I was thinking on the way to work tonight about all the little habits/opinions that I've ingrained over the last couple decades, and thought I'd put a few out here for ya'll to review, add to, etc. as ya'll see fit. These are things that I've learned from my dad, from reading, from friends, and from experience. Most of you will know these things already, but some of our younger guys might benefit:

1. Habits rule. What you do normally is what you'll do in an emergency.
2. That being said, I always use both brakes, so when I do have to stop in a panic, I just have to intensify what I already do everytime I slow down.
3. Practice panic stops. There might be a test on the way home, and you better know how to do it and how long it takes your bike to stop from different speeds.
4. When I shutdown the bike, I use the killswitch first, then the key. That way if I'm ever in a bad situation, maybe run off the road and on my side in a ditch, my right hand knows how to kill the engine from habit.
5. Practice riding in the rain on a warm day somewhere where there's no or little traffic, so that you'll know how the bike handles when the streets are wet, and won't screw up learning in traffic when you get caught in a downpour.
6. The streets are slickest when it first starts to rain, and especially when it hasn't rained for a while.
7. The center section of the lane is the slickest part, especially at intersections. Nothing like stopping at a redlight when it's just started raining and putting your foot down and having it slide out from under you.
8. If a dog is running out in front of you like he wants to catch you, slow down until he gets close, then accellerate hard at the last second. This keeps you from colliding with him. If you just try to gun it from the start, you may not make it and end up with dog in your sprocket and asphalt in your teeth.
9. If you can't avoid running over something in the road, like a small animal or a board, etc., let off your brakes just before you go over it. Trying to hold the brakes as you cross over it will probably cause you to lose traction.
10. I make an exception for snakes. Lock 'em up and see how big a mess you can make of them.
11. Wet leaves are the slipperiest thing ever.
12. Just because you went around that blind corner yesterday, doesn't mean you know what's on the other side of it today.
13. Sunblock loves to slide down your forehead into your eyes on a hot day with a helmet on. Maybe some people can see with sunblock in their eyes, but I can't.
14. You and your bike are invisible, except to police.
15. Your loud pipes don't get heard until after it's too late to do any good.
16. If you pass people at full throttle with open pipes and they don't know you are coming, it will startle them.
17. Some people, when startled by an unexpected bike passing at high speed, dodge into your lane and kill your buddy riding behind you.

What else ya'll got?

1. Don't ride faster than ur Guardian angel is capable of flying
2. Drive safe, but not too safe
3. When starting to ride, don't push it until you're wheels warmed up
4. Steer from left to ride on a lane to warm up ur wheels even more, but don't do it all of a sudden since a car went full-on his breaks behind me because of it once.
5. Don't forget ur helmet connection behind ur chin, wondering wtf that knocking sound is when ur riding
6. Expect for something funky to happen in every situation. (This helped me lots of times atleast)

Hmm .. Passing the stick on =p

And another..
Always ask yourself, what's the worst thing that could happen in this riding situation, and how can I prevent it/avoid it/survive it?

* Last updated by: answersvary on 9/18/2009 @ 1:29 AM *

6. Expect for something funky to happen in every situation. (This helped me lots of times atleast)

hah! I was first on that one! =p

Never trust a car in front, back or from a side street!

When I shutdown the bike, I use the killswitch first, then the key. That way if I'm ever in a bad situation, maybe run off the road and on my side in a ditch, my right hand knows how to kill the engine from habit

Good stuff man but your bike has a tip over sensor so if the bike is on its side it will shut off assuming its working like it should. unfortunatley I had a chance to witness one working last Sunday.

If you ride fast/quick on the streets regardless of how much experience you have you will make a mistake one day and crash hard. You can accept that fact and wait for it to happen or slow down.

