It's almost Friday the 13th and with that, motorcycle superstitions came to mind. They can be quite interesting to examine. 

Most seasonsed riders have probably heard of these.

For those of you who aren't as familiar with some or all of these, kick back and enjoy. 

(1) Dropping Your Helmet:

“As goes your helmet, so goes your head.”

That’s the saying behind this motorcycle superstition- it’s very bad luck to drop your motorcycle helmet. If you drop it, you replace it, because it’s considered unlucky. It’s thought that if you drop your helmet, your head will follow. That’s not an image we like to picture, so we’ll leave it up to you. 

(2) Guardian Bells:

So this one is pretty damn interesting, I'm not going to lie. It’s a little unsettling too. A Guardian Bell is a small bell that some bikers attach to their bike to attempt to ward off evil spirits (gremlins) that are trying to harm them while they’re on the road. It is believed that these evil spirits that you might encounter on the road are what’s responsible for any bad luck that you might face on your trip.

The sound of the bell is believed to get the gremlins interested, where they suddenly become trapped inside the bell. While in there, the constant ringing of the bell makes them go insane, so much so that they lose their grip and fall to the ground. Yeah, it comes across as a little dark.

It is believed that a rider cannot buy their own bell; it has to be gifted to them by another fellow rider. That tends to create a friendship, a bond, and a potential riding buddy for life. And when you look at it that way, maybe this motorcycle superstition isn’t so bad.

(3) Green motorcycles:

Is a green motorcycle bad luck? Yep, this used to actually be a thing. The color green on motorcycles was considered a very, very bad idea. It might be one of the most ‘unlucky’ superstitions existing in motorcycle history.

While Kawasaki may have changed this superstition into something that has now become uniquely their own, it wasn’t always that way. There was a time where green motorcycles were never something you messed with.

It is believed that the reason green motorcycles were considered highly unlucky was that riders who raced green bikes crashed more often, and died more often...Because their bike was green.

Regardless of the reasoning, for a long time, no one would get on a green motorcycle for fear that they could be creating some really bad luck.

(4) Riding with the rear pegs down:

This superstition is similar to the belief about bells, but in the sense that it’s believed you could be encouraging evil spirits to tag along for a ride. There’s an old belief that you should never ride with your rear pegs down if you don’t have a second rider with you. Why? It’s believed that a second rider will appear.

It’s probably those same damn gremlins that you’re trying to trap in the bell. Either way, it’s believed that if you leave those pegs down, the spirits assume you're welcoming them to join you. But these riders are not very likely to be as pleasant as other riders because their sole reason for existence is to cause mischief.

This is considered a complicated superstition, simply because if you’re riding your bike in a funeral procession in honor of a fellow fallen rider, you’re supposed to have the pegs down so that your friend can enjoy one last ride. So we get that this specific superstition is one that overlaps with other traditions, it’s not a simple one. But if you make sure you have that gremlin bell, this shouldn’t be a problem. 

(5) Stopping to help other riders: 

Now, this is one that we think everyone should get on board with if they aren’t already. But not simply on account of luck. If you see a fellow rider on the side of the road, for whatever the reason may be, you should always to stop and offer help. Even if it doesn’t really seem like they’re going to need it, stop and offer to help. Always. If not for any other reason, do it because it's the right thing to do.

If you don’t stop for another rider, it’s believed that no one will stop for you if you’re ever in a similar situation, or you’ll just receive some general bad luck. 

Whether out of superstition or being a decent human being, you should always try to help people if they seem like they’re in need. It’s the humane thing to do. Also, no one likes assholes, don't be that guy. 

Whether you believe in all this or not, JUST RIDE! 

Comment below and let us know if you're a superstitious rider! Maybe you follow some or all of these, or maybe you have some of your own!