I didn't see you...or how a U-turner got me...

Ooh yeah, I'm almost ashamed to admit it : I got wrecked last Thursday in Shanghai by a U-turner...
Why ashamed ? Because I should have known better really, even though I slowed down enough to avoid a biggie, but I still crashed into him. I should have known better... :rolleyes1:


The story (trying to be short) :
I was riding the YBR 250 on Hongqiao lu in Shanghai last Thursday afternoon, coming back from a nice little trip outside Shanghai. From those who don't know it, it's a 2 lanes road. I was on the left one, riding at approximatively 70 km/h. One car was going in the same direction, on the right lane, 100 meters in front of me.
The car suddenly slowed, so I did the same, even though there was no sign it might cut into my lane, but we know Chinese drivers...
When I was at 10 meters behind the car in the right lane (and me still in the left lane) and going around 40-45 km/h, the car suddenly started a U-turn (yeah, from the right lane...) without any prior signals, without blinkers, nothing... I jumped on the front brake and slowed down as much as possible to around 15 km/h but the car was too close from me and completely across my lane, no way to avoid it or swerve around it.
So I hit it between the left rear tire and the rear bumper, the bike went down on the right side.

And myself you may enquire ? :naughty:
Well, to be honest, I'm pretty proud about what I did, if I had watch the scene from the sidewalk, I would have come to congratulate me... :lol8:
So I braked as hard as I could, I remember thinking "Ooh shit, I'm gonna hit it" (in French, mind you...), I hit the car, the bike went down, and I found myself running, yes running on the road with the momentum...
Yeah, that's right I didn't even fall down, I ended up the crash by running on the road, the bike on its side behind me. :lol8:

Slowly like in a movie, I turned around and walked towards the car driver. He parked his car on the side, and I just had time to (relatively politely I'd say) ask him if he knew how to drive, before he completely exploded in apologies and enquiries about my health.
I have to be honest : he was a wanker of a driver, but a charming guy outside the car. :lol8: It's pissing me off actually, as it's very hard to stay upset when somebody is so nice, apologizing to no end and really enquiring about my health...

To cut the story short, he told me right away that he would assume his mistake, and did it without blinking when the motorcycle cop arrived. He took 100% of the blame, apologized again many times to everyone, the cop, myself, and his grand-mother...

His car was totally fine, my bike not so much... I broke the front mudguard, and most importantly the front forks are bent and need to be changed.

And because I'm thinking about you guys, some pics !
Attachment 5844
My poor wounded steed, comforted by the police bike...

Attachment 5845
The bent forks and the broken piece of mudguard on my tank bag...


Today the "expert" from the blind driver insurance came to my bike shop and agreed with the quotation of the shop mechanic who will change (and NOT repair):
- both front forks
- the fork T
- the handlebars
- the exhaust cover
- the mudguard
and I'm forgetting others things. Of course 100% of the costs is paid by the cage driver insurance.

All this means : I'm without bike, again, for at least one month I guess, time for them to get all the new parts, especially the front fork... :gun_bandana:


But 1 thing is for sure and this is also the main reason for me to write all this :
IF I WAS NOT 100% LEGAL, ALL THE TROUBLE (at least a very good part) WOULD HAVE BEEN FOR ME ! No matter who cut the other on the road, no matter who did what.
The cop who came to the accident scene was pretty surprised to see my registration, license, plates, insurance, everything 100% legal. He was pretty nice to me after seeing all this and the fact I could speak to him in Chinese.

Other than that and the fact that I avoided a biggie by slowing down before this twat started his U-turn, the morale of the story is :
I know now that I could have been a famous action movies star in Hollywood, doing my own motorcycle stunts, with hordes of female fans screaming my name, and live in a big villa up in Beverly Hills.

Damn....:lol8:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fred

Yeah, that's right I didn't even fall down, I ended up the crash by running on the road, the bike on its side behind me. :lol8:

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Sorry to hear your misfortune, luckily you're fine. First accident and already trying to flee the scene! :mwink:

U-turning was allowed at that location? There are lots of places in BJ where it isn't allowed at all, but they still do! Probably same story in SH?

Best part of your story is the fact that you weren't hurt. Sorry to hear about your ride though. A month to repair your bike? That sounds a little long. Hoping they can get the parts in a little sooner. That being said, best possible result of an unplanned dismount is that you can walk away (or run, as in your case).

