Total Motorcycle Community Forums

So, what's everyone's most common mistake/problem/no-no?

Maybe new bikers can look back on this for some helpful pointers.

My biggest problem is down-shifting too far for a slow(er) turn.

Being that my bike is a four-speed, I tend to downshift into second (when I should only be in third) just before making a turn. I usually catch it before I fully release the clutch, but sometimes I don't and I get thrown a bit because the bike wants to slow down so fast. Luckily it has never been anything serious.

I was watching my mirrors too closely while being tailgated, and I crashed. So I voted for not paying attention.

I tend to be a little slower on the brakes ... which usually isn't a prob, but It sometimes means I have to e-stop where a simple slow down a little earlier could have helped ... needless to say, I've ridden out more than my fair share of lockups ...

I voted for not paying attention, cuz I tend to stare at the girls on the sidewalk instead of the road.

Going pillion for keyoke

I would have to say 2 of em.. Brakking and not paying attention

I have had a few skids on the bike my self..rear was fish taling a little bit. Was pretty scary. Thats from not paying attention in front of me and also cars stopping on there brakes hard also..

I believe the major is not paying attention enough.

Sometimes my bike just pops into neutral from 2nd for no apparent reason. Then I appear as a squid gunning the engine for attention. This also happens sometimes shifting from 4th to 5th if I don't lift the shifter enough. So I guess most of my errors have to do with shifting. The few that have been not-paying-attention related were a lot scarier though.

Oh, just a cool side note... today on my ride I saw a hawk kill a bird, then swoop down and pick it up. It flew over me on the way back to the sky. Those things are huge up close! It was right in the middle of town and really awesome to see.

Not keeping the rubber part on the ground.....