what are some of the unwritten rules of motorcyling?

Rule number one. Cars are your greatest danger. A helmet won't protect you from being crushed. Safety Glasses are your number one safety gear. Don't ever ride without them. Unless, you are like me and know that in the winter when there are no bugs and no traffic it is o.k. Move slightly faster than traffic. Moving slightly slower is a great danger. Don't believe me. Just try it sometime. That is, unless you are riding in some part of the country where people just don't get in a hurry. Have a number of a nearby motorcycle shop that can pick your bike up should there be any trouble. In the old days you would carry an emergency kit that came with tools. Nowadays, you just need numbers you can call.

I think the VT750 is an excellent choice for a first bike. It's gentle and easy to handle but it can tackle the highway fearlessly. Cruisers support a relaxed, laid-back riding style, so they're safer, not because of the bike itself but because of how people ride them.

You know the regular stuff--don't do stunts, don't always ride just as fast as you can go, don't try to see how far you can heel the bike over before something scrapes. All that obvious stuff.

Others have said cars are the biggest danger, and I say that too. People in cars are usually not as -involved- in driving as bikers are. Don't assume they see you. Don't assume what they're going to do or where they're going to go. Give them a wide berth.

I have had people pull up alongside me on the freeway, look over into my lane, look RIGHT INTO MY EYES, and then pull into my lane as if I wasn't there. People do this on city streets too, just changing lanes without looking. My feeling is that they're looking for another car, not a bike, and bikes don't register on their minds.

Every so often I read an article in one of my mailing lists about a biker with 30-40 years of experience being killed in an accident. Invariably it was some dumb car driver making a left turn across his path. This happened to me! ONCE. I wasn't killed but it made me paranoid and I've managed to avoid collisions with cars for decades since!

Maintenance is very important, especially tire condition and pressure. You should check tire pressures at least once a week, more if necessary. (If you check them once a week you'll know it's necessary to check them more often!)

One more thing. Sooner or later every motorcyclist will have a 'spill'. This is when your tires lose traction and you go down, usually because you hit some loose stuff on the street like gravel or dead leaves. It's usually a very minor accident, hurting nothing but your pride (because it usually happens in a corner or tight curve when you're not going very fast.) In my case, AFTER this happened to me a few times, I decided it was important to scan the surface of the street ahead of me, to avoid gravel, dead leaves, pine needles, or whatever other debris there was on the road, especially in a turn. Always keep the bike straight up and down over loose stuff, railroad tracks, etc. This is something that makes riding at night a little scary because you can't always see the surface in front of you. On YouTube there are people who set up a video camera at a tight curve on a popular Sunday afternoon motorcycle road and just collect clips of bikers going down, usually on sportbikes because they're the ones leaned way over.

Other than that, be polite, be considerate, be patient, ride with a big smile on your face. Most cruiser riders, despite the tattoos and studded leather and skull jewelry, are actually pretty decent this way. You know the old joke: How can you tell a happy motorcyclist? By the bugs on his teeth. 8^)

**** usually happens when you're really close to home, and the few times you skimp on gear for convenience.

I can't explain why, but it just is.

Also, go on amazon or google it: HEADLIGHT MODULATORS. Buy one, install it, and whenever your spidey sense goes off saying "wow there sure are alot of intersections coming up in the next mile", you turn on the modulator, and watch people stare at you with locked brakes as they think "is it a cop, is it a funeral escort, is it an alien" (doesnt matter what they think, what matters is that they stopped and noticed you).

And then, well, get home safe and shoot me an email thanking me for the suggestion.

Modulators work great with a white helmet btw. guess why...

Look ahead as far as you can, scan from side to side, imagine what the other road users could do*, plan to do something to avoid that – NB this need not mean stopping, sometimes it is safer to steer your way out of a problem.

* whatever you imagine they might do they will always find something that nobody could anticipate.

But the single biggest sector of accidents involving bikes, are single vehicle accidents and the vast majority of those could have been avoided if the rider was not using excessive speed for the road conditions.

Never ride faster than your guardian angel can fly and always ride like you're invisible. Also,never assume a driver has seen you because you think they have made eye contact with you.

If you're riding with someone else, don't try to "keep up" if they're pushing you past your comfort zone.

don't be stupid, don't drive in between 2 cars unless the cars are stopped, even if the law says you can

Even Ogri can have a bad day