Posted in motorcycle safety on Sep 17th, 2009
The track guru Keith Code is often heard saying: ‘I’ve asked loads of racers if they’ve ever quick-turned a bike fast enough to crash, and no one has…’ What this means is that when it comes to the point on the road you need to turn, you can really push that handlebar…hard, and get it [...]
Posted in how-to, motorcycle safety on Aug 20th, 2009
Here’s a nice ride video by Doc Wong, whom I’ve never met, but does helpful riding clinics over on the left coast. If it’s too hot to ride for you in NY (it is for me) then maybe this will put you in the mood. Also notice his lane positioning: how he uses all of [...]
Posted in how-to, motorcycle safety on Aug 12th, 2009
Diagram #1
It’s amazing how what we normally tend to do is almost always wrong on a motorcycle… this is part of what makes motorcycling so interesting. In diagram #1 I tried to draw what most of us (tend to, want to) do on a long curved road going left…we hug the inside line. The problem [...]
Posted in motorcycle safety, summer-riding on Aug 4th, 2009
People talk about warming up the tires…but for much of the year (in the north east) the tires never really get fully warmed up in City riding (you’re just not going fast enough to keep the tire temp up). It’s different in the summer though. Not only do your tires get up to speed after [...]
Posted in how-to, motorcycle safety on Jul 28th, 2009
You’ve seen people do it: yapping away on cell phones while driving out of lane, or texting while cruising in traffic. In a culture that thinks of automobiles as living rooms, I don’t think any law is going to stop people from doing it. So what can you do to keep your ride bumper free? [...]
Posted in motorcycle safety on Jun 4th, 2009
One of my favorite parts of the BARF site (there’s a link on the lower right) is the “Crash Analysis.” So in that spirit…here’s a guy who was good enough to document his crash on Youtube. Let’s first say that he’s obviously a skilled and experienced rider, and that’s a big part of [...]
Posted in motorcycle, motorcycle safety, new york on May 5th, 2009
What would happen if one of those more obnoxiously driven cabs bumped you from behind? Or turned into your lane right along side you? Most cabbie’s are reasonably cool, and predictable, but a few of them are working long shifts and driving distracted (with phones in their ears).
Some older traditional riders are fans of “laying [...]
Posted in how-to, misc, motorcycle safety on Apr 23rd, 2009
Here’s a little quiz: Which types of roads are the safest for bikers (i.e., have the least number of accidents)? Put them in order:
[a] Highways
[b] Major roadways (like Queens Boulevard) and Parkways
[c] Fast local roads with sparse traffic
[d] Slow local roads
[e] Parking lots
Posted in how-to, motorcycle safety on Apr 22nd, 2009
Good riding on a track means taking the shortest, fastest line around a corner. But good riding on the street means taking the line that gives you the best view of what is coming up, while increasing your visibility. Also, on a track you can set your speed based on the amount of traction you [...]
Posted in how-to, misc, motorcycle safety on Apr 14th, 2009
Let’s talk about braking. It’s so simple, and yet so hard. If you look at the acceleration times of mediocre riders vs. acceleration times of highly skilled riders, they are pretty much the same. Yeah yeah skilled riders will have a little bit of an advantage in terms of managing traction and shifting gears… but [...]
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