Biking Spirit

Safety MOTORCYCLE SAFETY Safety is one of the most neglected talks when it comes to riding a motorcycle. Yes, of course, riding a motorcycle is fun and thrilling. We also agree that there is no fun without adventure and no adventure without thrill, but thrill goes hand in hand with danger as well. The risks involved in motorcycle touring are enormous, and we are here to drop the risks to zero. We have been riding successfully with the least amount of crashes and accidents during our tours, but still returning back with a lot of good memories. There are chances of an accident anytime and anywhere, but we are here to minimize those possibilities, and ensure that you can have a safe and exciting ride. This is a section of our website, that unites all our minds and helps us to increase the safety that we must maintain during highway motorcycle touring. Personal Flaws One of the most common errors that result in a crash are the ones made by yourself. They can be segregated as mental errors and physical errors. Mental errors are those mistakes that your mind makes when it is either stressed out, tired, or disturbed. As an example, lets consider that you have planned to go for a ride the next day morning at 0530 hrs. You pack your things and prepare your bike the previous night, and in all the excitement, you don't get sleep until 0200 hrs. You sleep for a mere 3 hours, and wake up on time and go for a ride. Now if, there was an incident that was supposed to take place, like a wrong maneuver by another motorist, or a pedestrian walking by, or a four legged hazard, you would be likely to respond slower than somebody who has had a proper and long sleep. Considering that both the riders have equal amount of riding skills and an equal machine, the one who slept more before the ride has more chances to dodge the crash. As another example, a disturbed mind would be equally or more active than a normal mind at the same situation. We are again, considering two riders, one with a perfect mind to ride, and the other with the disturbed mind, who are both put in the same situation,with the same riding skills and the same bike. Lets say that they are traveling at the speed of 90 km/hr, and they spot a dead dog on the road in their line of travel which is 100 meters away. The rider who's mind is perfectly active and alert would calculate the braking required, and would have checked the RVMs and would brake accordingly with the maneuver to avoid and dodge the obstacle. Where as, the rider with the disturbed mind would have either hit the brakes, or made the maneuver carelessly with out looking for oncoming/ overtaking traffic. The possibilities are that the rider would either brake too hard that he may loose his front or rear end and end up on the road, or the rider would make the careless maneuver and ram into another vehicle or disturb the other motorist which may in turn cause an accident. Now who would you want to be? The one with the disturbed mind or the one who could dodge the dead dog and pretend like nothing ever happened..? Touring is all about riding at a considerably fast but safe speed in which the rider has total control of his machine. It is important to know your motorcycle throughly in terms of the parts used, machinery flaws, drawbacks, advantages of some features, and most importantly handling. It is actually very easy to say that I am a biker, and most of us want to flaunt off our top speeds and the daredevilry that we have done, but unfortunately you cant say anything anymore once you're a dead one..! It is an utmost priority to maintain safety during motorcycle touring mainly for one reason. Some say that they are too good a rider to encounter a crash, some say that their family doesn't care, but some also say that they will maintain safety because they are scared of a crash, the pain is not what they want, they do have a family, and some just say that they want to ride more. So the one reason is because you want to live. Lets come to an example where carelessness is involved, as it is one of the common reasons for a crash. Supposing that a careless rider is on the mountains, at a good speed and is totally in control of his machine. The rider approaches a blind curve and doesn't slow down because he knows that he is in control of his bike. Now, although he is the right lane, and has maintained precautions for visibility, there may be a chance of a crash, not due to the rider, but due to another stupid motorist overtaking on a blinder. We totally can say that its not at all the rider's fault, but heck, once he has crashed, there will be nothing left to say. And this incident could have totally been avoided if the rider wouldn't have been so careless and reduced his speed at the blind curve and double checked for oncoming traffic. Just this small measure could actually save your life. Physical errors are basically those errors that one makes due to lack of knowledge of the machine, or poor riding skills. For example, if there is an unforeseen obstacle that occurs in your line of travel, and you know that it is not such a great deed to dodge it, but for unexplained reasons, you jam the brakes so hard that your tyre locks up and throws you down on the road. Only if you wouldn't have hit the brakes and just kept the speed in control, the bike could have easily surpassed the obstacle. There is a limit to which we can control things that happen around us. For example, a car overtaking another vehicle on a blind curve is uncontrollable. Even if you are riding in the right lane, at the right speed, there are still high chances of the oncoming car ramming into you. Although, this too can be avoided to a certain extent. If you would concentrate more on the highway and the other motorists, and if you would make note of the traffic flow and the kind of the motorists, then your chances of escaping the crash increases. Yes, its true to a certain extent that highway touring is just riding along the highway gazing at the scenic beauty around you. But it is much more safer if you could divert 30% of that concentration in noticing road conditions, traffic movement, weather conditions, and the status of your motorcycle. It is advisable to keep a constant check on your bike every now and then. Even while riding, just a peep down at some of your crucial parts could sometimes be life saving. Note tyre pressures before the ride and keep a mental photograph of how your tyre looks with all the load on it. Keep a frequent check for pebbles and stones which are stuck in the tread of your tyros. When you halt after a continuous long ride, feel the temperature of your tyre with your bare hands and get an estimate whether it is ok to drag it further. Although, now a days, with the availability of Nitrogen, it is much easier to trust that trey bursts wont happen. Points of personal safety for Touring. Get good sleep before a ride. Make sure that you do not start your ride on a empty stomach. Stay Hydrated before you start riding. Ensure and recheck all personal safety riding gear and personal medical equipment. Try to stay calm and happy when you start the ride. Too much excitement is also not so good. Empty your mind from all hassles and take a look again at all your equipment and checklist. Points of motorcycle related safety for Touring Ensure that your motorcycle is in top notch condition before a ride. Get it checked by a mechanic if you are uncertain of anything Have a thorough knowledge of parts. Check fork oil seals, drive chain tension, axel's tightness, tyre wear, steering bolts, throttle & clutch cable wear, headlamps. Secure luggage and look out for loose straps and cables. Try to maintain and understand the center of gravity including your luggage. Points of Safety on the Highway Maintain proper lane discipline, Stick to your lane no matter what. Ride in a suitable speed limit, where you have enough room for errors. While riding in a group, maintain position to avoid confusions Keep a constant watch on your Rear View Mirrors (RVMs) Observe the environment, road and traffic conditions and make a mental note. When accelerating, always have your eyes to look out for obstacles on the road. Use proper turn signals while overtaking, changing lanes, pulling over, or turning. Let them know way before you implement your maneuver. When riding in a single file, Maintain a safe distance between the rider ahead of you. Notify the rear rider if he/she is tailing too close. Avoid stupid pranks and careless maneuvers. Slow down when necessary, especially at curves and blind curves. Keep a check on other's bikes (if possible) and notify the rider if something looks out of place. - BlueRyder (Rishab Kannambille) For *BikingSpirit.in* *Live the Experience !* © (This content is property of BikingSpirit.in. Please respect copyright laws and do not copy this content. You can always ask us before usage of this content at our Contact Us page)

