Top 10 Ways to Stay Alive When You're Learning to Ride

Kind of when it comes to love, money, work, international diplomacy – everybody has to learn the hard lessons on their own. Some other things, though, it’s good to learn from those more experienced, those who’ve slid around the block a few times on their head. Well, sister, that’s me. There’s a lot to take in and understand when learning how to ride a motorcycle. It all looks so easy and fluid from afar, but there’s a lot that’s all happening at the same time, and it can be somewhat overwhelming. Fortunately, just like anything new, starting will be the hardest part. Here’s our best advice for staying safe while you get your sea legs.

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Ford is Developing a Lane-Splitting Detection System

Ford’s patent application was filed on Nov. 23, 2016 but only published May 24, 2018, by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Coincidentally, application was published just a week before General Motors settled a lawsuit with a motorcyclist involved in an accident with one of its autonomous cars.

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New Rider: What Motorcycle Gear Do You Need?

Welcome to motorcycling! Maybe you just bought your first bike or are about to do it. Either way, you’ve probably realized that you’ll need to buy more than just a motorcycle. Motorcycle gear can get really expensive really quickly, but you don’t need to spend a fortune (which you probably don’t have since you just bought your first bike) to keep yourself comfortable while riding or protect yourself in a mishap. While all motorcycle safety gear is important, there is a hierarchy of necessity. Since the assumption of this article is that you’re short on cash, we’ll work our way down the list.

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10 Great Motorcycle Gloves For Under $100

Yeah, we know that we constantly say that you should buy the best gear you can afford. We think it’s time to show you some  glove bargains. So, we’re gonna pull back a little and show you how nice gloves that cost less than a C-note can be. In fact, some of these motorcycle gloves are almost inexpensive enough to buy two pair without breaking our self-imposed ceiling. Our reason for undertaking this exercise is to illustrate the breadth of gear available to riders who maybe just spent all their scratch on a new motorcycle and don’t have much left for gear.

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Ducati to Introduce Motorcycle Radar System by 2020

Ducati announced plans to introduce a front and rear radar system for motorcycles and to make cornering ABS available across its entire model range. The two initiatives are part of Ducati’s overall “Safety Road Map 2025” plan, the company’s strategy for motorcycle safety technologies.

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8 Essential Motorcycle Riding Skills

Riding a motorcycle is a challenging activity. For many of us, that is part of the attraction. However, the steepness of the learning curve can be daunting to new riders – or even returning riders who want to freshen-up their skills. While we’re always going to suggest that beginning and returning riders take a motorcycle safety course, there are many skills that riders can practice on their own to make their ride safer and more enjoyable.

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What To Do If Your Motorcycle Breaks Down On The Highway

Hopefully, you’ll never experience the sinking feeling of having your motorcycle suddenly sputter and die while you’re in the left hand lane of a crowded highway traveling at 70 mph. Or maybe it’s that mushy wobble of a rear tire that is quickly going flat. Mechanical problems are never fun, but on the interstate, they can be dangerous if you don’t take the proper steps. So, what’s a rider to do?

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Halloween Video: Always Protect Your Melon When You Ride

What we have here is a fun Halloween video involving a pumpkin, a motorcycle tie-down, a hand saw, and an electric jigsaw – all in the name of creating the ultimate Halloween costume for a motorcyclist. While we can’t vouch for the DOT or Snell certification of this homemade helmet. It’s good for a laugh.

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New Rider: What Is The Friction Zone?

Riders entering the ranks of motorcyclists often face a bewildering cascade of unique terms – and that’s before we consider the alphabet soup of motorcycle names. Perhaps no motorcycling descriptor confuses neophytes more than “friction zone.” However, new riders will never be able to smoothly pull away from a stop without a proper understanding of what the friction zone represents and how to use it correctly.

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What's the Best Way To Ride Safe On Busy Freeways?

Dear MOby,

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States With The Fewest Motorcycle Fatalities

Plucked from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), here are the states with the fewest annual motorcycle fatalities in 2015. These figures are fatalities only. There is no consideration given to geographic size, topography, population, population density, annual miles traveled by motorcycle, or any other pertinent information that would better determine the actual safety record of a given state. But maybe, just maybe, the knowledge that you’re riding in a state with very few motorcycle fatalities will provide a positive psychological edge.

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Don't Forget: April Is Check Your Helmet Month

As the first week of April has now come and (almost) gone, we want to remind readers that this month is National Check Your Helmet Month. As such, don’t forget that the average life span for a helmet is three to five years. Numerous times we’ve seen riders wearing helmets far, far, older than five years simply because a visual inspection with their untrained eye deemed the helmet to be in acceptable working order.

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Skidmarks: Superbike Lollipops

I never smoke to excess – that is, I smoke in moderation, only one cigar at a time.

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Head Shake - Basement Epiphany

“There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “What the hell is water?”

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Honda Patents Automatic Emergency Braking Technology

New patent applications published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reveal Honda is working on an automatic braking system for motorcycles. The patents describe a system that would apply the brakes when it detects a possible frontal collision, like, say, a car suddenly turning through an intersection.

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