#advice

Well, it’s not going to happen to me, because I’m so skilled and experienced, but it does happen to people I know on a regular-enough basis that I sometimes wonder what the actual odds really are of me being next to crash a motorcycle? The longer you ride, the more that old saying about there being two kinds of riders applies: those who’ve crashed and those who are going to crash. Most of us of a certain age fall into both categories. As with all of life’s inevitable calamities, of which we seem to have even more than usual lately (fires, floods, pandemics, armed assaults…) it really pays to plan ahead – even if the plan is just to be aware of how best to react in the immediate aftermath. Some things that seem obvious in hindsight aren’t always that way in real time. Here are five things to keep in mind in the hope that being aware of them will be like always carrying a tire repair kit and, therefore, never getting a flat.

Experienced riders will get asked “what’s the best first bike?” hundreds of times, but probably won’t get asked what the worst first bike is. Good thing, too: you could spend all day listing bikes an inexperienced rider should avoid. Of course, if they want one of the listed examples, they won’t listen to you anyway, but here’s what we think new riders should stay very, very far away from.

Lane-splitting, as the practice of riding a motorcycle between lanes of stopped or slow-moving vehicles is called, is technically legal in just one U.S. state. That means there is no speed limit for lane-splitting, as you can’t do it legally at any speed! But in California, where it is legal, are there actual rules about how you do it?

There is nothing more hateful than bad advice.

Some things, like love and substance abuse, everybody has to learn for themselves, the hard way. The wise man says, “the only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history,” but if you’re smart you can save yourself a little pain by listening to the wisdom of the ancients. Here are 10 of my pearls. At MO as always, no charge.

California Superbike School’s Keith Code accurately summarized the existential conundrum of every road racer when he asked rhetorically, “You have 10 dollars worth of concentration, where do you want to spend it?” I’d maintain that the wisdom revealed by Code’s question goes far beyond the race track; it applies to life in general, and is confirmed every time I see a miscreant in a mini-van texting while purportedly driving.

Parting with a loved one is never easy, but when it comes time to put out to pasture your two-wheel friend, there’s no reason you shouldn’t get the best price for it. If you’re like us, you’ll want a good home for the bike that’s been a part of numerous fond memories. Unless, of course, you crashed it. At that point it’s too late. Sell it to anyone with a pulse, swallow the the loss, and move on to greener pastures.

Houston-based injury and accident attorney, John Zaid, provides some sound advice for what not to do following a motorcycle accident – or any vehicular accident. —Ed.

Riding across America is the dream of many motorcyclists. The notion of traversing the U.S.A. on two wheels has a certain romantic aspect; 4000 miles unspooling before you like reels of an old, epic film. A lone rider and his/her machine, dusty and stoic, sharing tales of the road with strangers at every stop but never lingering in one place for more than a meal or a night’s sleep.

The one nice thing about the United States Army is you learn early on there are the written rules, and there are the unwritten rules. Knowledge of this simple truth can prove helpful throughout one’s life and has many useful applications. Take motorcycling for instance.