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Lockdown & Exercise

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As the coronavirus spreads, more and more countries are restricting activities and movement for their citizens. Jasper, Guido and I managed to squeeze out one last trip before the coronacrisis. Here’s the trip, shared through Scenic’s new ‘share’ feature: https://scenicapp.space/ride/EeAvyZwU

While we’re all dying to go out for a ride, it’s wise to leave the bike home for a bit. Hospitals are quickly filling up with corona patients, and chances are that, in the event of an accident, you may not get attended as promptly.

Riding a motorcycle is generally seen as a low-impact activity, because it seems like the motorcycle is doing most of the work, but professional riders will tell you otherwise. Strength, stamina and flexibility are crucial when riding bikes.

So, stuck at home, what kind of exercise can one do to stay fit for a long ride once the lockdown gets lifted?

Flexibility Exercises for Motorcycling

Starting with flexibility, hip and groin flexibility are important when manoeuvring on a motorcycle. This video gives you some practical tips to avoid and ease hip flexor pain when riding. And here are some exercises to strengthen your hips.

Stamina Exercises for Motorcycling

Sitting at home doing nothing is not a great way to build stamina of course. While the best way to stay fit for longer motorcycle trips is cycling (speed, trail or just casual city cycling), climbing stairs is the next best thing you can do inside. It’s also a great exercise to burn fat; On average, you burn about 0.17 calories for every step you climb and every stair descended burns about 0.05… that’s about twice as fast as running.

Strenght Exercises for Motorcycling

Lastly, strength is an important factor too. Whether you ride a light motorcycle or a heavy Honda Goldwing, a strong core, legs and arms are important, but upper back and shoulders are probably as important to train. Core exercises include: plank, curl-up and bird-dog. I found this video pretty helpful. To train your leg strength, squats and squats and squats. I usually do a few while showering. Upper back and shoulder exercises should include pull-ups and some dumbbell pressing. This article shows you 10 easy to-do exercises.

Stay fit and stay inside!  

Revan – motorcycle dash cam, action cam, com set and HUD in one!

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A little while back I wrote about the Cosmo Smart AR visor, which shows some basic information like speed and direction indicators in the visor. A bit of a different take on this is the Revan. First and foremost this is a dash cam, like many you see in cars as well, loop recording whatever is happening in front of you, mainly for safety/evidence reasons should you be involved in an accident.

A motorcycle dash cam is not something new. There are quite some out there already. For a good one, have a look at this review video by 2WheelObsession. However, except for the Revan being helmet-mounted (in stead of motorcycle-mounted), it is much more than just a dash cam.

Motorcycle dash cam, action cam, com set and head up display

The Revan is made specifically for motorcycle riding and it’s actually a dash cam, action cam, com set and head up display in one! That’s a whole lot of features packed in a single product:

  • First of all, it has a front ánd rear camera, recording not only what’s happening in front of you, but also what’s happening behind you.
  • It’s camera quality is above what most dash cams have to offer, opening up other uses for the videos that you shoot ( think GoPro )
  • It has a remote that can be mounted on the handle bars (to start recording)
  • It comes with a headset (speakers and microphone that can be installed in your helmet), enabling group calling ( think Sena )
  • It features a Head Up Display (HUD), which displays all kinds of useful information as it integrates with your phone. The HUD can even show a view of the rear-camera so you can see what’s going on behind you.

For more details have a look at this promotional video of the Revan:

Where to get one?

So, where can you get the Revan? Well, you can’t, YET! It doesn’t exist, YET! The Revan is a Kickstarter project. It’s already been fully funded and then some, but you can still back the project by pre-ordering the Revan for $700 USD (retail price will be $1000).

Should you get one?

