Hello there, haven't posted in ages as been busy with uni work and job... But I thought I could possibly get some advice or general wisdom (if anyone feels like it) concerning biking here in UK, or Scotland more specifically.
About myself: 18 years old, 185cm (6'1") and 70kg... in case anyone asks.
I had the thought of getting a motorbike for quite a few years now, just never really got to it due to various reasons, but as now I have some money and income I guess it would be possible.
My main concern is safety - more in the sense of how other drivers treat motorcyclists, do they ignore them, don't see them at all? Women in range rovers look particularly scary.
Secondly the weather (sort of interlinks with the first concern). As we know weather here in Scotland ain't the greatest... a lot of rain and generally miserable conditions. Is riding in such conditions enjoyable at all? Dangerous?
Is getting a motorbike a very stupid idea or not necessary? I am a careful person and tend to consider everything, just somehow always fancied a motorbike - plus all the benefits concerning parking, maintenance costs, fuel economy... etc
That's all I can remember that I wanted to ask, I might add a few more questions later... Please feel free to ask and comment (apart from nasty comments )
Make yourself visible and people will see you. Don't try to overtake someone who's turning right, don't try to overtake doing twice the speed of the car infront with a 2ft gap to squeeze through, don't do wheelies all the way down an A road, don't weave in and out of multiple lanes of traffic, don't pull out infront of cars doing 65 and then just sit there in the middle of the road looking over your shoulder waiting for your biker buddies to follow you...
Basically don't ride your bike like a complete tool and car drivers will be a lot less likely to kill you. But if you do happen to get killed by a car driver whilst behaving like a dickhead be sure to blame the poor awareness of the car driver for your squishy death.
My state is the most densely populated in the US, with some notoriously poor drivers. When I started riding at age 18 on my little 250, my dad gave me some advice:
"The cars are out there to kill you. Ride accordingly."
This holds true anywhere, too, not just New Jersey.
I fell in love instantly, but also had more than my fair share of mishaps, mostly from being stupid or a little too aggressive. To date, over 7 years of riding, I've crashed a motorcycle 14 times between the street and track. Motorcycles are very unforgiving of lapses in judgement. I've gotten road rash from not being properly geared up and also broke my collar bone in a particularly bad racing incident. Wearing proper gear mitigates these risks to some extent.
As for conditions, riding in the rain isn't as hard as you might think. I've ridden hard on a soaked racetrack on sparsely treaded race tires and only got into trouble when I got a little too aggressive. Being smooth is key any time you're on the bike, but particularly in the wet. On the street, you just have to watch out for surfaces that are particularly slippery in wet conditions (e.g. metal, leaves, paint).
Do you get too hot/sweaty when you wear all the protective clothing and stuff? Any comments concerning all that.
Maybe the daytona blinded him , how bad/painful is it to fall off the bike? With the weight of the bike probably falling on your leg... (I am aware that it all depends on specific situation and what you hit... but generally)
Well, if i hadn't been wearing decent boots, I am pretty sure I could have, if not serious damaged it, lost a foot, as it got caught in the back wheel, and the engine was running and still in gear.
Other than that, wasn't too bad, having a head on in the car @50mph hurt more
I think you have to really want to do it, and you have to really like it to keep doing it. It can be dangerous, it can be cold, it can be expensive, but it's also great fun and you'll meet some great people and learn a lot.
Give it a try, but do so with an open mind, you should be prepared to say it's not for you if you don't like it, because I think motorcycling is one of the worst things to do "just because you can" (or indeed, because you've spent a load of money getting to the point where you can).
Trust me you will have issues no matter what you drive I drive a old Honda 70cc and a old honda 250 and I almost got killed on both of them.
Its that most of the car drivers literally don't see you, or they are just arrogant and cut in front of you
with an attitude if I have a car you're more vulnerable.
So in that essence they see themselves as rightful to act like complete dicks. Trust me those kind of car owners are mostly young and either drive an expensive German car, or a Japanese shopping trolley with shiny rims.
I can not advice you enough to keep you eyes open for those types of drivers, and al the other cars the traffic is full of bad drivers.
Just keep your eyes open and spot the mistakes people make and act accordingly.
On the point of clothing i cant say it enough always wear gear no matter what the weather there is special summer and spring gear.
It is let thick and most of it is leather like summer gloves since IMO gloves and helmet are by far the most important.
They're a hazard to car drivers too, it's not just bikers who have to watch out for them. I am very careful around young drivers who are inexplicably wearing hats inside their cars, and also people riding sports motorbikes because they are usually utter dickheads too.
If I ever got a bike I would definitely invest decent money into protective gear and wear it at all times, but just curious to know what it is like to ride in it. As if I was going to commute from work/uni/home it wouldn't be too good if got out of it all stinking like a pile of ....
True the trafic is full of bad drivers some of them cant even ride a bicycle and swerve al over the place.
Lets change it to the traffic is full of bad drivers on or in any vehicle.
And while I am young myself and lack experience i can say the biggest hazard is people in expensive cars or young drivers with any form of wheeled transport.