Barry, yeah of course it wasn't allowed to U-turn there, otherwise it would not be fun for Chinese drivers ! :lol8:
There are 2 clear yellow continuous lines where he turned, which I showed to him.

The only thing to prevent U-turn is to have fences along the road, continuous yellow lines are just decoration...

Nuhaus, the mechanic at the shop said 2 weeks to get the parts, but I know them, so I'm guessing a month... That would give me a nice surprise if it's earlier, but I'm not planning on it. :rolleyes1:

Bloody hell!
Glad to read that you are okay. I had to laught though when I scrowled down to the photos towards the end of your post there Fred, the police motorcycle doesn't look that much better, what with a headlight not sitting square in it's mounting bracket. LOL

And trying to outrun the scene, haha, that would have been a sight to behold. Good to read that your instincts kicked in and you'd started to slow thereby minimising the impact. Good for you! Great to see that the outcome was better than the episode that lead to it, and the driver accepted his responsibility from the outset. A good example of why it pays to make sure that one is 100% legally entitled to be using the road in a vehicle too.

A whole month seems a little on the steep side to be waiting for your ride to be repaired? I had my CF250T-F (4-5 years ago now) completely fixed with new parts within 2 weeks and that included several days of the October holidays back in 2006. Damage was similar to yours, fairing, radiator, hoses, headlight mounting hardware and associated bits and pieces... though my front forks didn't need any work at all.

This is one of those instances where I use my loud horn (dual tone 115db accessory types) with gusto. I firmly believe that one needs to use the horns on vehicles whenever there are other road users or potential road users around, or those that have the possibility to become road users that might somehow come to share my space. I am sure that I am the worst of the worst when it comes to using the horn on my vehicles here in China, it has become so second nature. I swear that it has saved me uncountable number of times.
I know that many foreigners and even some locals in big cities complain about the high frequency of horn use, but many of them never drive or ride in China. Sorry but my arse comes first over any sensitivities, regulations or by-laws.

I hear you Bikerdoc (pun intended) about the use of the horn, and I do it when really I see or feel a dangerous situation coming up.
You wrote that foreigners who complain about the incessant horns in big cities don't drive or ride. It's true to some extent. As I wrote above, I use the horn too, but only if I think it's really necessary, because I cannot stand all this often useless noise...

Obviously last Thursday I could have and would not be here without a bike now, but for some reasons I was cautious about him slowing down, but naive in the fact I didn't think he would pull off a U-turn from the right lane. Well, guess he did... :lol8:

But anyway, even after this bit of unwanted jogging down the road, I'll still use the horn only when really necessary, not "at will".

One more thing I didn't mention in my 1st post : I'm actually "pleased" with some consequences of the crash.

Of course I'm pissed off to be without a bike for a month, but if some of you guys remember from my bike presentation thread, since the 1st day I rode my new YBR, I felt something "strange" with the steering, when I was going straight the handlebars were not completely straight, but maybe 1 or 2 degrees off. After I insisted they changed the handlebars, but it was still the same. It was very slight so not a big problem to ride it, but when you buy a new bike, you expect everything to be perfect !
I was considering completely stripping the front of the bike this week to see where could be the problem, but now, I don't need to do it anymore... :icon10:
They will change the whole front deal : suspension forks, fork T, handlebars (again), everything that could be crooked or bent, without having to yell and convince them there's a problem, and without paying a dime.

So yeah, in a way, I'm "lucky" to have it happen to me in this way. :lol8:

Whoa ... Fred ... glad you're ok!

The bike is just a machine ... means nothing ... easily replaced. What is important are your lightning fast reactions, those sprinter legs, and that French noggin! The admiring crowds of girls would be heart-broken if their stunt-boy was damaged.

Hmmmm ... that YBR seems to have had a bit of a crunchy start in life (reference initial delivery, and now this).

Again, glad you had a "happy ending".

EDIT - oh yeah ... and I couldn't agree more re being legal. It could've been quite ugly if you weren't. Good work.

The car insurance responsible for your side of damage, not so bad.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by td_ref

The car insurance responsible for your side of damage, not so bad.

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Not sure I understand what you mean there td_ref. There's no "my side of the damage". Maybe something is lost in translation...

Oooh I get it now, sorry ! Yeah, the car insurance is taking care of all the costs, which is normal considering what happened, but TIC, so maybe I need to consider myself lucky... :lol8:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fred

One more thing I didn't mention in my 1st post : I'm actually "pleased" with some consequences of the crash.

