New blog post: Be Seen on your Motorcycle
-
New blog post: Be Seen on your Motorcycle
Be Seen on your Motorcycle
A common piece of motorcycling wisdom is to "ride like everyone else is out to kill you". After two years of riding, here are some tricks I've learned to help motorists see me.
Dave Heinemann (dheinemann.com)
A common piece of motorcycling wisdom is to "ride like everyone else is out to kill you". It often feels that way! Motorcyclists face far greater risks in a collision, and yet motorists often overlook us.
After two years of riding, here are some tricks I've learned to help motorists see me.
-
Large Format Projectionistreplied to Dave Heinemann π¦πΊ last edited by
Headlight: MSF recommends high beams during the day.
Headlight (2): Make a "light triangle" up front. Headlight with 2 (significantly) lower "fog lights." It's what trains do, and we need it for the same reason.
Hi-Viz: The pre-eminent location for this is your helmet. Black doesn't count. Reflectors are +1/2. Bright, fluorescent colors are the best.
-
Dave Heinemann π¦πΊreplied to Large Format Projectionist last edited by
@Benhm3 Interesting that MSF recommends high beams during the day.
In my state, it's illegal to run the high beams within 200 m of other vehicles, and there doesn't seem to be an exception for daytime operation. That'd make it difficult to use them during the day. I suppose that's why our equivalent to the MSF course didn't suggest it.
https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_reg/toumrr2009629/s218.html
-
Large Format Projectionistreplied to Dave Heinemann π¦πΊ last edited by
Oh thatβs WILD. How do they handle Daytime Running Lights (DRLs)? The older ones are high-beams at 75% power. I believe the new ones are high-beam pattern (straight, not dipped) which is why so many switch off when the signal light goes on.
You could accidentally forget the 200m. Tell them corresponding with some USian sucked the metric out of your head.
-
SeaFury π¦replied to Dave Heinemann π¦πΊ last edited by
@dHeinemann In my learners course they made us cover the breaks by squeezing a little something we can quickly stop. So when I come to a potential hazard, the examiner wanted to see my brake lights come on. Even dogs being walked on the sidewalk! Might be different here in Tassie?
-
Dave Heinemann π¦πΊreplied to Large Format Projectionist last edited by
@Benhm3 Daytime running lights are OK as long as they aren't high beams. I think it's because they're supposed to be aimed somewhat downward, away from the eyes of other drivers and riders.
-
Dave Heinemann π¦πΊreplied to SeaFury π¦ last edited by
@SeaFury That's a good idea too. My memory is fuzzy now, but when we were taught to cover the brakes, I think it was just to be ready to use them if necessary. I'd better brush up on this for my unrestricted course.
-
SeaFury π¦replied to Dave Heinemann π¦πΊ last edited by
@dHeinemann Do you need to take another test?? Iβm DONE! In 6 months time I will be automatically unrestricted π€©
-
Dave Heinemann π¦πΊreplied to SeaFury π¦ last edited by
@SeaFury That's lucky! We have to do a final 3-hour course on an unrestricted, non-LAMS bike. It'll be my first time riding one, but it should be fine after all the riding I've done in the last two years.
-
mbpazreplied to Dave Heinemann π¦πΊ last edited by
@dHeinemann @SeaFury
It's interesting how fragmented the schemes for getting a motorbike license are, worldwide.Even within the EU the requirements are quite different among countries.
FWIW here in Spain:
- you can drive a 125cc, <15hp (11kW) bike without a bike license if you have a car license for three years.
- to ride bigger bikes you need a theory exam, then two riding tests in a closed track (accuracy and maneuver at speed) , then a riding test on the streets. (1/2) -
That gets you an A2 license (up to 48hp/35kW)
To get an unlimited license (A) you need two years experience with the A2 license, then a short course focused on safety (3 hours), then 4 hours practice on a closed track with a larger bike with an instructor , then 2 hours on the road. No exam.
-
Dave Heinemann π¦πΊreplied to mbpaz last edited by
@mbpaz We have rough equivalents to the A and A2 licenses here in Australia. However, each state has slightly different requirements to get them, and different rules while on them.
For example, I think SeaFury couldn't exceed 90 km/hr for her first year. We don't have that requirement in Queensland. Instead, we have to ride under supervision at all times for our first three months.
I'm not sure what's worse, to be honest.
-
thefathippyreplied to Dave Heinemann π¦πΊ last edited by
[boomer] in my day...
It was a bit of a laugh. You could ride anything on your Ls. You could get booked on your Ls, but without a licence, you couldn't lose it. You could also lose your car or bike licence, and keep using the one you didn't lose.
Tests were a joke. 2 ueys, then I rode around the block & saw the tester running to watch me from another view. "Did you do anything wrong" "ummm... No?" (I forgot to indicate) "passed"
Loopholes all closed now!
-
@thefathippy Limited to 80kmph!!! Until unrestricted. Iβm still restricted until May next year. No point in gettting a fast bike until thenβ¦ they need to overhaul the whole system. I could go to an βeasyβ state and get my license and transfer it to my home state license if I wanted to. @dHeinemann @mbpaz
-
@mbpaz @dHeinemann @SeaFury that's interesting that you have the transition path from A2 to A. In the UK, to get an unrestricted A licence you have to do exactly the same tests (module 1, offroad slow riding/skills;/module 2: road ride) as you did for A2 but now on a bike with more than 47bhp.
You can't ride a bike with more than 47 bhp *before* you pass the A test, so you can't even ride to the examination (unless you ride a restricted bike there and remove the restrictor in the examination centre car park, but even then it's challenging to get insurance) unless you're riding under the supervision of an instructor. Gets expensive.
Its a bit of a mess and we usually blame it on the EU, so I'm rather amused that other countries in the EU don't have this silliness -
Daniel Barlow (bike)replied to Daniel Barlow (bike) last edited by@mbpaz @SeaFury @dHeinemann having said that, we do have "Direct Access", which means that if you're over 24 years old you can train for and take the full A licence directly without having to do A1 or A2 first. So it's mostly a discouragement to younger people who might want to take up motorcycling
-
Here almost everyone does the riding tests -- and later, the required practice for the unrestricted license -- on a school motorcycle. Doing it on your own bike is too much of a hassle.
Can you restrict (to 47hp/35kW) any bike? Here it's only possible for bikes up to 95hp/70kW, and it means many models are artificially factory-limited to 95hp to make them an easier sell.
-
@mbpaz @SeaFury @dHeinemann same here. The issue is that it probably costs ~ Β£1000 (or β¬1000, I think the exchange rate is roughly 1:1) for the five days of training to pass A2, then many (not all) riding schools will want you to pay again and go through the whole thing again for the A licence. Wouldn't be so much of an issue if it was easier to use your own bike
-
@vroom @SeaFury @dHeinemann Apparently serious motorcycle accidents are concentrated in two age groups: ~20something year olds with a sports bike (call it too much enthusiasm), and males 45-49 years old with a large bike (call it mid-life crisis). Licensing paths are designed to make you ride a smaller bike before a bigger one, no matter your age, and hopefully calm you a bit. Do they work? I'm not sure.
-
@vroom @SeaFury @dHeinemann Ouch. It's expensive here as well, but not as much (maybe half that) and usually includes more practice sessions.
At least, few people try the exam after just 5 classes, and when I took the closed circuit tests the pass rate was about 30%.Then the A (unrestricted) license is quite expensive for what it is... but if one thinks of it as "three hours hearing safety advice and then some tour on the open road and a free track day with a leased bike", it's even fun.