Yoyoyo fellow bikers and aspiring bikers out there in the world. Wherever you may be, whatever kind of bike you´re riding. Welcome to The Motorcycle Podcast – a podcast by bikers for bikers giving you all the tips and tricks about riding motorcycles that they didn´t teach you at the driving school. Useful tweaks to use to avoid breaking a leg, your motorcycle and/or your bank account. This is the place where we share our experiences, our mistakes, our eureka moments, our ephiphanies and all them tricks that we learned the hard way so that our brothers and sisters out there doesn´t have to pay the same high price for the same learnings. Because let´s be honest; we can all become better riders and if you lose the fear of riding, it´s time to hang up your helmet. Because you know how it is; there are old pilots, there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots. But there might exist old bold educated pilots. And that´s exactly what we are creating here together. My friend. I´m happy that you are here, to teach and share or learn or both. Welcome to the petrol juice party. My name is Patrik and I am you humble host.
Today I have a very cool guest on the show. And you will soon actually hear her message but before we start I just want to take a moment and say thank you guys! Thank you for following The Motorcycle Podcast on Instagram and in your podcast players!
And thank you for giving The Motorcycle Podcast such good ratings in your podcast players. And if you´re not already following The Motorcycle Podcast in your podcast player or if you haven´t given it your rating yet, please consider doing so. It really means the world to me and it really helps with the algorithms so that more riders will find this treasure of knowledge that we´re building here together.
And last but not least. Thank you guys for all your messages on Instagram and email. I appreciate it a lot. So please, keep sending me your best motorcycle tips and tricks, your crash stories and your fail stories and hard lessons learned and such. I respond to everyone reaching out. And as you know by now; no tip is too small. The devil is in the details. And you can choose whether your want to send a voice or a text but as you will hear today, voice is so much more lively.
Ok guys. So. Today´s motorcycle tip comes from Silia van Dorth or @SiliaMaha (nakedbike.lady before) on Instagram. She´s a motorcycle influencer from Limburg in The Netherlands riding mainly Yamaha MT-10 SP, Yamaha R1M (ouff) and The Yamaha Teneré World Raid. Damn that´s a nice setup isn´t it! And on top of that she´s also test riding new motorcycles from her dealer and she´s riding all 4 seasons adding about 15 000 kilometers or 9000 miles a year to the odometers. Way to go queen! Silia is a particular strong woman battling a brain injury she got in an industrial accident when she was 19 years old. But she refuses to be a prisoner in her own home and the motorcycle community is her way of having a social life. I love that. That´s exactly what I want the motorcycle community to be.
Ok so, without further ado, let´s hear Silia´s #1 motorcycle tip:
“Hi! Well, my first advice is to “ride your own ride”! Don´t get forced to keep up with other riders that are more experienced or impulsive or even doing dangerous manouvers. Only do things you are comfortable with. Riding alone is often the best way to get experience without being or feeling pushed. I ride alone most of the time because i really enjoy riding on my own and I get to chose the way i want to go in the last minute. No distraction from other people or keeping up or paying attention to people behind me”.
Thank you so much @SiliaMaha for sharing your #1 motorcycle tip on The Motorcycle Podcast. I think this is a very very good tip guys. And I think we should really think about this and reflect on it for a while. Simple but very good. Why? Because. Well, let me elaborate it a bit.
The quick answer is: many motorcycle accidents happens only because riders are trying to catch up with each other. Period.
Just take a look at your biker friends for a second. Are you all equally good riders? I doubt it. One is more experienced, one is more educated. One is better at breaking and another is better at cornering. We are never a copy or a carbon print of anyone else. Even if you´ve been riding exactly the same amount of time or years doesn´t mean that you´re equally good. We learn differently. Some are fast learners and some are a bit slower. We are never the same and time (months and years) doesn´t tell how good you are as a rider. It really says nothing about how skilled you are actually.
Like I´ve said in previous episodes:
“Experience is great but just because you´ve got 40 years of riding motorcycles under your belt doesn´t necessarily mean that you´re a good rider or even a better rider than a well educated driver who has been riding for 5 years and continuously has been improving his or her riding technique”.
