[dhgeyer]

Originally Posted by mrlmd1

If you should stop, say at a stop sign or at a light, you should be in first gear, clutch in (disengaged), so that if necessary you can make a quick getaway

Quick getaway? This is a GZ250 we're talkin' about here..... :biggrin:

Just funnin'. Of course you are right, and you should also stop far enough behind the car in front so that you are not trapped, and can dodge if you need to. Another good habit is to stop with the bike angled slightly and the wheel turned just enough so that you don't have to initiate a swerve from a dead stop: you're set to dodge in whichever direction you had decided would be best as you came to a stop.

There was a bad accident here in Merrimack a couple of years ago where a guy on a Harley didn't do this, and got creamed by a drunk in a pick up truck. He got sandwiched between the truck and the vehicle in front of him. I came by a while after it happened. The rider was gone via ambulance already, but the bike was still there. It honestly was not recognizable as a motorcycle. I watched the papers to see if the guy survived, but I don't think they followed up on it, and I never found out. There was a big blood spot there on the road for a long time after that.