This is part 2 of the 10-part blog series on motorcycle safety. To go to part 1, click here.
When it comes to biker safety, the type of motorcycle you ride, its capabilities, control over your hormones and ego and your attitude towards how you process new information with-respect-to motorcycling impact your safety directly.
1. Motorcycle type and its capabilities matter
The type of motorcycle you ride and how you ride it directly impacts the safety aspect of motorcycling. Every motorcycle, especially the expensive ones are made for very specific use. However, most people buy expensive motorcycles for different reasons than their specific use. People buy these exotic machines basis what their budget allows or how a bike looks and the amount of power it produces. Most of these decisions are made around bragging rights.
A super lightweight motorcycle made for pure off-roading will not be stable on hi-speed expressways where crosswinds alone will be enough to push it around like a fly. A high-torque dragster will give hell to a rider in tight traffic, especially in a hot and humid city.
There are different motorcycle models made for city streets, straight highways, for adventure touring, for tracks, for sliding and doing wheelies and so on. Fatal accidents happen when a person tries to do ABC with a motorcycle that is designed to do XYZ, that too pushing it beyond his or her skill level and the bike's capabilities.
There is a reason that motorcycles are categorized as Sports Bikes, Street Naked, Adventure Touring, Sports Touring, Highway Cruisers, etc. You have to be really dumb if you don't pick up the clue from the category name given for your specific motorcycle type and use it accordingly. Push your bike in a terrain it is designed for, push it till the point your skill level allows, push it only in ways it is designed for.
The lesson to learn here: Don't try to be a hero in a moment of heat. If your riding buddy decides to race ahead, don't join the circus. Think first what kind of motorcycle you are riding, what it is meant for, how good the road or terrain you are riding on is and your skill level. Use your motorcycle the way it is designed for.
2. Your ego and hormones matter
The ego powers human life, without desires backed by ego, the human existence will come to an end slowly. However, when the ego beyond a healthy level takes over the throttle then the rider not only puts his or her own life at risk but of those around. As someone said, "with great power comes greater responsibilities," same is applicable for powerful motorcycles. Your motorcycle is designed to give great pleasures of life but it can also take lives. In addition to ego, if your hormones are not stable and you are borderline crazy, take your craziness elsewhere. Do not ride a powerful motorcycle if you do not have control over your ego and hormones.
Riding a higher-capacity motorcycle is bound to make you playful at times. You will for sure entertain a bit of healthy competition with other riders and drivers. After all, the real thrill of riding certain fast motorcycles is in being fast. However, there is a thin line between doing healthy high speeds and dumb speeding beyond one's capability putting everyone at risk.
Biologically speaking, young guns (young riders) may have higher testosterone levels, higher levels of misfiring hormones and misplaced ego, all of which could translate to high speeds at all times, dangerous riding patterns and unnecessary racing with fellow riders and strangers. The older riders are expected to have their ego in check as their hormones would have mellowed down with age. But believe me, I have fellow riders in their third phase of life with testosterone levels that of a modern teenager. There will always be exceptions.
You (as a rider) have unhealthy levels of ego if you frequently have close-calls and others are flagging you for dangerous riding. You have this constant urge to race with everyone around you and beat them. You look at fellow riders and drivers as competing with you all the time. You want to win every friendly race. You cannot let others win over you. Your manliness is proven only by speeding. Your worthiness is defined by speed and others looking at you as a winner. The control to your anger is in the hands of other riders who give you flybys.
If the above statements are true in your case then it is time to start meditation.
Tame your ego
A great deal of riding safety depends on the ability of a rider to master his or her ego while riding. Some say that motorcycling is pure emotion but emotions cannot ride a bike safely. It is the logic that will keep you alive. However, if you let emotions in the form of ego take over your logic then someday you are bound to pay the price.
The lesson to learn here: Before you go for a ride, make sure your ego is in check and your hormones are calm. Remind yourself that you are going to ride only to have fun and not break bones. You are not going out there to win a motorcycle battle but to enjoy the ride and come back home safely so you can ride again next time. Remember, "master your ego or forever be its slave."
3. Attitude matters
Different riders have different attitudes toward life. Some are positive, some are negative, some are unrealistically optimistic and some are constructively pessimistic. Your attitude in general will dictate how good a rider you will become. If you are the cocky 'I-know-it-all' kinds then may god have mercy on your arrogance.
To avoid accident and death one has to become a good rider. Nobody is born great rider who also has good road sense and sensibilities. Everything has to be learned and earned. But the possibility of learning only arises when one realizes and accepts that he/she doesn't and cannot know everything. In my experience, most of my fellow riders already know much and need not be told how to ride. Even if I point at their riding mistakes, they have such poor self-awareness that they will pass it off as if I am talking about someone else. They cannot observe themselves. In fact, many of them eagerly wait to pick on me and my riding style and blow it out of proportion.
The only reason I was able to get better as a rider and continue to learn is by being self critical and spending enough time contemplating and analyzing my rides.
The lesson to learn here: Your attitude is directly proportional to how much you learn as a rider. You can learn even from your enemies. Before you dismiss someone's comment on your riding, first reflect on the validity. Keep an 'always-ready-to-learn' attitude and see how quickly you learn, keep an 'I-know-it-all' attitude and just wait till life humbles you.
You just completed Part 2 from the 10-part blog series. To read Part 1, click here.
Comments