I tell you what guys! Even a monkey can drive fast on a motorcycle on a straight road. But it´s not necessarily the one twisting the throttle the most who wins the race. Yes you can quote me on that one, it´s okey. And you should also know that there are old pilots, there are bold pilots, but there are NO OLD BOLD PILOTS. Think about that for a second and let it sink in. No old bold pilots…
The boldest may win a race once in a while but might eventually pay the ultimate price. So you basically have to choose. To be bold OR to grow old. You can´t have both. Personally I choose to grow old. Life is too much fun to waste it on being bold for a couple of minutes just to impress your friends or some random adrenaline fueled guys on the road or random people on Instagram that you don´t even know and probably will never meet.
And just like @SiliaMaha said: “riding alone is often the best way to get experience without being or feeling pushed”. Group rides can be great fun but it´s such a dangerous situation where shit can go sideways in so many ways. Just search it on YouTube and you´ll see a zillion crashes when people ride in groups. For a reason actually. And it´s actually such a big problem that I probably will make a whole episode just about it in the future.
BUT, and listen carefully now. If you hit the road to drive alone to push your limits and gain experience for a while. Make sure to tell someone about where you will be riding or use one of the super clever motorcycle applications that will send an alarm to your emergency contact or the emergency center if you crash. Or if you don´t want to spend money on apps. At least share your location with a friend or family so that they´ll see where you are and that you got home safe and sound. Or in the worst case scenario see when and where you crashed. So many things can happen when riding alone and if you have an accident and get thrown into the woods or off a cliff, no one might see you or find you until it´s too late. And if YOU´re unconscious or badly hurt you wont be able to call for help yourself. So safety first folks. It´s so easy nowadays. Just do it!
I always share my position on Google with a friend or my family before riding. It feels good to know that someone is keeping an eye on me and know where I´m at and that if shit goes sideways they´ll find me or will be able to send help to my position. So far, luckily, they have never had to do so. It´s just like how insurances work. It might be a pain to arrange it and invest in it but once shit hits the fan you´re happy you did it. Even if you probably will be good 99,99% of the times you´re out riding. The risk is obviously the highest if you´re a new rider pushing your limits to gain experience. So if that is you. Well, now you know what to do!
Follow Silias motorcycle tip and do like more than 40.000 other motorcycle enthusiasts has done and follow her on Instagram. She uploads a lot of good motorcycle content so you won´t be disappointed. And, here´s a quote from her website nakedbikelady.nl about her mission and i think it resonates so well with the motorcycle tip she decided to share here in the podcast:
“Spreading the word to just stay close to YOU. Don’t let other people influence you to represent yourself in a way that’s not who you are. Do whatever makes you happy and don’t feel forced to be part of a trend you don’t fully support. Even if that means your engagement is less than you would like it to be.”
So, motorcycle brothers and sisters out there! I want to hear from you—do you have a valuable tip for our riding community? Awesome! I can’t wait to learn from you. As you’ve seen in past episodes of The Motorcycle Podcast, your insights don’t have to be groundbreaking; even the smallest details can make a huge difference. Remember, it’s all about the little things that enhance our riding experience and keep us safe on the road.
Or, do you follow a motorcycle influencer from whom you´d like to hear her or his best motorcycle tip, crash story or biggest mistake they´ve done on a motorcycle? Let me know who that person is and I´ll make sure to have him/her in the podcast!
Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to spread the word about the podcast to your fellow riders and those thinking about joining the motorcycle community. Let’s embrace humility in our riding journey. No one knows everything about motorcycles—it’s a lifelong learning process. The last thing we want is to fall into the trap of being “Pretentious Peter,” who thinks he knows it all and avoids asking questions. This attitude can lead to costly mistakes and will holds us back as riders.
If you’re passionate about fostering a more humble and safer motorcycle community, please share The Motorcycle Podcast with your riding buddies and in your local motorcycle Facebook groups.And don’t forget to follow the podcast on your favorite platform so you won’t miss any upcoming episodes. We’ve got some exciting content coming your way and you don´t want to miss it!
Two wheels, one love!
Keep the shiny side up folks!
See you next time in The Motorcycle Podcast
Adioooous!
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