.

[Pidgey]

Here in Alberta we don't even have the DMV any more to ensure a minimum standard of competence. It was privatized  in the early 90's and now testing is done by any 'certified' driving instructor, many of whom have limited if any experience with motorcycles.
I took my training 30 years ago; my wife 5 years ago and she said that many of her fellow students flunked out only to go get their license at a private school. Unfortunately these guys end up being the headlines in the newspaper or on the news  Bad situation.

[Barbarian]

Based on what I've read about the MSF, it's my opinion that it's the equivalent of what I had to go through to get my learner's permit in BC. After going through two weekends of practice and a skills test I was now allowed to ride on the roads without supervision, and on highways, but couldn't carry a passenger and could only ride during daylight.

I was legally required to wait at least another two weeks to get my license.

Would I expect a motorcycle dealer to be responsible to sell me a bike within my limits without government interference? Not on my life! It took decades and who knows how many lawsuits before bars stopped serving people who were obviously already drunk -- and in many cases that 'market pressure' still wasn't enough.

[Vidrazor]

Unfortunately the MSF is not what it used to be, it has been watered down to make certification almost guaranteed. What most people don't realize is that the MSF, like the AMA, is controlled by the motorcycle manufacturers, and they want to see more people readily certified and ready to ride that crotch rocket off the showroom floor. They don't care who wipes out, there's a sucker born every minute, and they want to be able to sell another rocket 60 seconds later.

[Tx RN]

Let me share an experience I had yeaterday with you. Here in Honolulu traffic is a nightmare and parking is even worse. Mopeds/scooters are the vehicle of choice for transportation. $1,500 out the door. No insurance, registration, or safety inspection required. They are considered in the same class as bicycles. Hawaii allows anyone with a class c drivers license to buy and operate a moped. To qualify as a moped it can not exceed 49cc engine size.

I was as a scooter shop on Waikiki yesterday and three people came in. Two men and a woman, all in their late 40's. The men were bragging about having just been approved for financing for a HD 1200 sportster for each of them. They could not get the bikes until they completed the MSF course. I asked why. They said that the insurance dept would not cover the bikes without a motorcycle endorsement on their license. OK. The woman wanted a scooter. They sales guy was happy to oblige. The woman was asking questions about the brakes, starting, and did not even know how to mount the thing. I asked if she had ever ridden a powered cycle of any size. No. The sales guy says oh it's easy. Just twist the grip and go. It was obvious she was quite nervous. I butted in and suggested one of the men ride the scoot home and maybe to an abandonded parking lot or parking deck so she could get the feel of the scoot and practice without the stress of traffic. The sales guy wanted me to mind my own business. She has a drivers license and can make her own choices. Well, I am an RN and allowing people to foolishly injure themselves goes against my nature and training. I insisted one of the men ride it home. Finally one of them agreed and when he took off he had both feet down, wobbling, and made me wonder if he had ever ridden a powered cycle at all either.

What chaps my shorts about all this is that the dealer is allowing people with no experience, on a powered bike, to ride off the show room floor into a busy Waikiki highway. The bad thing is, it is legal. But is it ethical? My wife is coming here to visit, has her MC license, and loves riding scooters. The price is right. I will not buy a thing from that scooter shop. They may be cheap and quick to complete the transaction but my concience will not allow it.

I have the seed of an idea that if exercised nation wide might make a difference in untrained riders on our roads. Boycott the dealers that sell the inexperienced riders the hot bikes. Make it required for all street riders to have an MC endorsement prior to being allowed to test ride or purchase a street bike. There are organizations like MADD and DARE that target certain groups. Why not have a local & state group that targets MC dealers selling bikes to unlicensed riders? Put the pressure on them to comply or boycott their sales dept. Parts and service would remain unaffected. Hopefully this American tactic would force compliance and we would remove some of the dangerous riders from our roadways.

Thoughts?