Safety

MOTORCYCLE SAFETY

Safety is one of the most neglected talks when it comes to riding a motorcycle. Yes, of course, riding a motorcycle is fun and thrilling. We also agree that there is no fun without adventure and no adventure without thrill, but thrill goes hand in hand with danger as well. The risks involved in motorcycle touring are enormous, and we are here to drop the risks to zero. We have been riding successfully with the least amount of crashes and accidents during our tours, but still returning back with a lot of good memories. There are chances of an accident anytime and anywhere, but we are here to minimize those possibilities, and ensure that you can have a safe and exciting ride. This is a section of our website, that unites all our minds and helps us to increase the safety that we must maintain during highway motorcycle touring.

Personal Flaws

One of the most common errors that result in a crash are the ones made by yourself. They can be segregated as mental errors and physical errors. Mental errors are those mistakes that your mind makes when it is either stressed out, tired, or disturbed. As an example, lets consider that you have planned to go for a ride the next day morning at 0530 hrs. You pack your things and prepare your bike the previous night, and in all the excitement, you don't get sleep until 0200 hrs. You sleep for a mere 3 hours, and wake up on time and go for a ride. Now if, there was an incident that was supposed to take place, like a wrong maneuver by another motorist, or a pedestrian walking by, or a four legged hazard, you would be likely to respond slower than somebody who has had a proper and long sleep. Considering that both the riders have equal amount of riding skills and an equal machine, the one who slept more before the ride has more chances to dodge the crash.

As another example, a disturbed mind would be equally or more active than a normal mind at the same situation. We are again, considering two riders, one with a perfect mind to ride, and the other with the disturbed mind, who are both put in the same situation,with the same riding skills and the same bike. Lets say that they are traveling at the speed of 90 km/hr, and they spot a dead dog on the road in their line of travel which is 100 meters away. The rider who's mind is perfectly active and alert would calculate the braking required, and would have checked the RVMs and would brake accordingly with the maneuver to avoid and dodge the obstacle. Where as, the rider with the disturbed mind would have either hit the brakes, or made the maneuver carelessly with out looking for oncoming/ overtaking traffic. The possibilities are that the rider would either brake too hard that he may loose his front or rear end and end up on the road, or the rider would make the careless maneuver and ram into another vehicle or disturb the other motorist which may in turn cause an accident. Now who would you want to be? The one with the disturbed mind or the one who could dodge the dead dog and pretend like nothing ever happened..?

