How do you ride a motorbike?

Question

No, I'm not going to drive out onto the road with no lessons- I need to know the basics in order to write part of my novel, where one character teaches another to ride a motorbike. If anyone can give me some names of parts or basics in riding (I don't need the things like going round corners or overtaking) I would be very grateful.

Just to clarify- I know it would be much better if I took a course but I'm 17, broke, and am planning to rewrite this when I'm older and want to publish it so I will do a lot more research then. I just needed some basic info to start off with :)

Answer 1

Take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation basic riders course.

It's not that simple there are hand and foot brakes. Clutch and throttle as well as foot shifter.

Motorcycles are quite heavy so there's a good amount of balance involved as well.

Answer 2

Your description of this event will sound flat, dull, and contrived if you don't take the MSF course. You say that you don't need to go around corners, well that's doesn't even make sense, but it also reveals that you don't even know where the brakes, shifter, clutch, and throttle are. Someone will have to show you. Go to a dealer.

Edit-Well go to a bike dealer. BS them about buying a bike and ask them what all the important stuff is. You will need to see where all the levers and whatnot are with your own eyes or it won't make sense. Except for the fact that it is completely different, the act of riding a motorcycle is exactly like riding a bike. Good luck getting published.

Answer 3

A 750 is only too massive and robust for a beginner. Even the 250 is questionable. i began out on a 50cc Suzuki lower back in the early 70's. I discovered a lot on that small motorcycle. i ultimately moved on as much as a 750 and later an 1100 as quickly as I won sufficient means and self belief. don't be in a hurry to go up in engine length. the better the selection, the bigger and bigger physically powerful the engine of the motorcycle is. as quickly as i grew to become right into a beginner there have been loads of Honda ninety's around and many bikers won their start up on them. The motorcycles these days are a protracted way greater effective valuable than the motorcycles of the equivalent length engine have been 20 or 30 years in the past. Now a 500 is equivalent or maybe stronger to an older 750. while you're in an self-discipline the place which you ought to benefit off-street I recommend going that direction till now going against autos and trucks. A small airborne dirt and mud motorcycle will teach you the basics of handling and traction and get you used to the ability without making you a objective for police.

Answer 4

Seriously it's not that easy just to explain "HOW" to ride a bike. It's much like describing how to walk of knit or any other skill.

My only bit of advise if you really are unable to afford any cost of research like a CBT is to try to get out on that back of a friend and try to observe his or her methods of riding

Now I am really going to show my age. I have done a few years of riding and would suggest a rather more mature rider. Guys around your own age are a bit all throttle and speed and as the nature of the excersize is more to learn a slightly older more experienced rider might fit the job better. I do apologise to all of you young and sensible riders out there.

Good luck with the writing and if you put your name on here I will keep a look out for your work when published.

Whatever you do please ride or passenger safely there is a great deal of lunatics out there on yours and my roads

Answer 5

I have been riding motorbikes over 30 years 20 of them before i took my test and will admit i still needed 4 lessons to get me up to scatch and would suggest lessons are the only safe way with todays traffic to get on the road safely and then years of road training as that is what you never stop doing even after you pass your test as every day is a new experience on the road be safe and good luck for the future

Answer 6

I am a qualified motorcycle training instructor.

I will tell you a few things but a CBT course (approx £100) would really be beneficial to you so that the facts are right in your book. A CBT takes a whole day so there really is a lot to take in... although technically from the yard work alone you'd have the gist if you don't need road elements and that takes approx 2 hours depending on how quickly yo pick it up.

Here goes:

Left side of the bike = gear related things (left hand is clutch and left foot is gears)
Right side of the bike = brakes (right hand is front and right foot is back)

Whilst sitting stationary on the bike sit with the right foot up applying the back brake and the left foot on the ground (left side is kerb side so if something came past close and knocked balance you are going to fall away from the traffic flow)... you keep your brake applied just in case some loony nudges you from behind lol.

You need to check your mirrors every 10-15 seconds to keep check behind you. Ride in the centre of your lane ans you've as much right to be there as anyone else (only if it's safe though... common sense judgements).

To start the bike use a procedure called FIGS - check thatthe Fuel tap is turned on, turn the Ignition key to the on position, make sure the bike is in neutral (green light would be on but don't always trust it... rolling the bike backwards and forwards with no resistance indicates neutral), Start... press the starter button on the right handlebar or if it's a kick start bike you need to have the front brake applied and use the right leg to give the kick start lever a stamp downwards.

Sorry this is long... i hope it's all making sense!

When bike is running to move forwards you need to select first gear (most bikes are 1st is down and the rest are up... 125cc's tend to have only 5 gars, larger bikes tend to have 6... research your riders bike carefully!)

To select first gear: Apply the front brake (as you are to be swapping feet and should always have a brake applied whilst sitting still), pull the clutch in, swap feet so right foot down and left foot up, click the gearshift positively downwards and you will feel the bike click into gear.
Swap feet back over and re-apply back brake - release front brake.

To find the biting point (the point where you will feel the back end of the bike dip down slightly and want to pull away): Gently increase the revs (throttle is right hand... move from the wrist not the arm)... hold the increased revs and gently ease out the clutch until you feel the bike pull (by keeping the back brake aplied it cannot pull forward.

At CBT you would practice finding the bite a few times before moving off.

Moving off: find the bite check left mirror, right mirror, then glance over right shoulder (making sure it is safe basically) then the combination of easing off the back brake, slipping the clutch out and gently increasing the revs more will get you moving forward.

When braking at speeds under 10mph use back brake only it's perfectly adequate when above 10mph you need to i troduce th front brake before the back (only a split second apart)... I won't go into reasons why!

Changing gear: obv you ain't gonna get far in 1st gear so this is a must...

Move off in 1st as normal and build some speed then to change you shut off throttle pull clutch in and give gear lever a click up (the top of your toes will do this) then you will be in second... feed out your clutch as you feed the power (nice and smooth)

Do the same for 3rd and fourth etc. To change down it is similar but you will slow down first using procedure throttle off front brake then rear brake... slow down then pull the clutch in and click down the gear box (stop in 1st gear so you are ready to move off agin).

NOTE: neutral lies between 1st and 2nd gear... not a seperate click, it is literally a halfway point so to find it you need a gentle tap up from 1st!

These are the basics but by no means try and ride a bike yourself without an instructor with you on an approved training site...

I hope this helps, there is so much more can be said but i seriously recommend you do a CBT... it will be worth its weight in gold to you as you will then be talking from experience.

Regards

Answer 7

It's hard to explain simply; it's often said that you should write about things you know... Basically, at speed you steer left to go right and vice versa; brakes are all on the right hand side of the bike (front on the handlebar, rear at the foot pedal) and transmission controls are on the left hand side (clutch at the handlebar, gear shift at the foot pedal) on nearly all modern Japanese and European bikes, throttle on the right hand grip. Gears are usually in a pattern (from bottom to top) 1-Neutral-2-3-4-5, selectable in sequence only (i.e. you can't go from first to third directly, you have to go via second, press down on the lever to go down a gear and pull up to go up one), oh yes - and it's way more fun than you could believe. Always act as if every car driver is out to kill you, too...

Answer 8

Do a CBT course. It will cost you less than a £100 typically which would be money well spent in your research & would give you more of an insight into how instructors teach the subject.

You never know you might enjoy it!

Answer 9

well first, in usa we call it a motorcycle, but that is ok, second is means of starting the motorcycle, does it use a kick or a "magic"button", (electric start)- Never "blirp" the throttle (like you would pump the gas pedal on a car) put bike in nuetral usually by holding in clutch lever and stepping down on the gear shifter repaeatedly, then 1 click up, can be difficult on some model bikes, my KTM can be a real pain sometimes, it is like a 1/2 click up. clutch is on left (usually) brake is on the right (front brake) rear brake is a foot lever on right side.

I could go on forever here, your best bet is to either take a class, (which is what the best writers would do) or go to a dealer and get some hands on type instruction. or even talk to someone you see riding one!!

Answer 10

first you sling a leg over and your right foot should cover rear the brake pedal whilst you balance the bike with your left leg, pull the clutch in which is on the left handle bar, put your right foot down so you can select first gear by pushing the left lever down with your left foot, once its selected put left foot down and right foot up, open the throttle a little on the right handle bar and ease the clutch out slowly and smoothly pulling away lift your left foot up onto the peg and the change to 2,3,4,5,6 by slightly dropping the throttle and pulling in the clutch and using your left foot to pull the gear lever up with the end of your left foot at the required revs. sounds complicated but becomes second nature after awhile