MotoSafe

Brakes Part II

2012-09-12T11:03:00.001-04:00

The Rear Brake: Later, we’ll think about the ‘control brake’ use of the brake on the back. For now, let’s consider rear-brake basics in minimum-distance stopping situations. We’ve considered that the front brake is capable of supplying anywhere from 70% to 100% of stopping power;
that means that the rear brake is capable of contributing about 30%, down to zero percent, to the shorter stopping distance, depending largely on the motorcycle itself. Sportbikes by nature have short wheelbases for turning agility, and are relatively lightweight. At the other end, large and heavy touring bikes, and many cruiser-style machines, are heavier, lower and longer.Why does that matter?

As a rider applies increasing front-braking pressure, and the composite weight is moving forward and down on the bottom of the front tire, the same weight is being progressively REMOVED from the rear tire’s contact patch, resulting in less and less available traction at the rear contact-patch. The simple physics of leverage and weight help us understand that short and light bikes will transfer more weight, and transfer it more quickly, as compared to longer, heavier and lower motorcycles. So, sportbike rider can expect very little additional stopping-power from the rear brake, while the cruiser and touring riders will have significant additional braking-potential available with proper rear-brake use. Remember, rider-weight, passengers and cargo will affect this dynamic on all styles of motorcycles. Should sportbike riders totally avoid the use of the rear brake for maximum stopping?

Many do. It’s a matter of personal choice, personal practice and confidence in one’s skill-level. Some do not. Of course, if the sportbike’s composite weight has transferred forward to the extent that the rear tire is actually off the ground, a not-uncommon event for sportbikers, the rear brake and tire can contribute nothing to increased deceleration G-forces. For the rest of us, emergency stopping should probably include skillful use of the rear brake. How does an accomplished rider properly operate the rear brake in a maximum-braking situation?

The rear brake and tire are at maximum effectiveness at the point the emergency stop begins, and the stopping-power progressively decreases, goes away, as the emergency stop is in progress. Of course, this is because there is less and less weight (weight = traction) on the bottom of the rear tire as weight-transfer is underway. Technically, one could begin by applying a moderate amount of pressure on the rear brake pedal at the onset of the emergency stop, and then progressively lessen the pressure while the bike is coming to a stop. Wow, that’s an awfully precise and delicate motor-muscle skill! If we goof that up, what are the possible consequences?

Too much braking pressure on too little contact-patch weight results in a sliding, or skidding tire. Such a skidding tire contributes nearly nothing to deceleration G-forces; the tire is ‘surfing’ instead of trying to lock the compliant rubber into those useful imperfections in the pavement surface, the ‘chain-and-sprocket’ effect. Worse, the tire is no longer spinning, generating the gyroscopic forces that add to the motorcycles stability. Even worse, the locked, stationary rear wheel and tire have no idea where they should be; ordinarily, they belong directly behind the front tire.

Since the portion of the motorcycle in front of the steering-stem is experiencing hard deceleration and the part of the bike behind the steering-stem can only receive braking force through that hinge-like steering-stem, and since the part of the bike behind the steering-stem accounts for as much as 80% of the composite weight – and it’s still full of forward-moving kinetic energy, the back of the bike is inclined to try to pass the front of the bike, rotating around the steering-stem. It fishtails; the back tire is almost certain to slide off to one side of the other while skidding. Okay. The rider is still usually able to balance, using the handlebars to keep the skid under control and the bike close to upright, but can no longer steer in a desired direction – unless the desired, safe direction is the same one the bike itself chooses. Slim chance of that, isn’t it!

In a tense emergency situation, should the rear tire lock and skid sideways, the rider feels the wiggly movement, or hears the tire screeching and releases the rear brake, a common involuntary reaction for many unskilled and unpracticed riders. Oops!

Some riders know about the next part; the potential for a painful high-side crash! Once the rear brake is released, the non-rolling tire is now once again suddenly rolling at road-speed, forces itself to try to get directly behind the front tire where it belongs and generates a substantial amount of unwanted oblique force into the chassis. The rider is often forcibly ejected forward and to one side, and then the motorcycle itself, now behind the rider, tries to chase the crashed rider down. Double jeopardy!

Rear-brake basics: Learn to use moderate-to-light pressure on the rear brake. You may be successful teaching yourself the ‘moderate-then-less-and-less-pressure’ rear-brake pedal technique in practice; however, it might be best to consider a ‘steady-very-moderate-pressure’ technique that has the potential to be more reliable and less risky under survival-pressure. But what if the rear brake locks? What do I do?

As a baseline technique, it is suggested that a rider leave the rear brake locked; in fact, ADD some pedal-pressure to keep it locked, and skid to a stop. Remember, you likely will still be able to balance and remain upright; however, you cannot change direction. If the rear wheel is almost totally aligned with the front wheel, a rider may be able to safely release the rear brake and retain control, although there is always the strong potential for a nasty ‘snap-wobble’. However, many riders’ perception of ‘almost totally aligned’ may be faulty, and a dreaded high-side is a substantial risk. Higher speeds reduce this ‘almost totally aligned’ cone to no more than a few degrees. Make good choices if you find yourself in this high-risk situation.

On non-pavement surfaces such as grass, dirt, and gravel, the skidding rear wheel may usually be released without nearly as much risk of a high-side. In fact, rear-wheel-skidding practice on dirt or gravel might be a good way to experience the ‘I can balance but not steer’ conundrum, and be better prepared. As with all skills-practice, there is always a risk.

An all too-common mumpsimus (look it up!) among unskilled riders is the proscription;

“Don’t’ touch the front brake! It’ll flip you over the handlebars!”

Where did that come from? Let’s speculate: First, from bicycling experience. Bicycles are short and light – the entire weight of the bicycle is usually a fraction of the riders’ weight – and it is entirely possible for a bicyclist to apply too much front braking and actually ‘flip over the handlebars.’ Motorcycles, however, are much longer than bicycles, and weight several times as much as the rider. Apart from sportbikes, who do sometimes lift the rear tire up and forward, albeit slowly, motorcycles will almost never ‘flip you over the handlebars’ from too much front brake pressure. So if it’s not the front brake that does it, what?...

Continuing to speculate, the unskilled and unpracticed casual rider finds himself or herself in an intense survival situation where maximum braking is called for. What is our learned and practiced response when in a similar situation while in our auto? STOMP on the brakes, right! With the same foot, the right one in most cases. Let’s assume the rider thinks about adding some front brake pressure, just about the time the rider’s involuntary response to the sideways skid and screeching tire-noise is to release the rear brake. Perhaps the rider was launched over the high side just about the time they remember reaching for the front brake. Perhaps the stalwart front brake is blamed for the rider’s incompetent use of the rear brake. Could this be possible? Not only possible, but quite likely. So, the front brake, our best friend when intense stopping is called for, is blamed for the sins of the rear brake. Oh my…

In summary, we squeeze the front brake progressively and firmly, as needed, and use the rear brake moderately in situations that call for hard or maximum stopping.

Braking Force Progression: The gold standard for stopping under braking has been recognized as one G-force, one times the force of gravity. Of course, gravity pulls stuff downward, and your motorcycle is moving perpendicular to the force of gravity, so 1G of braking would be the equivalent of the composite weight of the machine being resisted by the two miniscule tire contact-patches. Remember, your two tires cover less pavement area than two one-dollar bills! That’s less than thirty square inches – so you, you bike and any cargo, let’s say, weigh seven hundred pounds; 1G of braking would be seven hundred pounds being resisted by the coefficient of friction of thirty square inches, about 20% of one square foot – probably less – of rubber against asphalt.

1G is usually recognized by professional test riders in the moto-magazines as a stopping distance of 120 feet at 60mph. Okay. So what happens if we slow down a bit? What would the same stopping force of 1G stopping distance be at 30mph? Sixty feet, right? Sounds right. But actually, braking distance changes at the square of speed; it is not linear. 1G of stopping force at 30mph would be THIRTY FEET, not sixty!

Why is that important to risk-averse riders? It helps us understand that modest speed reductions have a favorably disproportionate effect on actual stopping distances or… slowing down perhaps ten or twelve miles an hour when entering a higher-risk situation can cut actual braking distance in half, or even less. Important? You bet! So, think about getting rid of speed you don’t really need early, while it’s easy to do – trying to shed excess speed in tense and complicated situations is often the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

How Many Fingers? Here is another braking subject that generates intense and often needless controversy. Coaches in riding courses often insist that student-riders use all four fingers to operate the front brake, and oftentimes, student-riders feel more comfortable and fully competent when using one, two (usually), or three fingers to operate the front brake lever, while using the remaining digits to modulate the throttle. What’s the answer?

Recall that we observed that brakes are used for two distinct but related operations – slowing to a lower speed, or coming to a complete stop, either normal, planned stops like a traffic signal, or an emergency stop. Let’s consider the ‘stopping’ function first; when bring the bike to a stop, particularly a hard or emergency stop, precise modulation of the front brake lever is critical, in order to quickly but softly arrive at the level of threshold braking – the braking force that begins to smear the front tire but allows the tire to continue to roll at nearly road-speed. This allows the rider to maintain balance, steering ability and stability, while achieving maximum deceleration force. Consider that the muscles in all four fingers, working a less than maximum effort, can modulate force far more precisely than two (the most common split-finger configuration) fingers working at maximum effort.

On the other hand, when slowing to respond to road conditions, traffic events and the like, riders are often using the throttle at the same time as the front brake, and a split-finger technique assists smooth transitions between acceleration and deceleration, as a skilled and trained rider simultaneously overlaps throttle and brake use. So, which is best – two or four?

Let’s agree that this is a situational question. Riders might consider building the habit of using all four fingers – or covering the lever with all four - when stopping, or when approaching or entering higher-risk situations like complicated intersections, and use a split-finger technique when adjusting speeds for conditions – setting entry speed for an approaching corner would be an example. Riders who strive for a smooth ride often overlap brake and throttle use, and the split-finger technique facilitates skillful use of this technique. So, let’s use some common sense and put this needless controversy to rest.

What about the riding coach that insists on ‘all four fingers?’ If this is a beginning-rider training course, that’s what is called for; we learn and internalize the fundamentals first, and build the more advanced skills and techniques atop these fundamentals. Instructors and coaches in more advanced curricula are likely to accommodate competent split-fingers techniques and even coach these skills.

Finally, let’s consider the benefits of using the rear brake to precisely control speed, either in low-speed situations like parking lots and traffic jams, as well as increasing smoothness while cornering. First, in the low-speed setting a rider may become proficient, through practice in simultaneously holding the clutch in the friction-zone, the throttle held at a steady value and the rear brake then used – sometimes in conjunction with minute adjustments in the friction-zone – to control speed with far more precision than can be achieved with the throttle alone. Again, purposeful practice in this technique can add a high degree of confidence for riders, and can make walking-speed U-turns a breeze.

In addition, using the rear brake while cornering at roadway speeds can achieve a similar benefit - precise speed control and smoothness. This can be particularly useful for riders of heavier machines, and for those riding two-up. If one is using brakes during the first half of the corner – we know this technique as ‘trail-braking’ – use of the rear brake in addition to front-brake use can allow the rider to again precisely control speed near the apex of the turn without suffering traction risk. Remember, when using the rear brake against a steady throttle, the resistance between the braking and driving forces are not at the rear tire’s contact patch, but at the meeting of brake pad or lining, and disk or drum. The key to this technique is to continue to use a tiny amount of rear brake pressure AFTER fully releasing the front brake, usually at or near the apex of the turn.

Rider safe, ride often… think!

Brakes Part I

2012-08-20T20:50:00.000-04:00

Stopping your motorcycle, on command, safely and precisely, under a wide variety of conditions, is clearly one of the competencies that responsible riders must have well in hand in order to reduce overall risk while riding. However, a core principle of safer riding involves continually and actively using the brain and eyes to identify risk-factors that might call for emergency braking early, while they are still well away from the rider.
Keeping the brain and eyes persistently ‘on-task’ all of the time is perhaps one of any rider’s biggest challenges; occasionally, we are all subject to ‘zoning-out,’ failing to perceive an impending risk and finding ourselves in a situation where our hands and feet are called upon to save us, instead of recognizing the threat well in advance. It’s one of the inherent risks of riding.

So, the time for an early and soft response is past and the rider is at risk of crashing. While brake-use is not the only possible response in an emerging situation, it’s the one we’ll discuss for now.

Braking Systems: Modern motorcycles have advanced technologically in recent years, and braking systems are no exception. Compared to a decade or two ago, current brakes are much more powerful and at the same time, more sensitive. While the standard brake-configuration applies braking pressure ONLY to the front or rear wheel when the front- or rear-brake control is used, manufacturers have developed specialized systems as a response to widespread general-incompetence in brake-use by a large percentage of riders. These include variations of Linked Brake Systems (LBS), and Antilock Braking Systems (ABS). Common LBS configurations apply some front-brake pressure when the rear brake is applied (partial), and another configuration applies some braking pressure to the opposite wheel’s brakes when one brake (front or rear) is applied. Some BMW models use a ‘reverse-partial LBS’ system; rear-brake pedal pressure applies braking ONLY to the rear brake, while application of the front brake also applies some additional braking pressure to the rear brake. This LBS configuration is desired by many experienced riders, since it allow the rider to use the rear, or ‘control-brake’ to precisely control speed during low-speed, parking lot maneuvers without applying unwanted braking forces to the front wheel when the handlebars are turned. When this occurs unexpectedly, the rear of the bike tries to overrun the front, abruptly turning the front wheel and handlebars even more, ‘tucking’ the front end and dumping bike and rider. Oops!

ABS systems use computerized sensors and actuators to detect an impending skid at either wheel; the actuators then automatically release brake pressure on the at-risk wheel to enable it to continue rolling at road-speed and permit the rider to retain control. It’s important to remember that nearly all ABS systems in use today on all but hard-edged sportbikes are designed to minimize or prevent wheel-lockup ONLY when the motorcycle is completely vertical and traveling in a straight line; they are NOT designed to prevent skidding while the bike is leaned over in a curve. We may see some technological breakthroughs in the near future that will allow some effective ABS application while the bike is leaned, but not yet!

If your motorcycle is equipped with one of these specialized systems, you have better brakes and can therefore engage in faster, riskier riding behavior, right? No, not right! These systems are intended to save our sorry selves when our skills fail us. However, the human family has a dangerous, unconscious tendency to increase risk-taking (unconsciously taking on more and unnecessary risk) when something in our environment improves, such as these advanced braking systems. Ride like you have normal brakes and use them skillfully without activating ABS if possible.

Brake Use: We use brakes for two distinct but related actions; stopping (normal or emergency), and adjusting speed downward to respond to roadway and traffic conditions, such as curves or other traffic. While closely related, there are important differences. We’ll begin by thinking about emergency stopping.

The late Larry Grodsky, founder of Stayin’ Safe LLC, describes the front brake as the ‘stopping brake,’ and the rear brake as the ‘control brake.’ Many riders realize that the front brake is far more powerful than the rear brake – but not all riders! Why is the front brake, alone, more effective in stopping the bike than only the rear brake? In addition to larger brake rotors and calipers on the front, and often, two front brakes forward, compared to only one on the rear, deceleration forces caused by braking cause the composite weight of the motorcycle to transfer forward, pressing much of that composite weight (bike, rider[s], cargo) downward on the front tire’s dollar-bill sized contact patch. Increased weight (downward pressure) increases tire-traction; the contact-patch grows slightly larger, and the compliant rubber is forced downward into the nooks and crannies of the pavement surface, serving to ‘lock’ the tire to the pavement like a chain and sprocket. Of course, this increased traction has an infinite limit, and can be broken, resulting in a tire-skid by too much brake pressure – or too much too soon.

So, additional weight on the front tire, when braking quickly, is a good thing, right? Yup, sure is, so long as the additional weight arrives on the bottom of the front tire in a smooth and progressive manner. If weight is not applied to the front in this manner, it never will arrive at all! Too much braking pressure too soon, before the additional weight has arrived, can cause the still-lightly-loaded front tire to skid, usually resulting in a smack-down low-side crash worthy of any professional wrestler.

How long does it take for the composite weight to transfer to the front tire under hard braking? It depends on the motorcycle; longer, lower and heavier machines such as touring bikes and cruisers will transfer the weight a tad more slowly than short wheelbase, light sportbikes. Rule of thumb; it takes about one second (one-mississippi-one), to 1.5 seconds for weight to move forward and down, giving the front tire’s contact patch maximum available traction. How does a skilled rider achieve this?

Consider the front brake; it’s operated by a lever that controls a hydraulic system that converts the rider’s hand motion and power into braking forces; some older bikes, and smaller current bikes may have a drum-and-cable braking system. Both systems necessarily have some slack or free movement, in them.

