Some one gave me a copy of Business Insider to read

I would normally not read business insider because I never considered riding my bike as a business and if the articles were about business or work, why would I want to read what I am trying to avoid.

But, here is an excerpt from an article called "9 things I wish I'd known about riding a motorcycle. " - there are certain things I wished I had known as soon as I started learning to ride.  1. That friend you think knows how to ride? He doesn't.

It is a great lead in to the fact that often the people we learn from really don't have the basic knowledge that may be needed. We think since they have been riding a while they must know. The truth of the matter is, when it comes to things that may happen and what to do, they don't know simply because it has never happened to them and they are just doing what the person that was riding when they learned told them, and that person never really had it happen either. 

The point to the article is find someone who "knows", a person who trains other people how to do something, when to do something and how to react to something when it does happen. Don't listen to the guy who tells you what to do, listen to the person who will "show" you how and explain why.

You may find that a little bit of instruction with practical experience may actually save your life.


Another point made is "Always ride your own ride"  I understand what she is saying about not surrendering to peer pressure, always ride in your comfort zone. She suggests riding with other beginner riders because you feel better about yourself.

This I understand and disagree with, It is OK if you are riding there because you are comfortable, but like anything else, if you are content with staying at that level of riding then that is the level you will always be at. You have to challenge yourself to improve. I'm not talking going out and starting to drag race or anything of the like, but if you want to learn better bike control then pay attention to her first paragraph, find someone who can do it and let them train you. If you are planning on anything more than a ride around town with a close group of beginners you have to push your comfort envelope. Riding in a formation of motorcycles places you in a serious position. You have to watch out for what may happen around you plus you have to make sure you don't do your own thing and endanger them. You can't learn the right way to ride in a group if no one in the group has every done any real formation riding.

Like anything else, practice makes perfect. The more you ride the better you will become. The more you handle the bike the better handling you will have.

The funny thing is, anyone can ride a bike, and anyone can go fast, momentum helps hold you up. If you want to learn  motorcycle control, learn how to ride slow, slow means you are making the turns and keeping the balance. A few cones, a slow speed and some instruction and you can get out of almost anything that comes at you in riding life. There are times when you just might want to able to stop that bike, turn the wheel at a dead stop and then accelerate in another direction to avoid an impact. Riding in slow motion allows you to feel the bike, feel the balance and learn what the throttle can do to get you clear of a problem. 

It's all about practice and being comfortable on the bike, and you know something,
practice makes you comfortable on a bike. 

Believe it or not, if you start riding like this

 You can end up riding like this, 

And you don't have to have a badge to do it.