09-21-2015, 03:13 PM
RAMd®d wrote:
Constant hyper-vigilance is key. While not to be taken for granted, it can become second nature so you can enjoy the ride.
+1000. This is the crux of the biscuit, and many new (and even experienced) riders underestimate its importance. Your response to hazards must become instinctive-if you need time to think about how to react it's often too late. Many of your "natural" instincts will get you in loads of trouble on a motorcycle.
Riders panic when they think they're approaching a curve too fast; often they only need to lean the bike a bit more to make the curve safely, but instead they hit the front brake (which stands the bike up and makes it run wide) or the rear brake (which often locks up the rear tire and causes a skid).
Riders see a car turn left in front of them and fixate on the car; no good, on a motorcycle you go where you look. That's why so many riders plow directly into the car; you need to fixate on the escape path around the car that will let you avoid the accident.
This type of stuff has to become instinct, and that takes lots of saddle time-you can't just intellectually absorb the information and expect it to become instinctual. You have to wear patterns of behavior into your brain by repetition.
I used my Hawk GT as my exclusive transportation back in the early Nineties in SoCal; 47,000 miles of riding that was mainly commuting on surface streets and freeways (including much lane splitting). I was experienced and enjoyed it, but in the intervening 20 years the roads have gotten a lot more crowded and drivers gotten a lot more inattentive (cell phones, texting, etc.).
Unless someone is really serious about learning to ride a motorcycle, I don't recommend they take up the sport (on the street, anyway. Track days can be a lot of fun and safer to boot.)
Mavic, wanting a more cost-effective way to commute used to be a popular reason decades ago to take up motorcycling, but in your case and in today's world I think the risks far outweigh the rewards. My .02...