How Long Does It Take to Get Good at Riding a Motorcycle?
It’s the question so many new bikers eager to get into the lifestyle ask: how quickly can I become good at riding my motorcycle? If you’re taking up biking, you’ll discover a number of advantages, like saving on fuel, enjoying the thrills of the road, camaraderie with fellow bikers, or even relaxing on a cruiser. For a better idea of the timeline of rider development, Cycle Trader is answering your question, “How long does it take to get good at riding my motorcycle?”
Learning to Ride a Motorcycle
For beginners, the good news is that learning the basic knowledge about biking only takes a matter of hours, from controls, to grip, to how a motorcycle functions. Admittedly, achieving the skills of an expert biker can take a bit longer, as you develop your instincts, proper riding posture, and muscle memory with continued biking experience. If you can ride a little every week, you should certainly be proficient within a year, having a mastery of motorcycle handling, from speed and power to control and cornering.
To accelerate your biking development, consider taking a driving course at a motorcycle safety school. And the Motorcycle Safety Foundation is another resource with insights and courses to improve your riding. When you’ve earned your motorcycle driver’s license after taking a written exam and a road test, you’ll be prepared with the knowledge, skills, and training experience for different riding conditions.
Find a Motorcycle Built For You
Do yourself a favor and make it easier to learn how to ride by picking out one of the best motorcycles for new riders designed for your skill level. With too much power or torque, you may have problems with handling and control. For example, a beginner rider might want to avoid a 1,000cc bike that might be too large and difficult to get a hand on when riding. Instead, a lighter 250cc–600cc motorcycle might be better to learn on. Aside from the bike’s weight, consider other factors like seat height, the distance to the handlebars, if you can reach the ground with your feet, and if your riding posture is comfortable. Remember, you can always upgrade to your next motorcycle on the market later down the road.
Control Your Motorcycle
No matter your experience level, practice and driving classes can always help you improve your skills. Brush up on the safety tips all new riders need to know, like driving defensively and knowing the rules of the road. Dropping a motorcycle or losing control are some common worries for new bikers. Just remind yourself to be confident when you ride, look in the direction you’re headed, take it slow, and give yourself time.
New bikers have to get familiar with their surroundings, develop a new spatial awareness on their bike, and get used to the feeling of being exposed on the road. This goes hand-in-hand with how much distance you’ll need when braking, and how close other vehicles are on the road. Start practicing in a parking lot, then residential areas like neighborhoods, before moving your way onto backroads, busy main roads, through a city, and finally the highway. Prepare yourself for different riding scenarios, like driving in rush hour traffic, different weather conditions, and at night.
Learn the Clutch and Throttle Controls
Learning how your bike’s clutch and gears respond can be a challenge for new riders, and are all part of becoming “good” at motorcycling. If you have an automatic transmission, then you have nothing to worry about here, but even so, it’s worth learning in case you ever make the switch to a manual transmission. Pull the clutch in with your hand, tap your gear lever with your foot, and slowly release the clutch until the motorcycle starts up. Then add throttle for power and speed, but take it easy. Then, learn to get into second, third, fourth, and fifth gear based on your driving conditions. Practice this over on a closed course or with safe distance from other vehicles, like a parking lot. It will take weeks, if not months to perfect it, but when you’re moving on the road and changing gears, you’ll appreciate your bike even more.
Know How to Brake
The basics of braking are one of the first skills you’ll learn as a biker, and it shouldn’t take long to figure out how your bike responds to your controls. You’ll use your front brake with your hand, and your rear brake with your foot. Step on the brake, and then pull with your hand to bring your motorcycle to a halt. However, you want to do this gradually, so you move smoothly to a stop. It will take some practice, and remind yourself to give yourself plenty of distance between other vehicles. Knowing how to brake will steer you away from these common mistakes for new riders to avoid, and prevent damage to your motorcycle.
Master Turning and Cornering
You’re probably seen skilled riders on motorcycles like sport bikes cornering on race tracks and tight hairpin turns on the open road, and it’s a skill that takes time, like months or even years, to perfectly get down. When you start out, take it slow, and go easy on the throttle and brake, not punching either too hard. You want to brake, shift, and accelerate in a straight line when you’re entering a turn and cornering. Your motorcycle will learn based on the side you’re turning with your bike. You’ll want to move your body in the direction the bike is leaning. At faster speeds, you’ll position your body and go steeper into your lean as you take the corner. Even the best riders on the road will still have to make adjustments with years of experience.
These are some basics for learning as a new biker to develop your skills and become a good rider. It will take months to learn these essential steps, and years to hone in the more challenging aspects of biking. When you’re ready to find your next motorcycle, check out all the new and used listings on the nation’s leading marketplace at CycleTrader.com.
Ryan Miller
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