Bikes are dangerous. . Things that result in a small dent in your car can kill you on a bike. Any unplanned excursion into the shrubbery can kill you on a bike. Always assume the car drivers will do the stupidest thing possible -like signal for a right turn and turn left instead. Or swerve directly into your lane. etc. (this goes for your riding buddies too) Try to actively think about this stuff. For example- You are riding down a country road. There is a car on the left shoulder. and the guy is reaching into his mailbox from the drivers seat. What is he going to do after he gets the mail? Sit there and read it? Pull out into your lane going your way? Make a 180 turn across both lanes so he hits you head on? Have a plan, an escape route. What do I do if-?
When watching a stopped car, look at the front wheel- it is your earliest clue about movement, is it starting to rotate? Turning?
good braking skills are imperative-not just to avoid hitting something as a last ditch measure, but to buy time for other evasive maneuvers ( don't combine them-brake OR swerve, you are gonna only have enough traction for one or the other at any one time.)
So practice stopping in a safe place.
There are two basic skill sets need to survive on a bike- physical riding skills,
and more important, situational awareness and judgement skills.
The best way I know to improve riding skills is to get a small dirt bike and ride off road with some friends. You can slip and slide and fall with little damage.(usually)
Judgement is a matter of thinking and observation and takes time. It is hard to learn in a car because the penalty is a lot more remote.
if you find yourself saying, "that a$$-why did he do that!? about a driver, it is a good indication you situational awareness failed. I have said it a million times my self-and there is always a new idiot out there inventing cool new ways to put the hurt on bike riders.
Read Dave Hough's book. "Proficient Motorcycling". He got a medal for it. And 40 years of training riders to stay alive.
The most common serious screw ups I read about-
not making a corner due to speed or some other factor. (Taking a wide entry and a late apex is good-for example-on a left hand corner, stay right till you can see the line out-this will help to prevent being trapped by a decreasing radius curve) Lots of times a early apex on the first corner will put you in the wrong place to make the next one.
poor emergency braking resulting in a locked rear brake, sideways slide, and brake release resulting in a high side crash.
T-boning a car turning across your lane, usually at an intersection.
Sorry this is so disorganized, and please forgive my crappy writing- I am not trying to preach, just trying to pass along a few useful things I have learned the hard way over many years.
