1. PPE – Boots, Kevlar/leather pants, armoured jacket, eye protection e.g. sunglasses or prescription. Don’t just rely on visor as sometimes your visor is up and there can still be debris etc in the air. Armoured gloves. Wear every time you ride. All the gear. All the time. It’s like putting a seatbelt on in a car.
2. Motorcycle Pre-Ride Safety Checks – Indicators, brake lights, anything leaking from bike, tyre pressure before each ride.
3. Ready Position – Stopping at lights or stop sign, always in 1st gear, foot on rear brake head up. Ensure your front brake is off after you stop. Ready to move off after the light goes green.
4. Posture – Feet comfortably on pegs, knees gripping the tank, hips forward, arms and hands relaxed, shoulders relaxed, and head is always up for balance.
5. Slow Riding – Fast idle on throttle (get your revs up), find friction point with clutch, apply rear brake (more than you think). Practice this in a straight line first. Perhaps use a red light as a trigger and make sure no one is behind you and slow ride up to the light. When you are comfortable, “drag” the rear brake in roundabouts without the clutch or any left or right turns. Remember you can try to get to the friction point before the throttle, you can do this as well.
6. Moving off and stopping – Remember our little exercise of moving off “like you mean it” so that you are not hopping along with your left foot. Roll on the throttle and once you get moving, roll off the throttle as you need to maintain speed.
7. Cornering – Make sure all braking & gear changing is done before the corner. No coasting around corner with the clutch in. Use rear brake in corner if extra stabilisation is needed. Turn your head, TURN YOUR HEAD, TURN YOUR HEAD. I can’t accentuate more that you must look in the direction you want your motorbike to go.
8. Roundabouts – Remember to “Drag” your rear brake around corners, roundabouts. Even drag your rear brake when moving off for left and right corners.
You’re Welcome!