Two opposing front-brake techniques are in use; an unskilled, unpracticed or panicked rider is inclined to ‘grab’ the front brake lever, transferring all that hand motion and power through the ‘slack-zone’ and slamming full braking pressure onto the front brakes all at one time. The front brake changes from zero braking pressure to maximum braking pressure in a bunch of milliseconds, and the lightly-loaded front contact patch is overwhelmed and begins to skid and slide. Oops! So ‘grabbing’ the front brake lever is very bad technique and to be avoided.

The proper technique to achieve maximum front braking effectiveness is to squeeze the front brake lever progressively and yet firmly. Progressively means ‘over time’. How much time should pass from the time the lever begins to move, until it cannot be squeezed any more? How about one to two seconds as a guideline. In addition, the lever should move at about the same speed through the slack-zone as it moves against resistance. This progressive squeeze movement allows the weight to both begin transferring forward and CONTINUE transferring forward; as more braking pressure is progressively applied, more weight arrives smoothly on the front contact-patch, which in turn, creates more and more traction and supports greater braking and deceleration force. So, the more a rider squeezes, smoothly and progressively on the front brake lever, the more the rider is then able to apply greater and greater braking-pressure and effect shorter stopping distances. Up to a point, of course. Then what?

If the front tire begins to skid, the rider must immediately release the brakes to allow the front tire to continue rolling so that the rider can maintain balance and steering control and the all-important vertical position. Studies show that the front brakes must be released is less than one second in order to prevent a skid and crash. Then, since the rider had reason to try to stop very quickly, the front brake should be reapplied, and properly this time.

Aggressive ‘grabbing’ is almost sure to produce a front tire skid; however, squeezing progressively and firmly can also produce a skid. When we say ‘squeeze firmly,’ we understand that to mean the rider, in order to avoid colliding with something directly ahead, progressively squeezes the front brake as much as hand-strength will allow – or to the point of impending lockup, called ‘threshold braking.’ How can a rider detect the onset of front-wheel threshold braking?

During threshold braking, the tire actually begins to roll slightly slower than road-speed, as much as 5%. The tire is not quite skidding, but it’s not quite rolling at road-speed either; it’s ‘smearing.’ This produces noticeable early-warning feedback to the perceptive rider, as the steering-feedback through the handlebars quickly becomes vague or ‘greasy.’ The rider cannot expect any additional deceleration force from the front wheel, and must either maintain or slightly reduce braking-pressure. The same prescription for a front-tire skids remains; release and reapply skillfully.

“I’m an experienced, skilled and professionally-trainer motorcyclist. But I still sometimes grab the front brake lever in an emergency! Why?”

First question: Why are you experiencing ‘emergencies?’ Remember, truly skilled rider strive to continually use the brain and eyes to predict and identify risk-factors while they are still far away from the rider, then leisurely consider the situation, come up with a reasonable plan of action and apply it softly, rather than abruptly.

Second question: Do you regularly practice hard or emergency braking in a controlled environment? The mental strategies and muscle-memories of proficient riding have a shelf-life like a carton of milk. If these mental and physical skills are not practiced and rehearsed regularly, they also spoil, just like the milk. Sometimes, through inattention or carelessness, we find ourselves about to crash or collide and are forced to reply on skillful emergency evasive maneuvers, like maximum braking.

Practice braking in something like a deserted parking lot with good and consistent traction. Be sure no other traffic is likely to intrude. Get your tires up to temperature first, and progressively work into shorter and shorter stopping distances from the same speed. You might also use different speeds for different practice-sets. And, do it frequently!

Next month, we’ll discuss rear-brake uses, risks and techniques. Ride safe, ride often… think!

ED NOTE: Caption for image 0783: “This image represents a 0.9 G-Force
stop (speed 35mph, stopping distance 45’). Note how the front tire is ‘squished,’ creating a larger contact-patch and providing increased stopping-traction. Tire pressure was set at 32psi to enhance photographic effect. Also, note that the rear tire is almost completely round, indicating that it is nearly off the ground. Finally, note the rider’s maximum-braking posture: Head and eyes up, elbows bent, and knees gripping the tank to control forces acting on the torso.”

Mentor a Novice Rider

2012-07-03T20:21:00.000-04:00

FOREWORD:

You're a veteran rider, with many miles, many years and a great deal of practical riding experience. In the passage of time to come, you may well have opportunity to shepherd and mentor a novice rider, perhaps a spouse or other significant person in your life, maybe your daughter or son, maybe a neighbor, friend, or co-worker. Perhaps your Novice Rider has taken your state or province’s safety course, or undergone rider training from a commercial school – or maybe they rolled a motorcycle out into the parking lot at the local dealership and ‘taught themselves’ how to ride. Many of us ‘Boomers did just exactly that, and a goodly number of us survived and prospered – but an unacceptable percentage of us did not! So, now you’ve become mentor to a Novice. Could you use some guidelines, some pointers, perhaps some direction for both you and your Novice?

This article is designed to offer you some direction, some practical tips, and perhaps most importantly, give you a glimpse into the Novice Rider’s mind and learning-processes. However, this article is NOT a substitute, nor is it intended to be a substitute, for professional training for new motorcyclists.

Let’s begin with the matter of your influence upon your Novice. If he or she now has the motorcycle bug, or is in the process of contracting same, they look at you as if you regularly walk on water; this can be particularly true if the Novice is an adult-beginning-rider, one who has never ridden before, even on mini-bikes or dirt-bikes of so many youthful experiences. Therefore, your advice, example, comments, pointers, your every riding technique and maneuver, even your casual comments, are absorbed by the Novice in sponge-like manner. As a committed motorcyclist, you are a de facto ambassador for motorcycling; consider your image and example, and choose your actions, comments and advice carefully.

Perhaps your best initial advice to the Novice is to begin with professional training, such as the Basic RiderCourse offered through the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF), and other courses offered for beginning riders. Student-riders in these courses learn the basics of motorcycle operation, such as starting smoothly with precise control, stopping, shifting and turning; these skills are taught in a progressive fashion, so that each part of a skill is learned in proper order. Learning and confidence are accelerated when learning occurs in a building-block manner. Students learn the basic hazard-avoidance maneuvers of emergency stopping and swerving during the range-riding part of the course, as well, and learn important mental strategies and mental checklists while in the classroom.

The Hurt Report, back in 1981, reported that less than 10% of riders received professional training; over ninety percent of riders were self-taught, or learned how to ride from family members or friends. Hurt Study data published in “Proficient Motorcycling” (David Hough) indicates that new riders who are self-taught are two times more likely to suffer a crash, compared to professionally-trained novices, and those who have learned to ride from family-members or friends are nearly THREE times more likely to crash, early in their riding experiences. Obviously, the quality and consistency of such ‘training’ is suspect, and has likely contributed to the tragic and unacceptable number of fatalities and serious injuries suffered by riders over the years. Resist the temptation – resist the appeals from your Novice - to ‘teach me how to ride a motorcycle!’ Use your influence, your ‘veteran-rider’s capital,’ to firmly steer your Novice to an appropriate professional training site. And, not to worry- your role is just beginning!

SELECTING A MOTORCYCLE: Perhaps your Novice already owns a motorcycle – or not. If you are in a position to influence your Novice in the selection of their first motorcycle, here are a few items you may wish to think about: Style, size and fit, and power output and characteristics. Let’s begin with ‘Style.’

The basic motorcycle styles could be considered; Cruiser, Sport-bike, Touring, Sport-touring, Standard, Dual-sport and Custom. Since ‘Custom’ covers such a wide range of configurations, we’ll disregard this classification. Style is an area where you, as Mentor, may have little or no influence. The style of motorcycle, particularly to a Novice, is often such an emotionally-held choice that your advice may fall on deaf ears. Too, the viscerally-driven style choice is likely to be one that is less than ideal for a novice – they are more likely to select one of the two polar opposites – Cruisers or Sport-bikes – categories with some built-in impediments to learning for the novice rider.

Let’s consider ‘Cruisers.’ A benefit for your Novice might be the lower seat-height. However, this style often features foot-forward footrests (or floorboards), and are frequently equipped with pull-back ‘buckhorn’ (think ‘wheelbarrow’) style handlebars, features that can make lower-speed maneuvers difficult for your Novice, and can hinder the Novice’s understanding of the crucial skill of countersteering (‘press’ forward on the handlegrip in the direction you wish to go). Feet-forward controls can be awkward for a beginner, and the seating position of a Cruiser, although is appears to be very comfortable, often places too much pressure on the tail-bone and spine, making rides longer than an hour or more a challenge for your Novice. Operation of foot controls from a floorboard position, rather than a footpeg position, requires slightly different motor-skills, and can develop slightly inappropriate muscle-memory movements for your Novice (unless they plan to ride floorboard-equipped Cruisers for their entire riding career). In addition, the increased rake of the front-forks make slow-speed, parking-lot maneuvers more difficult, since the forks and handlebars tend to ‘flop’ to one side or the other at speeds below perhaps 10mph. This unusual steering geometry can make transiting loose surfaces, such as sand or gravel, more intimidating for your Novice, as well, conditions which you can be sure your Novice will encounter early in their riding experiences.

At the other end of the spectrum, you may find your Novice attracted to Sport-bikes. These motorcycles can feature a fairly extreme ‘lean-forward’ riding position and generally high engine-power-output. These features can also hinder your Novice’s learning during the crucial first riding season. The riding position can make it difficult for the Novice to use the (generally ineffective) rear-view mirrors, and to check the blind-spot when making lane-changes and managing traffic. The increased weight on the forearms and wrists can fatigue your Novice quickly, making it more difficult to operate the motorcycle smoothly and precisely. The power-delivery characteristics, to be discussed further in a moment, are often not really suitable for a beginning rider.

To the extent you have some influence with your Novice with regard to style of motorcycle, a ‘Standard’ configuration, or another style closer to Standard, might be the best choice. Standard-style characteristics include an upright riding position, handlebars which are near-perpendicular to the fore-aft line of the bike (helping the Novice better learn countersteering, or ‘press-steering’), and footrests situated nearly underneath the rider’s seat. Engine-power characteristics, of course, can vary widely. Surprisingly, the ‘Dual-Sport’ style category is often an excellent choice for a Novice, too. While the seat-height may be a challenge for shorter riders, those who are tall enough to fit a Dual-Sport bike find them to be light, forgiving, drop-able with little or no damage, easy to pick up, and highly maneuverable. Novice riders mounted on Dual-Sport bikes may be inclined to experiment off the pavement, learning valuable skills, such as traction-management, which can serve them well when riding on slippery pavement.

Next, consider “Size and Fit.’ Your Novice should consider a motorcycle, in the style they like, that fits them well. The weight of the bike is a major consideration here, as is the placement of the bulk of the weight – the center-of-gravity. The Novice should be able to lean the bike from side to side somewhat, and still feel confident they can control the bike’s weight. Seat-height should be low enough so that the Novice can reach the ground comfortably with one foot, without the need to slide their fanny over to the left side, although adult-beginners seem to insist that both feet must be on the ground at a stop, heels flat, and a bend in the knees. Interestingly, those who begin riding at youthful ages – whether they continue riding into adulthood, or are “Chapter Two” returning riders - are much less concerned with seat-height. The rider’s arms should be able to reach the handlebars without extreme reaching, and the controls should be suitable to the hand-size and hand-strength of the Novice. Motorcycles with adjustable ergonomics – seat-height, handlebar position, brake and clutch levers – can make the first riding season much more comfortable and profitable for your Novice. But what about engine size?....

While your Novice might be caught up in engine-displacement numbers, your sage advice can direct the Novice to consider the much more important considerations as engine-power OUTPUT, and the power-delivery characteristics. If your Novice has completed professional training, they have learned the basic maneuvering skills on a bike with perhaps 12-25 rear-wheel horsepower. The Novice’s first street motorcycle should feature an engine with sufficient power for use on Interstate highways, once their skills have developed to the point where they SHOULD be on such roadways, but an initial bike with less-than-Interstate power could be an excellent choice, too. Remember, most dealers accept trade-ins when the Novice has outgrown such status, and is ready for more challenges. Consider a power-output range of perhaps 25hp-60hp as a broad guideline. Don’t allow yourself to get caught up in the “CCs” debate. Focus on the actual power output, and the power-delivery characteristics; your Novice will benefit from an engine with a broad power-band, one which has a majority of the rated torque-output available from lower engine speeds. Try to lead your Novice away from engines that produce high peak horsepower, albeit it within a narrow RPM band which is usually near the engine’s red-line. For the beginner, a torque-biased engine is much easier to operate, and more forgiving than a horsepower-biased high-performance engine.

More than a few new riders are prone to select, as their first motorcycle, one with, frankly, too much engine and too much weight. Overly (for your Novice) powerful, heavy bikes hinder the novice’s learning. Your Novice is likely to learn more - and learn more quickly – when they are able to confidently explore the greater part of their new bike’s capabilities.

Another mechanical consideration for your Novice is the ease of operation of the clutch; your Novice should be able to easily deal with the clutch ‘pull,’ and the clutch should feature a broad, soft, easy-to-modulate friction-zone (the area of travel in the clutch-lever where the engine’s power is PARTIALLY connected to the rear-wheel). Machines whose clutch operation more closely resembles an ‘On-Off’ light-switch should be avoided!

PREPARING To Mentor Your Novice:

If your Novice has completed professional new-rider motorcycle training, become familiar with the material yourself. Learn the specific and precise vocabulary used by the instructors to most effectively and efficiently convey the proper physical movements and actions. Your Novice has learned to “Squeeze” the front brake (avoid, at all costs, EVER using the evil word, ‘grab!’ when discussing the use of the front-brake, and NEVER perform a ‘grab!’), to “Press” on the rear-brake, to “Lift” or “Press” on the gearshift lever, and to “Squeeze and Ease” the clutch-lever. They have learned to “Press” forward on the handlegrip on the side of the intended direction of travel to make the motorcycle lean, and therefore, turn in the intended direction. Your Novice has learned to “Look” all the way through the intended direction of travel. Learn and use these particular words when discussing motorcycle operation with your Novice. After all, if the professional trainers use these words, and you do, too, we might actually convince the Novice that all this stuff is normal motorcycle lingo!

Review, if you are able, the textbook or handbook your Novice brought home from the motorcycle class. Learn the methods used to teach the Novice to precisely and smoothly start from a stop, using the friction zone for an extended period of time and travel, in order to precisely control the motorcycle’s speed at very low speeds. Be prepared to deflate a common “Motorcycle Mumpsimus” (mumpsimus: a persistent belief in a mistaken idea, i.e. the moon is made of green cheese) that using (or over-using) the friction-zone is tantamount to ‘riding the clutch,’ and will prematurely wear the clutch out. Not so! Motorcycle clutches, both wet and dry, are designed to be slipped and ‘ridden,’ and are meant to be used to properly and precisely control the motorcycle at low speeds. Premature wear is simply not an issue. Additionally, review the steps in shifting gears, in using the brakes, and the proper turning sequence so that your advice is consistent with your Novice’s training.

Bear in mind that there are three major maneuvers that most motorcyclists, especially the un-trained and the un-practiced, do NOT do well: Cornering, swerving and braking! Ineptitude in these critical skills account for as much as forty percent or more of single-vehicle motorcycle crashes that result in fatalities, particularly in curves. Guiding and shaping the experiences of your Novice, so that they quickly develop competence in these life-saving areas can be thought of as perhaps your Mission, as Mentor. Your guidance, leadership and advice can make the difference between developing a life-long rider, or allowing the barely-competent-beginner (all beginners are ‘barely competent’) to reach a decision to park and sell the bike, and take up tennis.

Understand that your Novice is “unconsciously not-yet-competent;” that is, they do not yet know what they don’t know. Learning is a process – and ignorance is bliss, until it not longer is. A “process” can best be described as a ‘series of events, occurring over time.’ As your Novice begins actually learning how to ride a motorcycle, they likely will become aware of what they do not yet know, of the skills they have yet to master. Again, as Mentor, your calling is to guide, shape and shepherd your Novice through the ‘series of events, over time,’ in such a way to accelerate their learning, and to steer them away from the hazards which they are not yet likely to recognize. As your Novice progresses into an Apprentice classification, they become increasingly aware of what they need to learn.

By your example, as well as with your words, lead your Novice to make good decisions regarding what they wear while riding. Perhaps the most prevalent reason given for wearing garb such as a tank-top, shorts and flip-flops – “Myrtle Beach Safety Gear” – is the belief; “It’ll never happen to me!” Obviously, decisions such as what to wear are very personal, but all decisions have outcomes and consequences. Perhaps a wise Mentor will simply refuse to be involved with a novice who insists on riding while inadequately protected. And, nothing in the world speaks more loudly and directly to your Novice than your decisions regarding whether or not YOU ride while impaired by alcohol, drugs both legal and otherwise, fatigue or emotional distress. Since almost 50% of fatal motorcycle crashes have alcohol involvement – over 75% involvement in motorcycle crashes occurring after midnight – displaying the proper, prudent and responsible motorcycle-behavior with respect to riding-impairments might be one of your most valuable contributions to the learning, safety and longevity of your Novice.

