Tips and Tricks

1. Take a motorcycle safety course.

2. Inspect your bike before a ride. It only takes a few minutes to make sure everything is working properly.

3. After a hard rain (or during springtime) watch out for sand and/or gravel on the road, especially in turns or at intersections.

4. Watch out for the "painted" yellow or white lines on the road when negotiation a curve. They can be slippery when dry, and like ice when wet. Also on hot summer days watch out for soft tar strips.

5. Always treat metal surfaces - train tracks, bridge grating, man hole covers, with the utmost respect. The provide very little traction when dry, and almost none when wet.

6. When approaching a toll booth stay in the portion of the lane that is occupied by cars tires. If you use the center of the toll booth lane you will undoubtedly run your tires over motor oil, transmission fluid or engine coolant. This could be hazardous to you health, not to mention a slip and fall of you and your bike.

7. Keep you toll money in a jacket or spent $14 a buy a change holder for your handlebar. This will make it much easier to pay, will take less time at the booth, and make you look like you know what you are doing. The road captains will always tell you ahead of time if any toll roads will be encountered. If you have a windshield, EZ-PASS is a great time saver on all roads that accept it, but remember to remove the unit after your ride to avoid theft .

8. If you  park on grass or soft ground or on macadam on a hot day use a "parking pad" under your side stand. A piece of heavy gauge metal or a small piece of wood will do. This will keep the side stand from sinking in and your bike form laying down.

9. When riding in colder weather remember to layer your clothing. Its easier to take off some clothing if you are too warm (like that ever happens). It's real hard to add clothing that you don't have if your cold.

10. If you don't own a pair of gauntlet gloves, use and elastic wrist band under the end of your jacket sleeve to keep the cold air form going up your sleeve.

11. Remember,  in cold weather, leather alone doesn't keep you warm, it just stops the wind.

12. When riding in hot weather, drink plenty of fluids - water/gatorade. The sun and particularly the wind on you skin have the tendency to dehydrate you very quickly.

13. For long rides it never hurts to have along a basic tool kit and a flashlight.

14. When riding in traffic, expect and be prepared for the worst. Watch out for the navigator in the car. They are usually the ones that cause the driver to make a sudden, "turn here" move.

15. Watch out for the idiots on the cell phone - especially those in the SUV's or Mini-Vans. Assume that the drivers that are using their cell phone are not using their brains.

16. The most common accident for cycles is the person in an oncoming vehicle making the left turn into your path at an intersection. They can often be found on cell phones and driving SUV's or Mini-Vans.

17. When stopping (level surface) place BOTH feet on the ground after the bike comes to a stop. Hold the bike with the hand brake. Many safety foundations will tell you to place only your left foot down and hold your bike with for foot and hand brake.  This is great if your are riding a 125cc training bike,  but if you are riding a 1500cc machine you could find yourself on the ground after slipping on any oily , wet or slippery surface. Plus with only one foot down, your bike is on a slight angle as you starts off. With both feet on the ground your bike is vertical and ready to handle any quick maneuver. On hills and depending on the grade of the hill,  the - left foot on the ground and the right on the foot brake could be necessary. ( hill hold )  But remember - caution using the left foot.

18. Adjust your speed to your reaction time. At the end of a tiring day, your reaction time may be much longer.

19. If your not sure, DON'T!

20. Always check both directions when the light turns green. Maybe only one time in 10,000 some will run the light. If you ride a lot that's lousy odds.

21. If you see a sigh that says "BEWARE OF FALLING ROCKS" don't look up or you will be likely to hit one of those fallen rocks that are laying on the road in front of you.

22. When on a long ride bring along that inexpensive point-and-shoot camera. You never know when that breath taking view will be around the next bend.

23. NEVER, NEVER RIDE NO-HANDED. One small rock or pot hole can end your riding days forever.

24. Going on a long ride? Weather look iffy? Bring a rain suit. You can spent as little as $30 or as much as you want. They can make lousy weather tolerable, and keep you from experiencing hypothermia. Also take along a cheap pair of Totes to put over those expensive boots. On a long ride in the rain, the water will be forced through the leather. If you need to wear the Totes be careful when making stops, the rubber could be slippery.

25. Have a windshield on your bike? Going on a long summer ride? bring a small bottle of windshield cleaner and a rag. Bugs make quite a mess after a few miles.

26. Ever wonder where the minimum two second following distance comes from?  Consider this. The average stopping distance of all Harleys is 170 feet at 60 MPH. (Sportys - 160 ft. Dressers - 180 ft.). At 60 MPH your covering 88 ft. per second. That's 176 feet in two seconds. Add your reaction time, at best 1/2 second, and you have covered another 44 ft. That is why when we ride at normal back road speeds, about 45 mph, two seconds is adequate. But at highway speed of 60 mph you need to add more of a cushion, like 3 seconds or better.