Total Motorcycle Website Editorials – Your opinions, views, comments and conclusions

This one is a great one, and sometimes I cannot believe it as well, but it is true and anyone can do it on their website.

Yes, you can make money on your website.

You’ve seen them before, website ads. They come in all different flavours (I’m Canadian so you’ll have to excuse my spelling, eh) and colours, some are really annoying, others useful, but they all have one thing in common. They all make you revenue for your website.

As many have discovered revenue is what runs things on the Internet. In the past, (10-20 years ago) the Internet wasn’t like it is today.

20 years ago it was on modems, in 1 or 4 colours and you might of had a handful of known phone numbers to call to dial into someone’s BBS (like a website hosted on someone’s computer, just all text).

10 years ago was closer to what we have today, just 100 times more freedom, but less graphics, and much less content. We got Netscape 1.5, and Explorer 1.0 as well as Gopher (the big one at the time).

Today, the Internet is VERY commercialized, everyone is watching what you are doing, and you better watch what you say because Big Brother is Watching. Sometimes, I’m surprised anything survives since everyone is after a buck.

Speaking of a buck, think of this, a website gets 30,000 visitors a month (average for a good site with content), if each visitor clicked on your ad (0.05 cents per click) that would equal $1500 a month… luckily they don’t mail you 30,000 nickels!

So that is the basis of how it works, pennies x clicks = $dollars$.

Unfortunately, unless you win the Internet lottery and get famous and popular in a day (Re: Joe Cartoon). You just can’t offer little and get a lot. Content is King, and it isn’t all easy work.

Rather than “make a website to put ads on then content that matches” I’d do the opposite. Write and create a website about what you know and love. It really doesn’t matter what your website is about, the search engines will find it and people will come. Please DO make sure you submit your URL to the search engines, especially GOOGLE.

Ok, so you got yourself a website all done up eh? Great content, submitted to search engines and all. Now, all you need to do to start the revenue ball rolling is an affiliate program! (That’s the place that gives you the ads to put on your website and pays you the money too).

At first, I thought this just wouldn’t work, I mean, WHO is really going to send you money by putting ads on your site? Then my first check arrived for something like $25 and I was like, OMG! They actually paid me! I think it took me 2 months to earn that $25. LOL Not exactly a full time job rate.

Did you know that the Joe Cartoon website is the most successful (I’ve read) generating revenue? $100,000 a month! I visited that site years ago when that “frog in a microwave/blender” thing came out, nice site, fun too. NOW, it is chock-full o’ ads! If I made $100,000 a month I guess I wouldn’t care what my site looked like, but….

Another season of fantastic motorcycle riding is off and running. The weather here in the North East is starting to finally break and the time for serious riding is coming up on us fast, just like that out of control inexperienced truck driver going 40 or 50 mph over the limit on your favorite piece of highway. But with the joys comes the sadness. Some riders will be injured, maimed and even killed while riding this year. I can only hope that the avoidable accidents are avoided. Lets look at the name of this article and my definitions for those words.

Safety: Trying to keep your own butt out of the emergency room or the morgue by practicing the safety guidelines you should be well aware of before ever straddling your motorcycle.

Stupidity: Anything you do that may endanger yourself, your passenger or others on the road with you.

Death: The end result of failing to follow the first rule of riding which is safety and/or embracing the idea that stupidity is some how a good idea that makes you look good to your friends or even strangers.

Most accidents are avoidable when the proper caution is exercised and good decision making is practiced. Many of the deaths this year and every year before will be our younger less experienced brothers and sisters out riding for their first few seasons. These drivers cannot be issued enough caution. Just knowing you can be injured isn’t enough to slow many of these overzealous new riders down.

I have heard some people saying that luck is just as big a factor in safety as caution or driving skills. I don’t believe this at all. This belief falls under the stupidity category as far as I’m concerned. Honed Skills are “MOST IMPORTANT”. Paying close attention to the other vehicles and the road and road conditions are definitely the top things in safety and safe riding. To think differently is not constructive in any way. To deny that honing your riding skills is the first aspect of safety is to deny the fact that you have limits that you must work with in. If you are driving a motorcycle like most people drive their cars will get you killed or injured eventually. It is when you do stupid things you need large amounts of luck just to survive. Your skill level is your first defense against the bad driver of another vehicle. Know how you are going to escape and strive to recognize the bad situations and you will do well. Become complacent, stop paying attention or drive yourself or your bike beyond the limits and you will most likely get hurt.

