10 Tips to Improve Your Motorcycle Riding Skills
Motorcycles are currently at the top of the demand for regular commuting on roads. The easiest way to get from one place to another quickly is by motorcycle. As a rider, there's no way forward without knowing how to learn to ride a bike! However, in this case, the steps to riding a motorcycle come into play. To ride a motorcycle safely on the road, you need to know bike riding tips. If a motorcycle is not ridden carefully and according to rules on the road, an accident can happen at any time. Therefore, whether new or old, from learning how to ride a bike to riding a motorcycle on highways, some bike riding tips must always be followed. In today's article, we will discuss some such tips.
First, some precautions
- Before starting the steps to ride a motorcycle, you need to decide which bike you want to learn to ride. It's better not to learn on a friend's or stranger's bike. Because if you get into an accident, you might face problems bearing the full cost of repairing that bike. So, it's better to use a family member's bike to learn to ride.
- When learning to ride a motorcycle for the first time, it is advised to use a low-CC bike (100-125 CC). This is because these bikes have lower speed and are easier for beginners to control. This is an important bike riding tip for newcomers.
- Before knowing how to learn to ride a bike, familiarize yourself with all the features of the bike. This will greatly help you master bike riding.
- When learning the steps to ride a motorcycle for the first time, it's better to learn on a soft dirt road or a field instead of a paved road. This significantly reduces the damage if you fall with the bike.
Bike Riding Tips to Improve Motorcycle Riding Skills
1. Sit Correctly on the Bike
The initial step to learning to ride a motorcycle is to sit correctly. Practice sitting smoothly on the bike's seat. Make sure that after sitting on the bike's seat, both your feet touch the ground. This will give you stability. After lifting your feet, your knees should touch the motorcycle's tank to provide grip, and you should be able to easily hold the bike's handlebars with both hands. In this case, you won't need to lean forward. That is, your back should be straight. This way, you can practice how to learn to ride a bike.
2. Keep Your Gaze Forward
When learning the steps of motorcycle riding, your gaze should always be forward. Look as far as your eyes can see and in the direction you want to go. However, do not keep your eyes fixed in the same direction constantly. Also, keep an eye out for potential hazards from other vehicles nearby. And definitely do not fix your gaze on any specific object on the road, such as a car or a tree, for too long. This will disrupt your concentration while riding the motorcycle.
3. Downshift and Brake
The lower the bike's RPM, the lower the bike's speed will be. So, if you downshift before braking, an automatic braking system will engage. Gently apply the brake with one hand and pull the clutch with the other, then downshift. At this time, hold the throttle as it should be for that gear, meaning in a way that the bike won't make excessive noise, and then release the clutch. As a result, you will notice that your bike's speed has automatically decreased.
4. Use the Rear Brake for Better Balance in Traffic
When riding a motorcycle in city traffic, riders have to apply brakes very frequently. This is annoying on one hand, and maintaining balance is quite a difficult task on the other. For this, using the rear brake is more effective for maintaining good balance. Although the front brake has more power, since the bike's speed is quite slow in dense traffic, more balance is achieved with the rear brake.
5. Fast Riding vs. Rush Riding
We often ride fast to reach a destination quickly. However, in this case, never engage in rush riding. Rush riding is riding dangerously on the road. In most cases, the rider loses their own balance, and it also puts surrounding vehicles at risk. On the other hand, fast riding a motorcycle involves maintaining your balance and accelerating judiciously. For this, the rider needs to know the steps of motorcycle riding, keep every aspect of the bike in good focus, and always keep their gaze forward. Body positioning also needs to be lowered considerably to achieve good aerodynamic movement through the air. Therefore, one must regularly increase their experience with bike riding tips.
6. Practice Hard Braking
As a way to learn to ride a bike, you need to know how quickly you can bring the bike's speed to zero. Essentially, in any difficult situation requiring a short time, both brakes of the bike must be used simultaneously. This instantly reduces the bike's speed by 70-90 percent, making it quite challenging to maintain balance. Therefore, to learn the steps of motorcycle riding on your own, regularly practice this hard braking.
7. Sit Close to the Tank
As a step in motorcycle riding, the closer you can sit towards the tank to maintain balance, the more advantageous it will be for your balancing. This is especially true for sports bikes. Experts therefore advise sitting close to the tank. As a result, if you brake suddenly while riding a motorcycle, your chance of falling will be reduced.
8. Learn to Turn Right and Left
Although it sounds quite easy, turning the bike right and left while riding a motorcycle is quite a difficult task. Turning left is relatively easier because most of us are right-handed riders. And since the rear brake is on the right hand, it's easier to maintain balance when turning left. However, as a step in motorcycle riding, turning right requires a good amount of practice over time. This is because it becomes quite difficult to maintain balance when turning the bike while applying the brake with the right hand.
9. Road Positioning
As a step in motorcycle riding, deciding which side of the road to ride on is quite important. For this, you need to ensure which side of the road gives you the full view. Generally, the full view of the road is obtained from the left side. Furthermore, when learning how to ride a bike, try not to stay directly behind large vehicles like buses or trucks. Because when riding a motorcycle behind large vehicles, aerodynamics work differently, and it becomes quite problematic for the rider to manage if the vehicle in front suddenly applies brakes.
10. Overtaking
When riding a motorcycle, you might need to overtake in any road situation. While there is a potential for risk in many cases, if overtaking is done by following road rules as a way to learn to ride a bike, there is not much risk. For this, you can follow some steps -
- Signal your intention to the vehicle you want to overtake from behind.
- Position yourself in the middle or to the right of the vehicle in front. Never overtake from the left side. (If the rule is to drive on the left side of the road, overtake from the right. If the rule is to drive on the right side, overtake from the left.)
- After overtaking, do not return to your previous position until the vehicle behind appears in your rearview mirror.
- Signal the vehicle behind before returning to your previous position.
To understand how to learn to ride a bike, you need to keep your senses most alert. Pay attention to all surrounding vehicles and focus on your own balance. And practice regularly to hone your experience and skills. To get any information related to the motorcycle market, keep an eye on Bikes Guide. Also, to know about the 2023 motorcycle market, visit the country's best motorcycle marketplace Bikroy.
