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Avoid these for your own safety as well as those on the roads
Riding with novices, amateurs and 'pros' has been building my own experience over the years. Teaching them techniques and styles, I too learnt how to tackle their pre-conceived notions and to guide them in the easiest yet best possible way.
Here are a few pointers, a round up of the biggest 'DON'TS' that shall be very helpful for beginners, if put to good use.
1. No training, no license
Photograph: Jose Manuel Ribeiro/Reuters
In our country, we can apply for and get a learner's license which enables us to learn how to ride a motorcycle. There are rules which need to be followed when riding on a learner's license. Wear a helmet. No pillions who don't have a driving license or don't know how to ride a bike or a car. Observe speed-limits and city-limits etc. Don't break these rules, they are meant for a reason!
Don't be eager to throw a leg over a bike and zoom away in traffic without a proper license. Not only will you get caught but you may even cause harm to self and others. No point in getting involved in legal matters, jeopardising your riding career, going to jail or hospital for that matter. Learn well. Ride well.
Rookies may think they are cool but they got to learn if they want to stay alive.
2. High power and low skill
Photograph: MotorBeam
Our country does not restrict buyers from procuring high-end, high-powered motorcycles. According to me, this is wrong and a limit for power should come into force enabling the rider to go for a higher power motor over the years. With experience comes skill. Not with money.
We all have a few 'Mr Ritchie Rich' in our cities who have managed to bang their 'Dad-gifted' vehicles on the road side. Some of the pampered lads were killed in such accidents while a few took the lives of others. Let us all be responsible citizens. Responsible for ourselves, our loved ones, to other commuters and pedestrians on the roads, and to the roads we ride on.
The logic is quite simple: Too much power for too little skills and traffic knowledge is bad for your health. Better to learn progressively on the right bike and later move with confidence on to a bigger machine rather than fighting to stay alive on a beast that's way too big for you.
3. All eyes on you? Nope
Photograph: Abhijit Mhamunkar
Don't assume everybody out there is watching you. Yes, you have a great-looking bike, a swanky jacket and probably a cool new helmet but that does not necessarily mean the oncoming traffic has come all their way only to watch you ride! Dude, get over it and understand that everybody is on the road for a purpose and not to applaud you and your riding skills.
Instead of thinking you are centre of the Universe, try assuming you are invisible to other road users because even though you are aware of other motorists around you and have acknowledged their presence in your surroundings, the same cannot be expected of them.
You may have the right of way and 'think' that the driver of an approaching car has seen you but what if he hasn't?! BANG. But if only you had presumed the driver didn't see you, you'd be ready to take appropriate measures to avoid him. So, think you are invisible to all and stay alert at all times on road.
People may try to cut you off, change lanes without intimation, ignore your right of way and do pretty much all those things which would lead to a crash. Being able to find a way out every time is up to you. Better to be alert than being sorry or dead.
4. Trying too much too soon
Photograph: Courtesy: Adamya Manshiva
Don't let peer pressure get the better of you. Such pressure makes rookies push beyond their capabilities and that's when tragedies happen. Learn the skills of riding well first and then graduate to fast riding or putting a knee down or even stunting.
Riding really fast and squeezing through moving cars although dangerous are part of a skill-set which comes with years of experience and riding hours. Such things should not be attempted by new riders. Wheelies, stoppies, burnouts are taught by professional stunters; try learning from them before you go jumping on your bike in the middle of the road!
With guided off-roading you will eventually learn to jump water-crossings and deal with mush, ascend and descend extreme slopes. Going for a hard endurance ride really shouldn't matter to you because you are not ready for it yet. Don't push hard to cross your limits because the roads and the bikes are not exactly the most forgiving things around!
Staying upright on a motorcycle itself is not a natural instinct nor are the basic riding manoeuvres. These are to be learnt and practised until it starts to seem like an instinct. Gradually time shall take you from the rookie level to the ace level but only if you take one step at a time and when you learn it, learn it well.
5. Learning never stops
Photograph: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
It's sad but true. Beginners need to understand that they have a long way to go and learning a trick or two does not make them pros. Senior riders too tend to get the 'Know it all' feeling and nothing can surprise them anymore. They get too comfortable and start making mistakes and that's when nasty accidents happen.
A good rider is the one who, although comfortable, knows there is always a potential for hazard around every corner. A knowledgeable rider is the one who is open to more knowledge and gains some on her/his every single ride.