Before you put down your money, please consider my reservations about this project:

  • It wouldn’t be the first Kickstarter project that failed to deliver
  • Revan is definitely not the first in the market. Back in 2018 I wrote an article in our newsletter about HUD helmets and systems. Some of those projects no longer exist, while others are still going strong.
  • The rechargeable batteries, although claimed to be good for about 10 to 12 hours, are quite huge to mount to your helmet. I wonder how it would impact weight, wind drag and wind noise.

Honestly, if it were my money I would not spend it on a Revan just yet. Although it’s very promising and the sum of a separate high quality dash cam, action cam and com set would definitely be more than $700, I would wait for a second generation product; First of all to see if Revan, unlike some of its early competitors, has the stamina to make it to a 2nd gen product and secondly, because there are bound to be some teething problems with a new high tech product like this, which would probably be resolved in a 2nd gen product.

So, all in all very promising, but too early for me to spend my money on. However, @Revan, if you would send three test sets over for Tom, Jasper and me, we would be happy to give them a spin and write about our findings! 🙂

Daytona Bike Week fans ignore Coronavirus cancellations

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What are the effects of the Coronavirus outbreak on the world of motorcycle riding?

Amid all the craziness of the past couple days I came across this article that explains why the Philippines ban motorcycle back-riding. It might help to flatten the curve, or not, but it is an interesting angle. It is actually part of the government’s guidelines for social distancing.

So is their new rule of limiting the maximum number of passengers in a taxi to 3. While I always thought that 3 passengers kind of filled up the taxi it is interesting to read another perspective.

Bikers attending Bike Week in Daytona Beach decided to not care that the event was cancelled and rolled in anyway. This clearly shows they’re not too bothered by the fear of the Coronavirus.

What do you think about this attitude of not allowing the Coronavirus to ruin your plan?

Flattening the Curve – How the Coronavirus impacts the Motorcycle Industry and Motorcycle Riding

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There is no getting around it. In an effort to ‘flatten the curve‘ governments and companies all over the world are taking measures, impacting our lives, including our motorcycle rides.

The motorcycle industry has been affected, especially in the countries heavily hit by COVID-19. Manufacturers have halted production, events have been cancelled and some countries even instated a curfew, stopping you from going for a ride all together.

Covid-19 Motorcycle Industry Impact

The industry is impacted for sure. Here are just some examples of recent press releases:

There are many similar actions taken by motorcycle manufacturers all over the world. And not only by motorcycle manufacturers, but the entire supply chain. E.g. Brembo brakes has suspended their Italian operations for the time being.

Covid-19 Motorcycle Events Impact

Like the manufacturing industry, the event industry has been struck hard, if not harder, by the Coronavirus. While manufacturers can suspend their production temporarily, the event industry typically is based around 1 event per year. And a lot of these events are also concentrated around this time of year: the start of the motorcycle season in the northern hemisphere. Take below as an example:

For now, Sturgis is still on, but that can change as the corona pandemic develops over time.

Covid-19 Motorcycle Riding Impact

While Motorcycle Riding itself is pretty safe from Coronavirus perspective, in that you are not in contact with others, the hobby as a whole is still quite social (getting gas, stopping for a coffee, meeting at route start points, etc.) and as such it is ‘unsafe’ in this context. In some countries riding will even go against temporarily instated laws.

Take a look at Italy and Spain for example. These countries have instated a curfew of sorts, where travel is only permitted for work- and basic-necessity-grocery shopping purposes. Fines run up to hundreds of Euro and in extreme cases even a few weeks in prison.

While this is all very unfortunate of course, please remember that it’s all for the greater good. Governments don’t take these decisions lightly. They do it with public health in mind, hoping to spread severe cases over time, reducing pressure on hospitals and medical staff, preventing them from having to make difficult decisions like refusing older people and terminal cases from treatment.

This is one of the few times where we as individual persons have impact on life or death situations. Maybe not for you, but it might be for the people you infect unconsciously (did you know some infected people don’t show/feel symptoms). So, please take this seriously and help flatten the curve.

