Motorcycle Safety
I bought my first motorcycle in 1970. It was a Honda 50 bought cash from Bill Heads of Preston.
I was in the Merchant Navy and the wages at that time were pretty good so I was able to buy it outright.
In those days, you didn't need a crash helmet and we would often ride around without one, eyes streaming and long hair following suite. The first day I took out my Honda 50 I crashed it into a concrete lamp post. It was fortunate that I did not kill myself. I did not sustain any injury and the bike was not badly damaged. It was just luck if you like.
Moving on 40 and more years, things have changed a lot. I now shiver at the thought of riding without proper protection especially a crash helmet but more especially, I now preempt a situation rather than just react to one.
This takes many years to develop but when you are young, your reactions are lightening fast and for some of the time this can carry you through. If you keep on like this though you might just run out of luck. To preempt a dangerous or hazardous situation takes knowledge and experience and a certain amount of maturity. Its called self preservation. The longer you live, the more you realise how important this is.
This leads to boring riding I hear you say. But no, not necessarily. Look at it this way. When you are a kid you look for thrills. How fast will it go, how far can I push it? Eventually you get used to the fairground mentality and you begin to appreciate the finer points of road craft. This in itself is not boring and may well save your life.
Once you get over the cheap thrills syndrome assuming you haven't killed yourself already, you can begin to learn the skills that will set you up for a long, safe and enjoyable motorcycling career.
The first thing to say about motorcycling is that it is an exquisitely dangerous pastime and one to be undertaken with respect. I think that the best advice I ever got with respect to motorcycling is this: pretend that you are invisible. Alright, it may seem to be a bit excessive to think like this but it is a good starting point. Many other road users will miss or not be able to see you at all so if you assume this to be the case, then you will be forearmed to be able to preempt and react to a hazardous situation.
Often this will mean slowing down in certain situations especially in traffic and where junctions are involved. Most fatalities and accidents happen at junctions. Statistics show undeniably that this is the case. When approaching a junction you must always think "what will happen if that car pulls out?"
Has the driver seen you? Was it possible for the driver to see you? After all, you can't see through a truck or round a bend so it makes sense not to go like your on a race track where you are aware that potential danger exists.
Granted, it may take years to learn all the tiny ins and outs of all the potential hazards that may lurk at every turn but it will do no harm to start now. Basically, it's not so much how good you are at controlling your machine but its about your attitude.
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