[Barbarian]

Sell to unlicensed riders? Heck, in Waikiki they'll rent to unlicensed riders to. And with no helmet law in that state, that's just stupid.
I could not believe the number of short and snorkel wearing riders I saw in Honolulu, complete with longboard sitting in a rack bolted to the side of the bike...

[PaulVS]

Here's a post I did a long time ago for motorcycle newbies... about learning motorcycle safety from my dad....

The first thing my dad taught me was... "Pretend you're INVISIBLE".  Cars don't see you.  Pedestrians don't see you.  Even other MOTORCYCLISTS don't see you."  The logical follow up to that is that if another car/truck can hit you.. assume it WILL hit you.  And for all those situations, have an 'out'. 

For the newbies... this may sound like a lot of work, but this defensive driving behavior becomes such 2nd nature that after awhile you don't even realize you're 'working' at it.  That's what athletes do... they train a behavior to become almost an instinct.

It is stated that most accidents occur at 35 mph or less.  I would MOSTLY agree with this.  And it seems to me that the majority of slower accidents occur for basically 6 reasons.  (Obviously, there are many other possibilities, but these are the ones I hear about the most.)

1. Another vehicle pulls out in front of motorcylist from a side street, or runs a red light.
2. Motorcyclist gets rear-ended waiting at a light or while stopped.
3. Motorcyclist gets side-swiped by unaware lane-changing car/truck.
4. Road hazards, i.e. gravel, rain, ice.
5. Motorcyclist lack of concentration, inattentivity, or 'hooliganism'.
6.  Motorcyclist gets hit head on from oncoming traffic 'drifting' into their lane.

(1) I read so many stories about the motorcyclist that got wiped out because "A car turned in front of him", or "The car ran the red light".  My entire motorcycling life, I have the internal red alert go off when I approach an intersection (even when I have the right-of-way) or a side street with a car/truck waiting to pull out. I take several measures whenever this occurs.  First I make a rough estimate of his potential to pull out in front of me.  From there I decide the best path to take to get out of his way should it happen.  I also try to see the driver's face to see if he is daydreaming, or looking for traffic.  I try to make eye contact.  I'll even flash my lights or horn if I think he's not seeing me.

At lighted intersections, I never assume 'green means go".  There are plenty of dead motorcyclists who had the right-of-way.  Right-of-way means nothing if you are on a bike.   On a wide-open country road, it's easy to do a quick eye-scan of the intersection to see if there's a threat.  At a more congested intersection, I slow down early to be able to apprise the situation.

(2)  This one's pretty easy.  Don't sit on a road waiting to turn left.  In fact, on busy roads, my father would turn RIGHT, and then cross the intersection when it was clear... rather than sit in the left lane.  (A little extreme, but he never got rear-ended.)  At a stop-light, we all know we should keep one eye in the rear-view mirror, and not sit somewhere we can't escape should we see a car barreling down on us from behind.  Flashing your brake light as a habit at a stoplight isn't a bad idea, either.

(3)  I never stay in someone's blind spot.  I know it's hard to do in heavy traffic, but at least try to get in position where the cager can see you, and again, assume that guy on the cell-phone is going to change lanes right into you... and have an 'out'.  Even if that out is just the lesser of two evils.

(4)  Road hazards are tough to predict.  Obviously extreme care needs to be taken in sharp turns for gravel, rain, or other debris.  Good rubber & brakes are probably the 2 most important accident AVOIDANCE safety devices.  When on the open road, stay in the tire paths of the cars because most of the crap on the roads accumulates in the middle of the lane.  This once saved my skin when a nice chunk of 4x4 wood was lying right in the middle of the lane.  I was on the right side of the lane and missed it by an inch or two.  I can only imagine what would have happened if I hit it dead-on at 65 mph.

(5)  Very simply...  Safety first.  No matter what else is going on, whatever other thoughts are going through your head, it should be the #1 priority at all times.  Concentrate on defensive driving... even if you're tearing it up on a backroad sweeper.  Always be aware of what's going on around you.  Is it possible that parked car door might swing open as you go past and give your new front M1 Sportec a rude greeting?  Are you driving down a road that deer cross frequently?And remember... even the BEST motorcycle road racers crash occasionally. If you want to drive like them, are you willing to see what happens on a public road when (not if) you crash?

