On a Bike? This is just for you!
Riding a motorbike is undoubtedly fun, fast and easy. It costs you less to get there, you get there faster and you can park anywhere! In our cities, though all these hold true, there are quite a lot of dangers to riding a two wheeler which at times, may outweigh the advantages! Let's look at the dangers one by one.
Dust and Pollution - Bikers' Bane
Very troublesome, this! Leaves you covered in soot and your hair is all sticky at the end of it. If you are going to a date or picking someone up, it is important that you don't get there bleary eyed and smelling of CO2!
Tips to overcome
Attire
- Wear a full helmet with a visor and keep the visor closed! Mandatory in big cities, this is a must wear in all cities and while riding all kinds of two wheelers. Keeps your hair clean and available for combing. Protects your face and eyes from soot, dust and the wind. Of course, while we all love to think that we are infallible, the helmet comes in handy if you end up in a heap on the pavement.
- Wear a Wind-Cheater - Helps protect your shirt from dust and wind and keeps it clean and wrinkle free.
- Wear Riding Gloves - Protects your hands from sweat and the disintegrating rubber of your bike's handles. Sweat attracts a lot of particles and all the dust and soot go get collected there. Leaves your hands looking grey and dirty, not unlike that of a mechanic's. You wouldn't want to shake hands like that, would you? Who would, anyway!
Driving
- Keep a clear distance from the vehicle in front. Helps avoid dust, gravel and the smoke billowing out of the exhaust. Do not ride behind autos, tempos and, trucks and buses. They wouldn't have cleaned their engines in years and the smoke can turn out to be very harmful to eyes and lungs. If the vehicle in front of you is one of the above said, or any other which is emitting a lot of smoke, see if you overtake it or slow down and put a few more vehicles in between.
- Exhaust pipes of all vehicles are on their right side. So, you keep to the left of the road. This keeps you from directly inhaling the fumes!
Rain - Fun or Pain?
Big fun if you've planned for it. Big spoil sport if you haven't.
Tips to overcome
Attire
1. While planning for rain, apart from the 3 points above, add a pair of nice sports shoes (not White) to your attire. Will lend traction to your feet and keep them from getting all soggy and cold.
2. Try not to carry your wallet and phones in your pockets. There is very little you can do to keep them dry. Maybe you can stow them away under the seat. Most bikes today give you some little space there.
Driving
- Standard tip - Keep a fair all - around distance from vehicles. Gives you a fair reaction time so you can avoid hard braking and/or swerving. Also keeps you away from splashing sludge.
- Keep away from water pools - See a big pool of water on the road? KEEP AWAY!!! You never know how deep the pothole would be.
- Use engine braking - It is extremely risky to use brakes when it is pouring. Use gears effectively to slow your vehicle down. This is a no-slip-no-skid alternative, safe and sure. Here's how you do it. Shift down, release clutch, shift down again and release clutch...do this successively until your speed is low enough to allow braking.
- Use both brakes - Come rain or shine, use both brakes. Helps keep your bike from tailing and reduces the stopping distance like crazy. Using just the rear brakes means you have to force it down which will, in all likelihood, result in a skid.