5 Life-Saving Habits that every motorcycle rider should know

In India, you would find a lot of bad riders while travelling on the road. You might be riding safe, but you cannot predict what another driver or rider is thinking. Due to which you should always be ready for the worst-case scenario or at least you should know some basic life-saving habits that you should know which might come in handy in difficult situations. So, here are 5 life-saving habits that every rider should know.

Preload the front brake lever 

People don’t recommend keeping the finger on the brake lever as they think that as soon as we put the fingers on the brake lever, the brake pads start to get in contact with the disc rotor. Generally, there is a bit of space between the engagement point and where the lever is in a free position. So, there is a bit of free play between it. So, you can keep the finger on the brake lever but it is not important that the brake pads are touching the rotors. What you should do is preload the front brake lever by pulling it just before the engagement point. This will help in reducing the acceleration that your finger causes to the lever when you press the lever in case of a panic braking. There would be little to no acceleration before the brake reacts to the motion and they do not bite the rotors aggressively making the front wheel lock. So, your brake will be smooth, will be more effective and you would be able to control the motorcycle easily.

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Glancing Right to Left to Right

Our brain reads information from left to right, due to this the sentences start from left and end at right. However, people who read bilingual languages can read from left to right as well as right to left. Due to which their mind is trained to react faster and get more information in the glance. In India, the first person to hit you will be coming from the right, so you look right then you look left then you should again look to the right. This will rewire your brain to lower the search times and you would be able to see in either field of view. Because we are looking for threats in both directions, there will be less chance that someone hits us because we would have already seen them and have taken an action.

 

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Don’t tense up in cold weather

It is the normal body tendency to shrink and tense up in cold weather. This is done by our brain to protect the body heat. However, it can be very dangerous while riding on snow or in cold areas. Because your shoulders tighten and your arms come closer to your body, the turns or inputs you will make will be sudden causing your tyre to slip. So what is better to do is sit-up close so that your inputs are not harmed by your body. You can take more often hot tea breaks to warm up your body.

Always Left Foot down

The left foot is the one that you have to put down on the road when coming to a halt. First, if you put the left foot on the road, the right one stays on the rear brake pedal so your brake light stays on which alerts the people behind you. The other benefit is the safety that the rear brake provides in case someone hits you from behind. If you are using the front brake your front wheel is locked and when someone hits you, the handle will turn and the bike will fall. If you are using the rear brake and someone hits you from behind, the impact energy will be transferred towards the front of the motorcycle. So, your motorcycle will be pushed forward which will increase the chance of you staying on the bike and you will have a chance to manage the motorcycle.

 

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The Accordian Effect

You might have noticed the accordion effect if you have ever gone on a group ride. Imagine the rider A and B are travelling together where A suddenly increases his speed, then B sees him and reacts to it by increasing his speed also. Now, A slows down because there is a turn ahead, rider B will have to hit a higher speed to just catch up with A and then he would also have to shed down that higher speed at a much faster rate to avoid a fatal crash when the turn comes. The rider B attracts after a split second to what rider A does. This is the accordion effect. So, you should always ride within your limits and not to push your and your motorcycle’s limits in order to catch up with another rider.

 

Also read: Custom Interceptor 650 Cruiser arrives before Royal Enfield builds one

 

Also read: Custom Interceptor 650 Cruiser arrives before Royal Enfield builds one