What advice do you have for a new motorcycle rider?

In My Humble Opinion
61

Also, out of curiosity where were you going to suggest. The places I looked didn’t have class availability until late September or October closer by, or cost a heck of a lot more (Iron Pony and C&A).

Oh, I agree, and will be doing so again (this will actually be the third $50 fee–I accidentally arranged the first one by mistake in northern Delaware county (fighting rush traffic the whole way) and arrived late–they don’t like when you do that, or so it says in the terms and conditions I stupidly skimmed because I signed up on my phone for the first one). Even at $150 total it’s still cheaper than Iron Pony or C&A Harley Davidson, with sooner openings.

Depends on how expensive those extras like heated gloves and liners are. I have a couple of leather jackets, but they’re more fashion than rider functional (no armor, no vents, and will need reflective material added somehow). I have jeans, but none with armor, and no chaps. I have a bike to consider ($2000-6000 for the models I’m looking at currently), a good quality helmet to get, and have to decide, if I’m going to ride to work, should I also get a one-piece suit to go over the work clothes. Have the boots, thankfully, though one can always own more. Not a cheap hobby/lifestyle is it, which is fine as my current computers (prior hobby) will last me years? Not that it can’t end up worth it, but I guess like most hobbies, the costs start to add up when you think about them. :slight_smile: Totally worth it to consider, though, so thanks for pointing them out.

Plus quite a few drivers in Dublin, OH drive like complete jackasses in summer weather–god forbid dealing with them on a bike in winter weather. And if you can’t tell, I’m eager to start learning, but not in a rush to buy until I’m sure I know what I want, and what I can handle. I’m ok with taking a slow and safe approach to this. Until, I’m appreciating all the advice in this thread. :slight_smile:

62

Goddamnit. I get so excited when someone quotes me. And then to be crushed because I spot a ridiculous typo. “He sure amazing” = heated grips sure are amazing.

I’m gonna say something that probably repeats someone earlier in the thread. IMO, good quality gear is more important than picking the right bike. Good gear will last you several bikes, and is worth it’s weight in gold if something goes wrong.

The need for a good helmet is self explanatory. You can lose an arm or leg and live a satisfactory life. But if the have to amputate your head…

Gloves and boots are next. Do not skimp. Think about how problematic a hand injury would be for your daily life. Foot/ankle injuries are right up there, and if you go over on a bike, think about where your foot ends up. I wear Sidi Adventures and would not consider something with less rigidity.

As for jacket and pants, I am a proponent of the one piece suit. You can’t ‘accidentally’ only wear one part, and they are super convienient for commuting. One way or the other, fashion jackets with no armor don’t cut it. And chaps sure leave a lot of area exposed. Sliding down the road on your ass while wearing chaps will give you something to think about.

63

the one at the Honda plant in Troy Ohio. They have a permanent lot just for training. People were coming up from Cincinnati to take it. One thing you may have missed from the websites, they take walk-ins so you could show up at your local one to see if anyone cancelled. I though it was only $50. The one in Troy is very popular.

And what the hell is going on in Columbus with the round-abouts? I drove through two of them back to back in Hilliard(?) at night in the rain. I didn’t know what the hell was going on. They need better visual markers or something.

I bought a new in box modular helmet with internal flip down sun visor for $130 at a flea market. It’s aScorpion like this. Nice to be able to put helmet on without taking glasses off. Also bought a 2 piece rain suit for $45 (3rd street). A local shop was going out of business so another shop bought up chunks of their inventory. So keep an eye out for deals;

Columbus is a big city but if you’re outside the 270 loop it’s not that hard to find good country roads to ride on. South you have great roads around Rickenbacker, the casinos and surrounding small towns.

I love riding at night and have a multi-county set of roads I have mapped out for riding. Yes I broke my foot but I took a road I knew to be a mess. I broke my own rule. I was pleasantly surprised that I could recover from a pot hole that sent both wheels sliding in different directions but I had to put my foot down hard to do it. I have since readjusted the headlight which was a major improvement for both low and high beam coverage.

The advantages of riding at night on country roads is the lack of traffic. I’m talking early morning not 10pm. And by country road I mean rt 40 or similar roads that are well paved, have good shoulders and good visibility. For long rides I will start while it’s daylight and scout my favorite roads for any changes and then back track later at night.

