Hi! New rider here. Just wanted to show of my new to me little cb. Riding is fun.
Always happy to get any and all advice from the veterans.
I didn't even know Honda made a 125! Sweet looking thing.
Happy miles!
First advice: make sure you get the best angle!
Oh that's a good looking bike!
My advice is that it's not if you come off the bike, it's when. Make sure you're prepared when you do. My helmet saved my life. The pants saved the skin on my right leg. The boots saved my ankle. Don't skimp on the gear when buying, and don't skip the gear when riding. Be safe out there!
I'm a big fan of airbag vests. Those really help reduce the consequences of a lot of accidents...
It's not "if" you crash it's "when", and watch your chain tension, chains stretch, if you let it get too loose it's bad... If its too tight it's also bad.
Sometimes you will magically cease to exist to other road users, usually when you're cornering or on a roundabout, I don't know how I manage to become invisible, but it's a skill you'll end up with as well.
In addition to MaxMouse... ride like other drivers are out there to kill you. Expect people to pull in front of you, cut you off, shoot you with a rocket launcher, etc. It's the only way to ride safe.
Pay attention to the distance you keep to the car in front of you. While riding, we are easily tempted to go way below any safe distance and that sends us flying over that car once it has to do an emergency brake. And emergency brakes happen, don't get fooled.
Besides that, try to keep two wheels down at all times :)
Riding IS fun! Wear your gear at all times. Consider high visibility vest or high visibility gear.
Work on your bike too! Service everything by yourself as much as you can, there's much knowledge to gain from it. Honda makes awesome and reliable bikes, so working on it should be relatively easy. Enjoy every ride, be nice to other road users and wave/nod/signal to other bikers on the road!
Welcome to the club.
ATGATT: All The Gear, All The Time. Get quality gear, suitable for the rides you want to do (doesn't make sense to buy expensive Goretex gear if you don't expect to ride in the rain regularly for example) and wear it, no matter how long your ride is.
Get some frame sliders or so for when you almost inevitably drop your bike.
Most motorcycle accidents happen because the rider made a mistake. Common causes:
Learn to be a better rider. No matter how much you ride, there will always be some bad habits that sneak into your riding style. Take a refresher course every now and then, so they can point them out to you.
Learn to ride more defensively, and make yourself seen (Fortnine's YT video on invisibility is a good one for example).
Last but not least... Watch some crash compilations on YouTube, because those allow you to learn from other people's mistakes. You will probably make some of those mistakes as well.
Welcome to the life
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