Your Health and Riding

Riding a motorcycle requires a great deal of concentration and physical coordination. Mentally: a smart rider constantly scans the horizon for potential dangers and assesses events immediately. He or she also studies other drivers around himself/herself looking for clues that they might suddenly change their behavior and endanger the rider. In addition to the intense use of the eyes and brain, a rider uses all four limbs constantly: (1) left hand for the clutch and horn; (2) right hand for the front brake; (3) left foot for the gear shifter; and (4) right foot for the rear break. Additionally, there are other controls for which the hands are needed, such as auxiliary head lights, turn signals, and emergency cut off switch. On some bikes, the rider must manually reach down and turn the fuel shutoff switch to go to the reserve tank if the main tank goes empty while riding.

Consequently, a rider should be in a good physical condition and mentally alert.  Of course, the more demanding the ride, the greater the need will be for good conditioning and riding skills, for example, 500+ miles a day, riding in the rain or snow, riding at night, or riding off road over rough surfaces. I've had personal experience with trying to cheat this axiom and I nearly paid for it with my life. Here are four examples.

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