Even with ALL experience YOU have, could be good reading.
How To Survive on a Motorcycle
good examples that I found out by myself and wish I could read those before:
15. If you ever hydro-plane… do not hit your brakes. Ride it out and keep it straight. Sometimes it helps to tighten the anal muscles during this maneuver.
23. Ride like your invisible. Assume that nobody sees you (except the highway patrol)
33. When it just starts to rain·· Stop ·· have a cup of coffee or a soda and wait for the rain to clean the slime from the road.
39. Traffic control devices won’t save you. Scan all compass points prior to entering all intersections. Green can also mean go directly to the morgue.
44. If you find yourself rushing to get out the door for work it might not be a good idea to take the bike. Don’t ride when you’re mind is racing in a mad dash to get to wherever. It’s not good for your health.
54. Whenever stopped in traffic, NEVER put the bike in neutral. Keep the tranny in 1st gear and get used to holding in the clutch lever. As much as most of us hate to do this, it allows the rider to simply release the clutch and go if you need to move out of the way of danger. A motor officer in South Florida was killed because it took him too long for him to clutch, engage 1st gear, release the clutch and begin to roll_even though he had enough time and space to escape the approaching car. Remember…”Neutral Kills!”
59. On the highway, if you’re on the leftmost lane, and cars abruptly stop ahead of you, PULL OFF QUICKLY AND CAREFULLY ONTO THE SHOULDER. Let the moron behind you who isn’t paying attention rear-end the car in front, not sandwich you between his car and the car ahead.
This maneuver actually saved my life, not because I knew it’s going to happen, I just wanted to overtake a slowing down car, took left on the shoulder, and the car behind me crashed into the overtaken one a second later…
64. Bikes can slow down awfully quick without using brakes, so when decelerating by engine compression alone tap on the brakes to warn the driver behind you and let them know you are slowing down.
73. Here’s a trick I’ve figured out to help with tailgaters. One good trick is to increase your following distance, sure, but that doesn’t help if something else (see UFOs in tips 71 and 72) makes you brake quickly. I’ve found a little gentle swerving in my lane helps keep the cell-phone wielding commuters off my tail. I think it just reminds some people I’m there, and makes others think I’m just a bit crazy, but after a few weaves, I usually get at least two seconds’ distance behind me.
This one is especially great for Italy riding, where you have all kind of crazy bastards going 50cm behind you.
77. I agree with all of these points, except for #36. Yes, you want to stay out of anyone’s blind spot. But what you want to maximize is your separation from other traffic. Usually traffic travels in “packs”, and the best way to do this is to spend as much time as possible between “packs”, which means travelling mostly at the same speed as the rest of the traffic. Every time you pass someone or someone passes you, the risks are increased. Of course each of us is the best driver on the road, so the risk is increased mostly when we are being passed.
84. Park your ego and vanity at home. Both will get you dead
88. When approaching a stopped vehicle that is looking to turn into my lane (typically the dreaded left turn without seeing you), I try to quickly determine if the driver has made eye contact with me. At the same time, I am concentrating on the wheels of the vehicle. If they turn or move even the slightest amount, I immediately execute my planned evasive maneuver (that I planned long before approaching the vehicle in question).
89. If the rider or driver in front of you is slowing down, be damn sure you know why before you pass them. They may have hit the brakes for (1) the squad car looking for speeders (2) the idiot in front of them who is about to make a U-turn in front of you or (3) the steer in the ditch that is getting ready to cross the road.
96. Always check rear view mirrors and tire position before passing a car.
100. Don’t be afraid to ride slow.
112. I followed a semi at about a 100 meters distance, coming out of a turn on a Motorway junction (we call it leaf clover-junctions). Suddenly, I saw a car coming from the other way on my right spin around. It rear-ended the armco barriers, where it stood still. I switched on the emergency flashers, and slowed down to check if the occupants were ok, when I suddenly heard a car in the right lane (I was in the second) brake and slide very hard. I realized immediately that he would either hit the standing car, or pull out and hit me. So, I accelerated the hell out of there, just to see the sliding car pull out just behind me. If I had kept driving slowly, he would have run over me, and most likely killed me.
So, here’s my advice: If an accident occurs in another lane, don’t slow down, but acellerate the hell away. Cars may change lanes to avoid the other car, and take you with them.