The Most Important Skill to Master

Turning a motorcycle is all about feel. You’re not cranking a wheel to change directions—you’re leaning and letting the bike do the rest. “The bike goes where you look,” explains Robert Zurich, who’s been teaching basic rider courses for more than a decade. “So look where you want to go. If you stare at a pothole, you will hit a pothole.” Besides being a potent metaphor for life, it’s the key to becoming a real rider.

The Dixie-Cup Driving Course

1. Find a parking lot—the emptier, the better.

2. Using Dixie cups filled with water, set up right- and left-hand turning lanes about twelve-feet wide around an imaginary ninety-degree corner.

3. Approach the turn at a comfortable speed, making sure to do all your braking and downshifting before you press the handlebars in the direction you want to go.

4. Look through the turn at a fixed point where you want to end up, roll gently back on the throttle to keep the bike stable, and turn. Repeat. Most important? Relax. “If you mess up,” says Zurich, “so what? You just killed a Dixie cup.”

Three Bikes to Learn On:

(We are going to omit anything other than a Triumph here...)

 2. Triumph Bonneville

The Triumph Bonneville has been cool since 1959, putting it in that rarefied league with Ray-Ban aviators, 501’s, and everything else that will never go out of style. Today, Triumph’s Modern Classics bikes are equipped with the kind of smooth, torquey, fuel-injected engines that Steve McQueen could only dream of. The 865cc Bonneville is a lot of bike for a beginner, so take it around the block a few hundred times before hitting the open road. Still, it’s surprisingly nimble through corners, and for the man planning long hours in the saddle, the cushy seat and comfortable handlebar height demand roughly the same posture as your favorite chair.

Get in Gear: The Jacket

Those paper-thin washed-leather jackets we recommend for a night out won’t cut it on a bike. But these days, you don’t have to wrap yourself in Day-Glo leathers to be properly equipped. The Lawford jacket from Triumph looks right at home alongside your Barbour or Belstaff, but if you misjudge a turn, you’ll immediately appreciate the amply (but subtly!) padded elbows and shoulders and the double-stitched seams.

Back to the Home Page

 Contact Webmaster

Brought to you by BritRider.com llc