How To Improve Motorcycle Riding Skills? [10 Secret Tips]

As a motorcycle rider, you should always be keen to improve your motorcycle riding skills. Improving riding skills is a lifelong process. Even after being a pro rider, I constantly try to improve my motorcycle riding skills. 

In this article, I am going to share 10 secret tips that will help you to improve your motorcycle riding skills. So, sit back and read this entire article if you want to enjoy your next motorcycle ride.

10 Secret Tips To Improve Your Motorcycle Riding Skills

These common tips will help you to ride your motorcycle with ease. However, never attempt to apply all at a time. I prefer applying one by one.  

Also recommended to read 30 Motorcycle Tips For Beginners

1. Customize Your Motorcycle Parts:

To get a comfortable ride, you have to adjust your motorcycle parts according to your weight and height. You should purchase such a motorcycle that appropriately fits your body. 

However, if any parts of your motorcycle don’t fit properly with your body, you can customize them. You’ll feel much comfort on those motorcycles which totally adjust with your body parts. 

As an example, you’ll be able to ride and control your motorcycle more comfortably when the handlebars are in your reach. If your motorcycle handlebars are too short or too long, you may face problems while riding.

Like the handlebars, you need to find out which parts of your motorcycle need to be customized to fit your body. This slight adjustment will be favorable and advantageous for improving your motorcycle riding skills.

2. Don’t Ride Without Safety Gear:

Never go on a motorcycle ride without wearing proper safety gear. It could be very risky and even suicidal for you. Wearing the appropriate safety gear also boosts your confidence while riding on the highways or roads.

Here I list the necessary safety gear that you mandatorily require while riding a motorcycle:

• Helmet: According to the laws, you must wear a solid helmet while riding on any public road or highway. Riding without a helmet is a punishable offense in almost every state of the USA.

• Gloves: A pair of motorcycle gloves will protect your hands if you fall on the roads. Purchase a pair of motorcycle gloves that comfortably fits in with your hands and is resistant to water too.

• Motorcycle Boots: Leg injuries are very common for motorcycle riders. They should invest money in quality, breathable waterproof motorcycle boots for protecting their legs.

• Visors: You should use different types of visors in different conditions. For example, tinted visors are suitable for bright sunshine riding. Similarly, sunglasses and clean visors are the better options while riding at night. Use a high-vis yellow or a clear visor when the visibility is too poor. 

Make sure that you wear all of these gear before starting your motorcycle rides. These gears are essential to protect yourself while riding. Besides, it gives you the confidence to apply various riding tricks. Indeed, wearing the right gear ensures the improvement of your motorcycle riding skills in a safe way. 

3. Be Gentle With Your Motorcycle Brake: 

As a rider, you must have the proper knowledge of when and how to use the motorcycle brake. You should follow some techniques for slowing down your motorcycle in the correct way. 

Hard pressing of motorcycle brakes can be dangerous while riding at a high speed. It affects the traction of your running motorcycle and increases the risk of sudden falls or clashes. 

That’s why I recommend you press the brake softly and smoothly to slow down your motorcycle. Though lighter pressing on the brake will take more extended periods to stop your motorcycle, it is still much safer than sudden braking. 

A gentle squeeze of the brake ensures easy control of your motorcycle as well as it makes the riding smoother. Therefore, be pro on the application of motorcycle brakes.

4. Make Sure That You Cover The Brakes:

You should cover your motorcycle brakes at every intersection. For motorcycles, intersections are more vulnerable spots. You’ll find many drivers and riders who do not strictly obey the traffic rules on the roads or highways. 

The truck and automobile drivers often say that they’re not able to see the riders and the motorcycles while driving. Because the big vehicle drivers usually don’t pay attention to the small vehicles like your motorcycle or bicycle.

In most cases, late noticing of drivers is the leading cause of collisions between motorcycles and other oversized vehicles. However, it is wise to be careful of yourself while riding. 

That’s why I advise you to practice covering the motorcycle brakes at every intersection. It’ll be effective for avoiding any unexpected occurrences.

5. Learn How To Shift:

The ability to shift the gears in a proper way will make your motorcycle riding smoother and safer. But you need to do lots of practice to achieve these shifting skills. You have to learn when and how to upshift or downshift the gear.

Upshift sets your motorcycle into the higher gear, while downshift puts it to the lower gear. Hence, when you want to increase the speed of your motorcycle, upshift will do the job for you. In the same way, use the downshift for slowing down your motorcycle. 

6. Sometimes You Require To Speed Up:

Usually, slowing down your motorcycle in a risky situation is the safest way to deal, but it doesn’t always work. In that case, your motorcycle’s agility and acceleration will be needed to get safe space. 

For example, you’ll face lots of speedy vehicles on the highways of an urban area while riding your motorcycle. In these conditions, you need to use your motorcycle speed wisely to create an open space. 

You’ve to follow this technique after each traffic signal to get sufficient space. Using a controlled acceleration burst will help you get out from a ticklish situation and ensure a safe space for your motorcycle. 

The speed-up technique is more effective on highway riding. It is much safer than following the blind spots of other drivers. Achieve these skills for getting a better motorcycle riding experience.

7. Slow In Fast Out:

When you’re going into a corner, always remember this ‘slow in, fast out’ mantra. Approaching a corner with the motorcycle is always challenging for the beginner and the intermediate-level riders.

