Rider with black cuscom motorcycle on the road at dusk
Keep These Things in Mind if You Riding at Night:
_______________________________________
Night riding also comes with its own set of hazards
Riding a motorcycle at night is a very different experience. Some riders love it, while others avoid it at all costs.
Night riding usually means less traffic and more open space, but also comes with its own set of hazards. Always prepare for colder temperatures with warm clothes, and have a toolkit on hand so you’re not stuck on the side of a poorly lit road. Consider the following to avoid distracted drivers, hazards on the road and being blinded by the light.
_______________________________________
Riding after dark comes with its own set of risks
Traffic
Even with fewer vehicles on the road, riding after dark comes with its own set of risks. Drunk and impaired drivers are more likely to be out at night. That car coming up behind you might be the only one you see in your mirrors, but it’s important to ride just as cautiously as you would in the peak of rush hour.
Keep in mind that oncoming traffic might not have the courtesy to turn their high beams off as they approach you. If you find yourself being blinded by a passing car, try to keep your eyes on the painted white lines along the right side of the road until the car passes. You’ll be able to keep track of your lane without losing your vision.
_______________________________________
Day or night, it is your job to make sure other vehicles on the road see you
Visibility
Day or night, it is your job to make sure other vehicles on the road see you. You should always practice defensive riding and avoid unsafe situations. At night this means putting a big emphasis on high-visibility gear. Invest in reflective gear and always check to make sure your lights are working before starting your ride.
_______________________________________
You should only be riding as fast as you can see.
Speed
From 2016 to 2020, 49% of fatal motorcycle crashes involved speed and lane departure. You should only be riding as fast as you can see. Less light on the road means less time to react to what would normally be an easily avoided pothole. While the speed limit might be 60 mph, it doesn’t mean you have to go that fast. Always scan the road ahead for animals or debris that may get in your way, and slow down.
It’s A Fine Line is an inclusive community of motorcycle riders advocating one common mission: zero motorcycle deaths by 2030. We want to share videos and stories about motorcycle events, rides, clubs, gear, safety and training because we believe that together we can save the lives of our friends, our families and our communities.
You may have heard people say the trail braking is a race track only technique, but we would argue that trail braking is even more important for the street rider, especially while turning a corner.
We can honestly say that once we got our head around trail braking in a corner, it was one of the techniques that made some of the most dramatic improvements in our riding. Not only did it make it safer to turn the corner, but it also helped us accelerate faster out of the corner.
_______________________________________
Trail braking helps the motorcycle change direction
Why Do You Need Trail Braking?
Trail braking helps the motorcycle change direction, so that you can get into and out of corners more efficiently. But more importantly, trail braking gives riders many more options for dealing with unpredictable conditions and unfamiliar corners.
When you enter a corner too fast, you have two choices; add a more lean angle, increase risk, or slow down.
Can You Brake While Turning The Motorcycle?
But we’ve all been told that going to the brakes in a corner is dangerous. Trail braking is different.
What Is Trail Braking?
In the context of motorcycling, trail braking is trailing off the front brake as the motorcycle begins leaning. You are braking past the point where the motorcycle tips in, focusing on the front brake. Applying the rear brake while the bike is leaned over is extremely risky, so for clarity, trail braking is primarily a front brake technique.
Riders with motorcycles with linked brakes, fear not; your motorcycle will behave just fine for trail braking. And no, this is not just a sport bike thing either. Trail braking works on every kind of bike, from cruisers, touring bikes, adventure bikes, and even scooters.
Now, I know most beginner rider programs teach that you need to do most of the braking before the corner and then gradually accelerate through the rest of the turn.
_______________________________________
But there are some real problems with this technique.
And if you learned to ride in America, you probably had the phrase “Slow, Look, Press, and Roll” drilled into you by your rider coach.
But there are some real problems with this technique. First, if it’s a blind corner and you don’t know how tight it is, how do you know how much you need to slow so that you can gradually accelerate through the rest of the turn?
And if you don’t know how tight it is, how can you possibly know how much you can accelerate before you’re going too fast?
Second, why would you want to accelerate when you can’t see what’s ahead?
And finally, when you try to accelerate and turn, you are fighting two opposing physics forces. Let’s talk about the physics part first.
When we slow, the weight of the motorcycle shifts forward, and the forks compress. When the forks compress, your wheelbase is shortened.
