With help from the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, we've collected some tips on Alcohol Responsibility, Riding Safety and Group Riding to help you Keep Your Balance.

• Set a strict limit for yourself on how much you can drink responsibly and stick to it. Tell others in your group about it so they can watch out for you. Consider how long you will be at the event and your personal history. If you exceed your limit, wait until the alcohol passes through your system before you ride.
• As a general rule it takes about an hour for 1 drink to pass through your system. Only time, not coffee or anything else, will eliminate the alcohol from your system.
• Minimize the risks of drinking and riding by taking steps to plan ahead.
• If you decide to drink alcohol, alternate those drinks with non-alcohol beverages such as soda or water.
• Many factors can contribute to how alcohol affects your body and how fast it takes to eliminate it from your body, such as your body weight, how much you are eating and how fast you are drinking. Only you and your physician know what your personal limits are and we encourage everyone to get sound information on what is best for them.
• Have a back-up plan for alternative transportation. Events should be memorable for all the right reasons and we want to ensure that everyone can get home safely to the people that love them.
• Protect your friends. Arrange a safe ride for them if they exceed their limit. Slow their pace of drinking and get them involved in other activities. Keep them in one place and prevent them from riding. Serve them food and explain that you care about them and that you want them to be safe and wait.
• Get other friends involved. The more people on your side, the easier it is to be firm and the harder it is for the rider to resist. It's better to be safe, and they will probably thank you for it the next day.

• Get trained and properly licensed. Carry sufficient insurance to plan for the unexpected.
• Ride your own ride – don’t let others influence your riding speed and style.
• Maintain your motorcycle to keep it safe and dependable.
• Take your level of experience, plus road and weather conditions, into account to prevent fatigue.
• Take frequent rest breaks.
• Anticipate possible problems and hazards and have a plan ready to reduce risk.
• In crashes with motorcyclists, drivers often say that they never saw the motorcycle. Be visible. Wear bright clothing, use your headlights at all times and ride in the best lane position to see and be seen. Don’t rely on eye contact as a sign that a driver will yield.
• Maintain an adequate space cushion between you and the next vehicle. A minimum of 2 seconds following distance is recommended.
• Don’t speed up to lose someone following you too closely. Doing so only ends up with someone tailgating you at a higher speed. Instead, change lanes and let them pass.
• When riding at night, use the headlights of the car ahead of you to give you a better view of the road. Also, taillights bouncing up and down can alert you to bumps or rough pavement ahead.

• Schedule a pre-ride meeting to discuss the route, hand signals, back up plans, and answer questions from participants.
• Make sure you know the route. That way, if someone is separated, they won't have to speed up to keep from getting lost or making a wrong turn.
• Small groups make it easier and safer for car drivers who need to get around them, but if you are in a larger group, divide it up into two or more smaller groups.
• The leader should look ahead for changes and signal early so the word gets back in plenty of time.
• Place inexperienced riders right behind the leader. That way the more experienced riders can watch them from the back.
• Let the tail ender set the pace. Use your mirrors to keep an eye on the person behind and if a rider falls behind, everyone should slow down so everyone can catch up.
• Plan frequent stops on long rides.
• Never pair up and ride alongside another rider. Instead, use a staggered formation.