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Motorcycle Safety & Driveability/Expert Profile

Pat Hahn

Available

Expertise

I can answer questions related to motorcycle safety: knowledge, skills, technical, or theoretical. I am especially familiar with the concepts of risk management, hazard awareness, crash avoidance, and traction management as they pertain to motorcycle riders. Please do not ask me to troubleshoot your mechanical/electrical problems ("Why won't my bike start?").

Experience in the area

I'm an MSF-Certified Instructor (12 years), author of the motorcycle safety books How to Ride a Motorcycle and Ride Hard, Ride Smart, co-author of Motorcycle Track Day Handbook, and Public Information Officer for the State of Minnesota: I coordinate public information and education for the Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Center, a project of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

Organizations

Motorcycle Safety Foundation, Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Center
Check out my website at www.motorcyclesafety.state.mn.us Of particular interest is "Safety Tips"

What do you like about this subject?

Ever since I first began riding about 16 years ago, I've wanted to give something back to the activity that's given me so much enjoyment. Combine that with my fear of dying, aversion to pain, and fascination with controlling my environment, and here I am.

What do you still hope to achieve/learn in this field?

I want riders, more than anything else, to take what they do SERIOUSLY.

Something interesting about this subject that others may not know:

There is no crash conceivable, except for the one-in-a-million "Act of God" type crashes (like the guy who died after a dog fell on him from an overhead railroad trestle) that couldn't have been prevented by the motorcyclist.

Something controversial or provocative about this subject

I would fight any type of mandatory helmet law on the principle of freedom of choice, but the typical anti-helmet-law organizations are cutting their own throats (and the rest of our throats) by trying to prove that helmets are dangerous. They're showing their elected representatives just how stupid they are by believing that helmets cause neck injuries (they don't--crashing does).

Average Ratings

Recent Reviews from Users

User	Date	K	C	T	P	Comments
Jasmin	10/21/09	10	10	10	10	Thank you so much for your response .....
Charlie tieu	10/12/09	10	10	10	10	Thank you so much you have answer .....
Richard	09/23/09	10	10	10	10	OK, Thanks
Joni	09/04/09	10	10	10	10	Thank you. I definately agree but wondered .....
Michael	08/07/09	10	10	10	10	Thank you for your experienced information and .....

Recent Answers from Pat Hahn

2009-10-30 New Rider - Bike Selection:

Ron, good on you for giving it so much thought. A conscientious rider can learn to ride on any bike, really. As a rule, it's best to advise new riders to start small--if you can get them before they've

2009-10-20 Difficulty balancing when stopping or stopped:

Low-speed riding is a difficult skill and it takes years of riding and practice to really master it. When you're coming to a stop, you have to spend that last little critical part of the stop balanced

2009-10-12 Shifting question:

The important thing is to shift where you're most comfortable shifting. My recommendations for when to upshift and downshift are just generalities ... every rider and every bike is different. It sounds

2009-09-22 new teen rider:

A dual sport in the range of 250-450 is a fine starter bike, but they tend to be rather tall. The Ninja 250 is a terrific starter bike. In my opinion, any 2-cyl bike 650cc or less, or 4-cyl bike 500cc

2009-09-08 motorbike safty:

Unless the bike is a rickety bomb about to go off, there are no real physical hazards at startup. As long as the bike is in neutral and the clutch is squeezed, the bike's not going anywhere until the rider

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