AMERiders always thinks of safety first which is why we thought we would give you some Motorcycle Tips and Tricks You May Not Know Yet today. We looked over the net and found you a few little motorcycle riding tips and tricks that will make your ride you smoother, safer and, in some cases, faster. They’ll work on any bike, anytime, whether you’re cruising, tearing up a mountain road or heading out around the world.
Blip The Throttle To Make Downshifts Smoother
The First of our Motorcycle Riding Tips is Grab a lower gear as you’re braking, let the clutch out quickly, and revs temporarily spike as the engine struggles to catch up to the rear tire’s speed. Downshift too quickly and you’ll lock up the rear tire due to the engine’s compression. This limits how hot you can come into a corner since you need to manage decreased rear wheel traction as you begin to turn. The solution? Rev matching. By blipping revs to match rear wheel speed, the engine doesn’t need to catch up all of a sudden.
Simple to explain, but takes some practice to get right because it’s all about timing and feel. You’re braking with two fingers, right? Good, use the others to quickly blip the throttle after you pull in the clutch and downshift, spiking revs to where you think they’ll be in the lower gear. If you get that right, you can just let that clutch spring back out to seamlessly engage that lower gear. You should be able to maintain consistent brake force while blipping. That, plus knowing the amount of throttle to apply and the right revs to reach is where the practice comes in. So go do that and you’ll be rewarded with smoother riding, everywhere, but especially when flying into corners.
Trail Brake For Faster, Safer Cornering
Another one of our Great Motorcycle Riding Tips is to Trail Brake For Faster, Safer Cornering. Whoa, whoa, whoa? You mean you brake in a corner? Yep, and it’ll make you both faster and safer. Here’s how and why.Applying a motorcycle’s front brake will slow you down. Of course. And, in doing so, it’ll compress the front suspension and shift the weight onto the front tire, expanding its contact patch and increasing its grip. That has the dual effect of making the bike steer quicker and making it so you can push the front end harder. Together, that adds miles per hour.
You should really learn how to do this in the safe environment of a race track, where there are no cars around, where vision is good and where falling down won’t necessarily kill you.
Just brake a little later into a corner so you’ll still be on the brakes a little as you begin to turn. Feel good? Brake a little later the next time and a little later after that. Eventually, after much practice, you’ll get to the point where you’re hitting the apex at pace, just as you let go of the last little bit of front brake and begin to apply a little throttle. That’s right, no coasting, you swap brake for throttle at the apex.
Later braking means more time spent accelerating on the straights means faster lap times.
It also helps with safety. Because the front suspension will already be compressed, the front tire’s contact patch already maximized, you’ll be able to use that brake lever to tighten or widen your line, without upsetting the bike. That pays huge dividends on the road, where you often come around a blind corner to spot a patch of gravel or similar. Trail braking will help you avoid that obstacle in a safe, fluid, smooth manner.
Be aware of the grip a tire has available. Leaning and braking both require grip from the same, finite source. The more you lean, the less you can brake and vice versa. As you near max lean, you near max grip. As you near max brake, you also near max grip. Cross the two and you’ll be laying on the ground, watching your bike cartwheel through a gravel trap.
Steer Left To Go Right
Countersteering. It is one of our great Motorcycle Riding Tips and It’s the most often misunderstood, but most commonly practiced riding skill out there. If you ride a motorcycle or bicycle you already do it.
It’s way more simple than its counterintuitive nature sounds. Go out to your bike, sit on it with both legs firmly on the ground. Now, turn the bars to the left. Which way does the bike want to fall? Yes, to the right. Look at the front wheel, you’re creating a point, with it on one side and the bike’s main body on the other. The bike wants to fall towards that point.
Out on the road, if you’re successfully managing to not bounce off every tree, car and building, you’re already doing it, just subconsciously. Consciously practicing it will enhance your control over the bike and the speed at which you’re able to turn.
To do it, go practice in a big, empty parking lot. Ride along at 25 mph or so and give the bar on the inside of the direction you want to turn a little nudge. You’ll turn. Next time, nudge it a little harder. Then go out on the road and start incorporating that into your riding. There you go, you’ve mastered the art of the countersteer.
Works on a bicycle, too, so feel free to practice it there first.’
Look Where You Want To Go
Car veering into your lane? Tight corner catch you out? An obstacle in the road? Lane splitting? Look at the gap, where you want to be, the spot on the track you want to reach, not at the hazard or car or obstruction. Your body and the bike will follow. Consciously think about this, force yourself to do it if necessary, it works. Practice doing it, this will save your life.
Save Your Balls, Use Your Knees
This is one of our Motorcycle Riding Tips that is mainly for our gents. You’ve likely heard or read somewhere that, for better control, you should keep your weight off your hands while riding. But, when you’re braking heavily, it can be hard to keep that weight off your hands. The solution? Grip the tank firmly between your knees, then relax your upper body. Stomp Grip or a similar product that gives your legs better purchase on the tank can be a huge help here. Bonus: no more crushed testicles.
Brake! Right.
The front brake is the most powerful component of your motorcycle. It’s capable of altering your bike’s velocity far quicker than the engine. It’s a far sharper tool than that found in even the most expensive performance cars and, as such, is also more difficult to use. Name one Porsche or Ferrari that can loop itself over its front wheels with an accidental brush of the brake pedal.
The sheer power of the front brake on performance motorcycles is one of the main reasons we advise new riders to begin on something small and light; mastering a motorcycle’s brakes takes years of experience. Here’s a short cut:
- Use two fingers only; your index and middle finger. Keep the others wrapped around the throttle.
- Any time you may need to brake in a hurry, such as riding through traffic, rest those two fingers on the lever, ready to go. This is called “covering” the brake. Doing so will help you actuate it smoothly and respond more quickly.
- Load the front tire to increase grip. To give yourself the maximum possible braking ability, you need to maximize the front tire’s grip. Anytime you start braking, even in a panic situation, start by gently pulling in the lever, compressing the front suspension and pushing the front tire into the ground. Only once that tire’s had a chance to compress and spread out, increasing its contact patch and accepting the bike’s weight, can you begin to apply full braking force.
- Progressively squeeze harder and harder, until you’ve achieved the desired level of deceleration. Once the rear wheel starts coming off the ground, or you feel the front tire beginning to lose traction, you’ve reached the maximum possible amount of braking for those conditions. Hold lever pressure steady or back off slightly to a level you’re comfortable with.
Above all, be smooth and progressive with your inputs. Grabbing a fist full of brake will just make you crash.
Rear brake? It’s great for low-speed control, but on non-chopper-style motorcycles, contributes little to outright braking power; under heavy deceleration, the rear tire becomes unweighted, and one of our best Motorcycle Riding Tips.
A few more words.
So there you go some great Motorcycle Riding Tips and Tricks You May Not have known Yet. I am sure there are many out there but these are just a few that we thought were interesting.
Also,
We want to remind you that Thanksgiving is around the corner and it is that time that we all gather with friends, family and loved ones. Gathering for to watch gorgeous parades, watch great football, and have some good eats. Not only that it is also the time to be thankful for all that we have. So we ask that you think about who and what you are thankful for, because you don’t know what you have till it’s gone as the song says.
Here at AMERiders, we are thankful for all of our customers because if it wasn’t for you we wouldn’t be who we are and we Thank you for being here for us.
~And as always….
~Live Free Ride Hard~
~AMERiders
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Let AMERiders Give you Some Great Motorcycle Riding Tips and Tricks You May Not Know Yet
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