Adjust your own mindset: Realize that your Novice – freshly back from a new-rider training class, completion-card safely tucked into their wallet alongside their brand-spanking-new Motorcycle Endorsed drivers license, or perhaps now equipped with a state motorcycle-learners-permit, does NOT YET KNOW HOW TO RIDE!

Assuming that your friend or loved-one who has taken basic motorcycle-rider training, is now a knowledgeable, trained and proficient rider, is perhaps the most common – and precarious – mental mistake of both the experienced-rider and the novice-rider alike. At best, your Novice has learned basic motorcycle control skills to some level of competence, and has, more importantly, learned the basics of HOW TO LEARN to ride a motorcycle. Twenty to thirty hours of basic instruction and practice, on a riding range and in a classroom, does not, and cannot “Teach a novice HOW to ride.” These courses are designed to teach the new rider basic maneuvers with which to operate a motorcycle. In professional training, the novice has learned how it ‘feels’ to perform a maneuver correctly, and conversely, how it feels should they perform the maneuver badly – and how to ‘Fix It’ next time. Your Novice has learned significant and valuable mental strategies and checklists to make solving the traffic puzzle manageable, and discussed some of the special circumstances we, as riders, find ourselves in from time to time, such as crossing over the gratings of a drawbridge in wet conditions, dealing with crosswinds, or perhaps riding in areas where collisions with deer are commonplace. However, as Einstein once commented, “Learning without experience is merely information.” Your role as Mentor is to gently guide and structure the “Experience-Phase” that your Novice will undergo, so as to accelerate learning and maximize safety – to assist your Novice’s learning, through widely-varied riding experiences – to enable your Novice’s newfound “Information” to become his or her personally-created and personally-owned “Knowledge” of how to safety and enjoyably ride a motorcycle. Your role is less that of “Leader” than that of trusted confidant, experienced and knowledgeable, but always willing to allow your Novice to take charge of their own learning, stepping in only to offer guidance, and to prevent dangerous safety issue from catching your Novice unawares. Enabling your Novice to take ownership of, and to actually create, their own learning and knowledge, greatly accelerates the Novice’s learning, and marks you as a self-confident Mentor with nothing to prove to anyone.

BEGINNING Your Joint Riding Experiences:

If your Novice has completed professional rider training, each technique, each exercise, was first explained in detail, and then DEMONSTRATED to the student-riders by a trainer, who rode a training motorcycle at a novice-pace, and separated and exaggerated each aspect of the proper riding techniques, as another trainer simultaneously narrated the events which the student-riders were closely watching. This ‘double-header’ teaching technique has been shown to be quite effective in helping adult-learners understand the proper sequence, and proper physical movements needed to perform a technique properly. But, now class is over, and YOU have become the Demo Rider!

For the initial phase of your mentoring, perhaps you as Mentor should take the ride-lead position. This enables you to make most of the navigation, and many of the traffic-management decisions and maneuvers, freeing your Novice’s mind to concentrate more on riding technique and proper operations. However, at some point in the relationship, you will be reversing those roles to enable your Novice to begin gaining experience in these vital skills. But for now, as the ride-leader, you are also under close scrutiny by your Novice, riding behind you.

Your role as de facto demo rider means that you should consider your own riding style – is that style consistent with the skills and experience of your Novice? Is your Novice really proficient riding at, and above, freeway travel speeds? Is your Novice capable of dealing with blind mountain curves? Riding at night, or in the rain? Can they comprehend the meaning of lean-steering, or trail-braking, or late-apexing, or the many other more advanced riding techniques and styles? Will your Novice even know what you’re talking about? Can they recognize advanced riding techniques for what they are, or will they perhaps misinterpret what they see, and adopt riding practices – which become habits - that inhibit smooth, predictable and repeatable motorcycle maneuvers? So, while riding with your Novice, particularly when your Novice is behind you, flip the switch in your mind that engages your own Basic Riding Maneuvers Program. Forsake the advanced stuff for now – time will come, in it’s own time, when you can begin to share the advanced stuff with your Novice – and perhaps your no-longer Novice may well discover some of these techniques on their own, as their experience and learning progresses.

What are some of these Basics? Using BOTH brakes to slow and stop, every time brakes are called for. Using all four fingers to operate the front brake, operating the brakes, both of’em, to slow before almost every corner, and getting off the brakes and back on the throttle just BEFORE pressing to enter a turn. Gently accelerating through turns and curves – or rolling on even a tad more enthusiastically! Maintaining good riding posture is another basic.

Remember, ‘learning to ride’ is partially a process of learning new muscle-movements and developing muscle-memory, sometimes though of as physical ‘habits.’ An old sage once observed, “First we make out habits; then out habits make – or break – us!” Learning the proper techniques builds these life-saving habits for those times that will come – and they WILL come – when trouble suddenly appears and there just isn’t time to think things through – just barely time to react! Our instinctive reflexive reactions are nothing more or less than the physical ‘muscle-memory’ habits we’ve built, and are based on the skills we’ve developed while in the early and intense learning stages. Once again, if your Novice has been professionally trained, they’ve likely learned some – hopefully all – of these riding basics, and now they learn, by watching you, that perhaps everyone rides this way! You’ve gone a long way to reinforce those basic and life-saving skills by showing the Novice what they need to see and learn, based upon their current stage of learning.

Some additional considerations would be the establishing of riding signals, such as Gas Needed, Rest Stop Needed, and others. Realize that your Novice, particularly in the first few riding sessions, is running nearly wide-open, mentally; their mind is functioning in both ‘survival mode,’ while simultaneously struggling to remember all they’ve been taught about the actual operation of the bike, and what to look for in traffic. You could say that their brain’s tachometer is running near red-line, bouncing off the rev-limiter, and consuming a large amount of mental – and physical – energy. Thirty minutes riding time can seem, to your Novice, like several hours. As ride leader, plan to take frequent breaks, and let your Novice know how long you plan to ride before the next break. Give your Novice a strategy to allow them to end the ride and take a break whenever they feel the need, so they don’t feel trapped on an endless highway of horrors. You might consider giving your Novice a way to signal you – perhaps by passing you, if they feel comfortable doing so, and pulling into a convenience store, or rest area – or simply pulling off at a safe location; you can reverse your direction when it is safe, and come back to where your Novice is waiting. Allowing your Novice to control rest-stops and breaks can avoid undue fatigue, and eliminate the helpless feeling of, “How much longer?...”

Taking frequent breaks during your riding sessions has another important benefit: Much of your Novice’s learning occurs just AFTER a ride, as their brain and mind relaxes, decouples, and leisurely considers the experiences they’ve just encountered. You can help this process by leading your Novice to talk about their recent riding session. Now, that doesn’t mean that you, as Mentor, talk, explain and lecture. Instead, lead the novice-learner to talk about their experiences; use open-ended questions (“How was that? How do you feel? What happened out there that you liked? What surprised you? Why do you think that happened?”). Employ leading questions when you feel you need to make an important point (“What gear should you be in before coming to a stop at a stop-sign? What made you decide to apply the brakes in that curve, back there?”) Again, avoid the very real temptation to drift into sharing advanced riding tips and techniques.

Like the professional trainer, set a realistic novice riding pace. Exaggerate YOUR physical actions, such as performing full, early head-turns, braking to set a lower entry-speed than perhaps you, as an experienced rider may need before entering a turn or curve, and actively rolling on the throttle and accelerating out of curves. In parking lots, or making U-turns, emphasize and exaggerate your counter-weighting and head-turning motions – let them see your torso leaning well away from the motorcycle in the opposite direction of the sharp u-turn as your head and eyes look well through the u-turn Choose and amplify good cornering lines – set up for each turn or curve near the outside of the lane, clip the apex when you can see your way through the turn, and finish back at the outside of the lane. Approaching a curve, put extra emphasis on early braking, and late turn-in (i.e. late-apexing) to enable your Novice to begin building proper and safe cornering skills. Let your Novice know that when your brake-light illuminates, they should be on their brakes in the same places, and when your brake-light goes off, they can rest assured that you are back on the throttle, accelerating through the turn as you roll the throttle on gradually; help them understand they should be doing this, as well.

Some may feel that is might be safer for the novice to motor smoothly through turns and curves at a steady speed; actually, your Novice needs to learn and ‘feel’ proper cornering techniques such as accelerating through turns. Doing this – accelerating moderately while cornering - settles the bike’s suspension and makes the motorcycle increasingly stable while turning. ‘Rolling on’ while negotiating a curve helps the bike achieve optimum front-rear weight distribution, and aids in maintaining maximum available cornering traction and suspension-compliance.

In addition, your Novice is still building the muscle-memory of the correct motor skills, and, when cornering or turning, this requires pressing forward on the handgrip in the desired direction of travel. Gradually accelerating (“rolling on”) through a curve generally makes most motorcycles want to increase the turning-radius and turn wider; the rider may need to use moderately increasing forward handgrip-pressure to maintain the correct cornering line, assisting your Novice in learning proper muscle-memories. Of course, motorcycles with different suspension setting, tire-profiles and steering geometry will each handle differently. This increasing feedback from the handgrip – the bike’s natural desire to turn wider under increasing power while leaned over in a turn – allows the learner to more quickly develop the proper motor-skills, and builds the life-saving habits of proper cornering.

“Life-saving habits?” In cornering? Yes, absolutely! That day will come to your Novice, as it’s come to you, when a rider senses and ‘feels’ that he or she is in the turn ‘too hot,’ or too fast, due to misjudging the turn-entry speed. Remember when it happened to you? Lacking proper skills, training being absent, the unskilled rider’s instinctive reaction is to slow down! Not a good idea, is it?… Cornering a motorcycle is a balancing act between the opposing forces of centrifugal force, and tire-traction. Cornering consumes a certain amount of traction, often a large amount when the rider has entered the turn at what feels like too great a speed, and there simply isn’t much traction remaining to support very much braking while leaned over in a turn. Yet, the untrained rider is likely to naturally and instinctively (and incorrectly) apply brakes, and frequently the result is the proverbial “lay it down,” or slide-out and low-side crash. Professor Harry Hurt’s research discovered that a high percentage – nearly forty percent - of single-vehicle motorcycle crashes were the result of ‘over-braking and under-cornering.’

Even abruptly closing the throttle is to be avoided while cornering, since it produces engine-braking forces, roughly equivalent to moderately applying the rear brake, which can push the rear tire past it’s traction limit, and begin sliding the rear wheel outward. Your Novice must learn, when the “Uh oh, I’m going too fast!” moment comes, to maintain a steady throttle and steady speed, and continue to PRESS FORWARD on the inside handgrip into the turn. Even if hard-parts touch down (side- or center-stand, footpegs, mufflers, etc), the rider must continue to press, continue to look all the way through the turn, and continue to hold a speed steady. Certainly, decreasing the throttle a modest amount so as to eliminate any further acceleration is appropriate, but a near-steady speed should be maintained to keep the chassis stable, and to prevent the suspension from sagging, further exacerbating ground-clearance problems and generally making matters worse.

So, don’t let your Novice see your brake-lights while you’re leaned over in a turn – set trail-braking aside for now – and let them see you accelerate with modest – or even slightly more! – enthusiasm, while you’re cornering. Repetition of proper cornering skills help your Novice build the proper – and life-saving – HABITS. It seems that, left to our own devices as humans, we’ll unconsciously and automatically build the wrong habits, unless we force ourselves to consciously and actively build the proper ones.

Besides, it fun! And FUN is a big part of what motorcycling is all about. Few experiences are as rewarding as that of helping your Novice ‘get it’ and watch a big grin spread over your Novice’s face. And you had a part in it!

As ride-leader, maintain more than a 2-second following distance while in traffic. As you demonstrate the various aspects of safe and skillful motorcycle operation and traffic-management, realize that your Novice will ‘learn’ perhaps 50%-60% of what they SEE you doing – and perhaps ten percent of what they hear you saying. Again, exaggeration of your maneuvers and movements helps your Novice learn nearly the proper amount of most important skills and actions; if you demonstrate a 4-second following distance, your Novice will probably get the proper feel for a two- or three-second following distance. Your timely and full head-turn will help the learner at least begin to turn their heads as a turn is entered. (Here’s great tip: Teach your Novice to ‘point their chin’ at the exit of the turn.) Lower-than-necessary entry speeds will help your Novice learn to determine their own proper entry-speeds by working UP to this value, rather than beginning their practical riding education by overcooking each and every turn, often with unpleasant results.

You’re still the ride-leader; keep the riding pace realistic for traffic conditions, with emphasis on selecting roadways where a moderate, relaxed pace can be maintained. Try to vary speeds as much as possible, too, so that your Novice will find it necessary to use braking, throttle, and shifting actions frequently. Not only does this help build their muscle-memory, and aids in sublimating the normal physical actions of motorcycle operation down into the subconscious, or para-conscious – the region of the brain and mind that does stuff on ‘auto-pilot,’ but it accelerates your Novice’s understanding of how the motorcycle reacts and feels under many different situations.

To the extent that you are able to observe your Novice as they follow you on the roadways, and during the conversations at roadside breaks during the ride, lead your Novice to build the habit of using BOTH brakes to slow or stop, every time brake-use is called for. If you see your Novice beginning to adopt incorrect and lazy habits – perhaps using only the rear brake at stop-signs and traffic lights – or perhaps your Novice explains, “Bob, I don’t NEED to use the front brake in traffic! The rear brake slows me down just fine, and I don’t have to worry about flipping over the handlebars,” during a roadside chat, help your Novice come to understand the importance of building muscle-memory, of building proper habits against the time coming when they will have no time to think, to plan or consider their options – just time enough to REACT! As the military teaches, “You will perform in the battle just as you have trained before the action.” Stopping quickly, on command, in all conditions, is one of the most important skills possessed by the motorcyclist. Maximum stopping – stopping safely in the shortest possible distance – requires the use of BOTH brakes, applied to very near the point of impending lockup, or ‘threshold braking.’ If your Novice has received professional training, they have practiced this maneuver a number of times in order to learn the actual physical movements of the hands and feet, and to begin to ‘feel’ the sensations of maximum braking. Nevertheless, very few such students could be considered proficient in maximum braking – for that matter, it’s likely that an uncomfortably high percentage of veteran riders are not nearly as proficient in emergency braking as perhaps they could and should be!

Using both brakes to slow, and to slow to a stop, builds this all-important habit, the muscle-memories that will become the riders’ instinctive reaction to a sudden threat that requires that the motorcycle be brought to a stop in a very short distance – perhaps it’s the older gal with blue-tinted hair who can barely see over the hood of her Buick that suddenly pulls out from a side-street and threatens to violate the motorcycle’s right-of-way; maybe a motorist on the freeway cutting across three lanes of traffic to catch on off-ramp they’ve almost missed. Perhaps… well, you call one; it’s happened to you, and it will happen to your Novice. Remember, building habits is much easier when it is not necessary to ‘un-learn’ incorrect habits first. Accept no excuses – say it simple, say it often, burn it in; “Both brakes to slow, both brakes to slow to a stop, every time!” Monitor your Novice’s braking habits early, and gently guide them into this proper and life-saving braking habit.

What about ‘engine braking?’ Downshifting to a lower gear, easing out the clutch, and slowing the motorcycle using the drag-effect of the engine while not under power? Do we do this? Should we do this? How about the Novice?

Few subjects discussed among motorcyclists can stir up as much debate as engine-braking. Here is what your Novice needs to know, for now: Engine-braking is a slowing-effect we EXPERIENCE as a result of the normal and proper operation of our motorcycle, matching gears to road-speed, as we approach a turn or curve, or slow in a straight line while managing traffic. Generally, engine-braking is NOT an operational action which we perform for the sole, or main, purpose of slowing the motorcycle. Rather, it is an event we experience as a result of downshifting the transmission BEFORE entering a turn or curve – something we do as we are approaching the turn or curve, as a part of the ‘Slow’ step of ‘Slow, Look, Press, Roll’ so as to be in the proper gear against the time shortly upcoming when we will ‘Roll’ on the throttle gradually as the turn is entered. So, the action of downshifting, and the experience of engine-braking takes place while the motorcycle is still vertical, and as the turn or curve is approached. Should the Novice begin to use engine-braking to set a correct entry speed, without the use of both brakes? Absolutely not! Even if a particular turn or curve could be safely and properly negotiated, beginning with an entry-speed established solely by engine-braking, your Novice must learn the HABIT of using both of those brakes to slow the machine, in conjunction with engine-braking, to again build and maintain those life-saving HABITS.