For RELIABLE information please refer to the world health organization: who.int

Riding for a Cure

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My name is Rex Covington, a.k.a. Lone Star Rider. My son was diagnosed with diabetes type I in 2003. In 2015 he blacked out and died in a fiery car wreck.

This has been heavy on my mind; was there  something that I could have done to prevent that from happening? I came up with many scenarios, but, in the end, there wasn’t really anything I could have done for my son. But, I could help to try and prevent this from happening to somebody else!

I’d already done a few things to raise money for the American Diabetes Association, but nothing really major. Until, in the second week of January 2018, I had a dream. A dream where I was raising money riding my motorcycle all over the country, raising $90,000 in one year. I thought this was a great idea so I just started riding! I’m still riding and so far I have raised a little under $8,000 for the American Diabetes Association.


For the last 20 months I rode over 80,000 mile on a 2008 Harley-Davidson Road Glide, pulling a 400 lb. Teardrop Trailer.  I have broken down 4 times and was towed twice for reparations. I’ve been riding from the East coast to the West coast, speaking at events, stopping at rallies & festivals where the American Diabetes Association suggests I go, talking to anyone who will listen to me.

Before all of this happened the longest Motorcycle trip I had done was a month long and about 5,000 miles. It was great taking short trips once or twice a year, but being on the road full time is a totally different story and has its moments.

The Snowed In Video: https://youtu.be/A37lyKAY56Q

You don’t always get to plan where your are staying for the night, and sometimes the weather keeps you where you are, or changes your route. Even a break down can put you behind and cancel an event. For example I was in southern California once where I got snowed in for two days during the month of May! I never expected that 🙂

Despite the down times, there have been more great times. For example, I was riding towards Rome, Georgia, not even knowing that I had crossed the state line, when these huge fish caught my eye. So I turned around to check it out! I love finding stuff like that on the side of the road.

Jennifer Sipsy came up to me and offered to take a photo of me and the fish. After talking with her I found that she had a child with Type One Diabetes and so did her brothers. It is people like Jennifer and her child who show me that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. They are the reason why I’m “Riding For A Cure”!

The Jennifer Sipsy Video: https://youtu.be/PaBF7p0BvOY

You can journey along with me on the ride of my life, as I travel around the country on my motorcycle, raising money and awareness. Follow along with me and see the incredible roads I travel and the amazing people I meet along the way—working at events, recording videos, and taking photos!

When I started this mission I sold everything I owned, which has kept me going so far. Now, after 20 months, I’m running out of money to keep me on the road and I’m looking for sponsors, donations and /or affiliate programs to help keep me going. So if your are someone or know someone that would be willing and able to support me on my mission, please let me know or leave a donation at my Patreon. I would really appreciate it.

And of course donations for the American Diabetes Association are also more than welcome. Please see my ADA page here: RidingForACure.com

Thank you,
Rex

Should lane splitting and filtering be allowed for motorbikes?

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My previous article on best practices for motorcyclists provoked some reactions. Is lane splitting and filtering a good or bad practice? According to Sabrina Giacomini from Rideapart.com it is all a question of speed.

Globally there are discussions about the possibility of making motorcycle lane splitting or filtering legal. Utah officially became the second US state after California to pass a bill allowing riders to engage in some form of lane sharing maneuver. However, while California has allowed lane splitting since 2017, Utah has instead passed a law allowing lane filtering.  While “lane splitting” has been a widely accepted term in the US to refer to most of these maneuvers, there are actually subtleties that differentiate them. So, what’s the difference between lane splitting and lane filtering anyway?

Lane filtering in practice in Bangkok, Thailand.

Lane splitting

The great state of California defines lane splitting as “A motorcycle ridden between rows of stopped or moving vehicles in the same lane including on both divided and undivided streets, roads, or highways.” If we’re going to oversimplify it Sabrina says, it’s pretty much turning the dotted line into a temporary, miniature express lane for motorcycles.

