These courses cover everything detailed in your state’s motorcycle manual, including passing, negotiating curves, group riding formations and how to avoid unsafe situations. After all, the time to learn how to recover from a skid on a bike is not when you go into one for the first time.

 

Taking a motorcycle safety course prepares you to hit the road safely and with more confidence. Plus discounts of up to 10% on motorcycle insurance premiums. Check with your bike insurance provider

Top Motorcycle Safety Tips - Get the Right Gear

Jeans, a T-shirt, and sandals are recipes for a painful disaster on a bike. Instead, you want gear that will protect you from wind chill, flying bugs and debris, and, yes, lots of road rash if you should slide out.

 

You don’t have to look like a reject from “Easy Rider” to ride a motorcycle. But a leather jacket is cool on and off the bike.

 

5-Ball Leathers’ Provides protection on the outside and inside

 

There’s a reason bikers wear leather: it’s strong enough to protect their skin if they slide along the road surface. Plus, motorcycle riders are exposed to other road hazards, like small rocks, bugs and cigarette butts, that people in cars are protected from. At 60 miles per hour (96.6 kilometers per hour), even a small rock can sting. Leather gear can help protect you.

 

5-Ball Leathers provides outstanding products that look good on and off the bike. And most important, they are utilitarian. Our JAK Shirts, Vests and Jackets are the Swiss Army Knives of the leather crowd. They provide utility, security and comfort. We utilize Buffalo leather.

 

Leather is a durable, natural and flexible material created by tanning animal rawhide. 5-Ball uses a chrome-tanned leather process, invented in 1858. The processes uses chromium sulfate and other chromium salts. It is more supple and pliable than vegetable-tanned leather and does not discolor or lose shape as drastically in water as other processes.

 

Top Motorcycle Safety Tips - Protect Your Feet

When riding a motorcycle, you want study shoes. Those shoes are the only protection your feet will have. Look for something with a rugged sole. Shoes with smooth soles make it easier for you to slip. When you’re at a stop and using your feet to balance, the last thing you want to do is slip and drop your bike.

 

Motorcycle shoes should also have sturdy ankle supports and a low heel. You want something that makes it easier for you to balance. Look for shoes or boots in a durable material, like leather, for better protection.

 

Top Motorcycle Safety Tips - Ride Within Your Skills

Riding a motorcycle is a skill, and like all skills, it’s something that you need to develop. While you may be fine to go on an easy cruise around town, it takes time to grow the skills you need to be an expert rider.

 

 

To stay safe, make sure that you always ride within your skill level. Your friends who have been riding longer may be able to go super fast, weave in and out of traffic, or control their bikes on curvy roads, but that doesn’t mean you should.

Take the time to build your skills and only ride in situations where you know your skills are up to the job.

 

Top Motorcycle Safety Tips - Wear a Lid

Helmets are an emotional topic for some riders. But the facts show the risk. Riders without a helmet are 40 percent more likely to suffer a fatal head injury in a crash and are three times more likely to suffer brain injuries, than those with helmets, according to government studies.

 

Of course, wearing a helmet isn’t enough. You need to wear the right helmet. Lots of places sell novelty helmets that look good but don’t protect you. Look for a Department of Transportation-approved helmet.

 

Make sure your helmet fits properly. It shouldn’t be too tight or too loose. It shouldn’t obstruct your vision, but it should cover most of your head. For more protection, opt for a full-face helmet with protection all the way around.

 

A simple windshield can at least protect your face from bugs, rocks and rain, but a full-face helmet will have a piece that goes around your chin, so your face won’t make contact with the road.

 

Modern helmets are strong, light weight, and comfortable, and they cut down on wind noise and fatigue. Keep in mind that helmets deteriorate over time, and may not be safe even if they look fine. The Snell Memorial Foundation, an independent helmet testing and standards-setting organization, recommends replacing a helmet every five years, or sooner if it’s been damaged or has been in a crash.

 

Even if you ignore every other motorcycle safety tip, wear a helmet.

Top Motorcycle Safety Tips - Avoid Distraction - Head on a Swivel

We all know distracted driving is a bad idea, but it’s worse when you’re riding a bike. One of the keys to staying safe on a motorcycle is staying hyper-aware of everything that’s going on around you. Remember, motorcycles are tough for drivers to see –especially drivers in large cars or SUVs.

 

You need to see and avoid them, rather than bet on them seeing you. If you’re fiddling with your phone or iPod, you’re reaction time is cut by several precious seconds, putting you at higher risk of a collision.

 

If you’re on a bike, remove all temptation for distraction and put your phone where you can’t get to it.