Consider the Novice who has begun to rely on engine-braking alone to set turn-approach entry speeds, and finds, suddenly, that he or she has misjudged and ‘overcooked’ a turn-entry; first, valuable real estate will pass under the wheels while reaction-time goes by, as the rider is actually reaching for the braking controls – a couple tenths of a second of reaction-time might translate into several dozen feet, or more, of roadway covered, and this could be the difference between having enough tarmac left to make the turn, or to run wide and off the roadway. Next, consider the actual physical movements of braking SUDDENLY and unexpectedly under extreme stress; they are likely to be sudden and abrupt, probably resulting in improper technique – ‘Grabbing’ the front brake, and ‘Stomping’ on the rear, with predictably unhappy results. Finally, consider the timing of the sudden, unexpected braking now called for; if the rider has misjudged the entry speed due to relying solely on engine-braking – it suddenly becomes clear to the novice rider that the entry-speed is too fast – engine-braking failed to slow the motorcycle enough – the sudden, and probably improper, braking will likely be applied AFTER the motorcycle is already leaned over the turn, greatly increasing the potential for a slide-out or low-side crash.. Traction-management while learned over in a turn is always a delicate balancing act for the rider; engine-braking is a largely-unpredictable form of braking, difficult to modulate and control precisely and finely, as compared to proper operation of the front and rear brakes.

On the other hand, had the novice rider been in the process of using both brakes while experiencing engine-braking, even the greenest of novices would probably have a much easier task slowing the motorcycle to an appropriate entry-speed when it suddenly became apparent that a slower speed was required; the brakes were already under application, the hand and foot were already in the process of operating both brakes, reaction-time was all but eliminated, and the rider was already receiving tactile feedback from the brakes, and the motorcycle’s chassis – ‘braking feel,’ if you will, and would likely be much better able to smoothly perform the minute physical movements needed to increase braking slightly and as needed, and properly and safely.

Think of it this way: As motorcyclists, our primary objective is to constantly use an action-plan, a mental strategy of predicting the worst possible outcomes in order to be prepared to get the best and safest results. The very best results would be to eliminate, in advance, by observing, predicting and preparing, any sudden and unexpected threat, obstacle or hazard BEFORE such endangers the rider. But, as realists, we must always be prepared to deal with a sudden, emerging threat, an ‘emergency,’ should such occur despite out best predictions. When (not ‘if’) these sudden, un-predicted threats suddenly emerge, the riders’ muscle-memories and ingrained mental habits will be the riders’ only defense

So, how ‘bout using engine-braking while slowing in traffic, while riding in a straight path, or slowing to come to a stop? Again, the consistent habit of always using both brakes to slow the motorcycle is paramount. For the novice, this is again particularly important; your Novice is still building these all-important muscle-memories and mental habits. When slowing in a straight path; slowing in traffic, and slowing to come to a stop in traffic, the use of both brakes WITHOUT experiencing engine-braking is the best learning-experience for your Novice rider. When presented with that sudden “Oh my! What’s that?” event - the emergency, the truck that suddenly pulled out of a side-street, the old beater that abruptly changed lanes in front of your Novice, the teeny-bopper in her tuner-ride that stops suddenly beside the curb to pick up a classmate on the sidewalk – your Novice must be possessed of proper emergency braking skills, the proper application of both brakes as needed, WITHOUT getting caught up - both physically and mentally - in the additional physical movements, AND mental processes of ‘producing’ engine-braking as a part of the stop. Remember that engine-braking is relatively unpredictable, difficult to control, often abrupt, and ‘produces’ a mere fraction of the braking forces of which modern motorcycle brakes are capable of generating.

So far, we’ve explored the novices’ education in the life-saving skills and habits of cornering and braking, the primary maneuvers that the majority of riders of all experience classes are the least adept in performing, particularly under duress. Here’s another one:

Swerving: Swerving the motorcycle to avoid some obstacle or hazard that can break the bike and harm our person, should we strike same. According to the MSF, studies have indicated that it is often more effective, at speeds above about 20 mph, to swerve to avoid a car-sized obstacle, that it would be to attempt an emergency stop. By way of review, a ‘swerve’ is two consecutive counter-steers, or ‘presses;’ one in the direction needed to avoid the hazard or obstacle, and the second one to recover the original direction of travel. Both ‘presses’ should be of the same duration and force, and the rider’s upper body, or torso, should remain vertical as the motorcycle leans first one way, and then the other, underneath the rider. While swerving, it is crucial to maintain a steady throttle and avoid braking WHILE swerving. A swerve is said to be the largest single traction-consuming maneuver one can perform on a motorcycle. So, these are swerving basics. How does this affect your mentoring activities with your Novice?

As your Novice, particularly the novice who has graduated from a professional training course, gains practical riding experience in low-threat, low-density roadway riding, your Novice should consider conducting his or her own emergency-maneuvers practice sessions. It might be best for your Novice to make the decision to begin such practice on their own initiative, rather than following your instructions, (“Okay, now you’re going to practice stopping quickly in the church parking lot!”). Remember, your role as Mentor is to guide and shape the novice’s initial riding experiences, rather than to ‘lead’ the novice into these events. Riding a motorcycle is an endeavor which has risks, as do many other such pursuits in life, and as such, requires that the responsible person TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for initiating whatever they elect to do, with an informed awareness of the consequences. Your relationship with your Novice will certainly include descriptions and accounts of how YOU practice emergency maneuvers in order to keep your skills sharp and at the ready, how often you practice, and why you take the initiative to practice your life-saving skills. As the preacher told a parishioner, “What you do speaks so loudly that I can’t hear a word you say!” Your example, as a mature, experienced and responsible motorcyclist, will help convince your Novice that such regular practice is a normal aspect of their moto-discipline, too, while allowing the novice - a human being who has made the choice to begin riding motorcycles - to remain responsible for the choices they make.

Here are some ideas to help your Novice practice swerving: While in a safe and controlled environment, one without the potential for unexpected traffic, such as the church parking lot on a weekday, and WITH a second person present (probably you as Mentor), your Novice can mark a faux-obstacle on the pavement – make sure that a clean, dry section of pavement is selected, and one with consistent traction – using chalk, or maybe best yet, tennis balls which have been cut in half. The key safety issue is to simulate an obstacle which, should the rider actually hit the ‘obstacle,’ there would be no bad consequence to the rider. Your Novice can approach the ‘obstacle’ and swerve to avoid it, using perhaps different speeds in order get the ‘feel’ of how the motorcycle reacts to swerve-control-inputs, and how much linear distance is needed to miss the practice ‘obstacle’ at differing speeds.

Emergency-braking practice can be conducted under similar conditions; Using some marking on the pavement, and selecting clean, dry, consistent pavement – and making sure there is a substantial amount of run-off distance free of hazards, should the practicing rider momentarily lose control – the novice can approach the set-mark at varying speeds, and work gradually into the experience of performing maximum-braking maneuvers. Here are some basics:

Professionally-trained novices have learned to ‘squeeze’ the front-brake lever – they’ve learned to never, NEVER “Grab” the front-brake lever – squeezing progressively, more and more and more, as the process of weight-transfer takes place over time, loading the majority of the bike and rider’s weight onto the front tire, and therefore increasing the front tire’s traction capacity. The deadly and evil “Grab” maneuver applies maximum braking pressure suddenly to the front tire’s contact-patch, before the tire has yet to receive the additional weight that would give the contact-patch the ability to support substantially greater traction; the progressive ‘squeeze’ can arrive at maximum braking pressure much more safely and predictably, as the process of progressively, over the TIME (usually a bit less that a second) needed to transfer weight forward and down. Allowing your Novice to work gradually into performing a maximum-braking-squeeze can help the rider learn the ‘feel’ of the squeeze, the feel of the weight transfer occurring both to the bike’s chassis, and to the rider’s torso – helping the learner understand how to manage the additional pressure on the arms and wrists while maintaining the ability to properly and smoothly operate the hand-controls. A helpful maximum-front-braking mantra might be, “The more you squeeze, the more you CAN squeeze.” As more weight is transferred to the front tire’s contact-patch, more traction becomes available, and therefore, more braking can be more safely, and predictably, supported, and preformed.

Review the correct response in the event the front tire does lock: Release the front-brake lever IMMEDIATELY, and then re-apply properly. “Immediately” means within one-half of one second. “Grab, Lock –and Fall! Squeeze and STOP!”

Since the majority – sometime nearly 90%+ of the combined weight of the motorcycle, cargo and rider(s) can be transferred to the front tire during aggressive stops, there is little weight on the rear tire’s contact-patch, and therefore, a very modest amount of traction exists during such stops. Your Novice should review this phenomenon, and be prepared to apply very moderate pressure to the rear brake during maximum-braking practices. And here is another reason why such practices are critical for the novice rider: Untrained, unprepared and un-practiced riders are naturally inclined, for whatever the reason, to apply maximum braking pressure to the rear brake, at a time when it will produce relatively little stopping force, and at the same time when maximum stopping is most needed. Why? I don’t know… perhaps no one really knows the answer. Perchance it was because the rider, as a youth, grabbed the front brake while riding a 10-speed bicycle, and did a graceful header over top of the handlebars – and thereupon vowed, “I’ll only use the back brake from now on!”

During maximum-braking practices, help your Novice remember these rear-brake basics: Use moderate pressure on the rear-brake. If the novice detects, or senses, or feels that they have locked the rear wheel, and the rear tire is sliding, they should KEEP THE REAR BRAKE LOCKED until the have come to a stop! Releasing a locked rear tire when it is misaligned with the front tire – the well-known ‘fishtail-effect’ - will generate sudden and violent sideways movements in the motorcycle’s frame and chassis, and can spit the rider off, sideways and forward, in a dreaded, violent, and painful high-side crash. Happily, this event usually is much less severe, even absent, when the back wheel is locked and then released while riding on low-traction surfaces, such as gravel or dirt.

Finally, proper stopping-posture basics – there are two: 1) Keeping the rider’s head and eyes well up, looking well forward and level with the horizon, and 2) Making sure the handlebars are square to the motorcycle at the stop.

Practicing these life-saving skill frequently, with an observer present should an unplanned event occur, under safe and controlled conditions, will help the novice and experienced rider alike be prepared for that time, upcoming, when the rider’s instinctive, reactive, reflexive habits and muscle-memories are all that stand between the motorcyclist, and severe physical injuries or death. Yeah, it’s that important, and you can be sure you’ll need the right stuff some time in the future – so get it now, while you can. Risk-analysis surveys seem to indicate that those who participate in activities with inherent risks, and who nevertheless choose to remain unprepared – with us motorcyclists, this would include those who ride without adequate personal protective gear, and those who eschew safety training – these folks chose to remain unprepared because they have a persistent, personally-held belief that, “It’ll NEVER happen to me!” I fervently share that hope, but I reject that belief. Yeah, it IS gonna happen to you sometime – plan on it. When we’re both rocking in the sun on the front porch of the old-folks home on my ninety-fifth birthday, you can tell me I was wrong, and rub it in…if I was wrong!

Low Speed maneuvering

Many novice riders are needlessly intimidated by the prospect of performing low-speed parking-lot maneuvers such as tight U-turns. Here are some practice ideas that you can use with your Novice anywhere along in the learning-process: Again, select a safe, controlled area, such as the deserted parking-lot. Discuss the basic techniques with your Novice – counter-weighting the motorcycle by sliding the buttocks over to the opposite, or ‘high-side’ of the turn, and keeping most of the body-weight on the opposite-side, or ‘high-side’ footpeg; turning the entire head as much as possible in the direction of the turn and LOOK to and through the exit-point of the tight turn; turn the handlebars in the direction of the turn; keeping the torso upright and leaning away from the turn, by keeping the inside elbow straight. Help you Novice remember that counter-WEIGHTING is not the same as countersteering, and that countersteering does NOT work at most parking-lot speeds – typically speeds below 7mph-10mph – at these slow speeds, the motorcyclist actually DOES turn the handlebars in the intended direction.

As your Novice elects to practice and become proficient and confident moving about at lower speeds, perhaps they can begin in the parking lot by making a wide, sweeping circle, or better yet, a series of wide, sweeping figure-eight turns; as they become comfortable, and gain a measure of confidence in applying the basic technique of looking and counter-weighting, they can begin to slow down their speeds, tighten the figure-eight turns and ride though the transition between ‘counter-steering-speeds’ and ‘handlebar-turning speeds’ into relatively slow turns with tight radii, and experience the stability that counter-weighting brings to a slow-moving motorcycle while it is leaned over in a turn.

Turning after – directly after – a stop, such as pausing at a stop-sign and then making a tight right turn, without veering over the centerline into oncoming traffic, is another slow-speed skill that your Novice should learn, and early-on, too. Here are those basics: The novice should turn the head and handlebars all the way towards the direction of the turn, lean the motorcycle slightly in the intended direction while both feet are still on the ground, and then carefully ease the clutch into the friction-zone and pause the clutch lever at that spot while they take a couple of steps through the turn, as the motorcycle begins both moving and turning at the same time. The rider’s head-turn should be held in the intended ultimate direction of travel, until the turn is complete. Once the machine has reached a speed that creates stability, the rider’s feet can be placed on the pegs. Once this skill has been installed, as it were, a competent rider will need to take very few steps, if any, to confidently turn sharply from a stop. Obviously, making a right turn after a stop-sign and swinging wide into the oncoming lane of traffic poses a significant risk to your Novice.

When is a good time to suggest this kind of practice? Well, since low-speed parking-lot maneuvers pose very little serious risk to the life, health and property of your Novice – they could be considered a convenience- and confidence-skill – just about anywhere in the learning process would certainly be appropriate. Of course, the business about making tight turns from a stop should a priority. Oftentimes, you may hear your Novice observe that they love the thrill of riding their motorcycle on the highways, but dread coming to the end of the ride, and then parking. Might be the perfect time to shepherd your Novice into a discussion, and a decision to master moving about, competently and confidently, slowly, in tight places.

Traffic Management and Navigation

Time and events have passed by; your Novice has gained experience and created their own personal ‘knowledge-base’ of the basic operation of their motorcycle. Now may be the time to suggest that the novice move up to a different level, by placing the novice in the ride-lead position. Why? Well, three important reasons: First, you can more closely observe the progress of your Novice in performing smooth, controlled and safe operations of their bike; you can observe cornering and braking practices with greater detail, and you are in a position to correct and coach in a way that you could not, when leading the ride. Second, your Novice needs to begin learning traffic-management skills, and finally, your Novice should begin learning route- and navigation skills, while still maintaining that safe, smooth control of the motorcycle.

You are now in a position to evaluate the novice’s overall motorcycle manipulation and maneuvering skills from you following position, and are better able to assess their traffic-management judgment and the outcomes of their decision-making processes. Perhaps the most important item discussed in this section is JUDGMENT! Does your Novice display chronically poor judgment in traffic? Do they exhibit chronic, pervasive riding errors? A very common control-skill error of this sort would be late-braking while cornering, and/or use of the brakes while leaned over in a turn. The list of chronic traffic-management sins is probably led by the dangerous practice of tail-gating, followed closely by failing to position the bike so as to be as visible as possible to surrounding roadway-users – in the words of the late safety guru, Larry Grodsky, “Presenting yourself to other traffic.”

Good habits are much easier to learn and ‘burn-in’ when it is not necessary to first erase bad habits. Chronic riding-judgment errors must be dealt with by your Novice as early as possible, and this might be one of the few times when stern, firm leadership from you, as Mentor, is appropriate. Keep this thought in mind: Some few members of the human family simply have no place astride a motorcycle! No matter the degree of desire on the part of such a novice, the amount of training he or she has received, or their passionate promises to reform, some few such beginning riders are at a much greater risk – an unacceptable risk – by their very nature. Oftentimes, such a person operates their auto with such chronic disregard for safe and defensive-driving practices, and blithely bounces from one ‘close call’ to another, completely unaware. A wise Mentor will recognize these at-risk novice riders, and perhaps lead a discussion that helps such an unfortunate realize that perhaps tennis IS a really good idea.

How will your Novice know that the time is right to begin assuming the ride-lead position? Again, increasing the level of learning should perhaps be the decision of the Novice, rather than the Mentor. When your Novice can begin to perform basic operations, such as starting out smoothly from a stop, shifting gears, braking, cornering, stopping quickly and unexpectedly, and swerving, WITHOUT much conscious thought; (“Let’s see; the tachometer is nearing the red-line, and I’ll need to shift gears. Humm. I’ll need to squeeze the clutch – Whoops! – roll that throttle OFF first! Now, press – or is it lift – the shift lever – yes, lift the shift lever. Okay, release the clutch – whoops! Not so fast next time. Now, why am I slowing d…. oh, give some throttle. Okay.)

