Road safety, defensive riding and vehicle fitness
This domain tests defensive riding and the fitness of rider and machine: hazard perception, visibility, the risks of Namibian roads - gravel, dust, livestock and heavy trucks - and the checks that keep a motorcycle roadworthy.
Be seen and be predictable
Ride with the headlight on, wear a brightly coloured jacket and a fastened helmet, and position yourself where other drivers' mirrors will show you. Avoid sitting in a truck's blind spot alongside the cab; either hang back where the driver can see you in the mirror or pass decisively. Signal early and hold your lane position - sudden changes confuse following traffic.
Anticipate hazards
Scan far ahead, plan an escape route and expect the unexpected: a bakkie pulling out, a pedestrian behind a parked car, sand on a tar bend, cattle at dusk. Increase your following distance on gravel so you can see past the dust cloud of the vehicle ahead, and reduce speed before the hazard, not in it.
Rider and machine fitness
No alcohol before riding - the general legal limit is 0.05 g/100 ml blood, and any alcohol degrades balance and judgement. Do not ride when tired. The machine needs a valid roadworthy certificate where required, legal tread depth of at least 1.6 mm across the central three-quarters, working lights, a horn, mirrors, effective brakes and a correctly tensioned, lubricated chain. Secure all loads.
Worked example
A truck ahead on a gravel road throws up a dust cloud that hides the road. The correct response is to drop back until you can see, stretch your gap beyond three seconds and stay off the centre of the track where loose stones collect - not to pull out and overtake through the dust.
Traps
Assuming a driver has seen you; target fixation on a pothole; riding with worn tyres; leaving the scene of a crash you were involved in.