Safety tips | GTAMotorcycle.com

Safety tips

H

HespelerGuy

Member
Site Supporter
Forum Sponsor
I thought we could all share any tips we might have in aiming for the most safest rides.

Mine is when I pull up to a stoplight, and I'm behind a car, I leave the bike in gear clutched while watching my rearview for someone coming up behind me and not stopping. If it looks like the car behind won't stop, I'm ready to shoot out on one side or the other.
 
This is covered in a SMIDSY video but I'll repeat it anyway since the season is starting:

When approaching an intersection, if you see incoming vehicles wanting to turn (left specifically, but this works for right turners too), start weaving left and right in your lane. This greatly increases the chance that the turning vehicle(s) will see you and massively reduce the chance of them turning into you.

Look where you want to go. Many of us started with driving cars and developed a really stupid habit of checking left, right, turning into the direction you want to turn, while staring at the other direction for incoming traffic. Do not do this. If you've done your due diligence before turning, the road is clear, so look in the direction you want to go. A common consequence of not doing this is running wide...into something.

Do not ever coast through a corner with the clutch disengaged. Even if you aren't on the gas through a corner, the engine passively transfers power to the rear wheel at idle. You need the rear tire with power when turning because deceleration loads the front tire. If you hit a patch of sand and the front is already loaded, your chances of wiping out are much greater than if the rear has power, has taken load off the front, and therefore gives the front tire more traction.

For slow speed maneuvers (0km/h-20km/h), use only the rear brake and clutch. Do not touch the front brake. A very common mistake that most of us have made, and resulted in dumping the bike, is locking the front wheel during slow speed maneuvers due to using the front brake. If you lock the front at slow speeds, the bike will very violently transfer force to the side...and you will drop the bike. The inverse is true for higher speed maneuvers.

Ride safe!
 
HespelerGuy said:
I thought we could all share any tips we might have in aiming for the most safest rides.

Mine is when I pull up to a stoplight, and I'm behind a car, I leave the bike in gear clutched while watching my rearview for someone coming up behind me and not stopping. If it looks like the car behind won't stop, I'm ready to shoot out on one side or the other.
Click to expand...
Agree, but what do you do if there is no car in front of you?
 
Slow down, keep your eyes up, and be aware of your surroundings. Some people are only looking at where they want to go, and not at what will intercept them before they get there.

Bonus SMIDSY video:
[video=youtube;eqQBubilSXU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqQBubilSXU[/video]
 
Last edited:
Thanks for open up this topic. I have a question about safety and well as legally. Here is the situation I often run into:

During very slow traffic (almost bumper to bumper), if you behind the guy who smoking with his windows open. what can you do (legally other than splitting/filtering )?
 
There are countless good tips, but too much is more inherent to just (in my opinion) natural 'skill' when it comes to driving/riding. Two things though:

#1 - simply slow the heck down.
#2 - be always mindful of your blocking/lane positions. I see way too many videos of raging motorcyclists who get cut off and/or getting into accidents because of improper lane positions.
 
in the case of left turners. Something to watch out for. Lane position scenario, you are in right lane. A car / truck or SUV is in left. You are staying back so you are not in blind spot. If there is a small gap in traffic behind you, the left turner will see the gap and shoot into the intersection as soon as the SUV / Car or Truck clears. Left turner does not see you until too late because of vehicle to your left. So in this situation, speed up so you go thru intersection at same time as the vehicle to left so it is blocking for you instead of blocking you to left turner.
 
I used to have this stuff posted on the Toronto Riders' Association website.


I asked for members' thoughts on how to stay upright out there. This is what they gave me. I hope that they help you to stay around long enough to really enjoy the sport.

Patman Don't ride when you are impaired (obvious) but also when you are mad or any other emotional state that would impair your judgment.

Always believe the car in front,side, or back does not know you are there.SLOW DOWN!!! Save it for the track.. If you can't go to the track and want a "thrill ride" then go to Canada's Wonderland and ride a roller coaster.

A motorcycle can accelerate faster and brake faster than a car or other four wheeled vehicle, but the fact is those 4-wheelers will ALWAYS WIN in a collision.

One last tip: Know the road, its conditions and KNOW YOUR BIKE AND YOUR ABILITY, NOT SOMEONE ELSES!!!
Jeff The only hint I have is ride like everyone on the road is out to kill you. Period. If you think that the car at the intersection will pull out in front of you, and you mentally prepare for it, then it won't be as large a surprise when the dipshit does exactly that.

When riding (or driving), I play a game. I try to predict what everyone around me is about to do. With some drivers, the game's too easy - their general hunting around more than likely means they're going to switch lanes, run a red, etc, without signalling, thinking about it, etc. See how well you do. For me, the game has gotten me out of serious situations, as I half-way expected the idjut to do something stupid.