Once these basic movements have been sublimated down into the sub- or para-conscious, your Novice will be performing many control operations using ‘automatic pilot,’ as it were, and now has much more mental energy and capacity left over to focus on the traffic events surrounding them. Those who have completed the MSF’s Basic RiderCourse have learned several useful mental strategies, including where to look for upcoming trouble, and what to look for- and what to think about when potential troubles and risks are detected. Maintaining a proper and substantial following distance in traffic is perhaps the most important and basic traffic skill, joined by the practice of actively and aggressively searching ahead up to a quarter of a mile, so that hazards are spotted long before they become an immediate danger to the rider. In addition, your Novice has been taught the value of scanning all compass-points, using the mirrors and performing head-checks. Positioning the machine – within the lane, or perhaps moving to another lane – so that the motorcyclist is visible to other traffic, so that the rider has optimum sight-lines, and is able to maintain an adequate space-cushion, is extremely important, as well.

As the student, following you up until this point, your Novice has been largely freed from the responsibilities of traffic-management, and all but totally freed from navigation and routing decisions. They’ve simply followed you, as you led your Novice along lightly-traveled roadways and back-roads out in the countryside. While this is certainly a prudent practice in the earlier stages of the Novice’s learning, your Novice is still without the skills they need to safely and confidently venture out onto the roadways on their own, as an independent, responsible and competent rider.

Here are some things to think about as you and your Novice enter this next phase of learning together: Begin by suggesting that your Novice ride in the ride-lead spot, to a destination well-known to the novice. Think ahead carefully about the route; will there be complex and crowded intersections? Poor roadway surfaces? Construction? Risky traffic? (Your area’s ‘sport-bike Mecca’ roadway, perhaps.) Congested traffic? Select a low-threat, high-challenge destination, one that allows your Novice to focus on traffic-management without becoming distracted by routing decisions, and complex traffic. Perhaps you would consider an initial destination that would take no more than thirty minutes to an hour to reach. Believe me, the initial journey can seem like hours to your Novice as he or she assumes the ride-lead position for the first time.

Once you’ve both arrived at the initial destination, kick back and relax, and allow your Novice to articulate their impressions and experiences – use those valuable learning questions to aid the process, if necessary, and keep your own comments and instructions to a minimum. To continue the ride, or return home, you can jointly decide who will become ride-leader. As this phase of learning progresses, you could consider jointly selecting destinations, including multiple destinations, or ‘waypoints,’ that will take the ride through a variety of different traffic conditions, from two-lane country back-roads, through smaller towns, even perhaps larger cities before or after the rush-hour, and finally, onto limited-access highways such as turnpikes and Interstates, beginning with lower-density stretches, and working into the more fast-paced and congested Interstates. While Interstate highways may appear to be some of the highest-risk roadways, and certainly often present the most visually intimidating surroundings, conditions on Interstates where traffic is moving all together, in the same direction, at pretty much the same pace, are often less risky than they appear. Of course, during rush-hour, one travel lane might be traveling at warp-speed, while some other lanes might be barely crawling along – and these various lanes might change conditions back and forth frequently. Again, the principle of gradually progressing into conditions presenting greater challenges, at a pace that accommodates the Novice’s rate of learning, their comfort-level, and their observable competence should be one of your main guidelines as you continue to shape and guide your Novice’s learning processes.

In addition to maintaining safe and generous following distances, your Novice will be learning how to CONTINUE to maintain this value as other traffic changes speed and lane-position, and as traffic enters and leaves their roadway; help you Novice understand that they are NOT competing with surrounding traffic – it’s all right if another vehicle passes you, and reduces your following distance – the motorcyclists’ mission is to simply adjust their own speed and position in response, to create and constantly maintain the ‘time-and-space safety-margin,’ or safety cushion, all the way around them at all times.

Using turn-signals, combined with the basic hand-signals, is important, as is the use of the brakes to activate the brake-light while merely slowing – remember, since motorcycles are much, much lighter than cars and trucks, simply letting off the gas, or ‘rolling off,’ will cause the motorcycle to slow much more quickly, due to engine-braking, than do cars and trucks – other drivers are often not aware of this phenomenon and are unprepared for it.

Dealing with tailgating traffic is another important issue for your Novice as they venture into more intense conditions. Often, simply holding the left hand out, palm facing back as in the “Slow-Stop” hand-signal will wake up an offending tailgater, and they will frequently drop back to a less threatening position. Give them a quick ‘thumbs up” to say thank you, and keep them back where they belong. Other ideas for dealing with the tailgater would include gradually slowing to create more safety margin ahead, turning off to allow the offender to hurry on their way, or simply allowing them to pass. However, your Novice should understand that they should maintain a position within their lane that does not encourage the impatient tailgating driver to attempt to pass the motorcycle within it’s lane. Riding, if possible, in the left one-third of the lane on a two-lane road would be a good example. Multi-lane roads would require adjustments.

Recognizing and dealing with drivers exhibiting ‘road rage’ could be another discussion point for Mentor and Novice. While road rage has no place anywhere on the highway, it is even more dangerous when the infected motorist is the motorcycle-rider. Road rage, and other irresponsible riding behavior can, and frequently does, incite retaliation from other motorists – most of whom have a couple of tons of steel, upholstery, roll-cages, crumple-zones and air-bags surrounding them. Your Novice does not. Something to think about – before events occur – and make plans to deal with this peril.

As the learning progresses, unusual conditions such as riding in the rain, riding at night, riding on unusual pavement surfaces such as slick steel bridge-grating, and much more could be discussed and explored.

As your Novice learns and displays good traffic-management practices, and appears to possess and employ sound judgment, you may then consider assisting your Novice in learning the divided-attention skill of Routing and Navigation. A task-analysis recently found that auto drivers must be competent in as many as 600 discrete tasks in order to operate their car or truck safely; the same study found that a motorcyclist was faced with over 2,200 such tasks, leading to the conclusion that much more – almost four times as much - mental alertness and energy, focus, and concentration are demanded to operate a motorcycle safely. For the novice, this can be an all-consuming job, leaving little awareness left over to glance at maps or route-sheets, and to search unfamiliar surroundings for upcoming street-signs and route markers. Compounding this additional responsibility is the need, oftentimes, to be in a specific travel lane before a turn or route-change, such as entering or exiting Interstate highways.

How can you guide your Novice to learn the multi-tasking skill of navigating safely and effectively in new and unfamiliar surroundings? You might begin this phase of mentoring by suggesting a ride to a destination that is not familiar to your Novice; again, think ahead, and suggest a destination that requires a low-threat and high-challenge set of roadways. Perhaps it might be more appropriate for your Novice to select such a destination, giving the new rider an increased sense of ownership in both the learning experience, and the successful arrival at someplace new, exciting and different. However, the guidelines, above, should still apply, and you may find it best to help the learner select an alternate destination.

The initial forays into the unknown might be relatively short rides, without frequent and complicated route-changes. A route that allows the novice substantial time – perhaps 10-20 minutes – between route-changes, gives your Novice time to think and plan ahead, to make a strategy, and to begin searching ahead for the next turn-off, while still leaving most of the novice’s mental energy available for traffic-management and proper motorcycle operations.

You might consider suggesting to the novice that they use the map-case on a tank-bag to hold both a marked, highlighted map, and a turn-by-turn route sheet. Alternatively, route directions can be marked on the inside of a windshield with a grease pencil or China Marker. Consider opening a discussion about the skill of ‘quick-peek,’ and the dangers of becoming overly involved and focused on maps and directions. You might even suggest some static practice in this skill, with the motorcycle parked, and the maps and lists in position.

What will you do when the Novice misses a turn or route-change? As Mentor, your role is to guide and shape the learner’s experience, and to ‘oversee’ (i.e. to look higher and further into the future, primarily mentally) the learning process so as to prevent dangerous situations from catching the uninitiated novice unawares. So long as dangerous conditions are not present or in the offing, you might consider allowing your Novice to learn how to solve their own problems by themselves, stepping in only to prevent real damage. How will your Novice solve your combined problem? Will they find a way to navigate back to the proper road? Will they chose to make a U-turn? If so, can this be done safely? Does your Novice make sudden and unprepared (i.e. no signal, no head-check) lane-changes when they come to realize they are no longer on the proper route? Do they continue on, blissfully unaware they are off-course? How long will you allow them to proceed? Do they continue on, safely, until they can find a safe place to pull over and study the map, and make a new plan? These are the matters YOU should consider, and be prepared to handle.

Let’s consider one of motorcycling’s latest technological advances, the Global Positioning Satellite navigation receiver, or ‘GPS.’ For those unfamiliar with these units, modern systems contain detailed maps, and the capability to ‘auto-route’ a motorist from the present position to a fixed destination. GPS units are at the same time a safety hazard, and a safety feature, for the rider traveling on unknown roadways. The ‘safety hazard’ element is because the GPS is, or can be, a ‘fiddly gadget’ that can distract the rider, particularly the novice who is without substantial time and experience behind the handlebars. In all cases, actual operation of the GPS unit should only take place when the rider is stopped in a safe place – NOT while riding! If your Novice has equipped themselves with a GPS, solicit their assurance they will abide by this edict!

But how can the GPS be a ‘safety feature?’ Depending on the displayed data settings (i.e. Distance to Next Turn, Distance to Destination, etc), a GPS can not only show the rider traveling along the recommended route, but alert the rider to upcoming turns and route-changes, including displaying a ‘Track-Up’ pop-up window that accurately displays the upcoming turn and shows the remaining distance before the turn. Knowing this information can reduce the amount of mental and visual attention needed to search for, and spot such route-changes, signage, intersections, on- and-off-ramps and the like, in unfamiliar surroundings, allowing more of that valuable commodity to be directed to the all important traffic-management task. An additional safety consideration is the fact that the display of the GPS unit can be positioned, using a variety of flexible, articulated mounting systems, much closer to the riders’ line-of-sight than can the usual map in a tankbag map-case.

Should the lead rider – in this case, your GPS-equipped Novice- miss a turn or route-change, most modern GPS units can be set to automatically recalculate a new route to the original fixed destination, greatly reducing stress on the novice lead-rider when these things occur. This feature also allows for easier transit of alternate routes and detours when encountering traffic jams, accidents or other conditions that make us wish we were riding elsewhere.

From “Mentor” to Partner

As your Novice transitions from apprentice-rider to ‘consciously-competent’ journeyman (or journey-woman), your role as Mentor recedes. Your relationship will gradually become one of near-equals as you transit the roads near and far, together, on your moto-adventures. Nevertheless, your sage wisdom and advice will continue to filter through to your now-competent riding partner. You may wish to think about passing on more of YOUR accumulated wisdom, born of experiences both good and bad. Here is an incomplete list of important topics you can visit together: Ideas on how to manage an en-route mechanical breakdown; how to deal with a flat, or deflating tire; shifting the motorcycle without the clutch, should a cable fail; accident-scene management; basic first-aid; personal security and safety while traveling alone; buying fuel well before nearing ‘Reserve’ while traveling in more remote locations, and much, much more.

As Mentor, you’ve taken on the role and responsibility to represent the good aspects of motorcycling – safe riding practices, sound decision-making principles, squarely confronting the potential risks and consequences of decisions made – to a motivated Novice who believes they want, very much, to join our ranks. Help your Novice, without appearing much to do so, by allowing them to make their own learning decisions, by frequently praising – “Catch them doing something right” – good technique and behavior, and by being judicious and stingy with overt correction; save that stuff for the really important, life- and health-threatening errors that may occur as your Novice learns, grows and develops.

Motorcycling has been around for over one hundred years; the vast majority of the moto-world is populated by happy, safe and responsible motorcyclists who passionately enjoy our sport and lifestyle. But those relatively few bad actors, the ‘one-percenters’ who display the very worst of motorcycling to the world, have had a disproportionately bad effect. You and I cannot solve that problem, globally and all at once; but, by shepherding and mentoring a new rider, guiding this person into the safe, responsible and FUN world of motorcycling, you and I CAN make a difference – one new rider at a time.

Risk

2012-05-10T01:16:00.000-04:00

A story is told of a wealthy, mature German industrialist; late in life, he was given a son. His only heir, so loved by the industrialist, received the finest education available, was cosseted, protected and sheltered – all within the confines of the elder gent’s Bavarian castle. That’s right – the son was sheltered from the risks of the world by keeping him inside a ‘safe’ environment during his childhood. But when the son achieved his majority, he was finally permitted to venture into the world for the first time in his life…

…and he died of excitement on his first day in society. In addition to reflecting the Law of Unintended Consequences, this tale helps us understand that there is risk in everything we do in life. You and I ride motorcycles, perhaps the highest-risk form of vehicular travel – even space travel has a better safety record. So, what is important about risk?.

Educated new riders are led to consider the risks of motorcycling; many of us underwent NO training or education before we began riding, so this might be an opportunity for some of us to catch up. We begin by thinking about the differences between driving multi-track vehicles like cars and trucks, and riding a motorcycle. This concept is one of the foundation blocks of ‘Motorcycle Thinking.’ What are the differences?

We have to continually balance the machine, a process normally performed by the Automated Operations Bureau (it’s on the Subconscious Floor of the Brain Building); auto drivers don’t have to balance. We’re more vulnerable, in a crash, than an occupant of a car; in a collision, the car protects the occupants, and a growing percentage of car-crashes produce no injuries. But in our world, ANY crash or collision can be expected to affect the rider (and pillion-mate) with one or more consequences of the injury-hierarchy; bruises, blood, broken bones, internal injuries, paralysis or demise.

Nearly all of us had some car-driving experience before taking up riding; therefore, most folks develop ‘Car Thinking.’ One element of Car Thinking is the reality that making a mistake will probably hurt the car and probably will not hurt the driver. So, take a moment to consider this reality. Is Car Thinking suitable for motorcyclists? Is there any risky Car Thinking in your normal riding profile?

Another difference; motorcycles are harder to see, and many motorists are not looking for motorcycles – they’re looking for something big enough to hurt them, and you on your bike may not be perceived – ‘seen’ by both the car-driver’s eyes and his brain, the Central Command of active, conscious thought.

Since we ride motorcycles, it is incumbent on each of us to consider both the various risks of motorcycling, and the potential consequences of those varied risks. By throwing a leg over the bike, we are exhibiting our belief that we are able to handle any riding situation that we allow ourselves to enter. As responsible riders, we wear personal protective gear when riding, in the event we were wrong in our assessment of our skills compared to a risky situation.

What is the primary cause of motorcycle crashes? We believe that there is hardly ever a single cause, but rather, an interaction of converging risk-factors; they get closer to each other, behave unpredictably, get closer to us and take away our critical time and space, and a crash results. Sure, the ultimate cause in the crash-chain may have been the when the Buick pulled out into the path of the rider, but there were almost certainly additional causes, such as limited visibility at the intersection, other traffic blocking escape routes, wet pavement or an inattentive, daydreaming rider – and all this came together at the wrong time and wrong place for the motorcyclist.

How do we define ‘risk-factors?’ Well, some risk-factors are moving - operators of other vehicles - or movable but stopped right now; some are static, like a tall hedge at an intersection, or a broken traffic light. Some risk-factors appear on the scene for the first time, and other may have begun sometime in the past – a worn tire or a recent emotionally upsetting event – this rider was laid off of work today.

Educated and experienced riders have learned how to spot these developing risky situations from a distance, and take early actions to mitigate or eliminate the risk. The clues are almost always there, visible to the rider. But we’re human, imperfect and vulnerable, so we prepare for that possible consequence, too.

Another way to consider risk would be to look at the three components of riding: The motorcycle, the rider and gear, and the situation. Is the bike in good shape? Has the rider inspected the bike carefully and regularly, and corrected any problems? How about the rider? How do I feel, physically? Any recent meds that would affect me? Alcohol? Emotions? Fatigue? Clean, scratch-free faceshield? Proper gloves for conditions? What is the current situation? Riding the freeway home in the diamond lane at rush hour, or loafing along a pretty Blue Highway in the countryside? How’s the weather? The pavement? Overall visibility? Other traffic?

Here are two aspects of riding-risk: Degree (or severity) of the threat, and the time exposed to a threat. Motorists don’t regularly change lanes suddenly, without signaling, but it does happen all too frequently. So, the rider who is lollygagging in another vehicle’s blind spot may believe the risk is low, but the longer the rider is in that car’s blind-spot and kill-zone, the greater the likelihood of a blind-spot collision. This, of course, increases Overall Risk.

Let’s finish by considering perhaps the greatest risk for motorcyclists. Yup, it’s you. And me. Those loose nuts behind the handlebars. Why is that? Our greatest strength, as riders, is an educated, active and involved brain/mind, one that is engaged in the riding-task – and at the same time, our Central Command can be our greatest weakness. How? We simply fail to keep our mind, Central Command, on the riding mission; we daydream – let’s define ‘daydreaming’ as any thought-thread that does not actively involve the current situation - like, having fun while riding a motorcycle proficiently and safely.

