Do you think that being a Motorcycle rider makes you a better Cager??

For me I think so. I am on the lookout for everybody,everything and look at corners a whole different way.

I do think loud pipes save lives as a cager a little while back I did not see a motorcyclist coming But I did hear the pipes and then did see him.

Whats your take on all this nonsense?

 

I think so because you look for things non-bikers don't and look further ahead too

 

I definitely think it makes someone a better driver. I tend to watch for things more carefully because I ride and am far more conscious of things going on all around me. I also pay more attention to other motorcycle riders than what I see some car drivers do for me (if that makes sense).

 

Your attitude to othe road users is different

 

It definitely makes us better drivers. We are more focused and our brains process information faster. This is noted in the MSF training materials. There have been studies about how riding motorcycles frequently affects our brains and it's nothing but positive. As for loud pipes... if the radio in the cage is low, and the motorcycle is in the right place in relation to the cage, it is possible that the cager may hear the pipes before seeing the rider... however, as a rider I would not count on pipes of ANY noise level to save my life. I have been in too many situations in my cage where I have tested this theory and NOT heard a motorcycle until it was more or less in front of me where I saw it before I heard it. Even loud ones!! Just a couple of studies listed below

This Is Your Brain on a Motorcycle - B.I.C Productions

MOTORCYCLES MAKE YOU SMARTER: Japanese Study Discovers; If So, Why Hasn't It Helped Jason Lawrence? | News | Motocross Action Magazine

 

Yes it does.

 

It definitely does. After taking an MSF class, I am more aware and less in a hurry. I think it's the mentality that I am prone to harm on a motorcycle that I have carried on into the cage, that I yield to others (and clearly signal them to go) when it seems they are in a hurry.

 

In a related question, do you act differently toward motorcycles when you are driving a car? I tend to see a bike and relate. I try to give them more space. If a bike it turning or about to pull out I try and let them know I see them. Maybe it's just being courteous.

 

Yes, very much so! One early morning, dark, in my truck, pulling out onto main road, looked left and saw a car a ways off so I started the turn. Looked again and a bike just appeared out of no where! The bike's single headlight was directly in line with the car's right headlight and blended in, sort of like an illusion. Scared me but I had time to stop and let them go by. Another thing, most of the time when on the bike going thru a busy intersection, day or night, I'll flip the headlights from bright to dim to get noticed, do anything to get noticed, eh.

 

No. But I had a motorcycle long before I ever drove a car. I grew up in the country, driving go carts and bikes all over the back roads. I did get a car drivers license before I got an M endorsement, but I had already been aware of the dangers that bikers face and have always been careful to share the roadways with everyone.

Now loud pipes saving lives... I call BS! They just piss people off, or worse. Many drivers tolerate bikers just fine, until they are startled or annoyed by someone with straight pipes. Heck I'm a biker, if they piss me off I can only imagine how non bikers feel about them.

Sent from taptalk with spell check and political correctness disabled

 

My dad always said that EVERYBODY should be required to learn how to ride a motorcycle first & then the roads would be a whole lot safer...

I agree that being a rider forces you to have a much broader perspective on what's going on- reaction times, what the guy at the lights is about to do, etc...

Just my $.02

 

The same thing could probably be said of bicyclists. My one forte in life is my focus. Whatever I do occupies my concentration. Lots of people think I'm real smart at my job, but I think I'm just average but I don't suffer from distractions. I once threw a company cell phone that was distracting me wile I was concentrating. Luckily a fellow worker caught it. Now I don't have a cell phone. I personally think cell phones should be so expensive only a few can afford them. Just raise the price per minutes. Use the GPS built into cell phones to turn them off if traveling over 15 mph.

 

I agree with you and your Dad, and also Jugornot above on the topic of bicyclists in general. I'm still working towards my first VFR but years of 'urban assaults' in downtown ATL on my mtn bike taught me not only the rules of the road from a 2-wheel perspective but also how to better look out and share the road when I'm in 'cager' mode.

Focus is the key, and also as Big_Jim put it, knowing the limitations/needs of a biker when caging. Give them the space they need because you 'know' from their perspective how they are thinking. That is where most people on 4-wheels lose it to phones, texting, radio, kids in the back seat, makeup applications, shaving (yes, I have SEEN that one) and worst of all loose PETS roaming inside of cars causing distractions or sitting 'in' the lap of the driver.. (I love my pets too, but pet kennel plz when on the road..)