Touring is all about riding at a considerably fast but safe speed in which the rider has total control of his machine. It is important to know your motorcycle throughly in terms of the parts used, machinery flaws, drawbacks, advantages of some features, and most importantly handling. It is actually very easy to say that I am a biker, and most of us want to flaunt off our top speeds and the daredevilry that we have done, but unfortunately you cant say anything anymore once you're a dead one..! It is an utmost priority to maintain safety during motorcycle touring mainly for one reason. Some say that they are too good a rider to encounter a crash, some say that their family doesn't care, but some also say that they will maintain safety because they are scared of a crash, the pain is not what they want, they do have a family, and some just say that they want to ride more. So the one reason is because you want to live.

Lets come to an example where carelessness is involved, as it is one of the common reasons for a crash. Supposing that a careless rider is on the mountains, at a good speed and is totally in control of his machine. The rider approaches a blind curve and doesn't slow down because he knows that he is in control of his bike. Now, although he is the right lane, and has maintained precautions for visibility, there may be a chance of a crash, not due to the rider, but due to another stupid motorist overtaking on a blinder. We totally can say that its not at all the rider's fault, but heck, once he has crashed, there will be nothing left to say. And this incident could have totally been avoided if the rider wouldn't have been so careless and reduced his speed at the blind curve and double checked for oncoming traffic. Just this small measure could actually save your life.

Physical errors are basically those errors that one makes due to lack of knowledge of the machine, or poor riding skills. For example, if there is an unforeseen obstacle that occurs in your line of travel, and you know that it is not such a great deed to dodge it, but for unexplained reasons, you jam the brakes so hard that your tyre locks up and throws you down on the road. Only if you wouldn't have hit the brakes and just kept the speed in control, the bike could have easily surpassed the obstacle.

There is a limit to which we can control things that happen around us. For example, a car overtaking another vehicle on a blind curve is uncontrollable. Even if you are riding in the right lane, at the right speed, there are still high chances of the oncoming car ramming into you. Although, this too can be avoided to a certain extent. If you would concentrate more on the highway and the other motorists, and if you would make note of the traffic flow and the kind of the motorists, then your chances of escaping the crash increases.

Yes, its true to a certain extent that highway touring is just riding along the highway gazing at the scenic beauty around you. But it is much more safer if you could divert 30% of that concentration in noticing road conditions, traffic movement, weather conditions, and the status of your motorcycle. It is advisable to keep a constant check on your bike every now and then. Even while riding, just a peep down at some of your crucial parts could sometimes be life saving. Note tyre pressures before the ride and keep a mental photograph of how your tyre looks with all the load on it. Keep a frequent check for pebbles and stones which are stuck in the tread of your tyros. When you halt after a continuous long ride, feel the temperature of your tyre with your bare hands and get an estimate whether it is ok to drag it further. Although, now a days, with the availability of Nitrogen, it is much easier to trust that trey bursts wont happen.

Points of personal safety for Touring.

Get good sleep before a ride.
Make sure that you do not start your ride on a empty stomach.
Stay Hydrated before you start riding.
Ensure and recheck all personal safety riding gear and personal medical equipment.
Try to stay calm and happy when you start the ride. Too much excitement is also not so good.
Empty your mind from all hassles and take a look again at all your equipment and checklist.

Points of motorcycle related safety for Touring

Ensure that your motorcycle is in top notch condition before a ride.
Get it checked by a mechanic if you are uncertain of anything
Have a thorough knowledge of parts.
Check fork oil seals, drive chain tension, axel's tightness, tyre wear, steering bolts, throttle & clutch cable wear, headlamps.
Secure luggage and look out for loose straps and cables.
Try to maintain and understand the center of gravity including your luggage.

Points of Safety on the Highway

Maintain proper lane discipline, Stick to your lane no matter what.
Ride in a suitable speed limit, where you have enough room for errors.
While riding in a group, maintain position to avoid confusions
Keep a constant watch on your Rear View Mirrors (RVMs)
Observe the environment, road and traffic conditions and make a mental note.
When accelerating, always have your eyes to look out for obstacles on the road.
Use proper turn signals while overtaking, changing lanes, pulling over, or turning. Let them know way before you implement your maneuver.
When riding in a single file, Maintain a safe distance between the rider ahead of you.
Notify the rear rider if he/she is tailing too close.
Avoid stupid pranks and careless maneuvers.
Slow down when necessary, especially at curves and blind curves.
Keep a check on other's bikes (if possible) and notify the rider if something looks out of place.

- BlueRyder (Rishab Kannambille)

For BikingSpirit.in

Live the Experience !