Biker Speak

What is a "squid"?

A "squid" is a youthful rider that gets ahold of a high powered sportbike and does a lot of stunts and extreme riding - not fully realizing that without training and experience, disaster is near.

There are many versions of what the letters stand for, but they all fall more or less along the lines of:

Stupidly Quick, Underdressed, and Imminently Dead.

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Don't be one!

What is a "burn out"?

Stand on the ground while squeezing the front brake and pressing down on the handlebars with as much weight as you can. Rev it to 8-10k and "dump" the clutch while at the same time twisting the throttle wide open.

There you go; start with the rear wheel on wet asphalt to make it even easier. Have fun wasting your back tire if you choose. You may try it yourself a few times out of curiousity, but you'll quickly realize there is no skill involved in a burnout. A trained monkey can learn to do one. Since it is such a easy act anyone can perform, most motorcyclists that see another will quicky lose respect for that individual unless they see a truckload of rear tires behind him with a sign that says "free to use today only".

It's much more rewarding to practice wearing your tires on the sides than in the center.

What is a "stoppie"?

Stoppie: A trick often performed by squid. It invloves intentionally lifting the rear wheel off of the ground by hitting the front brake. This is sometimes followed by the squid being ejected over the handlebars directly into the path of his own motorcycle.

What is "lane splitting"?

"Lane splitting" can mean more than one thing:

• Riding between lines of stopped or moving cars (legal in California).
• Passing a car that has moved over to give you room. (As long as you don't cross a double yellow line to do it, this is legal in most states).

What is a "highside/lowside"?

There two kinds of non-collision motorcycle crashes. A "lowside" happens when the bike is leaned over so far that the tires no longer grip the road and the bike falls on its side. This is the better kind of accident, since the rider has a short distance to the pavement and can gently slide to a halt (you do wear protective gear, right?).

A "highside" is when the bike's front or rear tire loses traction and suddenly regains it with one of the wheels out of the line of travel. The bike reacts with a whip-like action, spitting the rider off the "high side". This is bad, as the rider is usually catapulted off the bike at a higher speed than he or she was traveling, sometimes in a high arc, resulting in tumbling/bouncing/flopping. This is where the worst injuries occur, and why we wear good-quality, CE approved armor in our protective clothing (you wear protective clothing, right?).

How do we avoid highsides and lowsides? By making smooth, gentle control and steering inputs, maintaining headbearings and suspensions, having good quality, serviceable tires, and not riding overpowered bikes like R1's.