Of course I'm pissed off to be without a bike for a month, but if some of you guys remember from my bike presentation thread, since the 1st day I rode my new YBR, I felt something "strange" with the steering, when I was going straight the handlebars were not completely straight, but maybe 1 or 2 degrees off. After I insisted they changed the handlebars, but it was still the same. It was very slight so not a big problem to ride it, but when you buy a new bike, you expect everything to be perfect !
I was considering completely stripping the front of the bike this week to see where could be the problem, but now, I don't need to do it anymore... :icon10:
They will change the whole front deal : suspension forks, fork T, handlebars (again), everything that could be crooked or bent, without having to yell and convince them there's a problem, and without paying a dime.

So yeah, in a way, I'm "lucky" to have it happen to me in this way. :lol8:

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Glad to hear your alright.Bikes can be fixed or replaced.Humans are hard to fix or replace.

Glad you're ok. And if I ever get the chance to learn French, it's to be able to swear and curse when I need to. Swearing is fun in French eh?

Question, you mentioned that you hit the back of his car, was there no way to swerve and avoid it? I know we usually have less than two seconds to decide swerve OR brake. but did you think about it? Also, did you use both rear and front brakes?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by slabo

Glad you're ok. And if I ever get the chance to learn French, it's to be able to swear and curse when I need to. Swearing is fun in French eh?

Question, you mentioned that you hit the back of his car, was there no way to swerve and avoid it? I know we usually have less than two seconds to decide swerve OR brake. but did you think about it? Also, did you use both rear and front brakes?

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Hey Slabo, yes swearing in French is indeed fun, and I'm guilty of it a little bit too much...

I didn't write that I hit the BACK of the car, but the side, between the left rear tire and the rear bumper. I T-boned it if you like, just on the rear. When I hit it, the car was still moving forward, hence why I was able to run and not smash myself stupidly on it.
On the question about swerving and/or braking : honestly it happens VERY fast. The car turned suddenly right into my path, completely across my lane and in this case you don't even know if the driver will stop there after seeing you or continue, so can you try to make it behind the car ??
As soon as it turned, it was completely across my lane so my only reflex was to jump on the front brake (I'm using the front brake 99% of the time, so it's the only one I used this time) and reduce as much as possible the velocity. As I wrote, I was only 10 meters away when it started to turn and going 40-45 km/h so imagine that in the room you're in now, it's very very close... My only instinct there was to brake as hard as I could, I saw after that I left a skid mark on the road. I was perfectly up-straight, so I would not have fallen down without the contact.

What is funny is that i avoided a taxi a month ago on the same road, a left turner this time, just in front of me. I was going fast for this stretch of road, around 65 km/h, and I had time to brake very hard from the front brake, then release it to swerve around the taxi who stopped right in the middle of my path when he saw me. It was a close call, but I had time to do both (braking and swerving around). This time, to be honest, I didn't have time to do much more than full braking to reduce the impact velocity.

Wow, that was a close call. Glad to hear you wasn't hurt. Lucky that no other vehicles on the right when you did that moon walk stunt.
I'd have had sounded the horn just in case if I had detected that that car suddenly slowed down. You just couldn't be too careful riding around Shanghai.

Fred, cool that you are OK. But glad you will get someone else to pay for a new front end on it. Wait and see if these replacement parts improve the bike and get rid of those weird noises.

Dear Fred,

To borrow a phrase from LJH, a happy ending indeed with you coming out uninjured, and all the more so for all of us China riders as we are able to greedily soak up lessons at your expense. On behalf of all, I thank you for being so open about the details and your response, and all of your own take-away lessons. Lots of food for thought in here.

I am curious about your near-total reliance on the front brake. During my first six months of riding on a very forest-worn, 10-year-old KLR650 in California, I too relied very heavily on the front brake, which seemed to work just fine. My experience with my JH600 in China has been different. The front suspension was soft and divey, so hard front braking felt quite unstable. So I developed a different set of braking habits, adding quite a bit of rear brake into the mix, especially when slowing into corners. Having two wheels creating friction does make a difference, especially when doing hard emergency braking as you did in your getoff last week. I'm not saying that doubling up on the braking might have helped in that situation, since braking inherently increases instability. But I can say this: Since I serviced my front forks and replaced the brake oil with a heavier viscosity that better damps the diving, I've noticed that my dual braking works much better in many conditions. I'm no expert rider, but I'm using my right foot more than ever.