Obviously, there are conditions to lane splitting and contexts in which it represents a safe maneuver. In California, for instance, riders should not lane split faster than 10 mph above the speed of the surrounding traffic, simply because a higher speed differential represents a safety hazard. Because of this, lane splitting is discouraged when the flow of traffic is faster than 30 mph (50kmph).

Lane splitting becomes a fuel-saving, rider-protecting maneuver especially in instances of stop-and-go or rush-hour traffic. While in California, lane splitting is allowed on all roads, some states that are currently considering legalizing the practice have an additional clause regarding the type of road the maneuver will be legal on. For instance, the State of Oregon recently submitted a bill that suggests lane splitting be allowed on roads with a posted speed limit of 50 mph and above.

source: https://www.asphaltandrubber.com

Lane filtering, the stop-light solution

In Mexico City lane filtering is allowed when there is a red light (which does not mean much), and although it pisses off many drivers it is a great success because we get to move a whole lot faster than cars. Meanwhile, north of the border Utah recently passed a bill that allows riders to lane filter in very strictly described conditions. The State of Utah now allows “lane filtering if a motorcycle is overtaking a vehicle that is stopped in the same lane of travel and there are two or more adjacent traffic lanes in the same direction of travel.” For the State of Oregon’s recently submitted bill, lane filtering is allowed when “Traffic is stopped or has slowed to a speed of 10 miles per hour or less.”

Unlike lane splitting that allows a motorcycle to navigate between rows of vehicles circulating at regular speeds, lane filtering allows the motorcyclist to trickle down between rows of stopped/slow-moving vehicles. This maneuver is usually observed at stop lights and allows riders to navigate towards the front of the line, which in turn allows them to take off swiftly and safely without being sandwiched between two vehicles.

The difference between splitting and filtering all comes down to the speed of the surrounding vehicles and the context in which they are best practiced (rush hour traffic versus intersections). In both cases, it is up to the rider to analyze the situation and engage safely.

A good or a bad thing?

Good practice with lane splitting or filtering is that a rider needs to make sure they have enough space between the vehicles to travel without ripping off mirrors along the way, and it is their responsibility to travel at a speed that affords them enough time to react should a car suddenly change lane in front of them.

Fellow motorcycle enthusiast CycleCruza comes from Ohio and has clearly shared his opinion that lane splitting and filtering is dangerous merely because cars in his neck of the woods are simply not accustomed to it. More on that in this vlog.

So what do you think? Are lane splitting and filtering privileges or should they be God-given rights? What is your opinion on this matter?

Source: https://www.rideapart.com/articles/315449/lane-splitting-filtering-difference-explanation/

Scammed out of my motorcycle invoice!

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I recently had a very bad experience with Mexican scammers trying to ‘purchase’ my motorcycle. Let me just say upfront that I used to think I wouldn’t fall for a scam like that, but boy was I wrong and did I suffer consequences.

A few years ago I sold a motorcycle through the ‘Craigslist’ of Mexico (Mercado Libre). That all went smooth so I decided to sell another motorcycle that way again. I didn’t receive many serious responses, until about 3 weeks ago when a guy called me who showed interest. We agreed I would bring the motorcycle (he lived in a different city) so he could view it. We met at the office of a friend of mine.

Cheque Deposit

He liked the motorcycle and he deposited the money in my account with a cheque, saying that he couldn’t do a transfer because it was a company account which only the accountant had transfer authorisation for. I was warned by Mexican friends that I should be careful with cheque deposits so I got a little bit suspicious, but the guy seemed trustworthy enough.

Now, in hindsight, I learned this is the oldest trick in the book and I should have refused the cheque deposit, but in the moment, and me being from Europe, never having used a cheque in my life thus not really knowing how a cheque deposit works, decided to partially agree. After I said I wouldn’t give him anything until the cheque passed, he got a little upset (but still friendly). In the end I partially gave in to that pressure (BIG MISTAKE 1). I did not give him the bike, but I gave him the papers (BIG MISTAKE 2), agreeing that I would call him when the cheque passed so that he could come and pick up the bike at my friend’s office.

