assume they will do it and be ready, blink lights, blow horn, whatever it takes.

 

Nope, I say keep your hands on the bars..

 

That is one of the most effective, and least-mentioned, pieces of advice you'll ever hear. Use other vehicles as they they were chess pieces. Strategize intersection crossings.

Slowing down before entering any intersection and not trusting traffic lights is another. Cars are like bullets: It's often the one you never hear or see that will get you. So get your head on a swivel before entering any intersection.

 

I weave. flip headlights, and have hands ready to roll any way, on throttle,breaks of ready to swerve at seconds notice. Intersections always concern me. Be ready to react however you need to every second of every ride........VH

 

DynaMightBuzz said:
"Take a safety course and any other course that may be available to you."


Good advice. I took the motorcycle safety course two years ago when I first started riding, it was a big help and gave me some good riding habits.

There is an experienced riders course (two years or more riding experience) available where you bring your own bike and practice high speed braking, etc... This course is on a weekday of all things, not the most convenient time to do this IMHO. And they only do it once or twice throughout the summer, I'll have to go to their website and have another look.

I've got to admit that a few months ago I kind of scoffed at the idea of taking it because I thought that my skills were coming along okay and that it was on a workday but it might just save my *** some day.

 

I had a lady pull out in front of me from a side parking lot, trying to turn left in front of me to go the opposite direction. It was at night, and I was on a Road King w/ all three lights running, I passed a few businesses while she sat there waiting to pull out, I changed lanes to create more distance, slowed down a bit and was at the ready, in case she made a move, but she waited until I was on top of her to pull out and hit me, nothing I could do. Sometimes sh*t happens. I could not see her head until she was about to hit me, and I don't think she knew we were going to hit because her head was turned to her right, which was the other direction, so they can't see what they're not looking at. I think she forgot the Left, Right, Left again rule and was focusing on her right and never looked back left again.

Anyway, I thought about a headlight modulator, but that only helps during the day. Still something to consider though.

I don't know what the OP rides, but on my replacement bike, another RKC, I got the fog lamps down on the engine guards, and I think they've helped a lot. I wired them into the accessory connector, so during the day you can run them w/ the brights on as pictured below, or at night I can run them in addition to the spot/passing lamps. The thing that's cool about them, is while the main beam when properly aimed is pointing onto the road in front of you and to the side, there's a glare at eye level of other drivers that should attract their attention more than just a headlight alone, especially when running the dim head light.



One of the reasons a bright headlight is recommended during the daylight hours, is because it casts a higher and wider beam, if you've ever stood in front of your bike while running and checked the difference between high and low beam during the day, you can tell the bright is much more noticeable head on, and from an angle. I think these fog lights are equally noticeable, if not more so, from certain angles as well, casting a lower but still wide beam.

I think running the brights during the day, and running these fog lights all the time, really helps a lot.

I had an opportunity to swap bikes with someone and see my bike coming up from behind me, in various lighting conditions, and my bike stood out compared to any other bike in the group.

I also put an air horn on there for when I do need to make an extra effort to get someone's attention.

I also liked the comment about using a car for blocking, I've found myself doing this where applicable. I've also got in the habit of slowing down through intersections where I don't see any cars, like late at night, just enough to ck my left/right to make sure no one is flying through there about to run the light (after someone close to me was hit by a red light runner last year, made me more aware of that threat).