I'm curious what our most expert riders have to say about this.

Again, glad you came out unscathed.

cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by euphonius

I'm curious what our most expert riders have to say about this.

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Not an expert, but frequent crasher :mwink:

Depends on the bike, cruisers usually have more load weight in the rear, so using the rear brake will have a better result. In most cases, once you start rapid deceleration, most of the load is transferred to the front end, thus all of your stopping power is on the front tire. This is why you see double front disks in the front, and a tiny single disk in the rear.

Fred, glad you're OK. If the shop says it's going to be a month, I suggest finding a new shop. 1 week for parts, 1 day for labor, and you should be back on the road.

Cheers!
ChinaV

Quote:

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Originally Posted by euphonius

I've noticed that my dual braking works much better in many conditions. I'm no expert rider, but I'm using my right foot more than ever.

I'm curious what our most expert riders have to say about this.

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This is from experience and from reading quite a few books. Many professional road race riders use very minimal rear brake, but that's on a smooth race track conditions, whereas a motocross or enduro rider may use a great deal of rear brake to throw the back end around.

Generally if the road is smooth and dry you should use mostly front brake but applied progressively, as in a squeeze, in a straight line before a corner, but not a grab it. The front brake can be slowly progressively released during the corner up until the just before the apex (trail braking).

The rear brake should be applied gradually and then held on whilst needed and can be gently dragged right the way around a corner. Generally on the road the braking effect is minimal compared with the front and it's used to balance the bike's suspension. But with road conditions that are wet or dirty you should use more rear brake as it's easier to control any skid.

In the real world I think it's a good idea to do a bunch of emergency stops on different road surfaces in different temperatures and with different conditions and learn when the bike's brakes will lock and slide.

Think about this, what would be the best way to stop on ice at 40 kilometers an hour? If you apply any front brake the bike will slide, and after probably 6 foot you'll drop the bike. If you use the rear brake you'll probably slide 10 feet before dropping the bike. Change down and use engine braking the rear will skip around and you might drop it. Do nothing, no extra revs, no leaning no, braking is the safest way in this case.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by euphonius

My experience with my JH600 in China has been different. The front suspension was soft and divey, so hard front braking felt quite unstable.

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If the front end suspension is too soft and you can't use much front brake get a mechanic to put more oil in the fork. It's silly to waste such a powerful braking force.

Thanks to all for the care.

Jeff, it's an interesting point that you make, and I don't mind one bit about answering to you about the braking technique and habits.

First : I never said that my "technique" is the best, far from it, and I know perfectly well that the braking is much more effective when using both brakes (75% front, 25% rear). I tested it times and times again and clearly the braking is really more efficient than braking only from the front.

So why am I using only the front 99% of the time ? Well, it's a mix of several factors :
- with the "cruiser" style Honda 150cc Shadow, I was using more rear brake, because as ChinaV mentioned, it was more "rear-heavy". I also use more the rear brake on the YBR when I have a pillion, for the same obvious reason.
- the YBR 250 front brake is very powerful, and at the same time, while practicing emergency brakings, I found that the rear drum brake is weak, to say the least. Yes, I could lock the rear tyre, but the braking is much less efficient than the front.
- when I ride, and as most of you do too I'm sure, I try not to have to do emergency brakings! Which means I decelerate much in advance for a red light, using the engine braking, and only at the end a little bit of front brake. So this is 99% of the time. If really I need to brake heavily and quickly for a red light (one I didn't see because of trees for example), then I will use the front brake AND the rear one, because as I wrote above, I know and I can feel very clearly that this is the most efficient braking method. Once again, as I try to anticipate all braking, I do not need to use the rear brake. I use the engine braking and the front brake slightly.
- because I use the front brake 99% of the time, what happens if confronted to an emergency situation like the one last week ? Well of course the muscle memory kicks in (because anyway you don't have time to think) and I used only the front brake. That being said, in that particular case, it's honestly hard to say if I would have hit the car or not if I used both brakes. Maybe, maybe not...

What is sure is that I need to use more often the rear brake, gently, as a combination for regular "red lights" braking. Only by doing this I will build my muscle memory and will be able to do it in an emergency and very sudden situation.

