If you ever see a motorcycle thundering down the highway, you might look at it wistfully. This hobby doesn’t appeal to everyone, but many individuals like the look and feel of these remarkable machines. If you buy a motorcycle, you might unlock a part of yourself that you had previously buried. You’ll tap into the weekend warrior, the one who holds down a 9-to-5 but also loves to cut loose in your free time.
You should know that you’ve chosen an inherently dangerous hobby if you buy a motorcycle, though. Florida sees about 550 motorcycle deaths each year, and many other states have high fatality numbers too.
However, if you do get into motorcycle riding as a hobby, you can keep yourself a lot safer by following a few simple rules. Let’s talk about some of them right now.
Wear a Helmet
First and probably most important, you can stay a lot safer on your motorcycle when you wear a helmet. You can easily buy motorcycle helmets online or at brick-and-mortar store locations. You can often find one in an eye-catching color or with a fun design on it.
You might feel it’s against the spirit of adventure that comes with owning a motorcycle if you wear a helmet while riding one. It’s a good way to convince your family you’re mindful of your safety, though. They will appreciate that you’re enjoying your new hobby while remaining cautious.
Even if you don’t have any immediate family members who might worry about you if you go out for a ride without a helmet, the head injury stats that accompany motorcycle riding might convince you. You don’t want to sustain a TBI, and you can suffer one very easily if you fall off your motorcycle, even if you’re not traveling at a very high speed.
Don’t Hang Out with the Wrong Crowd
Some motorcycle riders get a bad reputation because they hold anti-establishment or countercultural attitudes. It’s true that if you look at motorcycle culture from its earliest days, there’s the image of Marlon Brando or James Dean, the rebel who takes to the highways to buck whatever societal convention throws at them.
Some motorcycle enthusiasts still have this attitude. Biker gangs still exist, and many of them get into drugs and similar illicit activities.
If you get into motorcycle riding as a hobby, you can avoid such people. Just because you ride, that doesn’t necessarily have to mean you’re challenging anything. Maybe you just like the feel of the open road while you’re out on your motorcycle. Staying away from individuals who would steer you down a bad path makes sense with any hobby, including this one.
Go Riding with Friends
You can also stay safe by only going riding with friends rather than heading out on your own. If you have some buddies who get into motorcycle riding as well, that’s a great bonding activity. You can go out as a group, or you can spend some time fixing up your motorcycles in a garage on the weekends.
If you go out on your own, you might get into an accident, and in those moments, having someone there can easily save your life. If you and several friends go out together, you can be there for each other if anything goes wrong. That’s a sound strategy with just about any hobby, not just motorcycle riding.
Don’t Go for a Ride in Bad Weather
You can stay a lot safer on a motorcycle if you don’t ride in nasty weather. If you live in a region of the country where it snows a lot in the winter, you will probably want to stow your motorcycle in the garage and wait for spring before taking it out again. If you see that your city will get some serious thunderstorms over the next few days, you can change your plans to ride as well.
You should also look out for fog, mist, sleet, hail, or just about any other condition that makes visibility poor. If you know that you’re riding into a dangerous situation, it’s best that you stay at home and wait till the day brightens.
You might also avoid riding at night. You can go out if you’re a cautious rider and you’re not going far, but more accidents happen when cars hit motorcycles at night than at any other time. It’s best that you only go out when the sunlight can reveal your location to any absentminded driver who’s behind the wheel of something a lot bigger and heavier than your motorcycle.
Don’t Drink or Ingest Drugs Before Riding
You also probably know that you should not consume any alcohol before you drive. That matters even more with motorcycles when a slight miscalculation can send you scraping along the road’s surface.
If you ingest any alcohol, even if you think you’re still under the legal limit, don’t go riding. You should also avoid getting on your motorcycle if you’ve indulged in any other substance.
You can legally use marijuana in some states now, but never do so before riding. You can also avoid riding if you’re on a doctor-prescribed medication that makes you feel sleepy or dizzy.
Some high blood pressure medications can have those effects, as can some opioids. Whatever a doctor prescribed you, read the instructions to see if that particular medication can impact your motor skills. You can also wait for a few days and see what a new medication does to you before you combine it with a motorcycle ride. That’s a sensible thing to do that takes virtually no effort on your part.
Some people get into motorcycle riding because they love the sense of danger that goes along with it. You can always split the difference, though. You can avoid overtly hazardous behavior while still getting the thrill that these awe-inspiring machines provide. Just follow the handy tips on this list and think before you act.
