Top ten tips for safe riding

Over the years, there has been a considerably large number of motorcycle fatalities on Britain’s roads due to careless, thoughtless and of course, unsafe riding. Don’t allow yourself to become a part of a statistic; here are our top ten tips to remember for safe riding….

1. Wearing the correct motorcycle gear is obviously a real biggie. Make sure you’re wearing a helmet, long sleeved shirt/jacket, full-fingered gloves, a visor and comfortable footwear with maximum grip.

2. Prepare yourself before you ride. Make sure you’re physically and mentally able for the journey ahead; are you tired? Have you been drinking? Have something upset you before your journey? Seeing as motorcycle riding involves a high level of concentration, it’s best to postpone your riding trip for another day when you feel your concentration levels are fully restored.

3. Ask yourself whether the bike is safe to ride. Have you checked the oil and fluids levels, lights and electrics and the chassis? Are the tyres well inflated? Regular motorcycle maintenance is vital; otherwise, you’re putting yourself at risk while on the road.

4. Take care around bends and sharp corners. Whatever you do, do not overtake on bends if you can’t see the road ahead and/or if visibility is seriously reduced.

5. When it comes to overtaking, there are four points to consider; can you see the road ahead? If you believe it’s safe to overtake then the next point to consider is your position. Is there enough distance between the vehicle in front and you? Are you travelling at the correct speed for the overtake? And finally, are you in the correct gear?

6. If you’ve just bought a new motorcycle then make sure you practice enough before taking to the busier roads. Get a feel for the power of the bike, as well as familiarizing yourself with the brakes. Avoid using the back brakes alone as this can cause you to skid, which is not a good idea, especially in winter!

7. Don’t exceed your comfort zone. Especially if you’re a learner, taking unnecessary risks is not a good idea. Instead, practice as much you can and stick to the roads you know before venturing on longer journeys where you’re likely to face bigger bends and larger speed limits.

8. Seeing as motorcycles occupy a very small percentage of roads, lane placement is crucial. Be sure to alter your position in the lane in order to improve your view of the situation ahead and to improve the likelihood of being seen by other road users.

9. If you’re carrying passengers (which should only really be for experienced motorcyclists), ensure your bike has a seat with footpegs. You should also adjust the suspension for the extra weight. Drive carefully and accordingly when carrying passengers.

10. Never succumb to peer pressure or to those who want to race you. It’s not clever and can result in a nasty accident.

Tags: motorcycle training, top tips

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 at 11:23 am and is filed under Articles, Training Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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