We're always trying to improve, I know this will be my next "challenge" when I'm back on the bike ! :mwink:

Hello
It's just not Chinese drivers. I had the same experience with a california car.
I was returning from a climb up Mt Hamilton on the 14 Harley (remember, only one not so great rear brake) riding through an industrial area on a quite Sunday afternoon. Two lanes either side of a grassed center median, I'm in the left lane following a Toyota Prias in the right lane, He starts to slow down, no signals, I assume he is turning into a driveway on the right when he suddenly turn left to make a U turn. I 'm tried to slow down and turn along side him with my handlebars in his window at which point he sees me and we are on the other side of the of the road. I carried on up a grass verge back onto the road ( wrong side)
mumbling some funny foreign words, got on the correct side of the road and carried on home. I never did stop, no damage and figured the the guy scared himself that he didn't need me to anything

Another point I would like to make, myself coming from a scooter/bicycle before my JH600 is not being used to having a foot-brake on a 2-wheeled vehicle at first. Which at the start might result in pulling the clutch + front brake. However, now I always use my rear brake under normal circumstances.

Since you guys always advise to make pictures, I would like to add something: make pictures of any parts/pieces that came off of your and the other persons vehicle. Since normally most of the part/pieces will be on the side of the road or lane where the collision occured, these parts can be crucial to prove that the opposite party was on the wrong side of the road (your side of the road). So don't let anyone pick up/move any parts before pictures have been taken, make pictures that clearly show what side of the road all the bits and pieces are!

Hi there, thanks for the many thoughts on breaking strategy.

I am more on the rear side when it comes to breaking. I use the rear brake on open roads and the front brake most of the time only when I am in the city (and that is probably why I became so anal about my messed up rear disk). Maybe that is a relict from my mountain biking times. We used to say it is better to get off the bike below the bike (lowsider, mostly happens from rear brake faults) rather than over the handelbar (highsider, most common after too strong front-breaking). That said, I know that MC brakes are much smother to operate than the mountain bike brakes we had back then and that I am loosing out on braking power in general.

I will have to work on a better mix between f/r braking...

Fahni, your post about mountain bikes made me think about one important precision :
Use mainly your front brake on asphalt, but use mainly your rear brake on dirt !

Of course on mountain bikes or dirt bikes you'll be taught to use mainly the rear brake to avoid washing out the front.

I ride with my headlights on all the time, which is one of the reasons I have installed HID lighting on my rides and as brighter HID's as I can get here. I also like to wear a light coloured helmet and opted for a white coloured Jetmax in the end, even though I wanted a black one initially. My previous CF250T-Fashion VIP was also white. Unfortunately I had very limited choice for my Dragstar Classic, it only was available in black. Darker colours blend in more with the surroundings, while lighter/brighter colours stand out more. So if one is considering motorcycle clothing, helmets, motorcycle colours etc. opt for a lighter colour close to the whiter shades of the colour spectrum. Another thing I have done is applied a lot of extra reflective tape in strategic areas on my vehicles, some of this has been cut into customised shapes to blend in with lines and aesthetics of my motos. It might be of little use during the day but in dark situations it will present a larger identifiable profile to a light source ie. other vehicle user provided they have their headlights on.

I use my horn on all my vehicles in China with gusto, and it has saved me from the potential of accidents numerous times. I also ride/drive passive/aggressively even though I don't like it, it's the only way in China if one doesn't want to be pushed aside especially on a motorcycle. I also have replaced my horns on all vehicles with two tone type electronic air horns, that way others around me think they are dealing with something bigger or in the case where I might have been seen, they might think just for a moment that this motorcycle is not an ordinary motorcycle and they'd be right, and duly take a little more care/effort.

80-90% of a motorcycles braking force is achieved via the application of the front brakes, though initially one should also apply the rear brake which will apply a transfer of weight towards the front of the motorcycle, which in turn increases the amount of front tyre contact and applicable friction characteristics when the front brake is applied. Under emergency braking though, given humans innate flight/fight response it's better to focus on application of the front brakes and forget about the rear brake application altogether which most of us would tend to press down on too-hard in a panic with resultant rear wheel lock-up and consequence slide which is not good. Having the rear wheel turning also tends to provide more stability so without the application of the rear brake in emergency/panic braking on a motorcycle the continued momentum of the rear wheel will help keep the bike upright, with less likely hood of sliding sideways. Application of the clutch is something that should be done too, even though logic might suggest that one uses engine braking to assist in the emergency situation, this is not completely correct. Throttling off will provide some initial deceleration forces, but only momentarily, after a short period though the engine will then resist deceleration, which means that application of the brakes is fighting against this force too.

