Most helpful riding tip?

[misti]

What was the most helpful riding tip/piece of advice you have ever received and who was it from?

Misti

[ScottRNelson]

Delayed Apex corners, from David L. Hough in his book Proficient Motorcycling.

That has made a bigger difference to my riding than anything else.

[TiNi]

"ride your own ride" - ducpainter

[FatguyRacer]

Head and Eyes, Friction Zone, Rear Brake.

Ride like a Pro III.

[TiNi]

"look where you want to go" -my MSF instructor

[Jarvicious]

Ride like everyone else on the road is trying to kill you.  Don't remember who said it, I think it was on one of our safe riding stickies.

[SKOM]

Ride like everyone else on the road is trying to kill you.  Don't remember who said it, I think it was on one of our safe riding stickies.

+1 This has probably saved my hide more times than I care to remember.


"Ride like you're invisible"   -TOB

[cmorgan47]

look where you want to go... over-look your turns to build the habit

oh, and EVERYONE wants to kill you

[misti]

Ride like everyone else on the road is trying to kill you.  Don't remember who said it, I think it was on one of our safe riding stickies.

I think all of us riders have been given this piece of advice from at least one person in our riding careers!  It is a good tip, but I wonder, what does it mean EXACTLY?
I know that it means that you have to be extra careful of all the other vehicles on the road and extra vigilant, and pretend that you are invisible, but how does it actually HELP us with our riding?  What do we do differently when we are riding like everyone is trying to kill us?

Misti

[SKOM]

I think all of us riders have been given this piece of advice from at least one person in our riding careers!  It is a good tip, but I wonder, what does it mean EXACTLY?
I know that it means that you have to be extra careful of all the other vehicles on the road and extra vigilant, and pretend that you are invisible, but how does it actually HELP us with our riding?  What do we do differently when we are riding like everyone is trying to kill us?

Misti

In traffic I always ride staggered so that if someone decides to swerve into my lane they will miss me.

I assume people on side streets are going to pull out in front of me and try to hit me (I cover the brake in this situation and sometimes even stay in a lower gear so that if I have to I can WOT and gtfo of there. (Same applies for the inevitable left turn in front of me)

Keep the bike in gear and off to the side at red lights while watching my rear view mirror in case the try to get me from behind.

Stuff like that. I try to ride like I'm ready for the cager attack. Ever vigilant.

[sbrguy]

I think all of us riders have been given this piece of advice from at least one person in our riding careers!  It is a good tip, but I wonder, what does it mean EXACTLY?
I know that it means that you have to be extra careful of all the other vehicles on the road and extra vigilant, and pretend that you are invisible, but how does it actually HELP us with our riding?  What do we do differently when we are riding like everyone is trying to kill us?

Misti

to me it means you have to constantly be scanning the road for hazards, cars, pavement, sidestreets, etc.. you basically have to constantly be aware and checking rear view mirrors for cars and cars passing you.

you have to look at cars and drivers constantly to see fi there are indications if they are turning braking or ready to swerve or change lanes.

i think the thing that it makes us do is simple. It reminds us to pay more attention, it makes us aware that we can't slack off no matter how experienced we are we have to be as attentive if we have 30 years of experience or 30 minutes of experience and that riding is a full time attention job, your mind CAN NOT wander at all from the task of riding.  That you constaly have to remember and implement the basics of body position, smooth throttle control and braking, looking through corners, picking good lines, scanning the road not target fixating, basically  constantly reinforceing the things that are taught in track school but doing it every single minute.  notice how a lot of those things are exactly the same things that "twist of the wrist" hammers into you the entire book to become "a better rider"

at least that is what the line of "ride like nobody sees you" means to me and is how i use that line to help my riding.

[sbrguy]

but i would say the most helpful tip that i learned was apply throttle smoothly through a turn, amazing how that actually works.

that and 'trust your tires they will hold'.. that is another great tip. that helps you actually make the turns that sometimes you thin kyou are too hot going into but you aren't you have to trust your tires.

[faolan01]

"If you ride long enough, you're going to go down at some point. It's not a matter of 'if', it's a matter of 'when'. Everyone hits the ground eventually, so dress for the crash not for the ride."

[Ducatista]

"Your motorcycle is happiest when you're on the throttle or off the bike." 

--Stefan Still

This REALLY saved my hide when I almost lost the front in some sand on the street.  Chopping the throttle is the natural--and worst--reaction.  I just got on the throttle smoothly and everything straightened itself out.  The rear obviously spun up a bit on the exit, but so what? 

[somegirl]

Lots of great tips already mentioned.

Another one is keeping your arms relaxed and loose.  Tension is BAD.  Use your legs and abs instead, especially on the downhills.