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Hi there fellow biker or soon to be biker. And welcome to “The Motorcycle Podcast”. My name is Patrik and I am, like you know by now, your humble host. Like I said in the introduction episode of The Motorcycle Podcast – this is a podcast by bikers for bikers giving you all the tips and tricks that they don´t teach you at the driving school and the tricks that you normally have to learn the hard way. In this podcast you will learn these tricks BEFORE you learn them the hard way and break a leg and the bank.
Cuz as we all know, motorcycling CAN BE utterly dangerous and the margins couldn´t possibly be smaller. A simple mistake can have fatal consequences and we want to have them margins on our side. And to improve the odds we educate ourselves and make sure to become well educated bikers to make sure we have them margins on our side always.
And that´s basically the mission of this podcast. To make bikers better bikers one little step at a time. To share tips and tricks between bikers so that we can all live to ride another day. No matter if you´ve been riding for 40 years or for 6 months or never – we can all become better riders because motorcycling is a CLP – a continuous learning process.
Many years of riding under the belt is good but what is it worth if you´re just doing the same thing always and not developing your riding skills and riding technique? Them years of experience doesn´t really matter if you don´t constantly develop yourself. I´ve seen old guys who has been riding for 40 years and they still do newbie mistakes. Probably because they got comfortable and “good enough” riders to go the local coffé shop back and forth without dying. Not to mention a whole generation who got the motorcycle license for free So for that reason guys, let´s get educated. Let´s become educated and skilled riders!
I hope the sun is shining on you guys and that your motorcycle is working well, wherever in the world you might be enjoying it! It´s a freaking storm where I´m at so bear with me and I apologize for the whining wind in the background.
I´m in Sweden with my beloved Yamaha Fazer 1000 at the moment. The weather has been pretty shitty the last couple of weeks so I´m not super happy about it but it has been nice to visit some friends and such. And the motorcycle has performed very well I must say. She´s very reliable and I fricki´n love this bike. I think its such a perfect combination of a sports bike and touring and it´s such a pleasure to ride her on all kind of roads. Well maybe not super fun on dirt roads I must admit but I seldom ride them gravel roads anyway so it´s okey.
But I´m actually thinking about buying a proper offroad bike and drive the “TET”, the Trans European Trail. If you haven´t heard of it before, it´s basically a huge network of dirtroads or offroad trackstan around Europe. I mean, imagine the adventure! A lightweight 250 or 300 cc bike, a tent and a sleeping bag and just wild nature and roads in the middle of nowhere. Ouff. Yeah it´s about time to enter the dark side of off-roading! Actually I think it´s the best you can do to improve your riding skills. A pretty light bike and rough terrain. I mean, the best motorcycle riders I’ve ever seen are the guys who were competing with dirt bikes as kids. They tend to develop such a unique and close connection to the bikes they´re riding and they learn very well how to handle skids on the back tyre and such. I still shit my pants big time when my back tyre skids. So I think going offroad is gonna improve my riding skills a lot and I can´t wait to get on the Trans European Trail!
Anyhow, we´re not here to talk about the TET today. I had an American guy sending in his motorcycle tip the other day and I definitely could relate to it so I decided to share it in the podcast with you guys.
So here we go:
Today´s tip comes from the Harley rider Anthony from California and he says like this:
“Hey Pat,
Greetings from sunny California! Just wanted to drop a quick note because, you know, safety vibes and all that. Been rolling on two wheels for a while now, and one thing I’ve noticed is how crucial it is to lace up those boots tight, especially when you’re hitting the streets on your bike. Shoelaces getting caught up in the gear shift or, even worse, the foot brake can turn a good ride into a not-so-fun situation.
So, I was cruising down the California roads, you know, wind in my hair, sun on my face – all the good stuff. But then, out of the blue, my shoelace decides to play rebel and gets tangled up in the foot brake. I just couldn´t get it loose no matter how much I was fiddling my foot.
Now picture this: I roll up to a stop to fix it and somewhere along the line and in the middle of the panic I kind of forgot that the foot was stuck and wouldn´t be able to support me on the right side when the motorcycle stopped. I stopped the bike and all of a sudden it started tilting to the right and It took me a second to realize I’m caught up in a shoelace tango with the bike. Luckily, right when things were about to get very embarrassing, the lace lets go just in time and I’m standing there, trying to play it cool like it was all intentional, but truth be told, it was a super close call. Moral of the story? Shoelaces and foot brakes – not the best dance partners. I don´t even wanna think about how much it would have cost me to fix all the scratches and dents if I would have fallen and dropped my beautiful V-rod!
Thought it might be rad to share this very small nugget of wisdom on the podcast. You never know, it might help a fellow rider out there. Keep doing your thing, and looking forward to more epic episodes.
Ride safe”.
Thank you so much Anthony for taking your time to write in to The Motorcycle Podcast to share your tip that you almost had to earn the hardest way possible. Much apreach! I´m happy to hear that all went well with both you and your Harley. That was a close call my “brotheeer”! Things could have gotten pretty nasty pretty quick there. Looks like your guardian angel was with you that time and I hope it still is. We sure need them from time to time.
I think this is yet another perfect example of how the devil is in the details. It´s no wonder that many professional riders are superstitious and have very sophisticated routines for themselves before a race to make everything perfect and optimizing the margins.
I´ve actually had my fair share of loose shoelaces as well. I´ve been stuck in both the foot break and the gear shifter. Not at the same time luckily. But man it´s so frustrating when it happens. You kind of get the feeling that if you stop you´ll fall to one side or another, so you feel like it´s better to just keep going until the end of time. Or at least until the shoelace comes of. Most of the times it has come of on the run after some fiddling with the foot but it´s always a super stressful struggle and it´s obviously always a huge safety risk to look down on your feet while riding, trying to figure out how the heck the shoelace is stuck.
Luckily I´ve never had an accident because of a shoelace but I can totally see how things easily can go sideways when it happens.
So, with that being said. Big ups to Anthony for sharing this simple motorcycle tip and don´t forget to tie your shoelaces and tuck them in well before you go riding your bike. By doing so we´re slightly improving our margins. And boy how we need them margins on our side.
Got a motorcycle tip burning in your pocket that you’re eager to share on The Motorcycle Podcast? Fantastic! It doesn’t have to be a groundbreaking revelation – it could be as simple and valuable as Anthony´s tip today.
As I’ve emphasized before, the devil is in the details. So, spill the beans on those intricate maneuvers, nifty tricks, or hard-earned lessons you’ve picked up along your riding journey. Consider it your chance to help fellow riders avoid making the same mistakes.
Think about your next ride. What do you do? What’s your secret sauce? What epiphanies have you had? Share it with us!
Drop your tips on The Motorcycle Podcast’s Instagram. Whether it’s a quick text or a lively voice message, the choice is yours. I’m biased towards voice messages –because I think they add a personal touch to the podcast – but feel free to choose what suits you best. Reach out to The Motorcycle Podcast on Instagram, and let’s take it from there.
A big shoutout to all you awesome listeners and those who’ve been spreading the word on Instagram and TikTok – you rock! And for the love of Jesus, don’t forget to hit that follow button in your podcast player so you never miss our upcoming episodes.
Two wheels, one love!
Keep the shiny side up folks!
See you next time in “The Motorcycle Podcast”
Adioooous!
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