Gregg Advanced rider training of some sort be it FAST, or an MSF/Humber course...Something!

No matter how good you think you are or how good you really may be, there's always more to be learned. The learning never stops. After you learn it, apply it all the time as much as possible. Find a parking lot, take some cones with you, practice evasive maneuvers, braking, balance drills. Low speed and smooth will eventually make you better at speed. A musician starts playing scales slow and takes sometimes years to master them to the point that they play them at speed. A motorcycle isn't much different in that sense. You have to learn the limits before you can exceed them.

Many may remember a serious crash in our ranks last year. Fortunately no serious injuries or otherwise however, a good example of not being willing to, not thinking one had to, or simply not wanting to...I don't know for sure but nonetheless, the result was a weekend warrior riding beyond their state of ability, and crashing huge. Had someone else been in proximity to the accident there easily would have been deaths.

Emilio When stopped at a light as the first vehicle to enter the intersection once the signal changes, and ,by whatever chance, there's a dump truck, or similarly-large vehicle, behind you; either leave some space in the lane ahead of you or place yourself in the left track of the lane and put your arms up and give a couple of waves with the hands: it's very likely the driver can't see you and even if he/she saw you previously, people's minds do stray when ".....waiting....waiting....".

Unlikely yes....but happened...dump truck kept creeping until he bumped me....thankfully there was some room in the intersection to move into without being in cross-traffic.

Angela O

The one thing that I think kills most of the rider's is speed. It's hard not to get caught up in it, the group starts doing a respectable speed and before you know it - you're doing 200km/h.

So many people don't have the skills to ride at the level the group gets going. And for the most part, they are socially ignored or viewed as "the slow rider". Like it's a bad thing. There's a pressure to perform.

Of course, when a rider crashes and walks away most of the time he/she becomes some kind of hero or gains a new level of respect. The WOW effect. I won't go into that rant, however.

Now I'm generalizing here so don't think that I'm talking about this group in particular.

Will it ever change? Probably not. Will putting together a list of suggestions help? Maybe a few. But if it makes one rider better and safer, then I'm all for it.

Rob When stopping at lights, keep clear of the centre of the lane. This is where all of the general kak that drops out of the bottom of a car ends up that will screw you just when you have to hit the brakes hard or put a foot down.

If you're braking for a turn-off or light, don't forget that things are going on behind you. Just because you can panic brake for the light doesn't mean that the Vegabego behind you can. There's not a cop in the world who will fault you for blowing the yellow if you think that you're about to become a hood ornament. He wants you to make it home too. BTW, this one has caught ME.

When passing, watch for laneways or roads off to the left. Just when you think that it's safe to pass, that's when someone is going to turn left, often with little or no warning of what they're about to do. I've lost count of the number of times that I've heard that this has resulted in an accident.

Andrew Something I do, is treat all cars and trucks on the road like little cardboard boxes being blown around in the wind. You never know where it's going next. May sound a bit stupid, but that little philosophy has helped me on many an occasion.

"ALL" of today's sport bikes are incredibly fast and handle better than most race bikes of 15 years ago, they are so good in fact that an inexperienced rider may not even realise that they may be close to loosing control. Case in point, the old Japanese bikes of the late 70's and early 80's could be positively frightening when ridden fast. They would wallow and weave in corners when pushed hard and tank slappers were not uncommon. However, what they did do was instill a healthy respect for the speed you were doing.

This is not the case with the modern sport bike - because they handle perfectly right up until the point where you may be about to loose control and crash. It still blows me away to think that a 500 to most people is considered a starter bike. I know I am probably ranting a bit here,(ok I am ranting) but when I started to ride in 1976, a 500 was considered a BIG bike - something to be revered. The original Honda SOHC 750 four was the ultimate supebike in it's day but it handled like a pig and was slower than a 500 Ninja. Maybe I was/am a wuss but I know I would not have bought a Honda 750 as my first bike. Actually I could not have done that even if I had wanted too, because at the time the largest bike you could ride as a learner in England was a 250.

In addition, tire technology has also improved by leaps and bounds. Here again today's bikes with today's tires feel incredibly safe and stable right up to the limit of adhesion. What I am saying, is that many riders may be riding way beyond their current ability and are probably not even aware of it until it may be too late. In Toronto most of the roads around the city are straight.

A suggestion I would make to newer riders is to head out into the country and find some twisty roads and just practice at being smooth through the turns and curves. Don't try to go fast, and as Rob said on our first ride this year DONT FOLLOW THE BIKE IN FRONT, just practice at making it a natural feeling as you and the bike make the turn. It may sound like a strange concept, but over time and with experience you probably won't even have to think about going round corners. It takes time, but it will come.