When Central Command is engaged in something besides the current mission –like, how to approach the boss to ask for a raise, for example – Central Command ignores the visual input from the eyes, just like those rascally texting car-drivers. On the other hand, when an actively-engaged rider is following a strategy, such as MSF’s SEE (Search, Evaluate, Execute), those almost ever-present visual clues that indicate un upcoming threat are almost always there, on display – “Oncoming truck could turn left in front of me, and blind intersection on the right – Ugly, looks like a dogfight is brewing” – as the rider changes speed and position to maintain his time-and-space safety-bubble. This rider thus displays the results of Motorcycle Thinking, recognizing accumulating and interacting risk-factors early, from afar, and dealing with these without fanfare. Even the greenest of novice riders, if fully aware of an impending threat, including the significance and potential consequences, would undoubtedly take action early to eliminate the threat, right?

Central Command has a voracious appetite for content and engagement; while awake, our brains are unable to think of ‘nothing.’ Try it. See if you can close your eyes and think of nothing. Likely, you were actively engaged in try not to think of anything, and that’s something. Thinking of ‘nothing’ is not the same as nothing. As a result, a casual rider can allow oneself to think about and consider other matters, other thinking-missions; a different part of the brain runs the hands and feet as they operate the motorcycle. But since Central Command is not accepting visual input from the eyes, CC misses the visual clues, becomes greatly surprised at the last moment and hands the whole matter over to the Emergency Operations Bureau (keeper of the ‘Fight or Flight’ programs).

Keeping one’s mind engaged in the ride – is that easy to do? Is it difficult? Can our ‘time-on-task’ be improved? How?

Perhaps the discipline of keeping engaged in the ride, keeping Central Command on-mission, is our greatest challenge as independent, proficient and responsible rider who just wanna have fun! Yet, it can be the most difficult discipline to master. MotoSafe really wants your input about this critical issue. So, fill up my inbox, and we’’ continue the conversation. Ride safe, ride often… think!

Left? or Right?

2012-04-20T11:40:00.000-04:00

Well, the votes are in! Forty-seven members replied to the question in the July 2009 MotoSafe column, “Left? or Right? Tell MotoSafe” and we find that the majority of respondents believe they are weaker, less confident and proficient, when cornering to the right. The numbers? 57% report more trouble cornering to the right, versus 28% who feel less competent cornering to the left; 15% report they are equally confident and competent turning and cornering either way. So, by a raw two-to-one margin, weak-righties outnumber weak-lefties. Let’s see what we all can learn from this survey, and mostly, from one another. WHY do we believe we prefer one cornering direction over the opposite?

There is no lack of theories; Damun Gracenin believes it may be due to engine-torque. Paul Lehrer and Bob Rudy think weak-side cornering may be traced to ‘dominant-brain-side,’ which ties in with six respondents, including ‘Chain-Gang Karen’ who refer to ‘handedness’ (right-handed versus left-handed). John Murray turns left better than right, and apparently hopes we all vote that way, too; John also threw in the hoary ‘rotation of the earth’ theory, for good measure.

John Deitrich and Mark Barr believe the majority of us prefer turning left because the US is a ‘right-hand-driving’ country,’ unlike the UK and a few other countries. Walt, Clay and Joe think turning-preference may be linked to one’s dominant eye, right or left, while Charles Schadwinkel believes his ability to turn right or left with equal skill and confidence can be traced back to the professional training he undertook when he began riding. Good on you, Charles!

Bob Williamson and Jay Fierro trace their cornering trouble to difficulties they experience due to a lack of good riding posture and they are likely on to something here; they comment about the relationship between the vertical plane of the torso as compared to the vertical plane of the bike’s chassis, and the predilection riders often have for stiff-arm, Frankenstein-locked-elbows. One must sit well to ride well! Doug Weir chimes in with comments about exercising discipline in positioning the upper-body, head and eyes.

Several, including John Zibell and Mike Rogerson note that a given curve on a two-way, two-lane road has a wider radius for those cornering to the left as opposed to a rider transiting the same curve to the right, in the other direction. Weak-lefties George Burton and Jeff Daugherty trace their discomforts to late-apexing (generally, a good strategy for safer street-riding) and ‘edge-phobia,’ the inability to get close to the right-side edge of the pavement, entering a left-hander.

The big numbers came from two basic categories; in second place, seven folks led by Chris Goodfellow trace their comfort turning left, and resultant discomfort cornering to the right, on the likelihood that the sight-lines are longer in left-handed turns, compared to going right; this was commented on by several in the context of blind curves, the ones where the rider cannot see the exit of the turn at the point they actually enter the turn and begin leaning.

The winner? Kevin Greenwald, a professional trainer and MotoSafe contributor, led a pack of respondents in blaming the throttle! A motorcycle has symmetrical controls, one for each hand and foot, except for the right hand; it is called upon to both modulate the throttle and operate the front brake. While all of the ideas offered bear some investigation (well, political preferences aside!), it’s possible that we might have a starting point by considering the action of the throttle. Main point so far? We’re all THINKING about what we’re doing when astride the bike, and that’s all good!

Let’s review the fundamentals of competent cornering; first, cornering is by far and away the most complicated maneuvering process we execute on a bike. The rider is involved in the cornering process for a longer period of time, as compared to slowing, stopping, swerving or accelerating. In multiple-curve situations, such as mountainous twisties, this long-duration effect is greatly exacerbated, adding to the time consumed in the continuous mental effort and focus that is required to perform competently. The fundamental steps in cornering are slowing before the corner begins, looking through the turn, leaning the motorcycle to make it turn using inside-handgrip forward pressure (countersteering ‘press’) and adding throttle, once leaned over in the turn – or slightly prior – to maintain or increase road-speed as the turn is transited. Riders who undergo ‘beginner-training’ learn and, one hopes, internalize these fundamental steps. Let’s explore each, briefly, by way of review.

Slow before the turn: We call this ‘establishing Entry Speed.’ Two basics apply. First, a ‘good’ or correct Entry Speed is a speed low enough – before the bike begins to lean into the turn - to allow the rider to comfortably and confidently add some amount of throttle while leaned over in the turn. Second Entry Speed basic; a speed low enough so that the rider is able to stop the motorcycle in a good bit less distance than the rider can see ahead. By ‘see ahead,’ we understand that to mean the rider can see the actual road-surface itself.

Look through the entire turn: Keeping vision centered near the point where the curve ends, or where the road-surface disappears, enables the brain to plot a smooth cornering line with (usually) only ONE apex. Of course, a competent rider is continually scanning away from the actual exit or vanishing-point briefly, but continually returns attention to the exit. It appears that the eyes communicate most effectively with the brain when the eyes are nearly-centered in the eye-sockets, so using one’s head or chin to aim one’s eyes can be very effective.

‘Press’ to initiate motorcycle-lean: We know this as countersteering, and the fundamental movement here is to press FORWARD (not down) on the handgrip in the desired direction of the turn. Press forward right, lean right, turn right.

Add throttle: ‘Rolling on’ the throttle is usually desired, so as to at the very least, maintain road-speed while leaned over in the turn; since the bike is now riding on a contact-ring closer to the sides of the tires, and that contact-ring has a smaller diameter than the center of the tire, the bike’s effective overall gearing is now a bit lower (like downshifting half-a-gear), and adding some throttle is required just to keep the bike from actually slowing down. Is slowing down while leaned over in a turn all right? Well, it’s usually not a good idea; slowing down puts more weight on the front tire and removes it from the rear, the opposite of ideal dynamic weight-distribution while learned over. All things being equal, modest acceleration while leaned over is desired for stability and ideal cornering-traction. Plus, it’s FUN!

Let’s begin thinking about some specific ‘Key Thoughts’ you may consider as you go through a process of immersion, feedback, reflection and self-renewal. Golfers often carry a ‘key swing-thought’ in their minds as they address the ball and drive it down the fairway. It might be “stiff left side,’ ‘head still,’ ‘right elbow against ribcage’ and so forth. Let’s think of the remainder of this series to be a buffet of ‘Key Cornering Thoughts’ that you may apply and experiment with while cornering. MotoSafe makes no claims or guarantees… well, read the disclaimer, and MotoSafe strongly urges readers to initially apply any such Key Cornering Thoughts in a safe and controlled environment; you may well find that your performance gets worse instead of better – a technique may not work for you – or it may get worse BEFORE it gets better.

Bob, Jay and Doug are on to something when they discuss posture-issues. From the bottom up, balls of the feet on the footrests – an athletic ‘ready’ stance – knees in contact with the tank and applying inward muscle-pressure, fanny scooted forward on the seat, back arched (the letter ‘C’ facing to the rear), torso bent forward from the waist, elbows bent and loosey-goosey, shoulder relaxed, and head, chin and eyes aimed up toward the horizon. We’ll get to the hands in a bit.

Key Thought: Riders may choose between two upper-body positions; both should include leaning forward, from the waist and keeping the Backward Letter C in the back. You may lean with the motorcycle (Leaning With), that is, keep your torso in the same plane as the vertical plane of the chassis, or you may lean the torso forward and INSIDE the vertical plane of the bike (Forward and In). To promote a Forward and In position, try to ‘drive’ the bottom of your inside elbow down into the pavement while cornering. In both cases, control the acceleration and deceleration forces acting on your torso with your knees, which are gripping the tank, and with your abdominal muscles. Keep the elbows ‘soft,’ and bent. More about elbows later.

We’re all trying to improve our weak-side cornering. Kevin and his large posse blame the throttle for their weak side. Interestingly, not all of Kevin’s folks were weak to the right; some weak-lefties are included. For those who employ pure ‘press the inside handgrip’ countersteering, many find that the ergonomics of pressing forward on the left handgrip, especially if they position the torso inside the plane of the chassis (Forward and In), leaves the right wrist and hand in a most comfortable position to modulate the throttle and hang on to the right handgrip. However, the same rider pressing forward on the right handgrip to execute a right-handed turn is often in a seemingly-awkward position that leaves a sensation of ‘pressing-but-no-turning.’

Key Thought: When cornering, many riders unconsciously position the left wrist so that the palm is nearly-vertical against the back side of the handgrip; this allows effective countersteering, ‘pressing’ forward. However, many position the right wrist ‘flat,’ placing the palm in a horizontal position atop the right handgrip. Riders do this to more effectively operate the throttle; some riders actually ride with the right wrist well above the knuckles, a posture that is not recommended. Since the flat-wrist promotes a horizontal palm atop the grip, the rider is inclined to press downward instead of forward. Pressing down on the right handgrip does not initiate chassis-lean, and the rider feels as if they are unable to perform a precise, crisp direction-change to the right.

Key Thought: Try riding with the right wrist in a ‘wrist-down’ position, bringing the right palm into a near-vertical position behind the right handgrip. You may not be able to roll on full throttle from this position, but a full-throttle roll-on is rarely needed when exiting a corner. Here is an alternative; focus on applying forward countersteering pressure on the right handgrip with the web between the right forefinger and right thumb. The key issue is to apply FORWARD pressure to the handgrip, rather than downward pressure.

Key Thought: Keep both elbows bent and loose while cornering. Some riders are inclined to unconsciously control the forward weight-transfer on the torso, generated by braking to establish entry-speed, using straight-arm, stiff elbows, and forearms and wrists. This causes the rider to again, unconsciously press forward on BOTH handgrips, effectively binding up the rider’s steering inputs, generating a feeling that ‘it won’t turn.’ Professional trainer Lee Parks advocates a ‘loose upper elbow’ when cornering, another way to think about keeping unwanted pressure off of the handlebars, and permitting easy, quick and precise steering inputs and instant results. How can we manage the deceleration forces under braking that force the torso forward?

Key Thought: Grip the tank with the inside of the knees, using a noticeable amount of muscle-pressure. Apply this pressure to the sides of the tank as the throttle is rolled off and brakes are applied to establish entry-speed, and maintain this pressure until the bike is upright again, once the corner is past. In fact, learning the habit and muscle-memory of always keeping some inward pressure on the tank will improve overall control, and actually reduce fatigue, in addition to allowing more precise and confident cornering.

Using knee-pressure against the tank enables the rider to control the weight, motion and position of the torso using the abdominal muscles. Try this experiment; place your bike on the centerstand, mount and assure a riding position. Now, squeeze the knees against the tank, and notice that your elbows, forearms, wrists and palms relax. Release the knee-pressure and notice the increase in tension on the elbows, forearms, and wrists.

By squeezing the tank and freeing up the arms and hands, you no longer have unwanted (and often unconscious) opposing muscles binding and tying up your steering inputs.

Key Thought: Learn ‘Push-Pull’ steering. We know that countersteering is the most precise and reliable way to control the amount of chassis-lean; leaning is what causes the motorcycle to actually turn, and we control lean with countersteering. The basic template for countersteering is to press forward on the handgrip that is on the same side as our intended direction-change – Press forward on right handgrip, lean right, turn right. Push-pull steering requires the rider to also pull BACK on the opposite (or high-side) handgrip. Using push-pull steering prevents the off-side forearm and wrist from unconsciously applying the unwanted forward pressure on the high-side handgrip, unwanted pressure that again, slows and binds the steering inputs and creates that feeling that ‘it won’t turn!’ Push-pull steering enables almost effortless ‘power-steering’ cornering, particularly when combined with inward knee-pressure on the tank.

Key Thought: Experiment with body-steering. While countersteering ultimately controls how much the motorcycle turns, body-steering can improve how QUICKLY it will turn. Body-steering can include leaning the torso inside the vertical plane of the bike’s chassis (Forward and In), as well as using the inner surface of the outside knee to ‘push’ the bike down and into a lean, and foot-peg steering, where the rider presses down on the inside footpeg as lean is initiated. These three basic body-steering movements, or any combination of these, should be applied at the point of turn-in, the spot on the roadway where the rider decides to initiate a crisp, precise lean for turning. Alternatively, the torso may be positioned inside the bike – think about moving your chin about 4”-6” towards the inside mirror or handgrip – before lean is initiated. Experiment with both torso-movements.

Body-steering can improve how quickly the rider can make the bike turn, or turn in; however, the posture basics above should always be applied during body-steering.

Key Thought Summary: Many riders will find that controlling the torso with the knees, while utilizing push-pull steering, will reduce or eliminate the lack of cornering competence and confidence to the rider’s previously ‘weak-side.’

If you are one of those riders who sometimes struggle to make the thing turn – quickly, confidently and precisely – in one direction or another, MotoSafe suggests that you give these Key Thoughts a try. See what works for you, and you will most likely become more confident and competent while cornering – either way!

Riding Posture

2012-03-30T14:12:00.000-04:00

Remember when your Granny admonished you at the dinner table to, “Sit up straight and eat your broccoli!”? Granny had your welfare in mind, and perhaps we can learn a riding-lesson from her. So, let’s think about good riding posture, both in a straight path, and while cornering.
Please note that these comments apply mainly to riders of Standard configuration motorcycles, including most Sport Touring and Dual-Sport bikes. Riders of bikes near the polar extremes, pure Sport Bikes, and Cruisers, will find that much of this discussion applies to them, as well, with certain modifications. Also, these ideas regarding posture apply to street-riding practices; riders who enjoy closed-course riding – track-days and track-schools – will modify their posture for the track; remember that responsible riders keep the track stuff for the track, and keep it off the street!

HEAD and EYES UP: Good riders know the value of keeping the eyes up, looking forward as we search for hazards while viewing ALL of the upcoming path-of-travel. But the posture prescription is keeping BOTH head and eyes up, eyes near the center of the eye-socket. It appears that kinesthetic activity causes our muscles to react to head-positions nearly as much as eye-position. Using our head to ‘aim’ our eyes – both up near the horizon, and around corners, seems to enable our muscles to respond with much finer control and confidence.

Think of you face as having a very, very ‘pointy chin.’ You can explore this idea by holding a pen or pencil up, underneath your chin with a thumb, tip pointing forward from under your chin. The ‘pointy’ end of your chin should be aimed at the horizon while riding. This forces the head upwards, which helps keep eyes looking forward and up, rather than drifting down, as is all too common with some riders. Head and eyes looking forward and up – ‘aiming’ your eyes with your head and your ‘pointy-chin’ - helps promote a greater sense of balance, as well as enabling the eyes to feed the brain ALL of the visible information about the upcoming path of travel, ALL AT ONE TIME, rather than in a series of incomplete installments. The good news – your brain can normally and easily figure out reasonable and realistic solutions to your traffic and riding problems, as they continually occur, when it receives ALL of the currently-available at the same moment! Getting information on the installment plan is a prescription for disaster.