The scam unveils

Of course the cheque did not pass and that’s when the – I call it – ‘fallback scam’ began (they didn’t get the bike, so “let’s get at least something out of this guy”). He told me he canceled the cheque because the papers I gave him were false (which of course they were not). He offered two options: I could bring him the bike and he would do another cheque deposit, ór I could give him 5% of the amount to get my papers back “sin problema”.

At this point it was overly clear it was a scam artist so I did not agree to either of those, but the harm was already done. The papers I gave him included the original invoice, and in Mexico, if you have the invoice, you are officially the owner of the motorcycle. So, after exchanging some messages with the guy for a while, he started threatening that he would report the bike as stolen. As in… I stole the bike from him!!!
SAY WHAT NOW???? 😳.

I have to admit, this got me a bit scared (and of course that’s exactly why he said it). Thoughts starting racing through my head: What would happen to me? Could I get arrested? Or, even worse, end up in a Mexican prison and/or be kicked out of the country? Also the guy knew where my friend’s office was. What if he decided to ‘pay a visit’ there? Even though I knew deep down these were not rational thoughts, they kept crossing my mind anyway… for days and a couple of sleepless nights!

That’s when I decided to contact a lawyer as I, being a foreigner in Mexico, did not know for sure how this could play out should the guy really report the bike as stolen. The lawyer reassured me that this transaction was fraudulent and I should report it to the authorities as such. And by reporting it (having quite some proof like bank statements and WhatsApp chat history) I would be in the clear. So, that’s what I did.

The aftermath

My lawyer said that, in general, the easiest way was to just pay the guy to get my papers back. “Just consider it a bad transaction” is what someone else said to me. “It’ll cost you the least amount of money in the end and also the least amount of time.”

In the end, even though I hated this guy with all my heart, let alone give him any money, I decided to pay him the 5%. I knew there was a risk of him not returning my papers regardless of me paying him, but, I decided to take that risk for several reasons: 1. Safety reasons, because then at least he would have gotten something out of me and not go looking for me or the bike at the only address he knew, my friend’s office. 2. If he would not return the papers that would also help strengthen the fraud case against him and 3. It would save me a lot of time and money if he would give me back the papers.

As more or less expected, he didn’t give back my papers after I paid him, but I’m OK with that. Unlike my first bad decisions, this was a decision deliberately made by me for well thought through reasons.

So now, it is going to cost me more money. If I ever want to sell that bike again, I need to get a copy of the invoice and get that copy notarised. That will cost me money, but that’s not all. The bike will be worth quite a bit less with a notarised copy invoice compared to the original invoice.

Looking back, I feel incredibly stupid. In hindsight there were some signals and feelings that I should have picked up on / should have acted upon, even before he did the cheque deposit. In the heat of the moment I disregarded those signals / feelings and continued with the transaction. I guess hindsight is always 20/20 ☹️.

Later I learned that these are small organised crime bands. A few guys that scam many people at the same time in the same way. They have a complete runbook on how to deal with all kinds of scenarios – know exactly what to say to get ‘best results’. So, after that big mistake of agreeing to a check deposit and agreeing to give him the papers, I was ‘in their system’.

I have little hope the guy will ever get caught. Police in Mexico is overwhelmed with car theft and fraudulent transactions like this. My case will just go on top of a very big pile.

Lesson Learned: Trust and act on your instincts!

I’m sharing this in the hope it will prevent others from falling for the same or similar scam. In the end it drills down to this: trust your instincts and act on them! If it feels even a little bit off, just don’t do it (even if that ‘upsets’ the buyer/potential scammer) and wait patiently for a next buyer.

Bad KTM experience and Rottweiler’s solution.

