Learn to Ride Archives - BestBeginnerMotorcycles

Crash Course: How To Safely Fall Off A Motorcycle

Andrew Jones — Sun, 22 Jan 2023 23:45:06 +0000

So you want to fall off your motorcycle? No. Of course you don’t. No one does. Motorcyclists spend their entire lives trying not to fall off their bikes. So who wants to learn how to do it? You do, that’s who. Forewarned is forearmed, as they say. And while most “offs” are as dangerous as they are short, there’s a real chance that if you know what’s going to happen, you just might be able to minimise the damage to […]

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How to U-turn on a Motorcycle

Andrew Jones — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 18:56:57 +0000

Like most things in life, you are going to get good at the stuff you do the most often. And if you are lazy like me, then you’ll probably avoid doing tasks unless you really have to. Household chores like washing cars, mowing lawns or cleaning windows are tedious mainly because you only do them very infrequently at best, so you almost have to start from scratch when you actually decide to get up off your big old arse cakes […]

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The Pros & Cons of Riding in Groups

Andrew Jones — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 14:58:28 +0000

When you’re learning how to ride a motorcycle, there are a few things you can know will eventually happen to you. Like death and taxes, there’s some things in the culture that are pretty much unavoidable. Hopefully the first is having the time of your life. If you aren’t enjoying yourself out on the road then chances are you are dead inside. The second is catching a flat. It will happen to you sooner or later and the better prepared […]

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The “Five to Survive” Rule & Why You Should Use It

Simon Bertram — Mon, 18 Jul 2022 20:55:40 +0000

The excitement of passing your license test and getting that Class 6 (Canada), M Endorsement (USA), A2 (UK), or whatever is used in your country is something you will never forget. It’s a landmark of the hobby that means you’ve proven your basic understanding of concepts and controls of a motorcycle. What is important to remember, however, is that passing your license test is not the end of learning, but only the beginning. This is where the “Five to survive” […]

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Trevor Dech: Lessons Learned Training Nearly 29,000 New Motorcyclists

Simon Bertram — Wed, 08 Jun 2022 02:45:52 +0000

All pictures used in this article were provided by Too Cool Motorcycle School and Trevor Dech The first step after deciding you want to learn to ride a motorcycle is usually looking up training courses. In North America, there are multiple types of training courses that you can take, such as the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) course that is offered across almost the entirety of the USA, or small businesses operating as private training schools. In Canada, training is almost […]

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The Best Motorcycles for Bad Backs

Jared Northcott — Fri, 25 Dec 2020 16:14:39 +0000

How Your Back Influences Your Riding Caveat: I am not a physician, just a lifelong biker that’s sniffed too much gasoline. Consult a licensed professional for advice tailored to your individual body. When you look at a motorcycle it is very obvious that the frame is critical to the overall structure. The frame is the key piece to which everything is attached. It wouldn’t matter how good the suspension was, how powerful the brakes were, or how technologically superior the […]

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[How-To] Beginners Guide to Safely Riding a Motorcycle in the Rain

Cameron Martel — Mon, 15 Jun 2020 07:30:59 +0000

Can You Safely Ride a Motorcycle in the Rain? Let’s call a spade a spade: when the rain hits, the riding gets a bit more complicated. The thing is, despite the risks that rain represents, there are many riders that enjoy riding through light rain. I’ll never forget the first time I hit the rockies on my ’99 Ninja 500R (which got hilariously gutless at 7,000 ft). It was early afternoon and the wind brought in a quick downpour. It only […]

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Starting a Motorcycle & Assuming the Ready/Riding Positions

Robert Gabbin — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 23:49:39 +0000

Starting your engine & assuming the ready/riding position… can anyone say “name of my sex tape”. All joking aside, knowing the general rule of thumb for starting a motorcycle and assuming PROPER ready/riding position will potentially save you some headache, embarrassment, injury, and even fatigue while riding. In this article, I will give you a checklist of steps to go through for starting a motorcycle that can apply to the vast majority of the motorcycles on the market. I will […]

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How to Properly Secure & Transport a Motorcycle on a Flatbed

Cameron Martel — Fri, 03 Jan 2020 00:36:27 +0000

Every Motorcycle Rider Experiences the Roadside Pickup + Tow at Some Point in Their Riding Career At some point in your riding career, your bike is going to leave you stranded. I was reminded of this fact in June, when a Saturday morning ride with my wife on the back got sidetracked when I lost power to the motorcycle… while traveling at 100 kp/h. But I digress. So there Melissa and I are, in the median of an intersection, waiting […]

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The Basic Components & Parts of a Motorcycle

Robert Gabbin — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 02:15:25 +0000

In this article, I will be creating a reference guide on the majority of basic/common components & parts of a motorcycle along with a brief description of what the device does and where it may be found on a motorcycle. I will also include varying technologies that can be associated with many of the parts and components in this guide. The information that I am putting together is based on content that has been or will be published on BBM’s […]