The rake and trail numbers decrease, and the motorcycle becomes less stable in a straight line, and now wants to change direction.
In effect, no matter what kind of motorcycle you’re on when you apply the brakes, your motorcycle becomes more like a sportbike. Conversely, when we accelerate, the motorcycle’s weight shifts to the rear and the forks extend. The wheelbase becomes longer, and the rake and trail numbers increase.
_______________________________________
Trail braking is safe because the motorcycle becomes more stable.
Is Trail Braking Safe?
Trail braking is safe because the motorcycle becomes more stable in that it wants to go straight. This means that you can manipulate the bike’s geometry to behave the way we want it to.No matter what kind of bike you’re on when you accelerate, it becomes more like a cruiser.
And herein lies the truth of motorcycling: the more gentle, or wider, the arc of the corner, the faster you can go through it. And the tighter the corner, the slower you must go. Also, to counter steering, we can use the brakes to help us change direction.
Compressing the forks and altering the rake and trail to help the bike change direction, and slowing down, makes the circle smaller until we can see the corner’s exit.
If the turn is tighter than we anticipated, or there’s something unexpected in the corner, we are already slowing down. We are already on the brakes, so we have many options available to us.
We can slow even further. We can alter our path of travel. And we may even be able to stop in the middle of the corner if we need to. If slowing alters the bike’s geometry and makes it want to change direction, and slowing makes that circle smaller, now is where we get to the fun part.
_______________________________________
We can use the throttle to make the bike straighten up.
We can use the throttle to make the bike straighten up – make the circle bigger, and drive out of the corner. This is the safest place to accelerate because we can see where we are going, and we are trying to go straight.
Ideally, you should use the throttle to accelerate out of a corner and go just wide enough you end up on the outside of the corner. Just don’t accelerate so earlier so aggressively that you end up running wide on the corner exit.
When you try to accelerate through an entire corner, you are giving the bike conflicting instructions. Accelerating alters the bike’s geometry, telling the bike to go straight. You are gathering speed, which is increasing the radius of the corner, making the circle bigger. Not to mention that accelerating when you can’t see what’s in front of you is what we would call “risky.”
Trail braking is working with the design and strengths of the motorcycle to get to a corner with less risk and far more precision. Your past instructors, or other riders, may have told you that braking in a corner is extremely dangerous. And it is.
Going to the brakes, especially just the rear brake, after the motorcycle is leaned over is extremely risky and should be avoided if at all possible. But with trail braking, we’re not going to the brakes mid-corner. We go to the brake sooner, lighter, but carry the brakes for much longer.
“The fastest riders use the brakes the most.” This is quintessentially what that means. As we near the corner entrance, we ease off the rear brake and continue to drag, or trail, the front brake.
Ideally, we continue trailing on that front brake, even if we’re only using one percent of our total front brake’s ability until we arrive at the apex and we can see the exit of the corner. Ok, perhaps some of you are thinking: “I do that, but I coast into corners, and I accelerate back out.” That’s good, but what do you do if the corner is tighter than you anticipated? Do you add more coast?
_______________________________________
By using the brakes, we are the ones in charge.
By using the brakes, we are the ones in charge.
We determine if we want to brake more or less. We have ultimate control over our rate of forwarding velocity. Coasting is engine braking, and engine braking is like braking with just the rear brake, which isn’t so good. Not to mention that engine braking negates all of the bike geometry benefits we get from using the front brake.
If this is brand-new to you and you want to start trying it out, start by using a squishy ball. Practice squeezing and releasing the ball slowly. Extend this practice to every input you give your motorcycle.
It doesn’t matter if we’re moving the bike around in the garage or heading into a blind corner. Practice always gently squeezing the lever. As you start practicing this on your daily rides, don’t go out and brake as hard as you can, all the way to the apex of the corner.
Start by riding like you normally do. Slowing before the corner, but begin by simply releasing the front brake lever far more slowly than you normally do.
This is a great way to learn how the brakes affect the motorcycle, and become comfortable with these techniques slowly, instead of all at once.
The tire can hold a lot of force, but not suddenly; if we get good at adding and subtracting brake force in small increments will get good at never overcooking a corner.
One of the joys of motorcycling is doing things yourself. Learn how to change your motorcycle’s tires, instead of paying someone else to do it.
