Safe riding tips for motorcycle riders - beginner and experienced

The best thing that beginner and experienced motorbike riders can do to enhance their safety on the road is to assume that they’re invisible to drivers of cars. Thanks to their size, speed and agility, car drivers have a long history of not being able to see motorcycles to the same degree as other cars, trucks and buses. Riding a motorbike in a car driver's blind spot is a big cause of crashes when the motorist suddenly decides to change lanes and makes impact with a motorbike.

It's important that motorbike riders don’t do anything that car drivers aren’t expecting on the road. Riding a motorbike in a predictable manner equates to being as visible as possible, and that’s key to avoiding a collision with a car. Riders should not be tempted to rely on the old eye-contact theory whereby a driver who has made eye contact with a motorbike rider will do the right thing. 

Apart from being able to legally park on footpaths and use transit lanes (regardless of the number of people on board) the road rules for motorcycles and scooters are effectively exactly the same as for cars and trucks. The other exception is lane filtering, where riders are permitted to travel between two lanes of slow-moving or stationary traffic, as long as the bike doesn’t exceed 30kmh. 

Lane filtering can be dangerous (L-platers are banned from doing it) and knowing when it is safe to filter takes experience. Car doors can fly open at odd times, other traffic can change lanes without warning, and simply maintaining balance and control at filtering speeds takes practice. Done correctly, though, lane filtering places the bike at the head of the traffic queue when the lights turn green, allowing the rider to build up a safety buffer of space around them.

It’s important to keep up your motorbike riding skills base, so training and an advanced riding skills courses are worth considering. These course help new and experienced riders grow riding and hazard perception skills. Gaining experience and skills in a safe, controlled environment is where rider training comes in, long beyond the point at which you’ve obtained your licence.

The only piece of personal protection equipment mandated by law when riding a motorbike is a helmet. The fact that L-plate riders are also required to wear a high-visibility vest highlights that there’s more to protective gear available to riders than just a helmet.

Gloves are a must, as are strong boots that cover your ankles and offer some protection. Smart riders also know that a proper bike jacket with inbuilt armoured panels is a must, as are trousers with the same armoured panels. Bitumen and gravel are very unforgiving on motorbike riders in the event of a fall.

If you want to know which gear is not only safest but also comfortable enough that you’ll actually wear it, view the latest MotoCAP ratings. The Motorcycle Clothing Assessment Program independently tests motorbike clothing for durability and comfort in heat, cold and rain, as well as how it performs in crash conditions. Each item gets a star rating out of five. Their website makes it easy to see what apparel will best suit your particular needs and type of riding. 

Any sort of motorbike is vastly more susceptible to weather conditions than the average car. Motorcycles have only a small tyre-contact patch, so grip is always limited and even more so in the wet or on soft surfaces. That fact greatly affects braking and cornering, so judging an appropriate speed for the conditions is vital.

Off-road bikes don’t have the same exposure to traffic (although a four-wheel drive can appear from a side track any time) but the conditions usually offer less grip and can change dramatically according to the weather.

A dirt bike also has a higher centre of gravity and vastly different handling characteristics to a road bike. Riding at a speed that leaves a margin for changing your mind or pulling off an emergency stop on a loose surface is a big part of staying safe when riding in the bush.

Victoria now has a very sensible system of determining who can ride what motorcycle on the road. The Learner Approved Motorcycles (LAM) system has been based on a power-to-weight ratio, rather than the previous simplistic maximum engine-capacity limit. The current system allows for physically larger motorcycles that have safe real-world performance and can accommodate bigger riders. The other benefit is that you won’t necessarily feel the need to trade up to a bigger bike once you’re off your L or P plates.