Last point, get to know your bike mechanically, at least to some degree. I find that a clean bike is a good running a safe bike for the most part. While cleaning, little problems are sometimes noticed and can be rectified quickly. This is just a matter of common sense. A bike that is not looked after may be unsafe. If you are not comfortable with doing your own maintenance have the bike checked regularly by somebody competent who is.

We all had to crawl before we could walk and it took time. And remember don't let one of those cardboard boxes smack you in the head the next time the wind gets up :) ALWAYS be aware of things around you and the condition of the road.

James I always check my mirrors when coming to a stop at an intersection. I use to think this was a stupid exercise, until I did one day and saw that car bearing down on me, I slipped between the cars ahead of me, and sure enough, there was a rear ender right where I would have been.

I also flash my brake light by squeezing the front brake lever several times to get the cars attention.

Jordan Watch your back. Go out of your way to make sure that the person just behind you AND the person behind him/her is alert and a cognizant driver. Go out of your way to make sure that the person immediately behind you is NOT drowsy/ late braking/ makeup-applying/ cellphoning/ altered/ weaving. Try, if you can, to position yourself in front of someone who you would expect to be the best driver of the 10 vehicles around you. Leave a 2 or 3 second gap between you and the vehicle in front. If someone cuts into your air cushion to the bow, LET HIM, and predict it. The corollary to this is that when you create this 3 second gap in front of you, then it gives you the freedom to focus on the trailing driver to evaluate his/her suitability as your follower. In general, avoid bluehairs, vans full of people, and also recognize that the once true ediction of truckers being the epitome of drivers on the roads no longer holds true ALL of the time. Everyone has bad days, it is our task to pick those people out as being someone you do NOT want to ride immediately in front of.

In the GTA, if your trip is 15 kms, then you would save only 2-3 minutes by going 10-15 km over the flow of traffic mean. 2 to 3 minutes versus 6 months rehab, hmmmm.

Pass large vehicles Wide Open Throttle (WOT) whenever you can. Please create the situation where you can do this every time. Meaning, if you predict that the Volvo/Ford driver is going to take 15 seconds to pass the 18-wheeler, then hang back until there is enough space to make YOUR passing of the 18-wheeler as quickly as possible. This means NOT travelling beside the 18-wheeler for the 15 to 30 seconds it takes fur or the slow passer in front of you to complete his pass. Wait until there is enough room for you to make Your pass in 8 seconds or less, hopefully MUCH less; moreover, keep one thumb on the horn/lights and two fingers on the brake as often as possible. When you are explicit and polite about your driving manners and communication, it lightens the task of other drivers around you.

NB 18-wheelers are NOT allowed to use the left most lane for passing - they are restricted to the two rightmost lanes for all their driving. If you decide that passing an 18-wheeler on the Right is the better option, then please honk and flash to the professional driver know that you are going to do something that is conventionally, frowned upon.If you are travelling over 30 kph faster than the fastest flow of traffic (including other motorcycles), then you don't really need this advice, you have already chosen your own destiny.
 
Last edited:
When approaching an intersection in the middle lane, stay a little to the right, in your lane. This helps the left turners to see you.
When parking, keep the bike closer to the end of the parking spot. This way a cage does not think they are pulling into an empty space and bam.... bumps the bike.
 
To add to these to for left hand turns. Be very weary of what's coming from the other side of cars stopped in traffic allowing people in/out/to cross. People think they're being polite but more often than not, they're creating a dangerous situation.

My brother was hit because of a similar situation. He was rolling forward in the left hand turning lane towards a red light. Two cars (same direction as him) stopped to let a car out of a private driveway. The car shot across to try and make it before the light changed. Car didn't look left (was probably looking right to judge the gap of traffic he was trying to beat) and hit the front of my brothers bike.

Skyway6 said:
in the case of left turners. Something to watch out for. Lane position scenario, you are in right lane. A car / truck or SUV is in left. You are staying back so you are not in blind spot. If there is a small gap in traffic behind you, the left turner will see the gap and shoot into the intersection as soon as the SUV / Car or Truck clears. Left turner does not see you until too late because of vehicle to your left. So in this situation, speed up so you go thru intersection at same time as the vehicle to left so it is blocking for you instead of blocking you to left turner.
Click to expand...

m.breen said:
When approaching an intersection in the middle lane, stay a little to the right, in your lane. This helps the left turners to see you.
When parking, keep the bike closer to the end of the parking spot. This way a cage does not think they are pulling into an empty space and bam.... bumps the bike.
Click to expand...
Forum Sponsor
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom