WHAT makes YOU a good rider?

Question

What is it that you personally find to be your best strength as a rider? what makes you confident ineven getting on these roads these days with soo many idiot cagers?We ALL have lost friends over the years,yet i find myself still buying a new bike every couple years.I personally do not have a clear answer as to how I still have the sack to throw a leg over,and yet while on it,all those thoughts of death and carnage Ive witnessed over the years seem to fade a bit,if only the duration of my ride.
Id say for me its confidence in my own riding skills from many years of riding,i was riding before i ever owned a bmx bike....ida know...freaks me out at times to think of it all.

I believe the reason i dont think about,or dwell on mishaps,death,etc etc..is due to my amount of concentration as I ride.Im not paranoid,but everything and everyone is out to get me...I think i concentrate soo hard on whats taking place in front,to the sides,behind me,the 2x4 laying in the road,the dog,the old lady pulling out without looking up from lighting her 120.
If i only concentrated that hard during work,id be somebodies president by now...lol.

Answer 1

Sounds like you have a healthy respect and a love for riding. If you just have a thing in you gut that tells you that you have to ride and not riding is not possible then you have to do it. It's like you have no choice, it's in you DNA. If it's not you shouldn't be doing it. The other thing is you have to put you testostorone, ego, and your "manhood" in the garage and take a dose of common sense, humility, awareness, the desire to return home safely before you leave the driveway. I have lost friends and a brother to cycling and it is not a comforting thought, but it's something I have in me and I wouldn't take it out if I could. Be as safe as you can always and live to ride another day. You already knew that though I suspect.

Answer 2

Basically everyone who has answered has answered with 6 points. Some have a few more and others haven’t thought of a few.
• Never riding beyond their abilities
• Being alert about their surroundings and the right mindset when you first hop on your bike to go
• Constantly questioning their actions whilst riding; being responsible for your actions and also for their consequences.
• Training, confidence and experience, the training helps build the confidence which in turn builds the experience because you are more confident to ride so you ride more often, so you apply your training more often (great circle) and this helps greatly
• KNOWING the machine you ride through cleaning, maintenance adds to the mix.
• A love of riding and the sense of freedom and achievement that arise from it
I know from my own experience (which is REALLY short compared to a lot of riders here) it is a combination of all the above. You need everything to ride and when your time is up it is up regardless whether you stay at home, drive your car, ride your bike etc.

Answer 3

What makes me a good rider is simply knowing that I am, in fact, a good rider. Let me explain...

Anybody can take a MSF course, but not just anybody can ride a motorcycle safely. There are people who take the course but are still afraid of the motorcycle and think that they will get hurt or wreck if they do this or that. These are the folks that will get hurt and will never be a "good" rider because they will not let themselves believe that they actually can be one.

A "good" rider must be comfortable with the motorcycle and know that they can, when necessary, ride very slightly beyond their perceived abilities and come out the other side OK (leaning that bike way over and looking through a turn that was a bit sharper than they thought, for example).

A "good" rider respects the motorcycle, its capabilites and limitations, but is not one bit afraid of it. Motorcycles are almost like animals. It's like they can sense you are afraid and they will bite you surely enough.

Answer 4

For me, when I ride, I'm more aware of my surroundings. I'm more intuitive and seem to have a keener sense of what drivers will do. I use my wits and my bike's power to avoid and get myself out of potentially dangerous situations.

Over my 28yrs or riding, I have learned my limits and know that I can never hope to surpass my bike's limits. I respect my bike and feel content when I ride it.

But there's ALWAYS the chance that something will go wrong, no matter how skillful or careful you are. But we ride because we simply enjoy it.

Ride Safe my friend!

Answer 5

Experience is the best teacher. I've been riding motorcycles all my life, and as you point out, confidence from experience can keep you safe. Just have good situational awareness. Actually, a motorcycle can get you out of tight spots better than a car can sometimes. Keep on riding.

Answer 6

Years and miles, like my grandfather used to say" There is no substitute for experience.
Additionally I've ridden MX, desert, production class G.P. ,street raced and now do some drag from time to time.
There is something to be learned from each discipline, but MX is really what made me a good rider ,able to keep my cool under really "Hairy" situations.

I also believe building bikes and having a thorough understanding of how the entire machine works makes one a better rider, but not all will agree with that.

Answer 7

I never said I was good.
My best strength as a rider comes from having the best of teachers when first learning to drive a car, then a truck. When I moved to motorcycles there was no "increase" in my situational awareness. It was already there. For the rest of it, I never push my bike to the limits, those are much greater than mine.

I never worry about who's gonna kill me out there, it won't happen until my time comes.

Answer 8

I guess it would be years of experience on and off road. I got my first motorcycle when I was 10 years old. I don't drink alcohol when I ride, I don't have the attitude that speed and maneuverability will get me out of a bad situation, I try to obey all the traffic rules. There's probably a fair amount of **** luck too. I'm not quite sure how I survived my 20s.

Answer 9

Been ridin' 38 yrs, took a Motorcycle Safety Foundation rider's course back in Oct. and they taught this ol' dog some new tricks to avoid accidents. I highly recommend taking one. Also recommend a private school over a public/vocational school riding course as they offer more one on one instuction

Answer 10

RIDING A BIKE IS AN ART if you feel incompetent then get off of it .Having control of a bike is the ultimate expieirence.If you know how to counter steer,you are there.If you learn on dirt first,you can handle a heavier bike a lot easier.I grew up on iron-ore roads,with a uni-cycle,dirt bikes,and street bikes.There,s no bike I can not handle.Iv,e owned a lot of the fastest production bikes out there years ago.