BACK STRAIGHT: Actually, good straight-line and cornering riding-posture requires a slight arch in the riders’ back. Think of beach-boys and bathing-beauties preening on the sand; they have an arch in their back, with their shoulders pulled back slightly. Riding with this back-posture places slightly more body-weight on the forward portion of the hip-joints, and spreads weight out over a greater area, reducing fatigue. As the back is arched, the hips are rotated slightly forward, and less body-weight is placed directly on the tailbone. Shoulders, while pulled back slightly to hold this posture, should be generally relaxed, but should not slump forward. While good riding posture includes ‘Back Straight,’ it may be necessary to lean forward slightly, at the waist, to keep the…

ELBOWS SLIGHTLY BENT: Frankenstein is dead, so let’s keep him that way! A bend in the elbows, or keeping the elbows ‘cocked,’ enables a rider to confidently and precisely execute the countersteering ‘press’ on the inside handgrip while cornering or executing obstacle-avoidance swerves. Generally, the more bend in the elbow, the greater cornering-confidence a rider will enjoy. A well-cocked set of elbows also enables the rider to keep the ‘upper elbow,’ the one on the outside of the turn, limp and relaxed. .As discussed above, it is often necessary to bend the torso forward, from the waist, while keeping the back straight and slightly arched. The ‘Moto-Frankenstein,’ riding with elbows straight and locked, is prone to initiating lean for turning with torso-contortions, which include twisting the torso to generate countersteering ‘press,’ a most imprecise and slow technique. Frankenstein will have little ability to swerve quickly when it becomes necessary, and may feel uneasy while cornering aggressively.

SOFT HANDS, WRISTS FLAT: Soft hands promote not only greater comfort and endurance, but enable the rider to receive almost-imperceptible and minute feedback from the motorcycle. Keeping the right (throttle) wrist flat with the knuckles, or wrist lower than the knuckles, enables ‘automatic’ throttle roll-off as the front-brake is operated, and eliminates unplanned – sometimes frightening - throttle modulations that a ‘humped-up’ wrist causes.

KNEES AGAINST THE TANK: Elvis, like Frankenstein, is also among the dearly departed, and there’s not sense trying to resurrect him, either. Ideally, a rider will keep the knees in contact with the tank, although some tank-and-seat configurations may cause a rider to modify the knee-position slightly. Keeping the knees in, near the center-plane of the chassis and in contact with the tank, promotes a sense of ‘oneness with the motorcycle,’ and eliminates the side-to-side hinge-effect between the buttocks and motorcycle seat that leads some riders to counter-weight (lean outside the vertical plane of the motorcycle’s chassis) while cornering, poor technique indeed! Track-day techniques of ‘hanging the inside knee’ or ‘hanging off’ add little or nothing in the way of control while riding at responsible street-riding speeds. Yeah, it LOOKS good, but is of questionable benefit to the street-rider. And, it’s now illegal in many jurisdictions.

BALL-OF-THE-FEET ON FOOTRESTS: Normally, we should not be covering the foot controls – rear brake and gearshift lever – unless transiting risky areas like intersections. Keeping the balls of the feet on the footrests keeps the toes near the controls, and at the ready, but prevents a rider from touching a foot down, unexpectedly, while cornering. Even a lane-change can be a risky event for the rider whose heels are on the footrests, toes hanging down near the pavement; ever catch a reflective Botts-Dot with toe? Ouch! Keeping the foot-ball on the footrest generally places greater body-weight on the footrests, slightly lowering the composite center-of-gravity (rider[s], bike and cargo); since some body-weight is supported by the footrests, less is suspended on the buttocks and upper thighs, increasing comfort and endurance.

CORNERING POSTURE: While cornering, maintain the good posture described above, but consider these with these modifications. Two cornering-posture basics include keeping the elbows cocked (slightly bent), and leaning the torso slightly, very slightly, inside the vertical plane of the motorcycle’s chassis.

Here’s an easy-to-remember tip to promote this position. While approaching a corner (generally, while the motorcycle is still in a straight path, and as a good entry speed – one that permits acceleration while actually in the turn - is achieved, think about leaning the torso towards the inside handgrip. Think, ‘Forward and In.’ Sometimes, not much is needed, just two or three inches. More aggressive cornering calls for more Forward and In. This accomplishes two things at one time. First, it will increase the bend in the elbows, particularly the inside, or ‘turn-side’ elbow, the one you will use to execute the countersteering ‘press.’ Secondly, moving the torso towards the inside handgrip will rotate your body-weight slightly to inside of the bike’s vertical plane. You can feel this effect by noticing that most of the weight on the buttocks and upper thighs is now supported by the inside (turn-side) hip-joint.

While cornering, particularly with enthusiasm, try sliding forward as far as is comfortable on the seat; doing so will increase forward weight-bias slightly, improving front-tire traction, and, more importantly, moving the all-important head-and-eyes unit forward on the motorcycle. From this position, the eyes ‘see’ less of the motorcycle, and more of the upcoming path-of-travel. It appears that the brain is much more confident about cornering when it sees mostly the road to come, instead of the mass of motorcycle it must try to control. If you find that you habitually ‘turn in’ early (‘press’ too soon) while cornering, try moving the head-and-eyes forward; you’ll probably feel much better about ‘turning’ in a tad later, and driving out of the corner with a great deal of comfort and confidence – and on a better ‘late-apex’ line.

Performing this maneuver, moving the torso forward and slightly to the inside – perhaps at something like a forty-five-degree angle, a mere couple of inches, also places the head and eyes in a position inside the vertical plane of the bike; of course, that plane tilts as the chassis tilts while cornering.. Our brains seem to be much more comfortable and confident while cornering if the head is ‘inside the bike,’ rather than to the outside. Research shows that a high percentage of riders tend to ‘counter-weight’ (lean the torso away form the turn) while cornering; research reveals that the average rider leans the torso approximately two-thirds as much as the bike is leaned. In other words, if the motorcycle is leaning over at a thirty-degree angle, the average rider’s torso is leaning at only twenty degrees, placing the head and eyes to the ‘outside’ of the motorcycle as it transits a turn. This very poor posture leads the rider to feel increasingly uncomfortable, particularly should the radius decrease and the turn tightens up; in addition, the rider may ‘use up’ the ability to perform the countersteering ‘press’ as the inside arm straightens out – the rider has the feeling the he or she is ‘pushing themselves away from the motorcycle and ‘running out of PRESS.’ Motorcycle-lean is also and unnecessarily increased, ‘consuming’ tire-traction and chassis-clearance for no good reason. So, as the corner is approached and a good entry speed is established, think about ‘leaning your chest toward the inside handgrip,’ just BEFORE initiating the countersteering ‘press.’ You may well enjoy a feeling of increased cornering comfort and confidence.

Skilled cornering posture also requires that the rider point their ‘pointy-chin’ in order to ‘aim the eyes’ at the exit of the turn, at the point where the pavement actually disappears or the road becomes straight– they point their chins ALL the way, right away, and continue this crucial posture-position throughout the turn or curve. While the head is aimed at the exit of the corner, the eyes must continually and aggressively scan – far, near, wide, and so forth. Of course, the rider will actually ‘unwind’ the head-turn as we approach the turn’s end. So, ‘pointing the chin’ at the beginning of a turn is a fairly abrupt or deliberate movement, while the ‘unwind’ is much slower and progressive, depending on the radius of the present turn.

Granny DID have your welfare in mind; good posture can improve your moto-experience, your abilities and confidence, as you make good riding posture a habit. As for the broccoli, well, that’s up to you, although a nice fresh stalk, quickly steamed and still crisp, garnished with a tangy cheese sauce, makes a nice side dish for your end-of-the-ride New York strip. Ride safe, ride often, think…and sit up straight!

‘Dangerous Five’ Driving Sins

2012-03-08T01:29:00.002-05:00

The Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS) (http://www.trafficsafety.org) is a coalition of private employers and government traffic-safety experts who focus on reducing the human and economic impact of traffic crashes suffered by workers. The theme of the organization’s annual ‘Drive Safety Work Week 2007’ campaign is what their research indicates to be the top five driving sins;

Being Inattentive While Driving
Following Too Closely
Traveling at Improper Speeds
Ignoring Traffic Signs and Signals
Backing Up Unsafely

First, allow us to consider our own roadway-behavior while riding. From the landmark 1981 Hurt Study (use your search-engine to look for ‘Hurt Study’) comes a finding that addresses NETS’ number-one driving (and riding) error, “ Lack of attention to the driving task is a common factor for the motorcyclist in an accident.” Experienced riders know that riding a motorcycle is an active experience, not only physically, but especially mentally! Motorcycle crashes caused by inattentive driving often begin well before the rider swings a leg over the bike; perhaps the rider’s domestic scene is not serene; maybe the workplace has it’s problems; maybe yesterday’s letter from the IRS is still in the forefront of the rider’s brain.

Rider-fatigue, too, can diminish our capacity to pay full attention to the driving task. So, consider your mental and physical state while riding, as even before mounting. When your fanny is attached to a motorcycle, your mind and brain must be fully devoted to the riding task.

NETS lists ‘Following Too Closely’ as the second most common driving error. Are we, as riders, guilty of tailgating? Well, don’t! Total stopping distance, particularly in an emergency, consists of three separate components; Perception Distance, Reaction Distance and Braking Distance. Depending on the motorcycle’s speed, some distance will be traveled as the rider both sees, with the eyes, a threat ahead, and also ‘sees’ or comprehends the threat with the brain. More distance is consumed as the hands and feet react and move toward the controls. Finally, even more pavement passes under the wheels as they are under braking-force, slowing the bike or bringing it to a stop. The MSF recommends that riders maintain a 2-second following distance under ‘Ideal Conditions,’ and since we rarely ride in ideal conditions, more than two seconds between us and the vehicle ahead is a prudent tactic. Sure, other vehicles will hop in front of us – that’s fine. Our job is to continually create the time and space we need. Do it.

Next, “Traveling at Improper Speeds:” Traffic engineers and researchers with the NHTSA have long known that the safest driving conditions exist when traffic is traveling in the same direction, and when at least 85% of motorists are traveling at, or slightly below the same speed (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/). As motorcyclists, we can enhance our riding safety by matching our speeds to that of surrounding traffic, or riding one or two miles an hour faster than surrounding traffic, a mildly-assertive riding tactic. Of course, MotoSafe does not encourage lawless speeds, but we often must balance the risks of riding substantially slower than the flow of traffic against the risk of receiving a traffic citation for unlawful speed. Some riders may make the decision to simply avoid the roadways that are known to flow at warp-speed, and others accept the risk/reward tradeoff of riding near the same speeds as surrounding traffic. The main issue here is to minimize the speed-differences between our bike, and that of other traffic.

Fourth on the list is ‘Ignoring Traffic Signs and Signals.’ Considering our inherent vulnerability as riders, it is unlikely that many riders consciously ignore these roadway instructions; rather, we can surmise that those riders who do ignore these do so due to inattention to the riding task; the prescription to ‘engage brain when aboard two wheels’ applies. Finally, ‘Backing Up Unsafely:’ Other than Honda Goldwing and BMW K1200LT pilots, it would seem that we are likely immune to this driving error. But what about the other guy?

Currently, about half of motorcycle crashes are multi-vehicle events – the bike hits another roadway user, or the other guys hit us. So, let’s think about the Dangerous Five from the other side of the coin; are there ways to identify and predict when another driver is sinning in these five manners, causing increased danger to us, as riders? Like ‘Backing Up Unsafely?’ We can look at the rear-end of all vehicles in close proximity to our travel-path as potential threats, and predict, mentally, that one of these will suddenly back into our right-of-way. A very incomplete list of clues would include the appearance of back-up lights, or a driver looking backwards over a shoulder, a car-door closing, and much more. Can you think of more Unsafe Backing predictive clues?

A glance of another driver’s posture and body-position may help you predict that the other guy hasn’t seen (and mentally recognized) a signal or sign. Perhaps a patently aggressive driver can be expected to consciously disobey a traffic signal; without making a value judgment, it seems that a disproportionally high percentage of these hard-core aggressive roadway users drive clapped-out old beaters, resplendent in rust, gray primer paint, broken windows and the like. Can you and I be a bit more alert around these vehicles, predicting the worst outcomes while we are near them, and taking appropriate preemptive actions to separate ourselves from these? Sure! Do it. Any other clues to help us predict that another motorist will likely ignore traffic instructions? Write to MotoSafe!

Other traffic ‘Traveling at an inappropriate speed’ and causing undue risk to us, as riders, can be easy to spot – or almost impossible! Once the sinner is ahead of us, going in our direction, the sinner is visible to us, but of very little threat. Our risk to this driving-error of others occurs when the speeder approaches us from behind, mainly, or is approaching from an oncoming or oblique direction. Proper searching and active scanning, proper ‘Situational Awareness,’ requires that we keep a vigilant eye in our mirrors – should a vehicle surprise us from the rear, either by passing or appearing suddenly, close to our rear fender, you and me as riders should feel a deep sense of shame! Like the old hotel-chain slogan, ‘The best surprise is no surprise!” Oncoming drivers traveling at inappropriate speeds on straight roadways pose less of a threat to us, as compared to those who transit corners, turns and curves too fast. When we can see these sinners, when it apparent they are traveling at a high rate of speed and approaching us in corners and curves, our mission is to adjust our speed and position to create the greatest possible distance between our two vehicles as we approach and pass one another. How ‘bout those blind curves and corners, though? Suppose we all simply adopt a blanket universal prediction that each blind turn, curve and corner will present us suddenly with an oncoming driver travel at the wrong speed, likely to encroach into our path and right-of-way, and take preemptive actions automatically as we approach these situations – adjust our speeds downward and move to another lane, or move to another position within our lane so as to create the greatest possible space-cushion while in the region of least visibility. Think about upcoming blind hills, too, even on straight roadways. Remember, if you can’t see, don’t go there! Think about the discipline of setting speeds in these conditions so that you ALWAYS have a clear view of at least four seconds of pavement ahead of you. Can’t see four seconds of asphalt? Slow down! Do it!

Finally, other motorists who are visible as they approach us from either side (i.e. intersections) are possibly the easiest to spot, if they are in fact visible to us as they approach our roadway. Look for them at intersections, and take action to time your transit of the intersections well before or after the speeding vehicle. How about those intersections that hide the view of intersecting drivers from us? Again, let’s predict that the blind intersection will contain a speeding, inattentive motorist – think about covering your controls, shedding some speed while it’s easy to do so, and putting the brain on High Alert.

Tailgaters! Don’t you just hate that! Consider keeping a greater following distance, yourself, from vehicles ahead when a tailgater is tormenting you in traffic. Let’em pass – legally! Think about protecting your travel-lane by riding closer to the centerline, forcing a following motorist to make a legal pass, completely in the passing lane, rather than trying to ‘share’ your lane and possibly forcing you too close to the side of the road. But, we are NOT equipped to defend our lane from a tailgating driver, so don’t!. But here’s a nearly fool-proof technique to fix tailgating drivers: Nearly all who tailgate another do so unconsciously, they do it habitually. Try using the ‘Slow Down/Stop’ hand-signal (left arm out to the left, forearm down, palm facing the rear) for about five seconds. Well over 90% of the time, this will wake up the offending tailgating driver, who suddenly recognizes you as both a motorcyclist, and a flesh-and-blood human who is in a risky situation; nearly always, the newly-aware tailgater will back off and give you the space you are asking for. Then, give’em a ‘thumbs up!’ That is likely to keep the former tailgater alert and further away from you. Works nearly like magic!

Finally, the winner! Inattentive drivers! How can we identify and predict threats from inattentive drivers? Wow, let us count the ways. . Here’s a few: Cell-phone usage, Bluetooth appliances visible on the drivers’ ears, kids loose in the backseat, fast-food bags visible in the auto, drivers who are inappropriately multi-tasking – eating, applying war-paint, shaving, reading an so much more. Write to… well, you know. We’ll pass your techniques on spotting inattentive drivers along, so share…

The primary cause of crashes on roadways is usually an interaction and untimely confluence of several unrelated events and factors. If NETS is correct, we can significantly increase our safety-level by both riding properly and responsibly, and by actively and aggressively searching for other on the roadway who are sinning in these areas, and then taking appropriate preemptive actions. Think about it. Do it!

MSF Research - Seeking Particpants

2012-02-20T12:51:00.001-05:00

Is Your Bike Eligible?

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) are seeking participants for a ground breaking study involving motorcyclists (see http://www.motorcycle.vtti.vt.edu). As crash rates for most road users in the United States have been decreasing over the past decade, motorcyclist injuries and fatalities have been increasing. With your help, the MSF Naturalistic Study of Motorcyclists will advance our understanding of motorcycle riding in the context of surrounding conditions including weather, the roadway, and other roadway users.