The disadvantages of course are deer and small animals. It’s a great reason to cruise at lower speeds. I’ve had all manner of small animals make a suicide run on me but so far I’ve managed to shut it down. I do clearing turns back and forth to look for deer. I’ve spotted quite a few of them at the side of the road and give them the space they need. Some day I’d like to get a FLIR system for the bike but that costs more than the bike I’m currently riding.

64

I haven’t tested my 2 piece yet. I did drive in the rain to work with only the top of another set and it kept me dry above the waste. My pants got soaked of course. The worst part is water coming off the tank. it just flows onto your crotch. I think the bottom would have worked if I had it at the time. The advantage to a 2 piece is that you can wear the top on nice days as a wind breaker because they’re well ventilated.

65

I now have the two-piece Roadcrafter after years of having the one piece. I thought I wanted the flexibility, but as it turns out, I’ve only zipped the top and bottom apart a couple of times. That’s in part because here in Santa Barbara, I’m almost always wearing shorts, so at a minimum I’d have to change clothes just to wear the jacket only.

I find that I prefer the way the one piece suit doesn’t end up having overlapping layers, but not so much that I’d spend the money to replace what I have. Yet.

66

Yeah, I’ve got the one-piece Roadcrafter and it’s pretty sweet. Showing up somewhere and Clark Kent-ing it off in 5 seconds never gets old. Same with not having to carry rain gear anymore. I definitely never get accused of “motorcycling as fashion statement” when I’m wearing it, though, if you know what I mean.

My one problem I have with it is that when I’m out on a long trip living off the bike, it’s a little cumbersome having to deal with it when I want to park the bike and go do something. Previously I had a FirstGear jacket/pants combo and with that I could usually cram the pants in one saddlebag and the jacket in the other one, but I never have room for the full one-piece suit. I usually run a cable through the sleeve and lock it to the helmet lock, but I still feel weird leaving a thousand dollar suit just sitting on my bike.

67

Yeah, I struggled with that as well,and that’s why I thought I’d like the two piece better. But now I realize that I’m also stuck wearing a t shirt and shorts and my GIANT BLACK BOOTS. not a good look. Still haven’t puzzled out a solution for that problem.

68

You’ll give up the shorts right after you have your first stinging insect fly up your pants leg and sting the holy living shit out of your genials.

69

Nothing’s coming up the leg of the Aerostich. Now I’ve twice had yellow jackets get inside my coat. Once while riding up Mt. Rainier on a twisty road with huge drop offs. THAT was an exercise in self restraint.

70

I looked at it to mean, “a complete newbie asking questions to avoid becoming a squid? He sure amazing,” but yours makes *way *more sense (especially since my previous car and current one both have heated stearing wheels).

Wait, the complex columnar nature and intricate neurons, oligodendrocytic, and astrogial combined brain circuitry laying out their impact on control of body functions shouldn’t be head-on-impacted or rotationally moved around the brain stem axis by a helmless motorcycle collision? Huh, who’d have thunk? :smiley: :wink:

I’ve now twice broken my right wrist. Once when rollerblading without wristguards in college. The other while hiking in Hocking Hills (for those who have been, it wasn’t from all the climbing in areas we shouldn’t have been. It was for walking in an algae covered riverbed at the end of the hike, losing my balance, and falling hard directly on my right wrist. My dominant wrist. Which meant dictating oral prescriptions from busy physicians was next to impossible. Hobbling around the pharmacy in the middle of the night without help sounds equally painful, so noted–get damned good gloves and boots.

What is “OWW!”? I’ll take stupid motorcycle squid moves for $1000 Alex.

One piece suits like theThe Alpine Stars GP Pro 1 or something different?

I honestly never considered the Honda plant (even though I’ve been considering a bike from Honda). They’re even a straight shot from me. :smack:

They are nominally safer and faster according to statistics, is my understanding, versus traditional four way intersection. Of course, my understanding is these statistics also come from places where people actually know how to use the farking roundabout in the first place, unlike the lady occupying both lanes at the same time, pushing me, already fully in the left-hand lane, into the median yesterday (which admittedly, I was going too fast around, so my fault there). Hilliard and Dublin are the worst for their use.

So no small game hunting with a small hunting rifle from my back is what you’re saying? Jeez, kill all the fun whydoncha… :wink:

My plan is just to leave work shoes at work in my storage area and change shoes/socks when I get there. I do that in the winter (bought my biker boots for their heaviness and traction in the snow in the first place).

