Riding a motorbike is more than 'just to the next corner and back'. Participating in traffic on two wheels is different. It is not only more fun but also more dangerous. The crumple zone of a biker is only a few millimetres thick. Because motor biking seems to be more a sport than simply transfer a biker is likely to do something about his or her safety.
Safety is more than a helmet and a jacket. I think safe motor biking has something to do with:
Five things to ride a bike? Isn't that too much just to ride? I don't think so. Remembering a few things makes you a better motorbiker and some preparation makes things easier.
Riding a motorcycle happens between your ears. By looking the right way you pull the bike through the curves. Other things on your mind will only distract. A biker should be very awake.Besides... when half asleep you miss most of the fun. Forget about riding with a hangover. Alcohol and traffic do NOT match! Use of a GPS or a roadbook is also a distraction. Not only dangerous on paved ways but also off road. Several top 5 Paris-Dakar riders had to withdraw because they crashed while using their roadbook or GPS...
Preparation of the route - if only globally - makes riding more easy. Always plan the trip you make: where am I going. Most of the time a brief look at the road map is enough. Roadbooks can be of assistance. Write large enough to be able to read villages and road numbers. Use arrows to mark points where you have to branch off. Looking at a map before leaving prevents riding the wrong way which leads to searching instead of biking.
Finally it makes sense to look at the weather. Do I put on my rain gear at home or can it be left at home... Some idea about the weather prevents surprise from sudden hailstorms, autumn leaves and icy exits of motorways. It prevents you from being surprised by people that don't know what is happening outside their cars.
Special motor clothing is both heating and crumple zone. Therefore you need good protective clothing even on a summer day. Every summer bikers wearing slippers and shorts can be seen. This way you take unnecessary risk. When falling you will loose your skin completely! Some insurance companies don't pay for cosmetic surgery if the biker didn't wear good protective clothing. Always wear a helmet, protective jacket and pants, boots and gloves.
The obligatory use of a helmet on a motorbike was for some people reason to stop biking. Loss of the sense of freedom. Without a helmet you have the risk of loosing all senses - for ever. A good fitting helmet is besides being safe comfortably warm. Choose a helmet with a bright colour. These are better visible and much cooler in summer. Reflective stickers increase visibility but are hard to get. Garagists doing maintenance on eg. police cars might sell them to you.
Protective clothing should be warm, waterproof and proof to abrasion. Different clothes must be combined to get all this - unless you have a lot of money. I ride in a Goretex jacket and leather trousers. The jacket is waterproof and breathing. Leather pants are comfortably warm and keeps me firm on the buddy seat. When raining I use separate rain trousers. On hot summer days I use a light enduro-jacket with protection and ventilation openings. A jacket with protection is recommended. Like with helmets bright colours are better visible than dark ones. Motor clothes of German manufacturers nearly always have some reflective parts and tested protection.
Boots not only keep your feet warm - they also protect you from stones etc. launched by the front wheel. Good boots protect your ankles. Enduro or motor cross boots have extra protection. Sturdy boots for walking with Goretex lining are also very usable.
The right gloves are made of leather or a fabric enforced with kevlar or some other non abrasive material. When falling one always puts out the hands first. It is better to wrap them well. Some manufacturers enforce gloves with beautiful metal pins. These can cause awful scratches on the tank of your bike. The buttons of your jacket can do the same.
Finally it is a good idea to protect your ears for excessive noise. Governments made rules for the level of noise in factories and near airports. Research proved that noise makes ill. The noise coming from the exhaustpipe of motorbikes is also subject to government rules. The decibels inside your helmet are your own responsibility. A motorbiker has to cope with the sound of his own bike and foremost with the noise caused by the air that passes. At 100 kmh your ears have to cope with 95 dB. This causes permanent hearing damage within 15 minutes.
It makes sense to do something on protection against noise. The well known yellow or orange foam plugs only have little effect. It is better to wear professional otoplastics. These plugs are specially made for a persons ears and block the damaging (high) frequencies. The beautiful sound of your engine coming from the exhaustpipe still can be enjoyed and traffic around you is audible. That awful high tone inside the helmet has gone forever. Unfortunately some governments are deaf when it comes to ear protection and unfortunately declare them illegal!
A second possibility is a 'silent' helmet. The German magazine Tourenfahrer (August 1996) reported about the noise level inside twenty different helmets. The legislation on noise inside a working environment was used as a measure. Most silent helmets in this test were Baehr Silencer, de Uvex GP500 en de BMW System 3 Evolution.
Human failure is the cause of 95% of all traffic accidents. Wrong or insufficient maintenance of your motorbike is also human failure. Replacement of worn out parts and maintenance intervals must be done in time. This is not only for safety reasons but also for a long and healthy life of your costly bike. Before riding away a brief inspection is useful: tyres, brakes, battery, lights, oil and chain or shaft. The brief inspection we did every morning on our journey through Spain revealed a nail that penetrated the rear tyre of one of the bikes. Riding with it surely would have caused trouble...
The minimum required depth of profile of tyres is only the bare minimum! Tyres with 2 or 3 millimetre profile have stick much better to the road than with the legal required 1,6 mm. Earlier replacement of worn out tyres doesn't cost any extra per kilometre. Before riding check if no sharp objects like glass or nails penetrated the rubber. Remove them when necessary. Always inflate your tyres with the maximum pressure given. This improves handling of the bike and reduces abrasion.
Don't go without good functioning brakes. Replace the braking pads in time, this way the disks will last longer. Maintenance on the brakes should always be done by an expert. Rapid acceleration surely gives a kick but an emergency braking can be of life importance. When you mount your bike squeeze the front brake handle. This way you know that this brake is functioning properly and your bike stands more stable.
