Tips for City Motorcycle Riding

If you’ve recently purchased your first motorcycle, you may be a bit nervous to take your first ride around the city. Riding a motorcycle is more difficult than driving a car, and it can take some time to get the hang of things. Thankfully, we’ve written up a few helpful city riding tips below to make your first commute as easy as pie!  

Visibility 

Motorcycles are quite a bit smaller than cars, making it easy for distracted drivers to overlook their presence on busy roads and intersections. To avoid an accident and ensure you’re seen both day and night, we advise purchasing a handy roll of reflective tape to place on your motorcycle’s body and your helmet. Using your horn when necessary, and even flashing your high beams can also help make sure that the cars around you are well aware of your presence. 

Defensive Driving 

While reflective tape is great for visibility, if a person is purposefully driving in a reckless or dangerous manner, it may not do you much good. In this case, we want to encourage you to drive defensively and pay careful attention to your surroundings. When you arrive at intersections make sure to check left, right, and left again, and carefully scan the road ahead of you. Because you’re driving in the city, you’ll want to keep your eyes out for other motorists, as well as common road hazards such as potholes, leaking sewer lines, or an accident between two motorists. 

Motorcycle riding can be difficult to get the hang of, and we want to encourage you to practice, practice, practice— until you feel totally comfortable with your model’s controls. If your bike ever needs servicing or a repair, you’re always welcome to visit our convenient service center in Grandview, Missouri! Here at Freedom Cycles, we proudly serve the nearby cities of Kansas City, Missouri, and Overland Park, Kansas, and are happy to help you with all of your motorcycle needs!