I Want to Ride, But…

In November, 2004, I was a hot mess. I’d been dating a string of sexy, bad men who were as good for me as tequila for a twelve year old. My life revolved around work, cocktails, clothes, and whether or not some man found me attractive. At a bit of a breaking point, I wrote a list of goals in my journal that included learning how to ride a motorcycle and buying one.

A year and a half later, sometime in the dark evening hours of a rainy March, 2006, I screamed with glee inside my Arai helmet as I took my Suzuki SV650S on a maiden voyage around my block. I rode it around the block again. And then a bigger block…and a bigger block. The smiles haven’t stopped, my confidence in myself has grown so much I’m almost cocky, and I’d rather play with my cats on a Friday night than put up with some man who doesn’t appreciate me. Can’t I just marry my motorcycle?

My second street bike, a 2006 Suzuki GSXR-600

The path to motorcycle smiles isn’t always easy to figure out. But if you’re interested in learning how to ride a motorcycle, the first thing you need to do is take an honest look at your driving. No one wants to admit they suck at driving. But if you’ve had multiple collisions, whether or not you feel they were your fault, or you think you might have impulse control problems behind the wheel (like excessive speeding, racing or road rage), then don’t get a motorcycle, because you just might actually kill yourself.

If you think you’re a good driver, and you’ve started admitting to others that you want to learn how to ride, you’ll probably encounter lots of horror stories. You might be concerned yourself about the dangers. So, here are some thoughts I have about safety.

It’s Not Safe.

But neither is driving. Neither is life, for that matter. You can get hurt anytime, anywhere, doing anything. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to spend my precious days here enjoying earth being afraid of things that might hurt me. I want to experience everything. Except maybe stamp collecting. No offense to stamp collectors. Moving right along…

Judgment is Everything.

People like to say, “oh my gosh, you ride a motorcycle? My cousin’s girlfriend’ older brother was killed on one, I could never ride.” Later in the conversation I ask how the tragedy happened. “Well, he was doing a wheelie down the street in front of the house…” My heart goes out to people who’ve been killed or injured while riding, but each story I hear, I want to learn more about what went wrong and what I can do to avoid it.

Cars Can Kill You.

Another thing people like to say is, “hey, you could be the best rider in the world, but that’s not going to stop some car from coming out of nowhere and taking you out.” The Hurt Report states that nearly 75% of all motorcycle accidents occur between a motorcycle and a car, but my personal belief is that through extremely vigilant defensive driving, nearly all motorcycle collisions can be avoided. Keep a large space cushion. Be visible. And most of all, “just pretend like every car you see is trying to kill you,” a motorcycling friend told me. Think about a car crash, if you’ve had one. Could it have been avoided by driving more defensively?

As an example, a common collision between cars and motorcycles is when a car turns left in front of an oncoming bike. Pay attention to oncoming traffic; is a car slowing down, does it have cars piling up behind it? Are you speeding? Cars can’t judge the speed of moving motorcycles as well as they can with cars, and if you’re going 20 over the speed limit and not noticing what the cars around you are doing, prepare for some pain.

It Wasn’t My Fault.

Motorcycling’s kind of a macho thing to do. Macho people don’t like to admit when they’ve screwed up. Remember this when listening to above-mentioned “horror stories.” Take responsibility for situations where you’ve made an error in judgment. Be responsible for your own life. Blamers tend to have more problems, and motorcycle blamers tend to have more accidents. People who take responsibility for themselves and their actions are happier, healthier, and just way more bad ass in general.

Educate Yourself.

It only begins with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Rider Course. From there, talk to people, listen to people. If they’ve crashed, find out why. If you’re a woman, charge up your bullshit detector, because a lot of dudes will have a lot of advice for you, and half of them don’t know what the hell they’re talking about, but like to sound macho and manly.

Read books, like David Hough’s Proficient Motorcycling, or Nick Ienatsch’s Sport Riding Techniques. Read articles online. Read my blog. After a while, take an advanced course with the MSF, or try a track day. Skill development on a motorcycle is not like having to do drills or speedwork on a bicycle; it’s actually fun. Keeping you safer is an added bonus.

Tottering down Lombard Street on one of my first street rides