Tips for braking on a motorcycle
Motorcycle braking and skid marks

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fred

Fahni, your post about mountain bikes made me think about one important precision :
Use mainly your front brake on asphalt, but use mainly your rear brake on dirt !

Of course on mountain bikes or dirt bikes you'll be taught to use mainly the rear brake to avoid washing out the front.

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I always use at least 90% front brake while riding my dirt bike probably 80% on my MTB(I rear brake slide into corners more on the MTB) the only time I use the back brake more would be on steep technical descents on the dirt.If it is too steep I will get off and bull dog it down using the clutch and front brake engine off to control it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fred

First : I never said that my "technique" is the best, far from it, and I know perfectly well that the braking is much more effective when using both brakes (75% front, 25% rear). I tested it times and times again and clearly the braking is really more efficient than braking only from the front.

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That's pretty much right as a general rule on tarmac in the dry! Just dodgy conditions alter it to 50-50, but that's a progressive (squeeze) application of the brakes.

Really nothing teaches you more about using the front brake than learning to endo (stoppie). Nothing teaches you more about using the rear brake than tail sides or drifts. Nothing teaches you more about throttle use and rear brake modulation than wheelieing. Nothing teaches you more about cornering than learning to knee-down (or bar down with dirt bikes/MTB). Despite how pointless these tricks are on their own.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ZMC888

Really nothing teaches you more about using the front brake than learning to endo (stoppie). Nothing teaches you more about using the rear brake than tail sides or drifts. Nothing teaches you more about throttle use and rear brake modulation than wheelieing. Nothing teaches you more about cornering than learning to knee-down (or bar down with dirt bikes/MTB). Despite how pointless these tricks are on their own.

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:thumbsup:Will do as you say and spend more times on whellies, stoppies, etc.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fahni

:thumbsup:Will do as you say and spend more times on whellies, stoppies, etc.

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Although in this cold weather we have in northern China, learning some of these skills on a mountain bike (bicycle) is very cheap and healthy! There's nothing better than starting the new motorcycle riding season with new skills in the spring.

Hi Fred, sorry to hear about your mishap and good that you are ok - would have been funny to see you running :lol8:


Sorry to chime in - as an instructor I couldn't resist when I read the "braking" news.

When it comes to emergency braking, as it had in Fred's case, generally the following shall be done:

1. disengage clutch, close throttle
2. only slightly apply rear brake (to reduce the momentum of the spinning wheel and to stabilize the rear end)
3. firmly apply front brake and increase / decrease force; avoid locking up the wheel though
4. shift your weight back in order to avoid your arms to straighten
5. keep viewing towards the obstacle

If you ride a ABS equipped bike, fully apply both brakes.

As soon as you notice that a collision cannot be avoided, disengage both brakes and veer off to the side you think you can pass the obstacle by counter-steering.

Sounds complicated but isn't. After a bit of practice, the above 5 steps will become one. First, practice braking to standstill and when you think you are firm, try the collision avoiding maneuver.


Fred, not that I want be the smart ass :rolleyes1:, but from your description (the spot you hit that car), I'm pretty sure you could have avoided the collision with a bit of practice of the above.

Generally the front brake is the more effective brake. Different types of bike constructions have different brake efficiency - front / rear, which is approx. as follows.

heavy cruisers and choppers 50 / 50
cruisers 60 / 40
dual sports 70 / 30
sports bikes 80 / 20


Safe :riding:

Glad to hear your fine and unhurt! I am a new Motorcylist (Is that correct?) and I have been driving cars and trucks for over 21 years. I have always GREATLY respected Motorcyclist because of the limited protection afforded them, and now I have joined the ranks of the risky! I went today and got my insurance, and I am now waiting on my bill of sale and Origin of Manufacture so I can get my plate. I have NEVER driven a motorcycle EVER before now, so I am going to take a safety course and practice on my street that has VERY little traffic. I am not going to lie at all....I was very scared my first time behind the bars (is that right, or do we say wheel?) and I had a crowd of people watching me! No pressure, right? Anyway, here I am, learning from you all and hoping we all can move along from day to day and not get hurt (or worse) having fun on our bikes! I gotta say up front....I LOVE riding my Chopper!! I haven't gone fast on it, about 30mph/48kmh so far. I wear a helmet and hang on for life!!! Thanks for your post and lesson. I will DEFINATELY be watchful when I hit the roads! By the way, I have a DongFang DF250CHA with a 250cc engine.