If you are considering becoming a motorcycle rider then choosing a bike is a big consideration. If you are new then you need to listen to this also. I hear your arguments already but here it is anyway. DO NOT get a big bike and by big I’m talking anything over 250cc’s. Don’t listen to this BS that the big 600cc Sport bike is a good trainer. NO, it is not a good trainer. Any bike capable of speeds over 140mph out of the factory was not designed for the beginner. This belief that the 600cc sport bike is a trainer because you can maneuver out of a situation is based in the male genitalia, specifically the organs that produce testosterone. Try learning to avoid that situation first on a bike that won’t put you into the situation faster. These bikes are very reactive and small errors in corners or breaking can lead to over exaggerated situations that cause the inexperienced rider to over react. Over reaction for the inexperienced rider can mean injury or death. I have seen a 600cc sport bike flip over like a toy from a simple mistake in over throttle and too fast a release on the clutch, a lesser bike would have just stalled. I have seen a 750cc Vulcan “Cruiser” carry a guy into a mail box with a quickness when he over throttled off a stop sign. Both were first year riders. These are common mistakes for new riders so don’t get a bike that will put you into trouble so deep and so fast you can’t get out. Take your time and take a couple of seasons to drive around town locally. Learn what a lesser bike is capable of and in turn hone your avoidance skills a bit also. Do this for a while on a bike that isn’t too big and you will learn to judge the bike’s limits and your own limits better. This will allow you to then move on to a larger bike and know your own limits, how to avoid a bad situation and furthermore you will then be capable of seeing a difference and understand what the more performance orientated bike is good for.

First year riders should not take on passengers either. Your passenger’s life is in your hands. If you have under one year of experience, you are asking for trouble. Passengers completely change the handling aspects of any bike and this can be unnerving for the experienced rider at times, let alone the new rider. “Get a passenger that wants to lean around while you’re turning and see how fast you actually need some very good skills.”

Be very aware of the aggressive driver. This idiot is easily spotted. He or She is generally going excessively fast for the conditions, I.E. Rush hour on a Friday. This driver also has a spacing problem and has no obvious understanding of speed to gap ratio and is tailgating anyone and everyone in front of them. This is generally the same guy that cop that just passed you didn’t pull over. Anyway, this driver is the worst. They will attempt to push you down the road at insane speeds for the conditions. They will follow you so close that if you tap your breaks for any reason your going to know what death feels like. They will cut you off, change lanes with no signal and do this without looking. They will fail to provide you with any clues to what their intentions are. These people are dangerous, vicious and mean individuals who’s commute home is more important then your life or anyone else’s life or property.

Avoid a road rage situation. DO NOT confront people while you are on a motorcycle or at any other time. These angry hateful individuals are dangerous and do not want to listen to you tell them how lousy their driving is. If you are cut off, tailgated or any other case of poor driving takes place around you, don’t get angry. Use your head and get away from this dangerous driver. These drivers have already endangered you, do your really want to confront them? Remember that a car, truck, SUV or minivan can kick your butt with a quickness. I have already heard of one case in CA where an angry driver chased down a motorcyclist who confronted him at a stop light, hit him with the truck and fled. This rider is now paralyzed and it was all over a traffic incident in which he had received no initial injury.

Finally you are your own worst enemy. Don’t do stupid things that put you into bad situations. The name of the game is avoidance. Avoid the bad situations and you lessen your chance of getting hurt. Don’t go flying down the road weaving in traffic just because you can. Don’t drive your bike like you’re in a car. Remember road rash is not a fungus, it’s a very, very, extremely painful side effect of sliding on pavement. Be safe, avoid situations and your riding will be more enjoyable.

My point is this, if you are going to act stupid then expect bad things to happen. A motorcycle no matter the type or size is a fun and dangerous machine and must be treated with the respect it deserves. Knowing and admitting your limits is the only way of insuring a higher level of safety. Take your time and enjoy the ride and when you’re in heavy traffic, just watch those drivers. They are out to kill you.

Keep the rubber on the road and the wheels between the lines and for god’s sake have a good time.

Todd Radus

26 Years of Riding. No, they were not accident free.

Riding is one of the most enjoyable things I have ever done. Choosing a ride, however, has never been at the top of my list of most enjoyable experiences. Don’t get me wrong, when it’s time for a new bike the shopping part is great but the buying part is usually the point of serious uncertainty that lasts weeks or even months into the new bikes first season with me.

Choosing a motorcycle is a difficult thing, especially for the new rider who isn’t sure of what they want to do with their new bike or how they are going to use it. You have to know what you’re looking for. By asking yourself the right questions before you go shopping, you can limit your search and reduce your time spent.

For the beginner, a completely different line of thought must be taken. You must first picture what you don’t do automatically. For the new rider, Braking, Leaning, and Shifting are all things that are still thought through before executing. For the more experienced riders many reactions are simply that, reactions that happen with no thought. Only practice and repetition of your actions will teach your mind and body to react properly in specific situations.