The rise of online motorcycle parts retailers has meant a substantial drop in prices for virtually everything you need for your motorcycle. And for those that don’t mind getting their hands dirty, tasks like mounting your own motorcycle tires can now be down cheaper in your own garage than at the local dealership.
This also can be a necessity for owners of older machines that some dealers may not want to service due to inexperience with vintage motorcycles. Whatever your reasoning, the tools needed are minimal and the knowledge of being able to change your own tires could help get you out of a jam somewhere down the road, so it is worth learning how to do yourself.
Step 1
The first step is obviously to remove your wheel (front or rear) from the motorcycle. You’ll need to refer to your owner’s manual for the specific details, but generally you need to lift the motorcycle off of the ground and remove the axle so that the wheel can come free of the motorcycle.
_______________________________________
Step 2
Once the wheel is off, you’ll want to deflate the tire completely. The best method is to remove the valve stem core from the valve stem. This is removed with a special tool that be picked up from your local auto parts store for just a few dollars, so don’t try and remove it with pliers and risk damaging your valve stem.
_______________________________________
Step 3
Now you need to break the bead that holds the tire to the rim. If you have a fairly narrow tire, you can get away with just using a benchtop vise to break the bead. For those with larger tires (especially the rear wheel) you’ll need a special bead breaker. The Motion Pro BeadPro Aluminum Tire Bead Breaker is a good choice as it also has integrated tire spoons, which you will need for the next step. Never try to break the bead by beating on the tire with a hammer, you’ll more likely to damage the rim than loosen the tire.
_______________________________________
Step 4
Once the tire bead is broken, you can start levering off the first side using a set of tire spoons. Some motorcycle tool kits come with a set of small spoons, but a longer spoon will give you more leverage, which will make the whole job a lot easier. The basic operation is to first slide the spoon between the tire and the rim using the “hooked” end to grab the edge of the tire. Then you pull the end of the tire iron towards the center of the rim which will pull the edge of the tire up and over the rim.
_______________________________________
Step 5
If you are running a spoked wheel with a tube, you’ll need to remove it next. Unbolt the valve stem from the rim and carefully slide the tube out between the rim and the tire.
_______________________________________
Step 6
Using the same technique as in steps 4 and 5, lever off the other side of the tire.
_______________________________________
Step 7
Inspect the inside of the rim for rust and debris. It is important to clean the inside thoroughly, especially if you have steel rims, which are prone to rusting. A wire brush and a cordless drill can make quick work of clearing away the rust. I also recommend using a lightweight spray-on corrosion inhibitor on steel wheels after they have been wire brushed.
_______________________________________
Step 8
Coat the edges of the new tire liberally with bead lube to help it slide onto the rim.
_______________________________________
Step 9
If you are running a spoked wheel, make sure you have a rim strip installed (a thin band of rubber that covers the spoke nipples to protect the tube).
_______________________________________
Step 10
Using the fork spoons, lever on one side of the tire.
_______________________________________
Step 11
For tubed tires, insert the tube between the tire and rim making sure it is not twisted or kinked. Also make sure to push the valve stem back through the hole in the rim.
_______________________________________
Step 12
Carefully lever the other side of the tire onto the rim using the tire spoon.
_______________________________________
Step 13
Reinstall the valve stem and inflate the tire until it seats completely on the rim. This may require inflating the tire past the recommended riding pressure.
_______________________________________
Step 14
Remount the wheel on your motorcycle and verify that it has the correct air pressure.
_______________________________________
When it is all said and done, the hardest part of the whole process is usually removing the wheel from the bike. Unless the tires are extremely old and hard, removing them should be relatively easy with a good set of tire spoons and the new tires should go on much easier with their more pliable fresh rubber.
Wheelies are super fun, and we all know that wheelies are one of the purest forms of joy known to humanity, but they can be dangerous.
Wheelies are bad for your motorcycle, especially those bad wheelies. I’m talking about sloppy jerky wheelies where you’re revving the engine out and dropping the clutch to get the front end up, and then either chopping the throttle or, worse yet, riding it after the rev limiter and slamming the front end down.
If that’s how you’re doing wheelies, do yourself and your bike a favor and stop!
_______________________________________
Who motorcycle rider has never done a wheelie in life? A lot of people!
Are Wheelies Bad For Your Clutch?
Doing bad wheelies like that is torture on your clutch, and it’s putting excess wear on your clutch plates in your clutch basket. It’s shock loading your chain and sprocket, and it’s hammering your fork.
