Riding Right

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Getting Back in the Saddle After An Accident How to recover mentally and emotionally 5/22/2009: As a therapist and hypnotist I have a problem with a certain old biker adage. Most motorcyclists have heard it. "There are two types of bikers. Those who have been down and those who are going down." From a psychological perspective this saying is potentially dangerous as it could create what clinicians call a self-fulfilling prophecy. Read the full story.

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Getting Loaded: 6 Tips The safe & smart way to packing gear on your motorcycle 2/20/2009: Unless you've learned the hard way (you'll know if you did), most riders don't know how to pack gear on their motorcycle the properly. Stability and steering, not to mention safety, are seriously compromised when you load a bike improperly. Read the full story.

Posture Perfect: The Best Riding Position For You The three differences and what they mean 1/9/2009: To ride a motorcycle, you're going to have to do some posturing. Riding postures are dictated by two main factors -- the design of your bike and the build of your body -- both of which can be modified, but only to a point. Sit on as many bikes as possible to find the right combination to fit your needs. Read the full story.

Why People Ride a Motorcycle: Encourage a Friend Top 10 reasons -- you may be surprised! 10/31/2008: Why do you want to learn to ride? How can you convince a friend to learn to ride? There are nearly as many individual answers to that question as there are individual people in the world. I conducted an unscientific poll of students in new rider courses and came up with the 10 most-commonly cited answers to the question: "Why do you want to learn to ride?" Read the full story.

Is Your Bike Ready to Roll? Pre-ride inspection 9/23/2008: The only way to be sure your motorcycle is road ready is by performing a pre-ride inspection before every ride. It only takes a few minutes to look things over and check things out. A pre-ride inspection should become as automatic as watching the weather forecast or grabbing your gear. Read the full story.

Riding in a Group 10 tips to keep you safe 8/14/2008: Something wonderful happens when you share something you love with others, and riding motorcycles is no exception. Group riding increases the fun factor in motorcycling, but beware, it adds to the risk factor, too. If you’re going to ride in groups, read this story for 10 tips to make your group ride a safe and happy one. Read the full story.

Lane Positioning Knowing where to be when 6/13/2008: So you know you and your bike belong on the road, but do you know where? A lane designed for trucks and cars gives you lots of room to ride. Choosing the correct lane position increases your visibility, allows others to see you more readily, and maximizes your space cushion when riding on the street. Read the full story.

Night Riding How to be safer at night 5/5/2008: It's never more important to see and be seen than it is when you ride at night. Here are several important considerations for safe riding after the sun goes down. Read the full story.

You Flunked! Now What? Advice for dealing with failing the MSF class 4/2/2008: Congratulations! You flunked the basic rider course. No, really, this is great news. Why? Because you have some experience, a really good idea of what you're getting yourself into, and a clear assessment of your basic skills at this point. The rider course provided you with all the basic tools you'll need to become a safe, responsible rider. Read the full story.

Your Motorcycle Purchase: What To Consider Advice on finding the best bike for you 3/10/2008: In this installment of Riding Right, MSF instructor Susan Rzepka Orion answers a common reader question about choosings one's first motorcycle. There are many factors to consider to get the bike that fit you just right in the early stages of riding. Read the full story.

I Passed! Now What? Advice for skittish first time riders 1/10/2008: In this installment of Riding Right, MSF instructor Susan Rzepka Orion answers some readers' questions. Two women who recently passed the MSF class ask how to overcome their nervousness about venturing out on their own and wonder what motorcycle to buy. Read the full story.

An Uphill Battle Starting out on an incline 12/7/2007: Starting out on a hill can be tricky. Have you ever been stopped on a hill behind a truck or car that has rolled backward toward you? It's a little unsettling. Vehicles with manual transmissions may roll back from a dead stop on a hill. And motorcycles are no exception. Read the full story.

Avoiding Hazards The skinny on the swerve 10/16/2007: Why did the chicken cross the road? To see if you could swerve. Pot holes, road kill, an inattentive motorist who decides to make a left turn in that intersection right in front of you. If you ride a street motorcycle, the odds are extremely high that someday soon something will jump directly into your path of travel, and you'll need to execute a swerve to avoid a collision. Read the full story.

The Friction Zone: just what is it anyway? A guide for beginners 7/15/2007: Hands on the grips, legs around the frame, catching wind with big grins on their freedom-road faces, motorcyclists make riding look easy. As you watch them glide on by, you muse, "I can do that." And you can, once you've mastered some basic skills. Read the full story.