My buddy crashed his 08 zx14 last Sunday. We were going into a corner way faster than we should have been. (Mistake #1) He laid the bike over just like he had been all day in sharper corners and even higher speeds but this time the bike drifted wide and instead of leaning it over further he opted to stand it up and jump on the brake. (Mistake#2) This would have been fine except the turn was already running down hill so when he got on the front brakes the rear started to lift which resulted in an unexpected stoppie the front wheel locked and tucked (Mistake#3). From that point he basically went superman over the bars for 25 feet in the air and into a drop off. I got through the turn jumped on the brakes and ran back to were I thought he went off. I did not see him or the bike until I looked at the edge of the road and noticed his smashed rear turn signal and scratches on the road. I ran over towards the scratches and broken plastic and still did not see him until I glanced down and saw him at the bottom of 12-15 ft drop off laying on his back on top of rocks the size of basketballs. I yelled his name and he immediately started waving his arms and trying to sit up. I yelled his name again pleading with him not to move as slide down a bank to get to him. I’m guessing he never had a chance to put his hands out in front of him because his leather gloves, jacket and pants did not have a scratch on them. However his helmet had a three inch crease on the forehead area and the shield was blown off. If I had to guess he stopped himself with his forehead because the EPS liner of his helmet was compressed to ¼ of its original “thickness” along the entire width of his forehead. His back protector and chest protector were all intact what really has both of us puzzled is how he ended up with such a deep gash on his right shin that was completely covered by the shin guard of his boot. Whatever he it hit or hit him left a mark on the boot but still managed to take a chunk of flesh out of his shin???? We have been ridding together 4 years just about every weekend and have yet to see him make such a silly mistake until that day which should have cost him his life. Needless to say we are both going shopping for track bikes (track days) in 6 weeks when the rod/screws in his leg settle in and he is able to walk a little. He will ride on the street again but things will be different for sure.

* Last updated by: willidx4 on 9/18/2009 @ 9:56 AM *

willidx4, thank God that didn't have a worse ending. That's one of those things that raises the hairs on your arms when you read it.
So I guess we should add, save the 95% riding for the track.

1. Leave ample room between you and the vehicle ahead of you or you won't see what road debris they decided to run over until it is too late.

2. Do a test of your brakes while riding as soon as you take off from where the bike is parked. Just rolling the bike with your legs and pinching the brakes is better than nothing but not a thorough test.

3. Make the decision when you want to ride fast but never ignore your instincts when you feel danger coming before you see it is imminent.

3a. don't put too much faith in you danger radar. It probably works best with a little input from your senses.

* Last updated by: Rook on 9/18/2009 @ 11:22 AM *

Some great pointers and good story to learn from.

My concerns are when riding in group of a few bikes.
There are 4-5 close friends that I usually ride with,
incliding my girlfriend, who I trust and are all people
with skills exceeding mine. Issues of any kind rarely arise
when riding together.
Problems occur when people try to push over their limits and
keep up with a group of riders with significantly better skills
and (or) on faster bikes. Newcomers or unknown people joining
group rides always make me a little bit uneasy, as I've witnessed
quite a few close calls and unfortunately crashes too.
Looks are often deceiving- that chick on the smaller bike just
might be more than 5 sec faster than you on the race track and you
can put 2 turbos on your 14 and the outcome will still be the same.
Your bike does not make you a better rider!
14 owners especially beware- sometimes it just could be too much of a good
thing,not only novice riders.

Not too long...

I try not to ride at night or dusk, low visability, wildlife and drunks driving......

Wear all your gear all the time no mater what. My buddy had on a race boot and still got an open frature to his lower left leg and flesh torn off his right shin. I would hate to think would have happen if he had on sneakers (which he would have never done)

+1 on the extra careful riding in groups. Real easy to get in over your head.

Don't lock your elbows. Your control inputs will be smoother.

If you get a front end wobble or a tankslapper, relax your arms, and the bike will frequently straighten itself out.

When riding over an object in the road or on really rough roads shift your weight from your butt on the seat to the pegs under your feet. Keeps you from doing a flying W. This is a must in Louisiana.

Good stuff guys-and glad yer friend's okay Willi.Always good to reflect on the "what could happen if?" In truth,up here,I'm more concerned about deer runnin out at me than anything else.Had some REALLY close calls.The "other" thing would be the oncoming car or truck drifting into my lane in a curve.LOTS of that happens here unfortunately.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 9/18/2009 @ 3:34 PM *

Always turn your head and look as a final check before changing lanes to make sure that nothing has entered your blind-spot - even if you think you know nothing is there. I forgot to do this once and was probably inches from getting splattered by an SUV - and it would have totally been my fault. Fortunately, the SUV driver was paying attention and was able to stop before hitting me.

txspike - Good point. Almost pulled over in front of another sportbike like that once. He was doing ~120ish and I never saw him til I did the head check and he flew by.

