Cheap motorbike insurance is one of the UK's specialist motor bike insurance related web sites.
Get a no pressure quote in your own time.
MOTORBIKE SAFE RIDING AND GENERAL MOTORCYCLE ISSUES
Riding A Motorbike Can Be Dangerous!
It is often forgot that when riding on the UK roads keeping yourself and
other road users safe is as much the bikers responsibility as it is the
car drivers. Admittedly car drivers seem to take more risks than bikers,
but that's even more reason for us bikers to ride safe. What I have to say
here is purely my experience of 15 years of biking on both South African
and British roads. Seek professional advice from the police to make sure
you keep yourself safe. If you have advice and you would like to share it
with other bikers, please email me at advice @ usedbikes4sale.co.uk and
I'll post it here with your name as a credit.
Visibility -
The first piece of advice I have is lights, lights and again lights. You
all know I'm right here when I say that bikers do not always use their lights.
A bikes lights should be switched on the second you back side hits the seat.
No excuses. Motorists can not always see motorcycle approaching at speed.
Nor do many even bother to check. A motorbikes lights really do increase
your road presence and with younger drivers becoming more aggressive and
less skilled every year( Just my observation! ), you can see why we need
to take every precaution we have available to us. Hi-Vi's bikers gear is
now available in most good stores as is quality clothing.
Quality Bikers Clothing -
You don't need the best bikers gear on the market to keep safe, most suppliers
are now such good quality that good riding leathers are very reasonable
priced. Protect your hands too please... The best helmet you can afford
is the only option when head protection is discussed and should you ever
fall the helmet must be the first thing you throw away! Never, never keep
the helmet, don't sell it either please. If you have a choice then do not
even buy a used helmet. Once they are damaged, and 9 out of 10 times this
damage cannot be seen, your helmet is dangerous and not fit to wear. Good
gloves and riding boots are paramount to your well being.
Safety Checks -
Never set off on a ride without your phone on you. Also do a pre-ride bike
check. Check the following while the bike is warming up. Check for worn,
deflated or damaged tyre's, loose chain &, weak brakes. Does the bike
have oil and water for some models! Do all the lights work, including indicators,
and are the reflectors where they should be. Petrol going to be riding on
the motorway the last thing you want from a safety aspect is to run out
of petrol with no hard shoulder.
Ride Defensively -
Riding defensively and sticking to the middle of the lane makes your bike
wider and therefore easier to see. Never ride alongside another vehicle
as you may quickly find yourself in that drivers blind spot. Not a good
place to be even in another car! This should go without saying but here
goes. Stay away from the white and yellow road lines. They are incredibly
slippery especially if it has been raining. The same goes for the cats eyes.
They older ones are tricky and the newer ones are quite distracting at night.
Concentrate on your road position and plan your corners long before you
reach the breaking point. Try not to go hard on the brakes into a corner,
this means you were caring too much speed into the corner and will slow
you down and de stabilise your bike. To get the best grip a little twist
of the throttle will pull down the back tyre. Learn to use your motorcycles
front brakes. They are more powerful and can help you shed a lot of speed
without skidding which can happen with riders who are rear brake biased.
Loading Your Motorbike -
Always use common sense when loading your machine or fitting additional accessories. The ditriobution of weight can be greatly
altered should saddlebags be added to a lighter motorbike, you may find that you could be cought out when negotiating a hard bend
due the change in weight distrUse only accessoribution. This goes for carring passangers too. Experiance is key to safe riding! If
you are not accustomed to carring passangers on your bike then take it slow for a while. Also take the passangers previous experiance
into concideration before you set off. Some last minute instruction could save your life. Never assume the passanger knows how to be
a good passanger on two wheels. There are general rules which should be followed. Ask an experiance rider about these before your try
riding two up for the first time. When loads are carried you should travel at a much lower speed than normal. Center of gravits changes
as does the braking requirements on most lighter machines. Back pegs could kick out ytour back wheel when down and the extra persons
weight could well surprise you. Fast movements made by the passanger such as moving out of your cover can cause the driver to be violently
pulled to the side too. Tyres pressures should be adjusted, as recommend by manufactures, for passenger or load carrying. There are
many more rules to think about, so please ask before you set off.
|