Because it’s not possible to cross the corner successfully without having proper control on the bike. Before entering the turn, make sure that you’re in the right lane and the motorcycle’s speed is completely under your control. 

If you enter a corner at high speed, it’ll put spare brunt on the brake, tires, and the other parts of your motorcycle. And besides, it increases the risk of accidents too. For these reasons, adjusting the motorcycle speed is very crucial before entering a corner.

8. Maintain A Distance:

You should maintain a distance from those vehicles which are in front of your motorcycle. When you ride too close to your anterior vehicle, you’ll get less time to react to change the direction or speed. As a result, you may be stuck in traffic slowpoke,

On the roads, everyone tries to avoid traffic jams. But if somehow, you’re stuck in a traffic jam, you have to wait until the jam is detached. It’ll usually take half an hour or more to get released from the traffic jam in the big cities. 

While riding your motorcycle on busy roads or highways, make sure that you maintain a minimum of two seconds of distance from the front vehicles. This distance allows you to get more time for reacting according to the situation.

If you get any signals of traffic jams or slowpokes, then change the gears and direction of your motorcycle. It’ll save lots of time. In addition, the capability of quick decision-making will surely upgrade your motorcycle riding skills to the next level.

9. Don’t Start Any Competitions: 

I love riding motorcycles along with my friends, and I’m pretty sure you like to do it too. But when riding a motorcycle on a public road or highway, don’t try to compete with someone else. 

I often see that young motorcycle riders compete each other in the middle of the roads. It’s not a good practice at all. This type of competition is completely illegal according to the USA’s laws.

If you get caught by the police while doing this, you will be heftily fined. Hence, don’t be jealous if someone overtakes your motorcycle on the road. Just let them go with a smile and focus on your own rides.

10. Practice Makes A Man Perfect:

Needless to say that you should practice a lot to improve your motorcycle riding skills. Neighborhood lanes and private properties are the best places for your practice. In these places, you can safely try the newly learned riding skills.

Nowadays, lots of options are available for you to improve your motorcycle riding skills. You can read blogs and watch YouTube video tutorials to learn new riding skills. Even social media is also a good platform for newbies. 

Almost every social media site, you’ll find various public and private groups related to motorcycles. You can seek help there too. As a pro motorcycle rider, I can also be an excellent source for you. Visit this website regularly to read my tips on motorcycle riding. And it’ll make you a pro rider like me.

How Long Does It Take To Get Good At Riding A Motorcycle?

As I mentioned at the beginning of the article that improving motorcycle riding is a lifelong process. You should do a lot of hard work and learn from your mistakes to get good at riding a motorcycle in short periods.

In general, a few hours is enough to understand the basics of motorcycle riding. The practical lesson on how to ride a motorcycle will take around a week. You require at least 1-2 years to get good at riding a motorcycle. But the improvement in riding skills will continue every day.

How Do I Get Over My Fear Of Riding A Motorcycle? (3 Proven Tips)

Fear is such a negative factor that can kill any of your good initiative or willingness. However, you’re not the only person who gets scared or nervous while riding a motorcycle. It’s a common problem, and that happened with me also.

When I decided to learn motorcycle riding, the fear of injury came to my mind first. This fear lowered my confidence level completely to 0. Several times I googled how to avoid these injuries, but I couldn’t find any satisfactory answers to overcome the fear.

At one point, I decided that I was not going to ride any motorcycle. I totally lost all hope in learning motorcycle riding. I shared this problem with my friend Pieterson who was good at motorcycle riding. I was surprised to hear that he also faced the fear issue in his early riding days.

However, Pieterson gave me 3 special tips that help me a lot to get over my fear of motorcycle riding. Now you’re going to read those tips that today make me a pro rider:

1. Be Confident:

You must be confident in overcoming the fear of motorcycle riding. Lack of confidence will make you nervous quickly, and later it drives you to commit mistakes. 

So, be confident and relaxed when riding a motorcycle. But not be overconfident and too ambitious, especially if you’re a newbie.

2. Trust Your Motorcycle:

During motorcycle riding, keep complete trust in your motorcycle. To make it trustworthy, focus on maintenance. Regularly check and clean all the parts of your motorcycle. 

Change the oil and air filter when required. When you personally maintain your motorcycle, then you’ll get the courage to keep trust in it.

3. Wear The Right Gear:

I already discussed the safety gear that you must require when riding a motorcycle. Read this part and make sure that you wear the right gear during riding. 

Do You Need To Be Strong Physically To Ride A Motorcycle?

It’s totally a misconception. You don’t need to be strong physically to ride a motorcycle. Even your height and weight don’t create any issues for motorcycle riding. You only require full of confidence and mental strength.

Can I Teach Myself To Ride A Motorcycle? 

I know many of my friends who teach themselves to ride a motorcycle. Although I learned motorcycle riding from my experienced friend Peterson, that’s why I can’t recommend you to teach yourself. However, if you are confident enough, you can try to teach yourself to ride a motorcycle.

Final Verdict:

Learning from the mistakes is the best way to improve your motorcycle riding skills. You’ve to be passionate about achieving new motorcycle riding skills. 

Without proper practice, don’t dare to apply new skills while riding your motorcycle on a busy road or highway. Read my other articles to know more about motorcycles.