71

When I bought my first scooter a coworker asked me this: “Do you know what people in the medical profession call motorcycle riders?” Donors.

It pissed me off. I knew the risks going into this. The **great advice **that you have received here and more - is what I have followed. I’ve managed to stay safe so far and have ridden 1000s of miles. I hope to ride many more before I’m done.

I have nothing really to add that others haven’t stated already.

Have fun, fellow rider! And stay safe.

72

Ooh, yeah especially if you’ve previously broken your wrist what you want to make sure you get are gloves with palm sliders. A very common injury in even relatively low speed crashes is where you go off and put your hands in front and get a compression fracture on your wrist. I’ve got a bit of metal in one wrist I likely wouldn’t have if I’d had sliders on the gloves.

The leather suits aren’t great for commuting because they’re a pain to get in and out of and aren’t really designed to wear normal street clothes under. The Roadcrafter is a textile suit that fits kind of on the baggy side and has a nifty zipper that makes taking it off and on really fast once you get the hang of it. Although like I alluded to earlier, you’re not going to win any fashion contests in it.

Also, BTW, I got mine for about $800. Last year they had a 10% off for new customers and then IIRC a 20% off Black Friday sale that stacked. It might be worth watching to see if they do that again if you’re interested. I think there’s a couple other companies making textile riding suits these days, but I don’t think they’re any cheaper and at least in terms of raw functionality the Roadcrafter is still pretty much the best out there.

I sometimes stick some flip flops under my seat to change into (I bet some light walking shoes might fit too) but that has the same issue where I can’t really leave the boots with the bike.

73

If that’s a look you can pull off, go for it! But no, I was talking about suits like my beloved Aerostich Roadcrafter, or similar options from Olympia, Klim, BMW, First Gear and others. Textile, armored suits with rain protection that are meant to be worn over your street clothes.

Like this:

74

Crap. I should have mentioned RevIt as well.

75

This happened last night about .5 mile away from where I live. I travel on this street every single day on my way to and from work. It was senseless and preventable. He was speeding on a road that has multiple residential side streets every single block. The roads were freshly wet after some long dry weeks - making them slick and oily. It was dumb and risky to speed on this stretch under those conditions. And now he is a donor and has probably left some sad family and friends behind to mourn and deal with his premature death.

http://registerguard.com/rg/news/local/33453291-75/story.csp

76

This. When I was a newer rider and wanted to ride ALL the time, I rode well into cold weather. My bike had heated grips, but other than that I just bundled up when it got really chilly.

If you’re into touring or you need to rely on your bike for transportation, that provides more justification for heated gear. Also, highway cruising at 75MPH takes a LOT more heat out of you than back-road cruising at 50MPH. Not cheap, but Gerbings heated jacket liner makes it much easier to get dressed for the ride, and you tend to be a lot more comfortable when you aren’t bundled up like the Michelin man. Another option is an aftermarket heated saddle (e.g. Russell or Corbin). That’s also not cheap, but your butt and thighs provide a pretty significant surface area for getting heat into your body and you can’t beat a saddle for convenience.

77

How much cold weather gear you need is also influenced by the bike itself. My Kawasaki Councours 14 has full fairing, heated handgrips, and an adjustable windshield. I also get a lot of heat from the engine. Weather that I used to consider uncomfortably cold without layers of clothing now requires little more than a jacket. It would have to be well down into the 30’s before heated clothing would become necessary.

78

Your co-worker was, however, correct.

Apart from carrying an organ-donot card (plastic or laminated), the OP should invest in reflective and day-glow clothing.

79

And yet motorcycle deaths are still greatly lower than car deaths in strict numeric terms. Why aren’t automobiles called donormobiles?

I think the kernel of truth to the “donorcycle” thing is that it used to be the case that the vast majority (about 80%) of motorcycle crash victims were under 30. So they were a good source of young healthy organs, and plus before helmet use was common crashes where the rider was brain dead on arrival but otherwise not significantly injured were common. These days, though, only about 20% of motorcycle fatalities are young people and the most common age group is people over 50, and since younger riders are much more likely to wear a helmet the crashes that kill them tend to be much more serious limiting the donation possibility.

80

Yeah, I have no problem bringing shoes along in my bags, but unlike the suit, I’ve never come up with a good way to lock boots to the bike, and they no way fit in the bags since they’re bulky and stiff.