Being a new rider you must first, before anything else, admit all of your limitations and go into your new hobby of motorcycle riding by being honest with yourself. Here are a few points of honesty that most new riders don’t like to hear.

It is likely that out of your own lack of experience you will make mistakes and possibly have an accident.

Avoidance is key in staying healthy. Whether it’s the other driver’s fault or not, you’re the one that’s injured or dead.

You don’t have the experience and you should take your time learning, practicing and gaining that experience.

You must learn to ride before you can safely enjoy riding. Why? Glad you asked; it’s simple to learn and you will likely remain alive. If you don’t learn and instead go straight to showing off, you are likely to end up as a newspaper article with a lot of fuzzy spots in the photos where your body parts are being peeled off the cement, surrounding cars, and maybe even some pedestrians. This showing off thing seems to be more with the men rather than our lady riders. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few of you ladies out there driving your bikes like you just stole them. However, in all fairness this showing off thing really seems to be more with the men and their genitals then with the women. Just go to a rally and see what the women are driving and talk to a few of them. Women are exercising more smarts per capita then us guys. By The Way Guys, when you’re showing off for those ladies, most of them are actually laughing at you. Who would want to date a future piece of hamburger?

Now, with that out of the way, it’s time to move on to the bike itself. The new rider should look into a smaller bike, 250cc or less. I personally feel that the Honda Rebel® is the best trainer out there. For $3,000 MSRP a rider can be tooling around town learning how to ride and honing those riding skills. Another option in the cruiser class is the Yamaha Virago® V-Twin 250cc for around $3,400 MSRP. If you are determined to get a sport bike, look in the 250cc range first. The one I think is your best bet is the Kawasaki Ninja® 250cc for around $3,000 MSRP. I still feel it takes some basic skills and learning before a complete appreciation of any size sport bike is possible but, if you are determined, then this is a good starter. A 250cc Motorcycle is well capable of high speeds also. These smaller bikes can help with the development of good skills and then, when you are ready to move up in weight, power, and speed, you will be more prepared. Harley-Davidson’s best in the trainer class is the 2003, 883 Sportster® XLH but the price of $5,975 MSRP for this bike is just to high for the average beginning motorcycle rider. If you were to drop this bike, you are going to feel bad but your wallet will feel worse.

There are some other trainers floating around out there but, to keep this article to a decent size, we will stick with these. Keep the price low so you can drop it a couple of times and not feel like the world has come to an end. Your first motorcycle will always be your first motorcycle and choosing a good one to start on will make all the difference in your opinion of riding. I have only made a few suggestions here, take them for what they’re worth. The over all decision is yours. Choose wisely, choose what you like and for God’s sake go and look at these bikes and sit on them before you make your decision. Last but not least, do not listen to that idiot that is telling you a 600cc sport bike is the best trainer because of it’s handling. I would question his logic first and then rethink what this idiot is actually telling you.

Once you have your new ride it’s time to park it. Hopefully you have already scheduled your Motorcycle Safety Course. Some states require this course to receive a license to drive your new bike. Others only require that you pass the written test and others require that you pass both the written and driving test.
Ahh, the driving test! When you go to take this thing, if you are required to, you are going to be glad you have a smaller bike. I’m pretty sure most states now require that you pass a written and driving test. Most tests involve controlled braking, tight figure 8 maneuvers, and so on. A small, light weight bike with a short wheel base bike is much easier handle and will make passing the exam is easier. Of course, the smaller bike wont help with the written test, you still have to study for that. I would not want to take my Dyna Wide Glide® back in time and try to pass my first test on this bike. It takes time to execute those maneuvers on the larger bikes and good skills are a must when you are doing them.

Pay close attention to your motorcycle safety course. These courses are invaluable and the money spent is well worth it. They will teach you many techniques in avoidance and handling that no article or video ever could teach. Learning to be safe will require that you both you and your passenger pay attention and be willing to learn. Not all the advice you will get on the road will be good advice. Most advice from the road will be opinionated and slanted towards the type of riding that the advice giver wants you to do.

So ride safe, choose well, and use your brain not your hormones when learning to ride. I hope to see you out there safe, healthy, and having a great time.

I received my Motorcycle License written and driving test in 1984. I had been driving motorcycles of some kind since I was 9 and had a Moped when I was 7.
I had 8 years of experience driving motorcycles of some type when I took my test. I had 6 years experience driving clutch shifting motorcycles, mainly dirt but some road. To date I have twenty-six total years of motorcycling or 28 if you want to count the moped years to.

Todd Radus