Re: Some golden rules learnt from riding experience

Pretty fantastic points must say, I will add a new dimension with my humble personal experiences:

1) Always stay hydrated irrespective of the ambient temperature .
Water saves you from fatigue ,dehydration (and sunstroke in extreme cases)- and we stay in a tropical country after-all.
Even when in very cold places like Leh ,Sikkim it helps in better acclimatization and saves you from AMS. Water by its intrinsic property of higher specific heat takes time to cool and heat.
The trick is to sip water after every 2-3 hrs so don't underestimate the power of common water
I personally learnt this lesson a hard way.

2) Use all your five senses while you are riding
Apart from Sight
> Hear to sounds in your motorcycle or in your surroundings something that's not right . I don't use earphones while riding and so have saved some of my things like bottles, gloves, small things etc which flew from unchained saddle bags during pit stops
> Smell if something is burning or leaking like engine Oil, petrol, coolant etc - saddle bags hitting tyre or exhaust gives a sauteing smell
> Touching your tyre to check for punctures or chain for slack or feeling vibes in engine/bike can save disasters
> Well tasting doesn't help much but I once sipped a pungent early morning tea while and got a bad headache . I immediately threw the tea, gulped a lot of water and left the place . Well I am not sure what it was but Lesson learnt - never take anything from a deserted shop specially when solo.

3) Riding in plains and Ghats/Hills are very diff.
In Hills I observe a common unwritten rule in many of our Indian Hills :
The vehicle descending always gives space for the one ascending and takes responsibility of honking first in blind corners or hair-pin bends.
Never ever descend on neutral gear in any vehicle and never overtake on blind corners.

While in plains in 2,3 or 4 laned ways, I follow this :
> In 4 laned roads I stay on the second last left lane
> In 3 laned roads I stay on the middle lane
> In 2 laned roads I stay on the left lane but close to the marking line

Two reasons for this are to be visible and have some space on both your sides when reflexes demand.

Re: Some golden rules learnt from riding experience

Thats correct. Few dumbass fellows on the road, drive at 20kmph on a freaking moped on the rightmost lane and never let us overtake any other vehicle.

Re: Some golden rules learnt from riding experience

thanks for the info.. i did not know this.

Re: Some golden rules learnt from riding experience

One more rule i would like to add.

-Always stay focused on the road and don't let some cute girl take away your attention. I have had 2 close calls because of this. Now i make sure my eyes are on the road only. :P

Re: Some golden rules learnt from riding experience

I dont know whether it fits in RULES but and advice "Never keep your visor open" today got a foreign particle removed from my left eye.I was few meters away from my home and it was hot so I decided lets open the visor and let some air in and this happened.
In a long ride if this would have happened it would be really uncomfortable.

Re: Some golden rules learnt from riding experience

In India it is common practice on Highways to blink right side indicator to tell the driver that is following that he can overtake .so semi-literate truck or bus driver are not on any fault,Actually in Hilly areas this practice is very useful .The problem lies in selection of indicator ,in Bhutan left side indicator are used for the same purpose and they use the left hand system like us so no confusion arises if he or she is going left or asking you to overtake.By the way there is no traffic rule that say to use indicator or hand gesture to let the following driver know that he can overtake.It is the responsibility of the following driver to check every aspect before overtaking.In country where people turn or cross road suddenly without any indication if some truck driver gives signal to turn or let me know that i can pass i am more than happy

Re: Some golden rules learnt from riding experience

I'd like to add some from my experiences.

1. If there is a dog of cow on the road, pass infront of their eyes and not behind them. They don't check if someone is behind them before retreating.

2. On wet roads, braking improves with increase of weight. So carry a pillion if possible on rainy days.

3. Be extremely careful while overtaking or letting overtake a bus or truck at high speeds. The wind drag can through you out of control. Its better to maintain as much distance as possible while doing so.

4. On hot days, if you're riding on a old tyre, keep the pressure a bit lower than recommended. Further heating due to friction may cause them to burst.

5. The probability of finding a round-table conference of cows in the middle of the road is more on cold days. So don't disturb them, pass slowly beside them. :P

6. Always keep distance from cars and trucks parked along side the road. You never know when a 'Jerry' might open the door and you become the squashed 'Tom'.

Ride safe :thumbup:

Re: Some golden rules learnt from riding experience

Wear protective riding gear.
Pull out those head phones and roll it up and place it along with that sexy smart phone in the pocket or bag.
Follow traffic rules.
Learn to brake right, use more of front brakes on straights and use gentle gear breaking to assist braking transfer weight, in corners lean in or out as required, avoid using front brakes in loose sand or gavel or even in corners do the required braking before entering a corner not after entering it and gas your way out. be careful near corners there will usually be loose sand and gravel and some times even leaked or spilt oil.
Seen lots of people ride really well of late most of the young guys but not many know how to brake but thank god for ABS Brakes meant to slow a vehicle down, stopping is just the part where it has slowed you down enough. (Been used to drum brakes most of my life and still prefer them in most cases.)
As mentioned earlier by many stay away from all yellow board vehicles, most of them are rash, careless and stupid.

Ride safe

Re: Some golden rules learnt from riding experience

The very first golden rule is of course to be suited up in full gear.
Second is to ride defensively.
Third is to know your limits and ride within them.

All of the above are golden rules, however after 30 years of riding there is one rule that I always follow without fail i.e. Listen to your instincts!

If something tells you not to over take, listen to that voice. If that voice tells you to slow down as you cannot see through a turn, listen to it. If the voice tells you to slow down, listen to it. You will never regret it.


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Re: Some golden rules learnt from riding experience

same I m doing

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