I have read countless stories about riders and especially new riders, trying to ride way above their capabilities. For new riders this can be extremely bad, the results can be deadly and some did pay the ultimate price. Because the new rider does not possess neither the time in the saddle or the skill to handle situations that arise. There is nothing that can replace time in the saddle and building skill.
I personally have been riding motorcycles for 41 years and still to this day I continue to learn how to ride. I know that I have a lot I can share with the inexperienced riders and also still have a lot I can learn to increase my own skill.
To the new riders out there, I know you want to impress your friends on how well you can ride or think you can ride. But if you truly want to impress everyone, especially your family, take any safety courses you can, wear all the correct riding gear and most important ride with in your limits and stay alive.
To help increase your percentage rate to survive, make sure you wear all the right gear and then find a riding friend or group of riders who are will to take the time to help you learn to ride correctly. Also take any safety courses you can and when you are ready to learn how to go fast, learn at the race track. There are many organizations who promote track days and if you are a new rider to the track, a lot of them make you go through a learning process.
An example is Fastrack Riders, your first time to the track you have to go through there school. They teach you how to get on and off the track, the best lines around the track, the proper way on how to go through corner (turn). What is really nice is that they do this as a level 1. Fastrack actually has 3 different levels. Level 1 is the beginners level and is for any rider that wants to learn with out having to go to the limits of speed. Then there is Level 2. This is for the riders who have mastered Level 1 and have a few track sessions under their belt and the lap times have come down. Now you have Level 3, this is a very serious level and it is the level for racers.
Here is a story from one of the websites I visit and to be very honest, I am tired of seeing stories like this.
(quote)
Saw this on another forum and thought I'd put
it over here too. Seems tragic that a young person was too hard headed to listen
to sound advice for friends and family. This happened southeast of Sacramento,
CA.
"Today was the most tragic day of my riding career. I wanted to do a group
ride so I met up with Sacramento Crotch Rockets. What a cluster**** two crashes
and a fatality. I have never seen anyone die before. There were new riders mixed
with faster riders some guy on a 929 had to get in front of me so I let him and
then he blows the DY and almost hit the hill on the other side of the road. Then
I hear people talking about this guy on a blue r6 that kept blowing the DY and
he eventually crashes but is OK. There were like 30 - 40 riders. We all stopped
at Georgetown and I decided to get gas at the last minute so I lost touch with
the group. I was with this guy who had only been riding two weeks and he was on
an 03 Gixxer 1000 he didn't even have any gloves I told him we'd take it easy
and I'd try to give him a few pointers (not that I'm that great) but anyway he
was in front of me and we come up to the first left hander by the lake after
Uncle Tom's and there are bikes pulled over. We stop and are told that someone
went over the guard rail. So I look over and this guy is laying there and two
people are giving CPR. I asked if they needed help (I was a medic in the Army)
and they said yes. I ran down to where it was like a 20 ft drop hung over the
edge and jumped down. One guy was an EMT and carried a mask. We did CPR until
the paramedics came but after about half an hour they called it. I didn't even
know his name. He had a brand new Gixxer 750 no plate yet. Basically he locked
up his brakes and hit the guard rail perpendicular and got launched over the
fence to a 50 ft drop to cement. He had a wedding ring. Just tragic."
Read on...this from the mans father:
My son killed himself Saturday while crossing the dam at Stumpy Meadows.
He was on his maiden ride with a loosly nit group of sport bike riders called
the Sacramento Crotch Rockets. Bret made the decision to purchase a GSXr750 from
a salesman at a Folsom, Ca. bike dealership. He had never owned a motorcyle or
ridden one. No M1 endorsesment or permit. The Salesman arranged to have the
Gixxer delivered to his doorstep. Nice ethical guy.
His older brother, his younger sister and myself told him to sell it and not
ride it. Or at least take the MSF course before getting on it.
Bret made the final decision to not listen to our advise.
Why he was invited to drive a ride full of twisties like Georgetown to Stumpy
Meadows and who knows how much more technical roads that only a experienced
rider would take on with a Gixxer 750 is beyound my common sense.
Like I said in my first sentence in this post, my son is responsible for what
happened. For you newbies...stay away from groups like the SCR's (Sacramento
Crotch Rockets). They didn't mentor my son. Hell, he had all of 50 miles on his
new bike and no license plate but was friggin' invited to carve up dozens on
miles of twisties haven barley ridden around his neighborhood a couple of times.
He got his permit on friday and died on saturday.
And finally from his brother:
The man who died on Wentworth Saturday, July 28, was Bret J. Steiner, my only
brother. He was only 29 years old. He had a loving wife and beautiful 3 year-old
daughter. We all lived together in the same house. I saw him every day of every
week. I was the last person to talk to him before he left the house that
morning. The news of his death has been the most unbearable thing our family has
ever had to bear. It has left us with a void that simply cannot be filled. Bret
was our best friend and our inspiration. He was loved by so many people, and it
is so hard to imagine him gone. He was such a lively guy, and he had a wonderful
sense of humor. Bret was by far the funniest person I've ever met--anyone who
knew him would say the same.
Bret had only been riding for 2 weeks before he died. We, his family, told him
he did not need to be riding those windy roads. He had not taken the Safety
Training Course, and his only experience had been on the few roads around our
house. Bret did not have the skills to go on that ride, and it cost him his
life.
When he came home with his brand new GSXR 750, he was as excited as I've ever
seen him. When he asked what I thought, however, I just shook my head. I used to
ride motorcycles, and I knew this would be too much bike for him. But, as Bret
was so famous for doing, he got the best stuff he could afford. As the days went
on, I'd remind him to put on his gloves, wear his jacket, wear boots instead of
shoes, and get his license before going on those long rides. To Bret, my advice
was nothing more than dead air.
I cannot begin to tell you how sad we all are right now. I feel so bad, knowing
that there was nothing more I could do to convince him that what he was doing
could cost him his life. I warned him about about how serious motorcycle riding
is, and how he should do it by the numbers. Start off with a slower bike, take
the class, get some local miles in before going into the hills. I wish he had
listened. We all told him the same thing, but it was useless. Bret was too
excited to listen. He loved that bike, and it was like watching a little kid on
his first bicycle.
To those who read this, please pass on the message of motorcycle safety. Please
tell your friends or loved ones who ride that motorcycle riding should NEVER be
taken lightly. The day you do this is the day you should hang up your helmet.
To those of you in motorcycle clubs like the one Bret joined, PLEASE make sure
all your memebers have a valid Class M License. If they do not, they should not
be allowed to join the group on technical rides. Period. Ask new riders how
experienced they are. Have they taken the Safety Training class? Have they ever
ridden the twists and turns? If you have any doubts, they should not be allowed
to ride. This is the responsible thing to do, and it will only help to prevent
tragedies like this from repeating themselves.
And lastly, to those of you who came to my brother's aid at the crash, our
entire family thanks you for what you did.
Rest in Peace, Brother. I love you, buddy.
In Honor of Bret James Steiner
July 18, 1978 - July 28, 2007
(end quote)
Like I said what a waste.
Nothing can be truer than the title of the story, it is a tragic waste when a new rider loses his life because they refuse to listen to friends and family and at a responsible rate learn the skill necessary to ride.