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I want to end my ‘bad KTM dealer experience’-story on a positive note. So here’s my final post about the KTM fuel filter & fuel pump drama.

Chris from Rottweiler Performance who came to the rescue

Bad experience with my KTM dealer

As you can read here my fuel pump failed well within the warranty period. Stuff can go wrong but KTM simply did not take responsibility. They told me it was my own fault for living in a rural area. What the heck? Unfortunately the LC8 fuel pump is a well known weakness in the 2018 KTM 1090 Adventure. KTM Mexico refused to fix this :(. After many messages I sent to KTM Global, which were all ignored I had to find a solution myself.

Rottweiler Performance

Ron from Southern California based Rottweiler Performance came to the rescue. He sent me a brand spanking new HFP Fuel Pump Installation Kit which I had installed last week. My motorcycle is as new again. No more riding in two gears too high, no more canceled overtakes and no more unplanned breaks to let the fuel pump cool off.

Ron and Chris over at Rottweiler Performance are easy to reach out to, knowledgeable and eager to help. They offer the high performance HFP fuel pumps with lifelong warranty for the KTM 690 and the KTM 990-1290.

I love my KTM, it is a great machine and because I fixed her only known weakness, I fell in love with her again. She seems to be more willing to put her best foot forward and I really trust her a lot more than before. This is part of the reason I think I will take her out for a weekend long ride this coming Friday. More on that later 🙂

Top Cases

Now that this is finally over, I am thinking of adding an aluminum 40ish liter top case to make long trips more comfortable. I cannot choose between a GIVI and SW-MOTECH. Price wise there is not much difference. SW-MOTECH is slightly more expensive but is it also more durable? What do you recommend and why?

Highspeed Offroad Cornering

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If you’re like me, mostly riding on tarmac, you might find yourself sitting in the saddle with “your but cheeks pinched together” when you hit that planned or unplanned dirt road on your route. That is, a little bit tense and perhaps afraid to drop your bike.

Highspeed Offroad Cornering Technique

If you, like me, as soon as the road starts to bend, slow down to a near stop and then slowly, without leaning the bike, take the corner, then you’re definitely not using the right technique 😉 In that case, take a look at below video. Heck, even if you are not that scared but would like to do some more highspeed offroad cornering, have a look at this great video by MOTOTREK.

In this video, Dusty, a professional motorcycle instructor, explains what to do and what not to do before, during and after taking a highspeed offroad corner.

Hope you find this video as useful as I did. Of course, watching a video does not increase your riding skills, so go and practice all the tips and tricks that Dusty gives us in this video.

5 tips for new starting motorcycle riders

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I still remember my first motorcycle lesson, where I first fully opened the throttle when the instructor was not looking, accelerating as I never did before and feeling the wind on my chest and helmet. I’m sure it wasn’t that fast at all, but it was the most fun I ever had on the road up until then. From that moment on I was hooked!

How to get your motorcycle licence varies greatly between countries. For example, in Mexico, in most states, you just pay around 20 USD and voila… you’re ready to role! In most countries however, fortunately, it entails a bit more than that.

I was living in the Netherlands back then (2008). Getting your licence meant having to take lessons with an official instructor as preparation for doing three tests:

  • A theory test, consisting of 50 multiple choice questions about how to act in certain traffic situations, position on the road and some questions about basic motorcycle maintenance.
  • A practical ‘special manoeuvring’ test. These were tests like doing a figure 8, doing a u-turn without foot on the ground, emergency stopping at several speeds, etc.
  • A practical test on the road, entailing you riding around for about an hour, being followed by a government licensed instructor judging your every move.

Now, I’m the first to admit that, whatever preparations you had, you only REALLY learn how to ride through experience. But still, just paying to get your licence without any lessons nor decent tests is just dangerous… for you and for the traffic around you. If you live in such a country I highly recommend taking some courses before you really go out there risking your live! For some inspiration take a look at this cop owning the motorcycle skill course 🙂.