If you slam the front end down hard enough or often enough, you can blow a fork seal.
If that happens, you’re going to barf oil all over your brakes, and you’re going to have to deal with a costly or time-consuming fork rebuild.
Blowing a fork seal is a bummer, but obviously, the worst scenario for a wheelie is if you loop it over backward and send your bike cartwheeling down the road.
_______________________________________
You’re going to have to deal with a costly or time-consuming rebuild
Not only is that bad for you and your motorcycle, but in the modern YouTube era, that sort of mistake is liable to embarrass you for years to come. Clearly, those wheelies fail guys you see on Youtube would have been much better off if both wheels had just stayed on the ground.
So are there non-harmful wheelies? Absolutely. Smooth-controlled wheelies where you lift the front end with clutch finesse or pure horsepower and then set it down gently are not going to do any harm to your motorcycle.
You see 600, 1000s, and MotoGP bikes doing this kind of para Wheelies all the time in racing.
_______________________________________
It’s just a function of accelerating hard enough that the bike begins to rotate up on the back tire.
Can Wheelies Damage Your Engine?
Even if you’re as smooth as can be and have perfect technique, and can ride wheelies for miles, it is possible that cruising with the front wheel 4 feet off the ground could damage your engine due to oil starvation.
With most models, that is not a problem, but some bikes like the Suzuki SV650 are famous for seized cylinders due to oil starvation.
Are Wheelies Dangerous?
As we said previously, you only have to look at some of the wheelies fails on Youtube to see that it can be dangerous, especially for inexperienced riders. Not only do you need special skills to keep the front wheel off the ground, but it also makes it difficult to see ahead, which is especially dangerous if you attempt a wheelie in a built-up area.
Are Wheelies Illegal In The US
While it may not be illegal to do a wheelie, most states in the US have laws that cover dangerous driving that could prosecute a rider doing a Wheelie. For example, Florida does not have a law explicitly forbidding wheelies but does have a law that requires two wheels to stay on the ground.
A common question that we get from first-time motorcycle buyers is why a motorcycle tire is often “expensive”? There are different and very important reasons to be able to “value” all this:
Three main components contribute to the higher tire price compared to a car or SUV tire. Motorcycle tires have more engineering requirements than car tires, as there are significant differences in high power-to-weight ratio, size of contact footprint, and other elements.
Engineering requirements increase the cost of a motorcycle tire. Tire design and engineering are perhaps the most important steps in a motorcycle tires production process.
Electronic schematics, field tests, and extensive testing must ensure that each tire holds necessary safety and quality standards.
Several Materials
Motorcycle tires are made from several materials that require considerable time and effort to source and, therefore, contribute to the tires’ overall cost.
Natural rubber is obtained from a rubber tree’s latex and is then combined with petroleum-based synthetic rubbers.
Other costing ingredients are added to perfect the properties of the rubber compound.
The cost of materials influences the final retail cost of your motorcycle tires.
The Production Process
Finally, the requirements of the production process can contribute to the final retail price of motorcycle tires. Assembly curing and crucial quality control, testings are labor-intensive parts of the production process.
Workers will check each tire shape and measurement for any defects and run it through a computerized road simulation that spins the tire at average road speeds.
¡But Wait! There are quite a few types of tires available for your best choice and purchase; here are some perfect for you:
_______________________________________
Visit our website if you want the perfect wheels at the right price!
We all know that the tires on your bike are critical to performance and safety, but there are many options out there to choose from.
To help you make sense of things, we are going to describe the main tire categories and driving the point home; We’re going to compare them to shoes.
Tires are always a compromise between grip and durability. They range from hard, long-lasting buns for touring bikes, all the way up to super soft, super grippy race slicks.
Which tires are best for you, depends on the kind of bike you ride
And What type of road you ride on, your style of riding and how long you have been riding, and, of course, weather conditions.
So keep all of that in mind. To kick things off, we’re going to start with the category of tire We like to compare to work boots.
_______________________________________
Visit our website if you want the perfect wheels at the right price!
Cruiser Tires
All the Harley’s, Indian’s, victories, and customs you see out on the road, are going to be rolling around on a tire like the popular Bridgestone tires.
Bridgestone’s Exedra Max is sick and stiff because it’s designed for extremely heavy, really big motorcycles.
