Thousands and thousands of people ride motorcycles each day. During riding season, thousands of people take dirt bikes, which are essentially motorcycles, out onto the sand dunes. Obviously, a lot of people ride motorcycles, and plenty more individuals are learning how to ride them daily. Riding a motorcycle isn’t too difficult, but it takes a lot more skill than driving a car or truck or SUV. In the end, anyone can ride a motorcycle efficiently with enough practice.
Before getting on a bike, get educated and get safety gear.
Obviously, a person can’t just hop on a bike end roll through the streets. You have to prepare yourself for riding a motorcycle though two ways. First of all, you have to get some safety gear. Helmets are a must, but you should also wear thick clothing and shoes or boots – don’t try it barefoot or with sandals. Second, you need to know the basics of a motorcycle, how they work, and how you are supposed to operate one. Without this information, you can consider yourself as having a death wish. Get educated and get safe before you ever get onto any motorcycle. Otherwise, you could regret it.
Learn how to balance the bike without putting a leg down as soon as you can.
Right away, your biggest focus for riding a motorcycle should be on balancing. You don’t necessarily have to balance the bike with both feet off the ground, but it is a valuable skill to learn. Balancing without your feet on the ground means that you can perfectly balance the entire bike and your body so that it doesn’t fall over. Sure, this might seem useless, but it will undoubtedly make you a better rider. Everything you do on a motorcycle involves balance from turning to stopping to riding in general.
Figure out what speeds you can take different turns at.
At first, you won’t have any idea how to turn efficiently when it comes to speed and leaning your body. You’ll want to get the hang of this right away because it will allow you to advance in skills as a rider. Obviously, you can’t take any turn too fast because you risk losing balance and crashing the bike. You don’t want to end up sliding across the pavement or flying off the bike. Practice taking various turns at different speeds. Eventually, you’ll know how slow you need to take any turn. This will stop you from looking stupid if you try to take a turn too fast or too slowly. On top of that, you will be safer overall.
Get acquainted with the clutch in all different situations
Everyone should learn to manage the clutch on a motorcycle. Sure, bikes now come with automatic transmissions, but a truly good rider will still be able to control a clutch even if they ride automatic bikes normally. Practice on the clutch and changing gears on the bike while you are riding. Start out with the lower gears and move onto higher ones as you start to travel on the streets and highways. In the end, you should be able to grasp and manage the clutch after a couple weeks of practice. Learn how to manage it on flat land, uphill, and downhill to ensure that you are as skilled as you can be with the clutch.
Add a passenger every once in awhile to get the feel for it.
If you already have a motorcycle license, then you should test driving with passengers every once in awhile. You should do this even if you don’t have your license but only on private property. Anyways, adding another person onto a motorcycle changes the mechanics of driving greatly. There is more weight on the bike, turning becomes a bit of a challenge, and both riders have to be in sync with each other. Obviously, you can’t make a turn properly if one rider is leaning one way and the other rider is doing the exact opposite. The difference of riding with someone else is a challenge to get the hang of, but you should do this every so often to make sure that you are capable of carrying a passenger.
Practice riding through tight spaces.
In most states, it is perfectly legal for motorcycles to ride in between lanes and cars during traffic or other situations. You can’t hope to do this if you are nervous about riding in tight spaces. Therefore, you will want to practice driving in tight places on a regular basis until you get good at it. For starters, you can line up some cones on your street or somewhere open to test out your abilities. Just drive through the cones, placing them closer together as you start to ride better. Eventually, you’ll be able to do this with real cars without a problem. You should always be cautious when weaving through cars because a sudden car swerve could send you to the emergency room if you aren’t careful.
Motorcycles aren’t that difficult to get the hang of!
Anybody with functioning limbs can ride a motorcycle without a problem. Sure, some people take forever to ride a motorcycle, and others never even try it out. Still, most people will be fine with riding a motorcycle after a few hours of hands-on practice and then more as they actually ride the bike on their own daily. Motorcycles are great for riding around town or on the freeway. Road trips are even more exciting. Anyways, follow these tips, and you should be riding well in no time.
For more information, visit About’s Step-By-Step Tutorial on Riding Motorcycles and the DMV’s Guide to Riding a Motorcycle.
