If you own a Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle then I’m sure you understand that riding your bike around curved back country roads is one of the greatest joys you can experience in life. That being said, we all want to take special precautions to ensure that we enjoy as many of these types of rides as possible.
Because the weather was so nice there were a lot of other writers out on the road today. As I live in northern Indiana, there tends to be a lot more Harley-Davidson riders then import riders on the roads most days. Unfortunately, I see a lot of dangerous behavior coming from riders of all backgrounds. Whether the riding American motorcycles or imports doesn’t seem to make much of a difference. This type of foolishness has to stop..
Is it just me or do people seem to be getting dumber these days? We have helmet laws in my state, but that doesn’t stop people from riding without them. It’s true that we see riders making poor decisions all around us every day from the riding community as a whole but this applies double to those who are riding imports.
It seems very simple to me. Motorcycle safety boils down to just a few things. First of all, make sure that you have your proper gear on. A helmet is an absolute necessity, not an option. Depending on the weather a good jacket is also a must along with proper riding boots, gloves, and eye protection.
Once you have your gear in place, make sure that you observe safe riding habits. The number one mistake that I see people making while riding is failing to signal before making a lane change. Unlike cars or trucks, motorcycle riders have two ways to signal their intent to change lanes. You can use the mechanical signal located on your bike or you can use a hand signal to let everybody else know that you intend to change lanes.
It is well-known that riding motorcycles tends to be rather dangerous, at least when compared to other methods of transportation. Without thousands of pounds of steel surrounding you as you drive this is to be expected but no member of the motorcycle riding community needs to enhance the statistic by doing stupid things.