Think of them as work boots, sturdy and durable and made for doing work. Cruiser tires are meant to handle a lot of miles and perform well in all weather conditions, so they use a harder rubber compound, as well as lots of tread grooves to channel out water.
They’re great for straight-line stability and offer awesome mileage, but not necessarily a lot of performance or outright grip, and on a cruiser, that’s an ideal compromise.
On the spectrum of street tires, cruiser rubber is at one end to mark the boundaries. Let’s move to the other end of the spectrum and talk about slicks.
Slicks are thick. There is nothing as inspiring as the first heat cycle on a fresh pair of slick. The grip is just unbelievable. These things are the pinnacle of performance, and because of that, they are very expensive, and it has very specific criteria that need to be met for them to offer optimal grip.
They’re very sensitive to pressure and temperature, and because they grip so incredibly well, they only last about two dozen laps. In the world of shoes, slicks are sprinter spikes.
They are very focused, totally uncompromising, and totally out of place at any place but the track.
I’ve heard Street riders say if they think they need flex because they’re headed to the track, but that’s kind of like a casual jogger strapping these bad boys on to go for a run around the park.
It is total overkill and, frankly, it’s totally unsuitable unless you can meet the requirements of the equipment for slicks.
That means using tire warmers to heat them to about 180 degrees and washing your pressures like a hawk.
DOT Race Tires
Just below race slicks are DOT race tires. These are essentially slick with a minimum amount of tread cut in them to meet Department of Transportation standards and conform to production racing rules.
They might look like street tires, but there are totally different animals.
Like slicks, DOT tires need to be hot, to grip well, only work well in the dry, only offer optimal traction for a heat cycle or two and are constructed specifically for racing.
That means a stiffer carcass for handling vicious acceleration and braking and an aggressive profile with a tall crown.
We’re talking about the kind of kicks that athletes put on to click off a five-minute mile.
They are awesome for performance, definitely made for speed, but not exactly ideal for everyday walking.
As for using your racer buddies, DOT takes off on the street because you want to be the fastest guy at Mulholland, don’t Do it.
There is no way you’re going to get these things hot enough to work. These are race use only, which is why you can only get them through trackside vendors.
Sports Touring Tires
This next category of tires combines a little bit of that Cruiser tire durability with a lot of performance. Sport touring tires are like cross-trainers or trail running shoes. They are comfortable, they are versatile, and they are very athletic.
These are the shoes We like to wear daily, and ST tires are what I want to be riding on.
In this category of the tire, you’re likely to see many tread groups. Some of which are going to extend towards the middle of the tire to help with water dispersion.
However, the shoulders might be slick or semi-slicks, si you have a great grip at full lean.
They have a harder rubber down the middle for mileage, so you don’t wear the thing out while you’re commuting or touring, and then there’s softer rubber on the shoulders so you can still slay it in the corners.
The compound is also designed to work across a wide range of temperatures, and there’s stuff, like silica mixed into the rubber, so there’s good wet grip. That means ST tires will work well, whether it’s cold and rainy or hot and dry.
In terms of traction, sport-touring tires have more than enough to drag us, and they’re going to last a long time. When you think of SP rubber, you think of old guys on BMWs, but modern sport-touring tires, they’re badass.
They offer lots of performance regardless of the weather or the temperature, and they’re going to last a long time.
Hypersport Tires
Last but not least is a category of tires that I liken to a good pair of jogging shoes or running shoes. As the name suggests, Hypersport tires are all about performance. They’re made to rip it up on a twisty road and also do the occasional track day.
_______________________________________
We think you should buy sport-touring tires instead of hypersport tires
They utilize a ton of trickle-down race tire technology to offer you more traction, speed, and agility. They are definitely at the premium end of the street tire spectrum.
Hybrid sport tires are also a little more sensitive to temperature and pressure than sport-touring tires, and they’re not always great in the wet.
They do often use a dual compound tread to give you a little bit better mileage, but the fact is they tend to wear out quickly. But hey, that’s the price you pay for a great grip.
Unfortunately, a lot of street riders think they need Hypersport tires because they ride hard. The truth is they’d probably be better off on sport touring tires. You’re going to get more versatility with an ST tire and more life out of it.
We hope you can learn something about the many tire choices that are out there! If you need to know even more, please go visit our website and get the very best tire for your most exciting experience.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
