Motorcycle riding can be exhilarating, fun, easy and carefree, only if you have a proper control of the machine. The vehicle may look small comparatively to a car but it's like a beast with hidden bursting energy. The machine can be energized in split seconds with a full throttle turn. Of course to enjoy riding with many more years to go on without injury, there are a few motorcycle riding tips and motorcycle safety below to serve as a guideline for beginners:

1. As a beginner, learning to ride a motorcycle is important. You need to be trained before you buy a motorcycle. E.g. pass riding training school and get a motorcycle license. To speed up the process, before attend the riding training school, you can gain some knowledge related to motorcycling through articles, riding books etc. to boost up your confident level and some riding tips, ranging from riding mentality, riding gears, riding habits, motorcycle riding skills, understanding and handling of your bike and lastly on bike maintenance.

2. Always adopt a motorcycle defensive riding mentality. According to statistic, injury and fatality rates are much higher in teens or inexperienced riders than the experienced riders. The younger and inexperienced ones are likely to speed and show-off their riding stunts to their peers without thinking of consequences.

3. Invest in good motorcycle gears right from full face helmet, riding gloves, riding jacket, riding boots, etc. Always keep in mind; riding a motorcycle is flesh covering the metal piece whereas driving a car is metal piece covering the flesh. So, no matter what, as a rider, we got all to lose when accident involving the motorcycle happens, especially due to unforeseen circumstances, whether the accident is caused by you or other party. To keep injury to the least, it is good to invest in good protective riding gears. (You may not invest in all items all at one go but starts from the essence and accumulate them as time go by). For tropical weather, wear at least a durable safety full face helmet, sunshade to prevent glaring in the day, riding gloves, long sleeve shirt or polo-tee, jeans and covered shoes for short distance commute. Also, you can pick up the knowledge from the riding book.

4. To remove the fog in the visor from a full-faced helmet, do not shut the visor fully. Instead, always leave a small gap so that condensation from the external does not take place. If need be, you can also have an instant anti-fog coating by spitting onto your internal side of the visor and followed by a clean wipe of your drool with a cloth. (That is how diver does on their diving mask!)

5. Always keep and stay alert to the surrounding with anticipation so that you can react fast when unforeseen situation happens. Make sure your rear mirrors are in the correct position so that you do not adjust your riding posture to view it. Also, when you are tired, do take a break by the road side and do some stretches.

6. Do not speed. Speeding kills! The faster you speed, the lesser the reaction time. Do not think that you are a superman who can react fast in a nick of time, chances are, and you will not have a second one.

7. Always travel with your motorcycle headlights ON to gain visibility and give a bigger profile to the vehicles in front of you. You become prominent to their rear view mirror.

8. If you really need to stop by the road side for a short while for any unforeseen reason or event (which I strongly discourage you to do so), do TURN ON your real motorcycle rear red light and at least either one of your orange signal light to gain visibility for the vehicles behind, especially in the dark.

9. Make sure you SIGNAL and check to make sure there is no vehicle at your blind spot before changing lane (be it left or right). There is a little rthyme to keep you safe in this riding book in changing lanes.

10. Do not travel on the road divider. First, it's slippery and provides no traction to the tyres, especially during raining days. Secondly, the likelihood for you to fall into the blind spot of the vehicles in front of you is high and it's dangerous to manoeuvre overtaking act.

11. Always keep a safety distance to the front vehicle so that you have time to react if the front vehicle pulls over by the road side suddenly.

12. Do not tail gate the vehicle in front of you and squeeze in between the gap where it turns, hoping to overtake it. Chances are, it always fails and accident do happens.

13. Do not weave in and out on heavy congested road to show off your riding stunt. It is very dangerous as you may enter into the blind spot of the front vehicle when it makes a sudden turn be it left or right and you may end hitting the vehicle.

14. When come to corners, make sure the motorcycles drop gear at a slower speed to negotiate the bend so that you've full control of the bike. Bank the bike gently and accordingly (the angle of bank depends on the speed of the vehicle) towards the direction where you are moving. This riding book will tell you what to do if you happened to enter a turn in too great a speed.

15. Do not brake abruptly when you are entering a corner, if you do, tap on the front brake gently. The rear brake will cause you to skid and lost balance especially the road is slippery and no grip. Always practice to build up your confidence level. Also do remember, practice make perfect.

16. If possible, try to avoid night riding. Motorcyclists are more prone to accidents due to poor visibility at night. Moreover, older riders take longer time to adjust to the dark as compared to the younger ones. However, if one has to ride in the night, try to use the corner of your eyes instead and not staring directly to the headlights from opposite traffic.

17. Do not brake suddenly and, if possible take a quick look at the rear view mirror to make sure there is no vehicle tail gating behind you closely. The rear vehicle might ram into you due to dreaming at times.

18. Every motorcycle behaves differently. It’s better to get used and accustomed to its characteristic for a while before riding it seriously. Choose a bike which you are confident and comfortable in. For example height consideration, if you are short, likelihood for you to choose a dirt bike is slim because your foot hardly reach the ground when the bike is stationary, unless you've to do awkward stunt to keep the bike standing. This riding book will have more information in choosing a motorcycle.

19. Know you motorcycle parts and engine well. Maintenance of your bike is important because obviously you do not want your bike to break down half way while you are on the road. It not only builds up your riding confidence level but also give you a safer ride. Imagine you ride with you bike signal lights which are not working which posed as a road hazard to the road users including yourself.

20. Make sure your motorcycle horn is working always. When you sound the horn, it may show your existence and pull you off from potential hazards to other road users at times. For example, on mountainous road with many twists, the opposite vehicle may suddenly appear into your path, so by sounding the horn in advance gives the head-on vehicle a warning anticipation.

21. As the front tyre and rear tyre are the two contact points on the road, it is always important to check the threads and tyres pressure. To prevent hydro-plating effect during wet weather condition, the threads need to ‘deep’ enough for long distance riding. Besides, the surfaces of the tyres have to grease-free to avoid slipperiness. The tyres have to properly inflate as well so that fuel consumption will be at its best. The brakes are equally important too, they can help you to brake efficiently during an unforeseen situation during emergencies.

Do remember, motorcycle riding safety ALWAYS comes first so that there are many more years ahead of you to enjoy riding. If you are a beginner and wanted to know more about riding a motorcycle, I have come across a website that introduce to riding. For more details please visit HERE.