Seems to be a debate on use of clutch when stopped

Ride a motorcycle , you are taking a risk . The harder you ride , the more risk you take . The more risk you take , the more likely you will become a statistic in the negative column . So !!! how do you reduce the risk .... Think smart and use common sense . This does not come easy as i am one of those who was indestructible at age 17. A kid with a new licence on a new 750 Norton . What ever could go wrong . A young kid in an Envoy Epic crossed the 2 lane highway right in front of me and i nailed him right dead center . I saw him on the side of the road but hey ... i'm in the right of way .
In 1975 i got a new Yamaha DT 400 dirt bike . This was indeed a step down from the big 750 cc Norton . Oddly enough , the number of crashes and scrapes , bangs and bruises increased 10 fold . Racing through unfamiliar open fields at 50 mpg through waist high grass was certainly not the brightest thing to do .. Maybe that's why i fell off .

You ask , " what does this have to do with the clutch " ? Nothing .. But it does lead to more about how you should or could think about how you ride more so in and around traffic . We are taking a risk every time we ride but can do little things to reduce the risk . When i get behind cars in stopped or very slow traffic i try to stay to the very right side Canada .. right lane driving ) and outside of the car ahead of me and roughly two bike lengths back . This leaves me a straight shot forward to clear the car ahead . Having a bike in gear and ready to go is no good if you have no safe space to go . If you are to the left side and get hit then you take the risk of getting driven into oncoming traffic

As for being ready as soon as the light changes ........... don't be in a rush to get hit . There will always be someone in a bigger hurry running through the red light in order to get to the coffee shop before work .

From my own 51 years of riding experience and 30 years picking up pieces as a firefighter i can attest to the words of Lineslinger ....... the motorcyclist will always come out on the short end .

Taking care of ourselves first will allow us to come back here another day and who knows ...........talk OIL .

Cheers

If I'm on the bike and am the lead vehicle at the stoplight, I do not proceed on green without looking to see that it's REALLY clear -no red light runners. I learned long ago that the best way to operate a motorcycle is to assume you are invisible to all other traffic...which for practical purposes, you are! The only car drivers that MIGHT see you are those who own/ride motorcycles!

Interestingly, a good friend's son is a Moto GP World champ some years back and he (champ) will not ride a motorcycle on the street - says it's too dangerous! His dad (over 80), continues to ride despite his son's discouragement.

There is another thing to think about when pulled up at lights, the car behind you with an inpatient driver, how many rear enders I have seen at lights from the car behind when the lights turn green and the driver behind you was quicker off the mark than the car in front, more cars than bikes rear enders accident this way.
Happen to me once in my Land Rover tray back, lucky my tray is solid steel and a towbar sticking out the back the car behind me lurched forward as the light turned green and straight into the back of me, no damage to me but he had a nice big towbar and ball straight into his front grill and radiator, he wasn't going much further.

Ashley

MexicoMike said:

Interestingly, a good friend's son is a Moto GP World champ some years back and he (champ) will not ride a motorcycle on the street - says it's too dangerous! His dad (over 80), continues to ride despite his son's discouragement.

Click to expand...

I wonder if your friend's son listened to Al, sorry Al couldn't help myself.

ashman said:

I wonder if your friend's son listened to Al, sorry Al couldn't help myself.

Click to expand...

Maybe Al IS his friends son ?!?

After reading this thread and coming back from a Caledon Hills trip ( 2 nice brookies , the new reduced limit ) , the clutch cable barrel end was creaking , I had thought the featherlight was teflon linered , as well as the barrel end surround . I had cleaned it a few days ago thinking it was teflon and did not like lube . Wrong . It's plastic and needs lube . Smeared grease into it just now and all creaky noises are gone . Ride on .

Not only putting grease on the barrel you also got to grease where the cable runs through the lever adjuster as rubbing through that adjuster can also fray the cable, its just part of a normal oil change that I give the cable end and lever a good clean and a fresh dab of grease on the end of a moving cable, adjuster and lever, friction does the damage to the cable and as I have said since doing this in the late 70s I haven't broken a cable since so over 44 years ago now.

Ashley

ashman said:

I haven't broken a cable since so over 44 years ago now

Click to expand...

Don’t say that!

Triton Thrasher said:

Don’t say that!

Click to expand...

I was touching wood when I wrote it lol.

Round and round she goes, where she stops, nobody knows!

Oil threads ain't got nothin' on this one

First bike was a Harley with foot clutch. After some incidents quickly came into habit of put it in neutral. Done it ever since.
On the speedway bikes it was important not to heat up clutch. Warming on a stand and leaning bike right to get rear wheel off ground waiting.

marshg246 said:

True, and I have less faith today than when younger. Still, accidents: 0 evaded accidents: Many

The most interesting was driving down I95 on day when I notice something to my right at 70 mph. Stomp the brake and to keep from getting hit from the rear, swerve onto the shoulder. Watch the trailer hitch at the front of a boat trailer go by in front of me at head height. The wheels of the trailer hit the guard rail and the boat launched. The boat cleared all four lanes going the other way. I was still in full panic stop and ended up about one foot from the trailer stuck on the guard rail. The car behind me should have been OK, but he swerved to the right into a car in that lane and set off a multi-car pileup.

Click to expand...

What happened to the boat? Must have been an interesting insurance claim to make ... " There I was, driving along the freeway when suddenly I get hit in the front by a boat going the wrong way....."

Ron,
Your words... "Don't be in a rush to get hit."
Nicely said. I shall be quoting you many times!
Dennis
Vancouver

The reason I always take the bike out of gear at a stop light is that if I were in gear with clutch handle, and if i was to be hit from behind, I would likely let go of the clutch handle which I think would "Complicate affairs"!

Dennis

DennisMo said:

The reason I always take the bike out of gear at a stop light is that if I were in gear with clutch handle, and if i was to be hit from behind, I would likely let go of the clutch handle which I think would "Complicate affairs"!

Dennis

Click to expand...

One of the reasons I keep my hand on the brake whether in gear or not and if your hand did slip off the clutch from force your motor would stall anyway if it was just idling, but in 50+ years I have never had any problems at all like that, I do the same in my car foot on the brake when stopped at lights.

Ashley