Are you ready to buy a motorcycle?
You’re about to join a unique community or people who love riding bikes on the open road. They gather by the thousands at places like Sturgis and in smaller groups all across the country.
Yet, with the millions of bikes on the road, there’s a huge amount of risk for riders. Motorcycle riders suffer 28 times more traffic deaths than people in cars.
There are some things that you can do to reduce your risk, such as buying the safest motorcycle. Keep reading to find out how you can buy a safe motorcycle and enjoy your time on the road.
What’s Your Experience Level?
There’s a big difference between someone who just got their motorcycle license and someone who’s been riding for years.
You really have to buy a bike that matches your skill level. For newer riders, you’ll want to stick with a smaller bike that’s easier to handle. You might be tempted to get a Ducati Panigale V4 R which can hit speeds of 180 miles per hour.
You’re probably not ready to handle that kind of power and speed just out of the gate. There are bikes on the market that are built for beginner riders.
Know the Different Styles of Bikes
There are different styles of bikes that serve different purposes. They also ride much differently from one another. You want to ask yourself how you will be riding your motorcycle.
Do you plan on taking long road trips? Do you just want to cruise for a few hours on a sunny weekend? Do you want to take it on the track and race? These are all options available to you. However, your answer will determine which bike you should get.
Touring bikes are heavy bikes that are used for long-distance riding. Sportbikes are built for speed, but they have a lower profile, which makes riding a little uncomfortable at first. Cruisers are the ones that you see the most often and are usually a good place for beginners to start riding.
Size
Just like buying clothes, you need a bike that fits your body. You won’t really know how a bike fits your body until you sit on it and take it for a test ride.
You’ll want to do that for the different bike styles to see which style suits your experience and body. When you try the bike out, make sure that you can reach the brakes and shift controls easily.
Motorcycle Safety Features
Bikes also have different safety features that you need to consider. The safest motorcycle will have features like disc brakes.
They’re also big on visibility by having LED lights and adaptive lights that adjust when you lean into a turn. They also have traction control and stability control to help you keep the bike upright in challenging situations.
Safety Tips on the Road
You can have the safest motorcycle on the road, but if you don’t follow basic safety precautions, you’ll wind up being a statistic. Take a look at these safety tips to make sure that every ride is a safe ride.
Keep a Safe Distance
You see cars in traffic riding bumper to bumper. You don’t want to do that on your bike because you need to give yourself plenty of distance to stop short. You can’t always control the cars behind you and they may follow too closely.
Your safest option is to let those cars pass you when possible.
Be Visible
You want to make sure that you’re as visible as possible on the road. In some cases, that might mean wearing a bright safety vest.
You also want to stay out of a car’s blind spot. You want to be in a spot in your lane where you can be seen by oncoming traffic, too.
Know How to Drop Your Bike
One of the most critical skills you can learn as a motorcycle rider is the ability to drop your bike. There will be moments where you have to stop short, lose your balance, or have something go wrong.
You don’t want to cause damage to your bike, but you don’t want to get injured in the process, either.
Dropping your bike can cause you to lose confidence in your abilities to ride a motorcycle. What you have to realize is that dropping a bike happens to the most skilled riders. It’s basically a right of passage for riders.
If you do drop your bike, your first reaction is to panic and get out of the way because you’re embarrassed. You don’t want to rush getting back on the road.
The first thing to do is to hit the kill switch to shut down the bike. You’ll want to check your bike for and damage. It may be scratched, but you want to make sure that nothing is leaking from the bike.
You’ll need to put the bike in gear before you hop back on and start riding again.
Know What to Do in an Accident
There may be a time when you need to know what to do in a motorcycle accident. You hope that time never comes, but statistically, it’s probable.
Your first step is to check yourself and other drivers for injuries. If there are injuries, call 911. You’ll then want to exchange insurance information and file a police report of the incident.
This is important because if you have to contact a motorcycle accident lawyer, you need to have a record of what happened and what you did.
Knowing this information ahead of time will ensure that you are clear-headed at this time. You don’t want to miss an important step because your adrenaline was running high.
Ready to Buy the Safest Motorcycle?
Even for the most skilled motorcycle riders, things happen on the road. You may get into an accident or drop your bike.
That’s why it’s so important to buy the safest motorcycle you can. You want to buy a bike that fits your skill level, size, and style.
You also want to make sure that when you are on the road, you stay safe by following cars at a safe distance and being as visible as possible.
Are you ready to hit the road? Check this blog often for the latest in car and motorcycle articles.