Defensive Riding
 

I'll keep it short and sweet! I am very new to riding like just finished rebuilding my 00 cbr f4 that I bought wrecked. ( I had a buddy of mine, who new what he was doing teach me what to do in order to fix the bike.) Anyway, I would like anyone to give me suggestions on ways to practice/prepare myself for situations when I need to avoid collisions or when road conditions change suddenly.

Always make eye contact with the other drivers around you. Drive like they will not see you because most times they wont or they wont care about checking. I have had to punch at least 5 peoples windows to stop them from killing me. Just be careful and aware. Just my 2c

Well I'd recommend finding a nice big empty parking lot and practice. You want to create muscle memory of how to do things.

Biggest thing to practice is braking. Learn how long it takes you to stop your bike safely. This will improve with actual experience. But you need to know how much space you need to put between yourself and the car in front of you. One of the biggest fears you'll face very quickly is that you can't stop in time to avoid hitting something in front of you.
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Another thing to practice is throttle control. Being able to make smooth adjustments to and finely control your speed will make turning much easier. Easy to practice too. Just ride in a straight line and try to increase / decrease your speed by a set amount with a single throttle adjustment.

Even when you're not riding, you can still practice a lot of things while driving. Practice looking through turns in your car. When riding, the bike will follow where you're looking. Work on your peripheral vision. While driving, look straight ahead and try to read the license plates of parked cars using your peripheral vision. Work on extending your visual range. Look as far ahead down the road as you can. A lot of new riders tend to look just beyond the nose of their bike. Not only does this leave you open to surprises but once again the bike likes to follow your head. So as a MSF instructor told us "Look down, go down"

Which is the last piece of advice: take the MSF Basic Rider Course.

Road conditions change unexpectedly ........ simple slow down to a good comfort level
where you are confident.

Avoiding the unexpected collisions ............. be alert, look proportionately ahead
relative to the speed you are doing ........maintain your buffer / bail out zone and
ride within your confidence level and ability ....... which should be a progressive
experience as you gain more time riding.

Always look up for your exit points in turns and as Kuro rightly pointed out practice
throttle and braking control.

I'm sure you'll gain confidence and do well.

What others have already said plus I try to pay attention to what the vehicle two cars ahead of me is doing, not just the one directly in front of me. If it swerves suddenly that means there's probably some hazard in the road to avoid that I'll have to deal with shortly.

If that same car hits the brakes you can bet the car right in front of me is going to do the same thing in another second and I'd better be ready to do the same. I try to avoid following behind trucks or vans because I can't see what's going on ahead of them.

Doing this gives me a few extra seconds to prepare for some unexpected incident.

Thank you all for your input. I also wanted to ask , on my way to work I drive a stretch of road that is known for its cross-winds and sudden wind gusts, how should I handle this? Thanks.

if it gets really windy, get down low against the tank. and try to lean slightly into the wind

Do not rely completely on this. The first thing that will move on the car will be the front rim, whether its turning or starting from a stop. Just because you made what you thought was eye contact, doest mean they actually saw you or even acknowledged your presence.

Congrats on the bike, happy riding.

I was not saying it it guaranteed thats the best, i was just giving advice, and it helps but drivers will do whatever they please regardless of the precautions you take

I usually pay attention to the driver. They almost always telegraph their next move. Whether it be turning, changing lanes, or nailing the brakes cuz theiy almost missed a turn their lookin for! Watch the head movement when ever possible with ur peripheral vision and keep clear enough to avoid anything stupid they might do. I prefer defensive riding.

PS... Dont you just hate when your splitting lanes and some asshole cager up ahead is jealous cuz they are stuck in traffic so they try and squeeze you off! THAT PISSES ME OFF!!! Makes me wish i had a pocket full of marbles!!