From the looks of things we got a good number of knowledgeable riders that can (safely) ride quickly with confidence. To help some those folks thinking about getting a bike let's share some of own methods. For me aside of just using good sense, is the safety of personal road space. I like to keep myself so that I control what's around me. On the road I keep the bike in a bubble of space that I control. If the driver of the car in front of me is doing things like looking around and appears not be aware of my presence I'll fade back or pass. I think the key is what fighter jocks refer to as "Situational Awareness". After a while you start to recognize danger situations and how to best avoid them.

very true... riding made me a more aware and better driver, but at the same time if i see a bike passing me on the shoulder when i'm in a car I will swerve towards him i don't like riders who ride like assholes and make people in cars dislike me when they see me on my bike... i do stupid thing on my bike, but all my stunting is done late at night when no ones on the road i think all car drivers should have to learn how to ride bikes and ride one for a week to see how much they don't pay attention , jay

so here are my 2 cents::::

I have seen so many of my friends pick up little cuties just so they can have them on the back of the bike and act all cool (ok, maybe I have done this a couple of times......a day)...but one thing that is almost irritating is that they will ride these girls like if they were riding by themselves...come on!!!

I literally loose count of how many times I have seen people go down because they were riding somebody inexperienced, specially on corners when they either try to lean too much with you or completely the opposite way.......sucks ass as their pretty faces hit the ground or their nice tight tan legs (of course I am talking about the girls you dorks )... get all road-rashed.....

Funny I used to actually carry a bag on dimes in my jacket pocket which I called my bag of tricks, it was there just for the reason if someone got to close or was drink on the road and being stupid. I never had to use it but a friend on a older triumph was chased down the road by a drunk teenager at one point. All it took was ~100 small 1/8 inch ball bearing to smash the front window and cause him to slow down.

You are joking, right? You can't seriously expect us to believe that a fellow biker would intentionally put the life of another at risk over a minor annoyance...

I always have in my line of sight "a way out" in case I need to get out of the way for some reason

I do not ride close to cars in front of me, I stay back far enough so I can see the pavement in front of me in case they straddle something in the road like a dead animal I will see it and can move to avoid it

I do not allow people to drive next to me, I speed up or I slow down, I keep a blank space all the way around me that is big enough to give me room to get out of the way

I try to never ride at night, it cuts down my visibility too much, when I do ride at night I follow cars but not too close, I also try to drive in the same path one of their tires is in so if they hit something in the road, it will be flatter when I get to it

I go slow through intersections and look for dirt on the road and I look both ways when crossing streets, like I would look if I were walking

At an intersection where I am stopped I sit with the bike in 1st gear, ready to jump out of the way if I need to, and I keep one eye in the rear view mirror all the time I'm sitting still

To this day I practice figure eight's in the spring in parking lots along with quick starts and panic stops

I have trained myself to not stand on the rear brakes in a panic stop, I start with the front brakes and if I have time I start to activate the back

When I ride, I leave everything in my mind other than riding at home, if I can't clear my head of something that I'm working on or dealing with, I don't go for a ride, it takes 100% of my mind to ride, if I don't have it, I don't ride

I NEVER ride in shorts and I just can't believe some people do

I watch cars like a hawk, I look at the drivers in them and I try to anticipate what they might do so I can be prepared, if someone is driving poorly I take another road or I pass them so fast it is not even funny

I look over the bike and check the tires a lot, I always do a preflight check before I get onto the bike, I check both low and hi-beams work and I have the spare bulb in my bag, I check blinkers, brake light activation by foot and by hand and I check the horn

I try to wear bright colored or light colored cloths, my helmet is Ducati Yellow and I would never ride without a full face helmet and I force myself to keep the visor down or at best just cracked open slightly

Sorry the thoughts are in random order, I could keep going but I have to go...

Never ride "stiff armed". Keep your arms supple so they act as dampers not solid struts. This helps eliminate transfering frame movement into fork movement and helps eliminate "headshake" that can graduate into "tank slappers".

Always look where you want to go not at what you are trying to avoid. The bike will go where you look.

When riding with a passenger ALWAYS have them hold on with their arms around YOU. This keeps them from flopping around like a sack of potatos and leaning in the wrong direction.

When it is inevitible that you have to run over something in the road brake hard till right before the object to scrub off as much speed as possible and then pop off the front brake and gas it to fully extend the front forks to allow them to have full travel to absorb the impact.

Never let anyone else ride your bike unless you are riding theirs and it is worth more than yours provided you get to keep theirs if they wreck yours.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by drogers
[B]

You are joking, right?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jaynite
[B]


its one thing if you have to go on the shoulder to avoid something ahead...it's another if your passing cars on the right going down the shoulder, people like that annoy me very much as do people who lane split....but here lane spliting is illegal...like i said before, if you want to ride like an asshole do it at times when there are no cars on the road

and like i said i live in ny, lane sharing and splitting is not legal...and also like i said some people get on bikes and lose there respect for others around them..but that's my opinion
I respect what your saying , but our opinions are just different...assholes like i 'm talking about are the reason many motorists have no respect for bikes