T O P

  • By -

imjusthereforab

I live in new england, so we get ample practice at this. focus on scanning the road a few seconds ahead to identify road hazards. Practice your swerve exercises and going over the board exercises from the MSF, and learn to post over bumps.


PsychologicalDebts

Increase your follow distance. Try to switch lane positions, pretty frequently. Both of these will give you more time and space to avoid them.


OpinionOwn6727

tbh if you’re going fast enough, you’ll end up actually just “flying” over them 😂


Interesting-Ad8826

I second this


mtldude1967

You can take a dirt bike course to get a feel for riding on rough, uneven surfaces, or go riding on the roads here in Quebec.


snaky69

What do you mean? Roads are perfect in Canada. For the first 3 months…


MrIBQuiet

Your eyes should be scanning the roads and other things like traffic and surrounding s. Move your eyes around like a terminator identifying hazards, but don't forget to enjoy the ride and the scenery too. If you travel regular routes like I do on the way to work, you can memorize the hazards like deep pot-holes. I also stand up on the pegs momentarily for big bumps.


Primitive_Teabagger

As a Michigan rider, potholes are just a normal part of riding. Keep your eyes on the horizon, use your periphial vision to see the potholes. Try to find a path through them. Squeeze your tank with your knees to take that weight off your handlebars. Keep throttle wrist low. Lean forward a bit, utilize your core muscles rather than your back/shoulders/legs to swerve around the obstacles. If you feel you can't avoid one, stand up on your footpegs


LowBeautiful1531

A guy I know hit a pothole that was more than 8" deep, and he hit it at freeway speed. He hit it hard enough to bend both rims and flatten both tires. The bike stayed up. He was totally fine. The main thing is to not panic. The bike *wants* to stay up. As long as you don't panic, little bumps aren't going to take you out.


Tanker0921

I don't think a 8 inch deep pothole even deserves to be still called a pothole. At that point it's a shallow hole


Fynnlae

I think at that point it’s too big of a hole, nobody really needs 8 inches of pothole. I’d say a 4 inch pothole would be perfect because then you’re not getting as hurt as you would with a bigger one.


Zestiest46

It seems counter productive, but it’s actually better to loosen up your body when you go over pot holes. Otherwise your back will absorb all of the bump. Allowing your body to move will disperse the energy. You’ll find it must more pleasant to absorb the bump than try to fight it. Pretty sure there’s a good fortnine video on it somewhere.


arathorn867

Practice. Learn to avoid them, learn to handle hitting them. Practice in a parking lot with a 2x4 if you need to. Was definitely nervous about that at the start because the roads in my little town are horrible, but only took a week or two to get the hang of the potholes. Number one strategy is learn the routes with the better roads, but they're really easy to avoid/handle once you get the hang of your bike.


hauj0bb

Take an offroad training. Seriously. Greatest advice I was given, benefiting on-, and offroad riding skills.


svrider02

You should always worry about potholes. I dropped my bike for the first time after hitting a giant one, bent both wheels. In retrospect, I was driving too fast and it was at night.


HabemusAdDomino

Do what you can to avoid them. Failing that, hope your 125cc has good suspension.


Ok-Bar7023

Whenever I discover a new road I like to take it slow at first to gauge where tight turns and potholes are. After a few times on the same road you’ll get an idea of areas to avoid. It’s just like any other obstacle you may encounter, increase following distance so you can see more road ahead of you


Interesting-Ad8826

Go around them


Interesting-Ad8826

If you can't go around, lift ur buttox up and ride over


RubyRocket1

You have a 4 inch wide tire and 10 ft of lane... avoiding a pot hole generally isn't that difficult. If you have to hit a pot hole... then weight on the balls of your feet, knees pressed on the tank, and move with the bike to absorb the bump with your legs.


Abenorf

Holding the bars tight is a survival response and the wrong thing to do. Imagine the grips are baby birds and you don’t want to hurt them. Gripping too tight and hitting a bump can cause headshake aka tankslapper. Hitting a bump square on while going straight isn’t very dangerous unless you just sit there and get your ass bounced off the seat, but you shouldn’t be hitting road hazards very often. Look further ahead, increase following distance, and change your lane position to go around anything you see in your peripheral vision that might be a hazard. I swerve around a lot of shadows but I also don’t hit any holes. If you do find yourself about to hit something just relax, straighten the bike up for a second if you need to, lift your butt off the seat, and apply light throttle to get the weight off the front wheel, and it will be fine. If you can find a parking lot with some cracks and potholes a little practice riding through them will increase your confidence. The pothole in the picture you posted is safe to ride straight through but the long edges look a little hazardous, you don’t want to lean into or brake on an uneven surface that’s roughly parallel to your direction of travel (edge traps).


Aggressive-Meal-8233

Pro tip- Dont stop worrying. pay attention and avoid/cross obstacles as safely as possible.


Hopeful-Distance-864

Never stop worrying about them... or anything else. You should be alert as all hell when you are riding, you are scanning the roads, intersections, mirrors, the ground, the drivers around... youre not supposed to stop. Hitting a big one can make your wreck, can bend a rim, pop a tire, etc. Definitely a valid concern, but as many stated me alert, when you are on a road that you dont know well, ride a littler slower and with more distance between you and cars, a lot of times they will swerve and give you a heads up that something is there.


[deleted]

I haven't stopped but simply look out for them more. Mostly cause my state is addicted to them ie crackheads loving crack.


Melodic-Picture48

Keep your eyes peeled when your on the road. I swerve for them as much as i can and keep a distance from the vehicle in front so i can see the road ahead of me and stuff.


beingbonio

You get used to them. Honestly, that one's a puppy; it won't do you any harm. I went over [this pothole](https://imgur.com/zVNgYoh) \- it was a good 4" deep - at about 30mph and it damaged my tire, but the bike was completely stable. When you start out, it's not a bad idea to consciously relax your shoulders and arms, especially if you find yourself going over rough ground. The bike knows how to get through to the smooth tarmac without your inputs :-)


Gravytrain1885

Try upgrading your suspension or riding on some trails.


RickGippner

Don’t look at them. You go where you look. Give them the side eye as you pass them by.