OK, back to the topic at hand. So you got your motorcycle licence and you’re ready to get your first bike and some gear. What are things you, as a beginner, a newbie, a greenhorn, a prospect, need to pay attention to? Well… here are the most important tips based on my personal and friends’ experiences (and mistakes):

1. Choosing your first ride

So, if all is well, you already had some lessons on a motorcycle provided by the riding school. These are usually ‘standard’ motorcycles (my lessons were on a Honda CB600F) and likely not the dream motorcycle you always wanted.

For your first motorcycle most people will recommend to not get a super fast, powerful and heavy machine. I mostly agree with that advice. Furthermore, you might have an idea on the kind of motorcycle you want (chopper, adventure bike, sports bike, naked bike, etc.), but honestly you can’t really know what you really like until you’ve owned one for at least a couple of months. Even a one hour test ride isn’t enough for that.

That’s why I recommend to get a decent second hand motorcycle for not too much money. Not only because you don’t really know the style of the motorcycle you’re going to be happy with, but also because it’s likely that you drop it or have a (hopefully minor) crash with it during your first months of ‘building up experience’.

2. Choosing riding gear

For this one, my advice is actually the opposite of choosing a first motorcycle. Assuming that you know this is going to be one of your hobbies for life, don’t be cheap on gear like I was. I bought cheap pants, cheap boots, a cheap jacket and a cheap helmet and gloves. This tremendously limited my joy of riding. My helmet fogged up all the time and I was sweating when the sun came out, cold when it didn’t and got soaked to the bone when it rained. I ended up buying a new set of gear after less than a year. So… just buy good quality gear from a respected brand.. and you’ll enjoy your rides a lot more.

3. Resisting the temptation

When you start riding regularly you’ll grow more and more confident in your skills. But… there WILL come a time when you get over confident… when you take a turn too fast, only to go wide and end up on the other road half… being lucky that there’s no oncoming traffic. Take that as a warning!!! Don’t be over confident. Resist the temptation. Go slowly in expanding your limits. Your riding buddies don’t mind if you are slower than them. And even if they make fun of you, who cares! They’ll wait for you a few miles down the road.

4. Getting experience

Even if you had the best riding lessons in preparation of your licence test, don’t be foolish in thinking that you know everything there is to know. Of course you learn by doing – by riding a LOT – but there are many things about motorcycle riding that only very few do naturally. These are things like corner entry, corner exit, body position, slow manoeuvring techniques, emergency braking, etc.

I recommend to take a few courses when you’re just starting out. This will not only accelerate your learning curve but also boost your confidence and safety on the road. If you take those courses immediately after getting your licence, it will also prevent you from having to un-learn al the wrong riding habits you picked up over time. Viewing some YouTube videos on riding skills is a good start (take a look at the MotoJitsu channel), but you really need to do some courses and practice for yourself.

5. Use your brain capacity efficiently

This last recommendation might seem funny, coming from the developer of a motorcycle navigation app, but: Limit the amount of distractions while riding! I sometimes see riders with their entire handle bar and dashboard area packed full of gadgets. A GoPro pointing forward, another one pointing at their face, yet another camera mounted on their helmet, a navigation unit planted above the dash, a communication set blaring music and instructions in their ear, etc.

These things all distract and use brain capacity. And, if you’re a new rider, you need all your brain capacity for paying attention to the operation of your vehicle, the road ahead and traffic around you. You might even find that your ride becomes more ‘pure’ and enjoyable without all those gadgets. Once you get more experienced, and operating your motorcycle becomes second nature, you can start adding gadgets as you desire.

So there you have it. 5 of the best tips I can give you as a new motorcycle rider. I hope you’ll find them useful and I hope you follow most of them in one way or another. Whatever you do, whatever you choose and wherever you go… Be safe and enjoy the ride!