Hello Abate Friends!!!
Safety should always be at the forefront when you get onto your motorcycle. Today it is more dangerous on America’s roads than ever. In April a dear friend was in a crash, and I can report that she is home and doing great. This one was no one’s fault. No one pulled in front of her, no animal ran into her path, something just happened. This woman has many more miles under her belt than I will ever have but it shows you that doodoo happens. It can happen to any one of us at any time, when we are least expecting it. Then another friend a few weeks later was in a crash and this one was on him. Failed to negotiate a curve. He is home healing as well, so both those outcomes they both lived to ride another day.
So how do we prevent it, well there is no perfect answer. All the training in the world can sometimes not make a difference. With that being said, I STILL encourage you all to practice all the time no matter how long you’ve been riding. When you leave or are coming home, swing into a parking lot and do some swerves and quick stop braking. You always need more skills in one bucket than risk in the other!
Remember you can contact my friend Mike Wiesenbach with ProRider Columbus (814-322-5265) to take an advanced course. You need to be intimate with your own motorcycle. You need to know how she will react at any time. Stay Safe my friends!!!
Use the following as a guide as you ride:
SIPDE
SCANNING: aggressive purposeful search.
INDENTIFY: hazards in your immediate path
PREDICT: WHAT IF? WHAT WILL THEY DO?
DECIDE: What will you do?
EXECUTE: Act on what you decided
All the above must be done in a very quick amount of time. Keep your head and eyes always moving. This will help you see hazards early and give you the most time to execute your plan!
May 20th & 21st I attended the Safety Summit at OSU Union and there were a lot of people in attendance. Those that were there in big numbers were our law enforcement. OSP, Sheriff’s, Local PD were all there and the number one issue: SPEED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If I heard it once I heard it a million times from all of them that speed is their biggest issue on the roads. They all spoke of how they are attempting to slow drivers down and make them aware of what is going on. There were also Engineers and a whole bunch of safety personnel.
We did have one breakout session devoted to Motorcycle Safety and that was interesting and wish we had more time. I will tell you more about that next month. I did ask the NHTSA Representative about the MAC (Motorcycle Advisory Council) that will have 13 people on the council and the MRF had really wanted 3 actual motorcycle riders, but I was told by the representative that there will be only one. That she knows the list but was not at liberty to divulge the information at that time.
We still have the Organizational License Plate petition out there in your regions! REGION DIRECTORS – I have gotten pages mailed to me by Lionman but nothing from anyone else. We need to keep this moving!!!
REMEMBER: AMA Vintage Days July 26th through 28th. Bob and I will set up our MRF Booth most likely Thursday the 25th and I am hoping to set up our Abate booth at the same time.
I have a volunteer sign-up sheet (call or email me), so make sure you keep those days open if you want to volunteer. Minimum I would like to have 3 volunteers each day. That would allow up to 2 to go look around or take a break with someone always being at the booth. Those volunteers will get that day’s entry free of charge. I would like to open the booths between 9am (gates open) and 10am at the latest each day. You will come into the entrance and go to the admission booth. They will have a list of names who are allowed entry. I will let the volunteers know more when we get closer.
A few items to keep note when attending:
- Wear walking shoes
- Bring cash
- Snacks & Water (it gets HOT here)
- Sunscreen!
- Full Safety Gear (helmet) if you want to ride the Laps of History
Go to the AMA website and check out all the things going on at Vintage Days, it is a lot of fun!!! Thanks again goes out to this organization because they are allowing Abate and the MRF to be there free of charge!!
Ride SAFE – Ride SMART!
Sherry Hill
Abate of Ohio – Safety & Education Director
330-415-6272
