There are plenty of good motorcycling resolutions that could be made, that should be made, even need to be made.
In the unlikely event you don’t ride but you’ve somehow stumbled into this motorcycle-saturated corner of the World Wide Web, maybe your resolution for 2013 is to learn to ride. If so, may I suggest you start with my post about learning how to ride, then read up on what to wear, the best advice and consider the links in Motorcycle 101 before moving on to continue your never-ending education elsewhere.
No matter how experienced we are, however, continuing education and critical self-appraisal are essential. We have to be honest with ourselves. If we make a mistake and get away with it through luck, such as crossing the center line and riding on with no consequences because no traffic happened to be coming along in the other lane at that time, it’s tempting to put it out of our minds and not think about what might have been. But we never learn from mistakes that are quickly forgotten.
Are there times when you don’t feel in control? Moments like that are warnings not to be dismissed or ignored. Years of riding do not automatically make us better riders. If we practice the wrong things, practice makes us worse, not better. Which is why honest self-appraisal and the helping eye of an experienced instructor are so valuable.
There are plenty of great options for advancing your motorcycling education, and I’ve been fortunate to try a few, ranging from the very racetrack-oriented Schwantz School, where the instructors are 1993 World Champion Kevin Schwantz and a variety of other talented and fast current and former racers, to RawHyde Adventures‘ introductory off-road riding course for adventure-touring bikes. (Note: it’s not Jim Hyde’s fault I’m a below-average rider once the pavement ends. You can read my article here.)
But for street riders, perhaps the best training I know of is the Stayin’ Safe Advanced Rider Training, which basically takes a fun tour on entertaining roads and turns it into a learning experience. If you think you’re an aware, observant rider, this tour will open your eyes to just how much sharper you can be on the road. (Here’s one of my articles about Stayin’ Safe.)
Are these courses expensive? There’s no disputing that. So are the costs of not being prepared. The costs of crashing can be high, in monetary terms (broken motorcycle parts, higher insurance rates) and personal terms (broken body parts, pain, and time lost to recovery). Even if you can’t afford to take a course, there are plenty of great books out there to teach you how to ride better. Whitehorse Press, the publisher of my book, offers a variety of instructional books.
Regardless of whether we read a book, take a course, or just focus on polishing our riding skills on our own, it’s up to us to implement the self-improvement plan. This may be a gross generalization, but I think motorcyclists as a whole are more likely than the general public to embrace and accept the concept of personal responsibility. So the obvious place to start, on this first day of a new year, is with a resolution to improve ourselves as riders.
This year I’ll resolve to be honest with myself and to try to be a better, more aware rider. Honest in admitting that my eyesight isn’t as sharp as it used to be, so I’ll have less time to react after (or if) I see that there’s gravel in the turn ahead. Honest in recognizing that while I don’t feel any less capable when riding on the street, my lap times on the track prove that my skills are a bit duller than they were when I was ten years younger.
What’s your riding resolution?