(6)  If you want to drive in the left lane of an undivided road or highway and risk a head-on collision with a car or truck at a combined 100-120mph, I wish you luck.
As for me... I'll stay to the right on roads with no large median.

I think an awareness of these 6 things can comprise about 90% of accident avoidance.  Accidents that are caused by you, or caused someone else.  Accidents from the front, rear, sides, and bottom.  (Does not cover meteorites or other flying objects.)

As far as excessive speed goes, remember that when you're on your bike doing.. say... 100mph...  YOU are the projectile doing 100mph.  Not just the bike.  Imagine being shot out of a cannon (even with helmet, leathers, boots, etc) at 100mph into the side of a van or car.  We all know that at that speed we have no ability to steer more than a few inches one way or another should an unexpected obstacle cross our path.  And very little time to react should something go amiss.  Of course,  swerving a motorcycle like a car just AIN'T an option.  Again... your body is just a 100mph 'naked bullet' at that point.

[Tx RN]

Paul VS,  I whole heartedly applaud your principles of riding. All of these things were covered 24 years ago in my military MSF classes. Perhaps that is one reason this old codger has never met asphalt up close and personal. I always assume the cager is going to cut me off, pull out in front of me, or do something very stupid to endanger my life. I however, do ride in the left lane most of the time going about 5-10 mph faster than the cagers. This keeps me advancing along the traffic pattern and keeps my exposure to blind spots to a minimum. Eye contact is another useful tool. Make sure the cager sees you. If they look you in the eye they at least know you are occupying a space in the road. I wear a painfully visable day glow green/yellow ballistic jacket (learned it from a friend who rides a BMW). You really do need sunglasses to not hurt your eyes when it is in your vision. See me now? GOOD! Loud pipes my butt. Loud colors and defensive driving are key to staying shiny side up.

Most excellent post my good man! Cheers.

[B6mick]

I wear a painfully visable day glow green/yellow ballistic jacket (learned it from a friend who rides a BMW). You really do need sunglasses to not hurt your eyes when it is in your vision. See me now? GOOD! Loud pipes my butt. Loud colors and defensive driving are key to staying shiny side up.

Most excellent post my good man! Cheers.

Yes agreed , great post Paul.
But TX. You Like us, are a motorcyclist, for some reason motorcyclist, look for and see fellow motorcyclist, whether we are riding or driving. FACT. Car drivers along with non motorcyling road users do NOT. FACT.
Having tested for a courier firm here in Melbourne, the same, painfully blinding colorful clothing, yes the day glo stuff, I can tell you as a FACT, that did not make a fanny full of cold water, difference, in reducing accidents. Unfortuantly wearing such clothing does not force a driver to look your way. Many a time a was nearly cleaned up, and I would ask the driver why, and as usual the old catch cry, "sorry mate didn't see you" My usual reply was and which part of me did you not see. Helmet white refective shyte all over it. (day glo) The bright as hell day glo vest, the day glo refective strips all over the bike and the tub on the back. Sorry mate, day glo is bull shyte, it only makes you stand out to the people who have all ready seen you. Now you want to start on loud pipes, cause for ever bull shyte reply you can give me I can give you real factual reasons why they can and do save lives. Cause in my time as a courier, I went from whisper quiet to lets just say, hmmmmmmm pretty loud, but not loud enough to be hassled by Mr Plod.

So forget the crap, and just ride like every other road user sharing the road with you is on a mission to kill you.
No matter if you wear a open face full face, whether you wear the 4 grands worth of rice rocket leathers, and the hi tech stuff, and that, many find the better their gear is, the faster they will go, I know I feel more sercure in my full face and my good gear, than I do in my jeans and summer jacket, and open face. And I know I have to pull myself up, for feeling over confident.