Yes, head spin every time. Most motorcycle mirrors can't be relied on, especially sportbike mirrors. I'm sure the head spin has saved me from more than a few close calls or accidents.

Participating in track days will make you a better street rider IMHO.
And it's just so much fun!
Don't do it on the zx14, get something smaller and cheaper and be at
peace with the fact that you will go down sooner or later.

Also on a side note- buy your racing gear at the end of the season (late fall)
for next season and you will save a lot of $$$.
I just bought a new one piece suit for 40% off and another pair of boots for much less.

Maybe it's also an idea to do some Lessons with the bike to learn how to react on certain situations etc. Like with water on the ground, sand, hitting breaks in the corners (last one i guess u'll also learn on the tracks)

Lot's of those schools want you to take you're own bike to practise this though. Unfortunatly :D

Lots of good stuff, here. I didn't see (could have missed) anyone say take the MSF Experienced Rider course.

I took it yesterday. It was quite .... challenging. Lets just say I don't do,on the street, what we did on the course.

The 24' figure 8 sucked royally for me. I'm an "old guy" (tm) and I don't twist as good as I did a few years ago. Heh.

Dropped my bike once trying to do a 20' figure 8. Not going to happen. No problem on dropping it, didn't hurt anything but the paint and its coming off for new anyway.

Next time I take that class I'm using one of the school's 250cc Suzukis. They countersteer 20' figure 8s with a few feet on each side to spare. The big Ninja doesn't want to be twisted up like a pretzel.

The rest of the class the bike pretty much loved.

The point is, you need to take the MSF ERC because it WILL make you a better rider, no matter how long you rode. If you care about your paint, you might want to use a school bike. Heh

* Last updated by: privateer on 9/20/2009 @ 6:20 AM *

14. You and your bike are invisible, except to police.

15. Your loud pipes don't get heard until after it's too late to do any good.

Although they say there are 2 kinds of riders...those who have gone down, and those who are going to go down...but actually there's a third...those who will go down again!

"Although they say there are 2 kinds of riders...those who have gone down, and those who are going to go down...but actually there's a third...those who will go down again!"

Hey, let's keep the sexual references out of this!

Always park with the bike in gear.
I saw a guy drop his bike parking on a hill because it rolled forward almost as soon as he got off.

* Last updated by: answersvary on 9/19/2009 @ 4:40 PM *

25 years driving for UPS, and many safe driving awards + 40 years riding a motorcycle, and these rules have saved me many times. All Good Kids Love Milk

1. Aim high in steering - don't fixate directly in front of you, look ahead down the road as far as possible.
2. Get the big picture - view the entire area around you, and be alert to changes.
3. Keep your eyes moving - ahead, left, mirror, ahead, right, mirror. Never zone out or stare in one direction.
4. leave yourself an out - Make sure you have an escape route and a "space cushion", when driving or stopped.
5. Make sure they see you - no eye contact, moving wheels, distractions, cellphones, all mean they'll pull out.

To these I add;
Make sure everything works before you leave. ALL lights, brakes, tire pressure, chain.....it only takes seconds.
Dress apropriately. Being cold/hot/wet/uncomfortable is a huge distraction.
Ride/drive like you have no clue where you're going. Familiarity breeds inattention.
Assume they are all out to get you.

They may be all out to get me,but they're gonna play hell tryin to catch me!!!In fact-most of the people I pass or ride next to(in cages) USUALLY wave and smile(or a nice thumbs up).What's not to like-she's a big,beautiful,badazz,awesome sportbike.(guess wearing a helmet and appropriate gear(no tank tops,no leather vests,no bandanas,no colors)NO LOUD OBNOXIOUS PIPES-all help.BTW answersvary-you didn't just happen to see me cleaning my pipes recently did ya-yeah,I was the one catching my baby before she hit full force on the asphalt(one scratch on the left outside muffler-can't even see it really) (It LOOKED flat enough at the time)

* Last updated by: blue07 on 9/20/2009 @ 4:33 PM *

alg8er - All Good Kids Love Milk - that's it in a nutshell.

Blue07 - Man, I hate that for ya. I put one scratch on my bike, and don't you know I think only I can see it, but I see it everytime I look at her.