[WanderingRider]

I recently went from a black leather jacket (not designed for riding) to a new Joe Rocket mesh jacket w/ elbow and back protection. That has made SUCH a difference! The new jacket fits a lot more snugly than my old one, so it doesn’t flap around nearly as much. I didn’t realize how fatiguing that was before. Not to mention I don’t get too hot, and I feel more confident with the elbow and back protection.

Another thing thats improved my overall comfort has been the Ear Fuze earphones I bought a couple of months back. For anyone thats never heard of them, they are foam rubber earbud type ear phones that come with a two part compound that you mix together, and mold into your ear with the earphone. I’ve seen some bad reviews on them, but I took my time to shape them correctly, and they fit great. They block out a lot of sound too, are very comfortable, and never fall out. I got mine on ebay for $30.

[WanderingRider]

Thanks for the warning, I’ll keep that in mind.

[WanderingRider]

People have alreawdy mentioned most of this but I thought i’d reiterate from my experience:

Something that I usually do to make myself more visible is pulse my brake lights. I just grab and release the handle a few times quickly before I apply full brakes. Granted, you might not have time, but if you don’t have a light pulsing module thats a great way to get a driver’s attention.

That being said, I would be very careful when swerving to get out of a driver’s way, and would prefer running the light. The reason is the same reason why emergency vehicles oridinarily do not swerve through traffic: its likely the other driver will have the same idea, and swerve when you do, and you’ll get nailed. I’d much rather run the light than try to swerve and roll the dice on their reaction. If you got pulled over for that, and explain that to a cop, maybe they would be lenient.

The best thing to do really is to simply slow down when coming up to an intersection. Thats probably what that cop will say after you run the light

[WanderingRider]

All I know about my full face helmet is that it recently deflected a rock that otherwise would have hit me in the eye. It just seems like common sense – you need something to protect your face and head. Not to mention, when I do go down (and I’m sure I will at some point) I’d much prefer walking away from that crash instead of being carried away in a body bag. Having gone to a MSF course and read the findings of the Hurt report, the benefits of a helmet obviously outweigh the inconvenience of putting it on, to me at least.

[WanderingRider]

I think with engine braking the most important aspect is clutch control. You can down shift to 1st gear from cruising in 4th, and use engine braking for your primary stopping power as long as you slip the clutch gradually, keeping the RPMS from getting too high, or locking up the rear wheel.

Like you said briderdt, you’ve got to be really careful though since your brake light won’t light up unless you are using your brakes at least a little.

One thing I usually do is flash my brake light a few times before starting braking, then hold it as I slow down (even if I’m using engine braking). I’ve noticed that people seem to react more quickly when you flash the brake light like that.

I understand that you can buy a module for some bikes that plugs in line with your brake lights, and causes them to flash automatically when braking – has anyone tried one? If so, does it seem to help?

[WanderingRider]

Oww… I’ll be sure to watch out for rabbits.

[WanderingRider]

Good thing you weren’t on your bike for that collison. Was there much damage to your car?

I nearly hit a motorcyclist at work (before I started riding). I nearly turned left right in front of him, which would have caused him to hit my front passenger side, but I saw him at the last second. I think the main problems were 1) It was early, the sun was in front of me and a shadow was cast across his section of the road 2) I had my sunglasses on 3) I was tired 4) he didn’t have his lights on.

[WanderingRider]

I saw a lady in an SUV pull one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen done in a vehicle (and I’ve watched a lot of youtube). I turned left at an intersection, and a lady just up the road began to pull out in front of me and several cars to turn left. She was looking in the OTHER DIRECTION. She continued to look to her right as the traffic in front of her, waiting to turn left at the light, forced her to come to a full stop blocking 2 lanes of traffic. Since I had just turned left I wasn’t going too fast, so I stopped quickly and honked as she finally turned her head to look in our direction. If I had decided to carry more speed through the turn… well, thats why I go slowly through intersections.

I thought it was look left, right, left – not look RIGHT… hold it… keep looking right… now pull out… but maybe I’m just confused about how a turn is supposed to be done.

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