Check the battery regularly. Even maintenance free batteries need
some maintenance. The contacts should not be corroded and the fluid
level must be right. Maintenance free batteries evaporate part of
their contents. A refill can be done with distilled water. A good
condition of a battery makes starting easy and prolong its life.
Be sure the hose to let out air of the battery is connected. Battery
acid can evade from the battery and destroy paint and other parts of
your bike. The hose makes it drip on the ground.
Always ride with your lights on even during the day. In some countries like in the Netherlands this is still not compulsory. By having the lights on you are more visible to other traffic. The additional wearing out of the bulbs is not really noticeable but safety increases. Before riding check all lights especially the braking light when braking front and rear.
Sufficient oil in the engine prevents costly damage. The amount of
braking fluid is also to be taken notice of. When riding only a few
kilometres a year the oil in the engine and braking fluid have to be
replaced once a year. Oil for the drive shaft also needs to be
replaced.
Not really oil but still wet: coolant. The expansion reservoir gives
a minimum and maximum level. By using 50% anti frost and 50%
(distilled) water the system is deepfreezer proof until -25 degrees
Celsius. Look before taking off under the bike if something is
dripping.
A well lubricated chain kept to the right length can last long. I
found out that the white chain lube sticks best - on my F650 almost
twice as long as other lubes. Chain lube with teflon not only sticks
better to your chain but also to the rims. Cleaning of O and X ring
chains can be done with kerosene (this stuff is called different in
may countries! - it may be called petroleum or paraffin). This does
not affect the rings inside the chain. Put on the kerosene with a
brush and wipe it off after a few minutes.
A chain should have 2 to 3 cm tolerance which prevents beating and
breaking. When the chain can be pulled above the teeth of the
sprocket right behind the axle it needs replacement. Always change
chain and sprockets at the same time! A chain breaking during riding
can penetrate the crank case. A shaft is almost free of maintenance.
During the driving training for your licence you only learn to ride. The real skills that make someone a motorcyclist are hardly trained. Therefore it is good to still do some exercises when you have your licence. Good skills to handle a motorcycle are a blessing in all day traffic. It comes handy that you can turn in a street when riding a false road. Riding at walking speed might get you through narrow alleys. Swerving and emergency braking you hopefully do not need but you'd better practice. You might need it once.
For the motorbike exam in the Netherlands we need to several exercises: riding an eight-shape, three times a 4m wide circle, turning inside a street, slalom, riding at walking speed and emergency braking. All exercises (except the braking) should be carried out in first gear, little throttle and slight use of the rear brake. This way the bike is very stable during the exercises. Other exercises can be considered like swerving, with low speed up and down the sidewalk or riding over a plank in full length. Deserted business parks are ideal for practising braking. Remember to look in front of you like when you are riding, otherwise the bike becomes instable. Don't forget to shift back to first gear. The best moment to do this is just before standing still. You can also try an emergency braking and evasion off the road: maximum braking on the asphalt, stop braking stand on the pegs and roll through the grass. Hold the handlebars firmly!
Motorcycle gymnastics are also great to improve your handling of the bike. Be sure you reasonably are in control. Practice can be done first with the bike on the centre stand. Ride around on a deserted parking lot standing on the pegs, slalom around poles and trees, the sidewalk up en down. Riding like women used to do on horses -with two legs on one side - is easy. You also can stand on the left peg with your right foot. While riding stand up and put your right leg over the seat and behind the left. Now sit down and put your right foot on the (left) peg. Now you're ready to stand up. Back to normal goes the reverse way. Braking and dismounting your bike in the last few metres looks cool when you park your bike somewhere!
To improve your skills as a motorcyclist there are numerous courses that can be followed. These classes are put together of a few bikers of the same level. Next to skills handling the motorcycle attention is paid to riding in traffic and riding beautiful curves. Besides on road trainings real off road trainings also improve your capabilities as a biker. BMW enthusiasts can go to the south of Germany to take course in the Enduropark Hechtlingen (through Münchener Freiheit, tel. 00.49.08.93.95.768). You can take part with any street legal enduro or with a rented BMW R1100GS or F650. Two or three days you are instructed to take small and larger obstacles, braking on loose ground and riding through water. Sylvia made a great page about the course!
Besides the appropriate speed the position on the road is very important for a motorcyclist. Crossings are most dangerous - most accidents happen there. It is better not to overtake near crossings. Try to get a picture of other approaching traffic and their possible plans. When you ride as far left as possible you are well able to look into a oncoming road to your right and see possible traffic. Rapidly approaching traffic is also as far as possible away from you. On curvy roads this technique can also be used.
Best position on the road is different on roads with two or three tracks and separated traffic like on motorways. On roads with two tracks do not ride very close to the middle line because approaching traffic is very nearby. When riding with a group make a formation like bricks in the wall. the first motorcycle rides on the outside of the track, the second on the inside etc. This way the front most biker is as far as possible from approaching traffic. On roads with separated directions the first bike can ride near the middle line, second on the outside. When overtaking choose a position as far as possible from the vehicles to be overtaken. A crash barrier will never make a sudden move but some car drivers surely will! Keeping distance gives extra time and space to react and escape.
Best position on the road needs continuous adaption. Not too close to approaching traffic, prevent that cars behind you push you aside and avoiding oil spots and debris makes is sometimes difficult. Sometimes the wind sets you aside. It is very clear that a motorcyclist needs the entire with of his track, maybe even more than a car does toe react to changing circumstances. You better show in all day traffic that you need this space.