Tips For Beginner Motorcycle Riders

Learning to ride a new motorcycle is an exciting time, but it can be nerve-wracking. A motorbike is completely different from driving a car, so it can be like learning how to drive all over again. 

Riding a motorbike can be learned quickly if you can put the practice in. Riding a bike goes beyond knowing to invest in sturdy motorcycle boots. There are some of the most helpful tips for beginner motorcycle riders. 

Start Out With An Old Motorcycle

Learning how to properly use a motorcycle takes practice. When you’re practising, it’s easy to accidentally do damage to your bike, through easy mistakes like taking a turn too sharply or dropping the bike when trying to move it. 

Try not to get frustrated when this happens. It’s common, and most bike owners do it. This is why it’s a good idea to start out with an older, cheaper motorbike. Don’t buy your dream motorcycle to learn to ride on, as it’s probable that you will scratch it up or damage it. This way you can practise without worrying about doing damage, as it won’t really matter if you do. You can invest in a nicer bike later. 

Shop Around For Insurance

Before you even think about getting on a motorcycle and starting to ride it, you will need to get insurance for your bikes.. Insurance is usually only available if you have at least a learner’s permit to operate a motorbike, so make sure you have your permit so you’re covered while you’re on the road. 

When you’re looking for insurance, don’t just go with the first insurance quote that you get given. Shop around a bit to find the best deal that you can. You might be surprised at how big of a difference that there is in premiums between insurance companies. Motorcycle insurance quotes are easy to find and it shouldn’t take you very long to get several of them so you can decide which is the best value option for you. 

Get As Much Insurance Coverage As Possible

While you’re looking around for a good insurance rate, try to get a good understanding of what motorcycle insurance is and what it will do for you. Most people know that they need at least some kind of insurance, as the law requires it. However, a lot of the parts of motorcycle insurance is widely misunderstood.

The type of insurance that is required in most places is liability insurance. This means that if you cause an accident while you’re on your motorcycle, your insurance will cover any damages for the other party. This can be extremely useful, but there can also be a lot more involved in a motorcycle accident than just needing to cover the bills for somebody else. 

Motorcycle liability insurance will not cover the costs of any damages caused to your bike or any medical bills. If you only have the minimum liability, there’s also no guarantee that it will cover all of the other person’s damages either if the accident was a serious enough accident. 

Before you commit to any insurance, think carefully about adding on some additional add-ons to it, such as comprehensive uninsured/underinsured. Accidents can get expensive very quickly, so make sure you do plenty of research to work out what type of insurance is the best for you. You could be the rest rider out on the road, even as a beginner rider, but that doesn’t mean that the other drivers around you on the road as good as you are. 

Practice In Empty Carparks

Trying to find safe places to practice riding a motorbike as a beginner can be a bit difficult. Having other drivers around you while you are trying to learn is intimidating which can impact on the way you ride. 

One of the best places to start learning how to ride a motorbike is in a large empty carpark. Ideal places for this might be school or church carparks after hours, so you don’t need to worry about cars coming in and out.

Carparks are ideal, as they already have lines painted on that you can practice riding around, and you don’t need to worry about other drivers getting in the way. 

Practice In Wet Empty Carparks

Along with practicing your riding as a beginner in an empty carpark, it is also a smart idea to practice riding in these empty carparks when they’re wet after rain. 

If you’re going to be riding a motorcycle, chances are you that will you get caught out in a rain storm, which will mean riding on wet roads. Riding on wet roads is very different than riding on dry roads, and it can be dangerous if you don’t know how to do it. 

Practice riding in wet conditions in a controlled environment, like a wet carpark, so you can have a better idea of what it be like to ride when the road surface is wet and slippery. This will help you to become a better defensive rider and keep you prepared for when rain happens. 

Practice Hard Manoeuvring

One of the scariest parts of learning how to ride a motorcycle is learning to manoeuvre correctly. It might seem easy enough, like all you need to do is move the handlebars. 

It’s actually more difficult than you might think. You might get caught in some situations that require some hard manoeuvring and sudden movements. When you practice as a beginner, make sure you practice some sharp turns and tight circles. You should also practice quick acceleration as well as hard braking, because there will almost certainty be a time when you will really need to do this in the real world out on the road. 

It might feel frightening to practice these hard manoeuvers at first, but if you do them over and over again, you will become a lot more comfortable doing them, feel more confident, and be able to perform them without much thought. Obviously, be carefully when practice so you don’t hurt yourself.