Since most of them are not aware of the actual hazard, or just dont give shit which mostly points to sports bike drivers. young car drivers in shopping trolleys are also a risk group.
@Electtric Eye:
It isn't to bad just dress to the weather the main thing it should do is protect although you should be able to move with some degree of freedom.
If you don't have that driving a bike or getting of it will be hard and look very embarrassing.
So freedom of movement and protection is key or the balance between the two.
It's terrible (unless it's fall/winter/early spring). You'll sweat your ass off wondering why you got on a motorbike in the first place (to feel free, and now you're sitting there, all cramped inside a tight leather suit, sweating your ass off while other people enjoy the nice summer weather in their t-shirts).
It's the reason i sold my bike and bought a convertible.
I checked the seasonal weather averages for Edinburgh. Average high is around 65F in July and August. Even at 5 or 10F degrees warmer than that, there is still plenty of airflow to keep you cool enough to not sweat, so long as you're not wearing winter gear.
Interesting but largely irellevant. No-one wants to know how fat you are.
I've rode pretty much every day since September 2008. I have only just put my Triumph StripleR away for Winter having passed my driving test a couple weeks back.
To be honest if you're worried about safety there's no point in getting a bike. I'm not saying you shouldn't be concerned about safety; you should, wear all the protective clothing, be observant etc, but if you ride with the mindset of "that chelsea tractor looks scary" then you're only going to ride into the back of one.
To be fair being pulled out on/cut up as a motorcyclist is something you get used to. If you can't take it then you won't be a very good biker. It may not happen for weeks, othertimes it may happen 10 times in a journey of as many miles. You have to be a certain type of person to be a good and observant motorcylist. You need to constantly be scanning the road. Constantly on the lookout for junctions, other road users, road spills (diesel etct), manhole covers, potholes in the middle of corners, etc. If you ride a bike like you drive a car you will crash or be crashed into.
Over the last year most car drivers have become far more observant and look out for motorcyclists. Mainly due to the popularity of el Valintino, even for non bikers. Plus alot more people ride bikes now so there's more awareness. If someone does pull out on you, either it was a genuine mistake (which we all make occasionally) or they would have pulled out infront of you even if you were driving a Challenger II tank.
Most of the time most car drivers pull over to allow you to ride past without having to cross the lines.
I rode in what can be compared to some monsoon conditions and as long as you're sensible and have some good tyres you will be fine. (for example if you have Metzler K3 ractecs or some Pirelli Supercorsas you would probably crash within about 10 minutes). I personally don't enjoy riding in the rain but that's just me. I like dry weather and big lean angles. I only ride in the wet if I have no other choice. The hardest thing to combat is the cold in the winter, and forget about riding in the ice/snow.
You can accelerate and brake surprisingly hard in the rain as long as you're smooth. Smoothness is the key word. In all conditions, actually, if you slam on the brakes or crack open the throttle it'll either lowside or spit you off.
As I said I have been a daily commuter of about 50 miles a day for a year now. Plus obviously general riding in the week and the obligatory weekend rideouts.
The first thing you need to get out of your head is that motorcyling is cheap. IT'S NOT.
To buy and insure, compared to a car, yes. For example my Street Triple R cost £8700 new and with one accident on my record, cost £1100 fully comp to insure. (My commuter/winter bike which is a Yamaha FZS600 cost me £222.50 with a years no claims) but that's where the savings end. While yes most bikes can get 45mpg without issue (the trip on my Street says about 43mpg average, rough calculations on my Yamaha give me about 50mpg but running costs from there only go upwards.
You need a service on a bike on average every 4000-6000 miles at about £140 a pop. Then every 15,000 or so you need the valves doing which can easily cost £400. You can't skimp on servicing when an engine turns over at 13,500RPM.
Furthermore, you simply CAN NOT purchase cheap budget tyres on a bike. They're the single most important piece of equipment on a bike. A set of tyres in common sizes (120/70 and 180/55) are about £240 fitted. Tyres on average will last about 5500 for a rear and about 9000 for a front. You're supposed to replace them in pairs however you can get away with 2 rears to 1 front in general but still you're looking at quite a considerable outlay.
Chain and sprockets wear quickly and cost about £100 for a quality set and there's of course labour on top of that. Brake pads also go after about 5000 miles but unlike cars they're simple enough to change yourself but cost about £28 per caliper (most bikes have 2 calipers on the front)
But you do get free parking most of the time.
As for clothing, well I wear 2 piece leathers 99% of the time in combination with some TCX race spec boots and a Forcefield back protector and even if it's rain and unless it's soaking I don't get that wet. Unless it's 30 degrees C it never gets hot and even if it WERE, you can just undo the zip a little to allow some more airflow.
While other people may be enjoying walking around in their T-Shirts, I enjoy wearing out another set of kneesliders carving round the local twisties. Swings and roundabouts, literaly.
Sorry if I paint a negative picture, but I'd rather put the message out truthfully from experience rather than have another young and dead rider. I love bikes and biking in general, almost to the point of an obsession. But then I'm a freak. If you're a future freak, then cool.
)
Heh, yellow bike, white helmet, sure like hell they'd notice that 