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How to Operate a Motorcycle Clutch & Brakes

Robert Gabbin — Sat, 29 Jun 2019 17:12:03 +0000

Since the first motorcycle design, many changes, evolutions, and innovations have taken form over the years of its development – but one thing that has stayed the same for motorcycles from the beginning to now is a need to control the delivery of power to the driving wheel (clutch) and a way to stop (brakes). It’s true, there are some automatic motorcycles available (and more appear to be coming), but for 99% of us, learning to control a clutch is […]

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Mounting/Dismounting a Motorcycle: How to Get On & Off Your Bike Safely

Robert Gabbin — Sat, 04 May 2019 23:27:31 +0000

Mounting and dismounting your motorcycle is an essential skill that becomes almost second nature over time. There are many ways to hop on and off the bike, but some are better than others (depending on your situation). In this article, I’m going over some of the more common and safe ways to mount/dismount your bike. By the end of this article, you will know how to get on and off your bike safely. Let’s get to it! Moving A Motorcycle […]

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Pre-Ride Checks: Ensuring Your Motorcycle is Ready to Hit the Road Rubber Side Down

Robert Gabbin — Sat, 04 May 2019 19:42:29 +0000

Video Why We Do the Pre-Ride Check Safe riding starts with a steadfast steed. We as motorcycle riders have way too much to think about when on the road and should never have to worry about something not working as intended, in the event we need it to. I cannot stress enough, how important regular maintenance and pre-ride checks are to any and all riders. Mechanical devices, especially motor vehicles, have wear and tear, meaning all devices will eventually fail. […]

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Managing Expectations: Things to Know Before Getting on a Motorcycle

Robert Gabbin — Sat, 04 May 2019 18:47:19 +0000

Watch the Video This is Why I Ride Motorcycling, the closest any one person can get to flying without actually being on a plane as a pilot. It comes with all the excitement, all the dangers, a lot of practice to be any good… and the better we get, the more fun we are capable of having. Being a motorcyclist is also about joining a community of like-minded individuals, that are more often friendly, helpful, and overall great people. This […]

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Motorcycle Hill Starts & Habits to Avoid Getting Into

Jennifer Angelina — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 17:17:46 +0000

Back to the Basics My number one rule for hill starts or any riding really is making sure you have the front or rear brake applied while stopped at all times. Getting into the habit of this will ensure that it becomes a natural body reaction and will help you keep from losing control of the motorcycle in various situations. Without these skills, I’m sure I would have not been able to go anywhere in the places I’ve traveled to […]

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Counter Steering on a Motorcycle: Physics & Techniques

Jennifer Angelina — Mon, 29 Oct 2018 18:10:30 +0000

Jennifer Angelina demo’ing push steering for the class Push Steering or Counter Steering? “Tom-ay-to, Tom-ah-to” – Both Terms Mean the Same Thing Push steering, or countersteering – this is a label that seems to boggle most minds of riders because the actions behind it seem counterintuitive. You look right, push the bar right and the tire goes left. Most people will assume you will go in the direction of the tire, but that’s not true because steering three and four […]

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[Guide] Shifting Gears on a Motorcycle

Jennifer Angelina — Mon, 22 Oct 2018 22:01:38 +0000

When it comes to riding smoothly on a motorcycle, Mr.Chow from the Hangover would probably ask – “But, did you shift?” The majority of motorcycles on the market are a manual shift, meaning you change gears yourself instead of relying on the vehicle’s mechanics to do it for you and they involve a lever called a clutch lever. To keep it simple, I’ll focus on shifting with a clutch on a 6-speed motorcycle (some have 4 or 5 gears – […]

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Motorcycle Clutch Control & the Friction Zone

Jennifer Angelina — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 20:19:33 +0000

What is the Clutch & How Does it Work? In simplistic terms, the clutch is the part of the motorcycle that connects the engine and gearbox to the rear wheel and tells the bike to go forward or not. When the clutch lever is all the way out, this is supposed to be a full connection to the rear wheel. When the clutch lever is pulled into the handlebar this means you’ve disconnected the engine from the rear wheel. I […]

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How to Ride Slow on a Motorcycle

Jennifer Angelina — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 19:59:53 +0000

Why Ride Slow? Before we get into anything more complicated, we’re going to take a quick dive into slow motion riding. Riding a motorcycle at slow speeds can be way more technical and difficult than opening the throttle and going fast. Most of the time on a motorcycle, we’re moving or going at least the minimum speed limit in any area. There are situations where we would need to slow down and use technical maneuvers. A couple of examples of […]

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Common Mistakes New Riders Make and How to Avoid Them

Jim Pruner — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 16:14:04 +0000

It’s been several months since you started studying for your motorcycle license. When you see a motorcycle in the street, you become envious, you spend all of your nights comparing all of the models to find the one bike that will take you to the end of the world… The biker passion is in you! Before you know it, that day is upon you. Your bike license in your wallet, you will finally be able to ride the streets at […]

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