Cut through the jargon! Here are the common biking phrases and what they mean

If you’re new to biking, there’s a huge amount to learn, and where better to start than with this handy glossary of common biking words and phrases?

Got more? Why not email me and I’ll add them to this list.

• Adventure bike: A road-legal model with some level of off-road provision, often larger-capacity than a traditional enduro
• All the Gear, All the Time (ATGATT): Emphasising the importance of wearing full protective gear every time one rides
• Ape hangers: High handlebars sometimes fitted to cruiser motorcycles for aesthetic ‘benefits’ 
• Bagger: A type of cruiser motorcycle containing hard panniers and usually incorporating a large frontal screen also 
• Bimble: A leisurely, relaxed ride without a specific destination
• Biting the screen: Riding fast
• Bin it: To crash or wreck a motorcycle
• Blag a Ride: To borrow someone else’s bike for a short ride
• Box Junction: An area of road marked with a yellow grid where vehicles must not stop
• Burnout: Spinning the rear wheel in a controlled fashion while holding the front brake
• Cager: A driver of a car, referring to the ‘cage’ of the vehicle
• CBT (Compulsory Basic Training): The basic training course that must be completed to ride a motorcycle in the UK
• CE rating: A mark that shows a product has been tested for safety and passes EU regulations
• Chicken Strips: The unused edges of a motorcycle tyre, indicating how far a rider leans into corners
• Clip-ons: Short, two piece handlebars that fit directly to the forks
• Clutch-up: Performing a wheelie by quickly realising the clutch under power to achieve a snappier lift 
• De-cat: Removing the catalytic converter from a motorcycle’s exhaust system
• Double blip: A trials technique in which the first application of throttle is used to hoist the front wheel onto an obstacle and a secondary throttle ‘blip’ is then used the drive the rear wheel into and over the obstacle 
• Double bubble: A type of taller front screen
• End can: The final part of the exhaust on a motorbike. It’s often changed for an aftermarket item called a slip-on
• Endo / Stoppie: Lifting the rear wheel off the ground by applying the front brake 
• Farkle: The act of modifying one’s motorcycle with bolt on accessories 
• Fech Fech: Powdery limestone derived sand found in desert environments 
• Filtering: Riding between lanes of stationary or slow-moving traffic
• Furniture: Solid obstacles such as trees and walls lining a road racing course 
• Gatso: A type of speed camera used in the UK
• Green lane: Off-road byway/rural track that’s legal for motorcycles to enter
• High-side: An accident type in which the bike loses and then regains traction, causing it to flip and throw the rider through the air
• Kick Stands Up (KSU): being on your bike ready to ride at ‘X’ time, there fore your kick stand will be up 
• Knee down: Sliding your inside knee on the tarmac in a turn
• Knee sliders: Designed for glancing off the ground on track
• Knobblies: Off-road tyres with large tread blocks, used for better traction on rough terrain
• Lane Splitting: Similar to filtering, but can refer to riding between moving traffic
• Lid: Slang for a helmet, also known as a skid lid
• Lock up: The front or rear wheel skidding under hard braking
• L-Plates: Plates displayed on a learner’s motorcycle indicating that the rider is still learning
• Low-side: When you crash and hit the floor without going over the bike. The opposite of a highside
• MOT (Ministry of Transport) Test: The annual vehicle inspection test required for motorcycles over three years old
• Naked: A bike with little or no fairing and usually one-piece handlebars
• On its ear: Carrying high degrees of lean angle
• On the pipe, full chat, flat stick: Riding as fast as the bike will go
• Pillion: The seat or passenger riding position behind the main rider
• Power Commander: A device used to adjust a motorcycle’s fuel injection settings for better performance
• Project bike: A term used to describe a motorcycle that’s been taken apart and is unlikely to ever run again
• Rear sets: Altered footpegs to assist with things like ground clearance 
• Retro: A modern bike with classic styling
• Road Rash: Skin abrasions caused by sliding on the road after a fall
• Ruts: Grooves found on unsealed roads and off-road environments caused by heavy vehicles, excessive wheel spin and / or water erosion 
• Scratch: Exuberant ride
• Shiny side up:  Ride safe/safe journey
• Sissy bar: A passenger grab handle typically found on cruiser motorcycles 
• Slide: A crash
• Smidsy: “Sorry mate, I didn’t see you” – a typical reaction by a car driver following an accident, also refers to the accident itself
• Speed wobble: A high speed weave created by instability
• Splat: Rapid acceleration to launch the entire (trials) bike into the air – performed by dumping the clutch under heavy throttle application 
• Spinning up: Bike loses traction at the rear under acceleration 
• Streetfighter: A formerly faired bike that’s been converted into a naked – often following an accident (also a model of Ducati)
• Tank Bag: A bag that attaches to the motorcycle’s fuel tank for carrying small items
• Toe slider: hard material on the front of boots designed to glance off the tarmac
• Top Box: A storage box mounted on the rear of a motorcycle
• Trackday: An event where riders can take their motorcycles to a race track to ride at high speeds in a controlled environment
• Tucking the front: Losing the front end under braking/cornering – leading to a crash
• Twisties: Roads with many sharp curves and turns, ideal for sport riding
• U-turn: A turn in the road to go back the way you came; a manoeuvre often required in UK riding tests
• Visor Down: To put down the visor of the helmet, indicating readiness to ride
• Wet weather gear: Waterproof clothing worn to stay dry while riding in the rain
• Wheelie: Lifting the front wheel of the motorcycle off the ground under power 
• Whoop section: An undulated section of dirt mounds, often featured on a motocross track 
• Zap: Same as the double blip, but with the addition of a clutch dump to provide extra rear wheel lift