We are looking for participants within approximately one hour ride from one of three locations; Irvine California, Orlando Florida, and Blacksburg Virginia. As a participant, you would ride as you normally do for a year with sensors and cameras installed on your motorcycle. VTTI has over 10 years experience installing sensors on vehicles and later removing them without damage. The data are encrypted as they are collected and data are kept confidential. Some compensation is provided for participation.

The current study is recruiting riders of:

Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200c	2004-2011
Harley-Davidson Electra Glide	2008-2011
Honda Gold Wing GL1800	2001-2011
Honda Rebel – CMX250	all models
Kawasaki Ninja ZX600, ZX-6R	2009-2012
Suzuki GSX-R1000	2009-2011
Yamaha VStar XVS650A	2005-2011

More information on the current study is available at link shown above. If you are interested in participating or have any questions, please contact us by phone at 1-800-997-7836, or email us at motorcycle@vtti.vt.edu.

NOTE: If you do not ride one of the listed motorcycles, but know a fellow rider who does, please pass along this request. If you do not ride one of the listed motorcycles, but are interested in participating in future motorcycle related studies, please contact us.

We sincerely appreciate your consideration and hope that you will be a part of this or other studies.

Background Information about the MSF 100-Motorcyclist Naturalistic Study

Supported by a substantial, seven-figure investment from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI) has launched the first-ever large-scale naturalistic motorcycle riding study, the MSF 100-Motorcyclist Naturalistic Study. Using small video recorders, gyros, accelerometers, GPS technology and other sensors and instruments mounted unobtrusively on one hundred motorcycles for 12 months, the study will combine inconspicuous and continuous data-collection with post-incident interviews in order to create a comprehensive picture of the many factors that may contribute to both crashes and near-crashes. MSF’s Dr. Sherry Williams, manager for this project, expects the results will be rich in data that can be used to inform motorcycling safety research and improve educational countermeasures for many years to come.

As opposed to the more traditional crash-causation studies, this naturalistic methodology and the accompanying technology enables researchers to evaluate the actual condition extant prior to a crash or near-crash. For a variety of reasons, eyewitnesses and crash-victims themselves are not always reliable chroniclers of what occurred, much less what was happening just prior to a crash or near-crash. Traditional crash-causation research fails to get much information pre-crash; this older methodology is reactive, while the naturalistic method is proactive. The naturalistic methodology enables each rider to be his or her own control group, helping researchers better understand the interactions among rider, motorcycle, roadway, others present in traffic and other factors, including environmental. Empirical data (video, instrument readings, etc) of conditions, actions and the situation prior to an incident can be reviewed and analyzed and compared to the accounts of those witnessing or involved in such an incident. In this way, each rider is compared to him or herself, rather than a disconnected control group.

Subject motorcycles will be selected in the three largest style-types; touring bikes, cruisers and sportbikes. Subject riders will be selected at random from motorcycle registrations in the three locations where the study will be conducted; Orlando (Florida does not require helmet-usage), Irvine CA and Blacksburg VA (home of VTTI). Data will be downloaded periodically, and the riders will participate in a research interview.

The naturalistic methodology was validated by VTTI in their 100 Car Study in 2005. (http://www.vtti.vt.edu/PDF/100-Car_Fact-Sheet.pdf) Improvements in electronic equipment (video cameras and other sensors) now make this methodology a viable option for motorcycle safety research. Dr. Williams adds;

“We expect data that covers 400,000 miles of riding experience over one year. Sensor-equipped bikes will be on the road in 2011. We’re hoping for a wide range of ages in our subject riders, as well as a mix of trained and untrained riders; we likely will get a range of experience-levels, too. Riders are given no special instructions, other than to ‘ride as you normally ride.’

We’ll get a look at riders’ ‘normal’ behavior, what they do and how they ride when no one is watching; what do they do right? How do they get out of trouble? How do they get into trouble? How do they avoid trouble in the first place? Compared to after-the-fact crash-causation data, which is limited, we can expect an infinite data-stream for researchers. The study will help us better understand differences between successful and unsuccessful evasive maneuvers, as well as the attributes and habits of safe riders.

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation is excited to be a part of this project.”

Learn more at VTTI website: www.vtti.vt.edu

Calibrated Confidence – and How to Get More

2012-02-12T10:43:00.002-05:00

Riding confidence. Is it important? Can too much, or too little, be a bad thing? How can I become more confident? Are confident riders always competent riders? Some thoughts about confidence:

Can you ride in a straight line, keeping the bike inside an imaginary 12” wide lane? Sure! How about if the lane were a stable, well-supported foot-wide board over a long bridge? Whoa! That’s a different story. But what has really changed? The physical task is the same; keep the bike within a 12” wide lane. The rider’s well-developed muscle-memories and motor-skills have proven to be up to the task; how about the rider’s conscious mind? Well, the consequences of failure are different, but the only thing that has really changed is the rider’s degree of confidence in his or her ability to perform. And, don’t try this! Really!

We see the world as it is, we know what we know, and we know why we hold the beliefs we do. Or do we?

So, confidence in our abilities is an important riding asset. But does each of us have an accurate understanding of our abilities? How about the abilities of those we ride with, those we ride near? Interestingly, according to the authors of “The Invisible Gorilla - And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us” (Charbis & Simons, www.theinvisiblegorilla.com), displayed confidence in others is often perceived by others as an honest signal of actual competence, often with sad outcomes. Charbis and Simons describe this as one of the Illusions of Confidence. So, should we evaluate other riders by how they actually perform, or by how they appear to us? We all want to ride with others who display competent riding skills, responsibility and good judgment – we don’t want over-confident riders putting us at risk - but sometimes, we have to peel the onion a little to get an accurate understanding of our fellow riders. But now, let’s focus on you, The Motorcyclist.

How accurate is your confidence in your own capabilities? “Gorilla’s” extensive research finds that humans often have a tendency to overrate their capabilities, rather like Garrison Keillor’s mythical Lake Wobegon, where; “All the women are strong, the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.” Rider-training professionals often note this ‘above-average’ phenomenon among students and most often, among the least capable. Why?

Perhaps we, as humans, have a subconscious tendency to compare ourselves to those less capable than ourselves, while attributing our mistakes to factors beyond our control, and ignore evidence that contradicts our feelings. Charbis and Simons write of our ‘love of confidence,’ the human need to feel confident in our endeavors. Can this happen to you?

“Gorilla” quotes Charles Darwin in the segment; “Unskilled and Unaware of It:”

“…ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge.” This can help us understand why, often, those who are the least skilled are the most likely to think better of themselves than they should. Riders will less skill are subject to disproportionately experiencing the Illusion of Confidence, and in our riding world, this can get us badly hurt – or worse. Charbis and Simons’ exhaustive research seems to confirm this, summarizing; “The incompetent face two significant hurdles. First, they are below average in ability. Second, since they don’t realize they are below average, they are unlikely to take steps to improve their ability.” They then pose the question: “Would training incompetent people to be more skilled improve the own understanding of their own skill levels?” Good news: The answer is yes!

While riders with lesser capabilities tend to compare themselves to those below them on the skill hierarchy, as riders acquire greater skills, the tendency diminishes and sometimes even reverses; riders begin comparing themselves to those of greater skill, and subconsciously adjust their confidence in their own sills to a more realistic level. As humans, we often discover that the more we know about a subject, the more we begin to realize we don’t know. What you and I, responsible motorcyclists, really need is that accurate understanding of our present skill levels; let’s call it Calibrated Confidence

Interestingly, additional research (‘Contemporary Attitudes Toward Motorcycle Riding Safety and Riding Risk Factors’ Robert Rowe, Irwin Broh & Associates) finds a link between riders with high-mileage and riding experience, maturity, and financial and career success; folks like this seem to be more likely to have upwardly-displaced confidence in their riding abilities; in the current riding community, these demographics are pretty much the norm. Up until now, perhaps you’ve thought; “Not me! I know my own abilities.” Perhaps. Probably. But it might be worth some reflective thought.

Another useful way to think of the subject comes from the MSF’s Advanced RiderCourse; they call it Risk Offset. It’s the difference between a riders’ skill-level and his or her risk-acceptance level, and how it may be mis-calibrated. Give that some thought.

Once we become aware of the Illusions of Confidence, we can better understand what confidence really means to us. Sure, we love to be self-confident in whatever we do. For good reason, because confidence helps us perform better. Occasionally, when we find that we’ve allowed ourselves to get into a tough situation, it’s our deep, well-reasoned and experienced understanding – we assume it is accurate - of our capabilities, willfully and consciously applied, that makes the final difference – “I can do this; I’ve done it well before. I’ll do it well this time, too. I know how to do this; I don’t intend to fail.” Is this just a psychological parlor trick we can play on ourselves, the ‘fake it until you can make it’ advice of some self-help books? Or, can this consciously positive mindset make a difference? Of course, this assumes the rider does have that critical and accurate understanding of his or her present skill levels – calibrated confidence.

Remember the imaginary fellow about to ride over the foot-wide bridge? He’s shown, for tens of thousands of miles and more, that he can steer the machine within the narrow parameters, but how do you think his muscle-memories and motor-skills, his programmed movements that are well-established through training, purposeful practice and long experience, will operate if the riders loses a substantial degree of self-confidence in his ability to competently traverse the board over the broken bridge? How would YOUR muscles probably respond? Would you even make the attempt? Why? Why not? Please don’t.

So, we can understand that mis-calibrated over-confidence can be a risk-factor; these riders can, and too frequently do allow themselves into situations that are above their proven skill level – negative Risk Offset - and that can hurt. But calibrated confidence is a critical asset.

Science helps us understand more about the mind-body connection. Let’s call the part of the brain that operates the muscles the Muscle Operations Bureau; it’s located on the Subconscious Floor of the Brain Building. Much, but not all, of our muscle-movements occur without much or any conscious thought; of course, Central Command, the conscious, thinking part of the brain on the top floor of the Brain Building, can and sometimes does actively and consciously direct the muscle operations – overriding the MOB’s normal programs - particularly when learning a new physical skill, or when a difficult situation arises – like the foot-wide bridge. If Central Command has a strong sense of self-confidence, the muscles generally work far better, respond precisely, softly and smoothly, than they will if Central Command suddenly thinks, “Whoa! This looks really bad! I don’t know if I can do this! But, Mister or Ms. Rider, you HAVE done it before, for thousands of miles! What’s the problem? It’s a Crisis of Confidence.

Now we can see that UNDER-confidence is also a risk-factor, as well as over-confidence. Under-confidence can prevent us from performing up to our proven abilities, and over-confidence can lead a rider to get into situations that are over the rider’s head. What is critically needed is that accurate understanding of our present skill level - that calibrated confidence. How can we gain increased and well-calibrated confidence?

Well, purposeful practice seems to be a really good prescription. It might be self-directed purposeful practice while riding, repetitively performing a technique, evaluating the intrinsic feedback, and refining the technique on next rep. Of course, purposeful practice must also be correct practice; else the rider gets really good at riding badly. Here’s another avenue.

Professional training. Be it a RiderCourse, training course, training tour, track-school or private instruction, you will perform your skills in front of a trained instructor or coach who will objectively indentify and help you correct the bad, and refine the good – and help you achieve that critical accurate understanding of where you are, right now, in your progressive development – help you calibrate your confidence.

Keith Code’s California Superbike School Training: Noted author and track-school operator, the venerable Keith Code, will be bringing a unique rider education and training opportunity to Bloomsburg. Courses will be offered on Friday and Saturday, July 23-24. For scheduling, course information and registration, contact: (323) 224-2734 www.superbikeschool.com.

RiderCourses from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation: In addition to the well-known entry-level Basic RiderCourse, the MSF offers Sponsors and Programs curricula that includes an intermediate Experienced RiderCourse (now referred to as BRC2), The Advanced RiderCourse, RiderCourses that focus on Trikes and Scooters, and new and challenging police-style tight maneuvering. Check www.msf-use.org for more information.

Stayin’ Safe LLC Mini Tours: Using one-way radio coaching in real time, on public highways, riders learn how to read the road, creatively predicting risks and hazards both seen and unseen. Students will also practice intermediate and more advanced physical riding techniques, such as trail-braking, overlapping brake-and-throttle, and aggressive braking. To register, contact Stayin’ Safe at: (724) 771-2269 www.stayinsafe.com.

Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic: Students progressively learn, practice and discuss the finer points of competent cornering and maneuvering at higher speeds. The unique curriculum helps riders reset their personal ‘Tilt-O-Meter’ to produce greater calibrated confidence in both abilities of the motorcycle and rider. Total Control discusses the principle that knowledge can displace fear, and offers practical guidance. www.totalcontroltraining.com.

RawHyde Off-Pavement Training: Riders of Adventure Touring bikes will learn the finer points needed to safely and confidently maneuver these heavy but extremely competent machines over a variety of surfaces, such as dirt, sand, gravel, mud and much more. Your GS is up to the task; how about you? To register, contact www.rawhyde-offroad.com (661) 993-9942.

In addition to the opportunities mention above, check the Internet, as well as the Training Resourses link on the home page of MotoSafe.

The Principle Centered Rider builds his or her riding strategies, tactics and techniques under the overriding principle of; “Ride my motorcycle, have lots of fun, and don’t get hurt.” Take the time and spend a few shekels to calibrate your personal confidence level, and improve your mental, visual and physical riding skills. And, get a copy of “The Invisible Gorilla - And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us.” Check out the sidebar for exciting information. You’ll become a better human being, as well as a better rider. Ride often, ride safe…think!

CliffsNotes Challenge

2012-01-20T00:04:00.001-05:00

On school campuses throughout the world, many backpacks have one or more of the ubiquitous yellow-and-black CliffsNotes study guides tucked inside. You probably picked up a few, didn’t you! CliffsNotes are a series of student study guides that present and explain literary and other works, summarized in pamphlet form. Endorsers say the guides help readers understand complex works, while detractors say they let students avoid even reading them. Whichever position you may take, it’s clear that CliffsNotes summaries have increased learning, to some depth, for millions of students. Can we learn something about safer riding from this cultural icon?

Learning all there is to know, all we need to know about riding a motorcycle can be a complex business; new-rider books, how-to-ride-better books, riding-school handbooks, advanced riding tomes, safe-riding texts, a monthly flood of magazine articles, thousands of pages…whew! How can a rider ever learn it all? Well, our safety and well-being can depend on how much we learn about our pastime, so I guess it IS really important to learn, isn’t it. How can we make learning easier for ourselves?

Consider this approach: Establish personal riding principles, and use each of these principles to develop a short list of ‘action-steps’, or a strategy that applies to each personal riding principle. According to Wikipedia, ‘a principle is a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption. It can be a rule or code of conduct. It can be a law or fact of nature underlying the working of an artificial device.’ Sounds deep; here’s an example.

Throughout four decades of riding, I find myself thinking (and sometimes saying out loud), “Space is my friend.” This is one of my personally-owned, personally-created riding principles. I made it up. It’s mine. This principle helps me think about the amount of time and space I have around me, and leads me to wonder if I am getting the greatest amount of life-saving space that is available in current traffic conditions. But what are the action-steps, the strategy, which helps me get maximum-available space from moment to moment? First, what is a ‘strategy?’ Suppose we call it a ‘plan of action that leads to a specific goal.’ Here’s the “Space is my friend” strategy:

Change my speed , and/or
Go to a better position, and
Communicate/Command

Not much to it, is there? That’s my own CliffsNotes version of any number of wordy paragraphs, pages and chapters in the world of motorcycle-riding texts. It’s mine. I made it and I own it. I remember it. But what’s the value in each rider developing their own CliffsNotes - a principle, and 1-5 bullet-points for an action-plan strategy, for safer and more proficient riding?

Ownership. It’s yours. You made it, you gave it life. Hard to forget stuff like that, isn’t it? Ideally, we keep the ‘riding-task,’ the activity of skillfully piloting a motorcycle through countless situations filled with risky factors, as a ‘top-of-mind’ ongoing mental process. But we don’t always do that, do we? We sort of come and go, task-sharing our mind between the riding-task and other matters – “Should I put in for a raise? Where should I buy tires? I hope Tommy gets an ‘A’ in math…” Some riders often manage their ride competently with these other matters sharing the top-level tier of mental activity, but not all, and not always! An auto-crash research study suggests that 50% of crashes could have been avoided if the driver knew of the impending conflict just less than one second sooner! One second! Perhaps the auto driver could have been aware of the impending crash sooner if said driver (or motorcyclist, in our case) had kept the riding task as the sole top-of-mind activity, rather than time-sharing his brain with less immediate matters.

Creation and ownership of your own personal safer-riding principles, and the resultant strategies, can help us keep our immediate goal of, “Don’t get hit: Don’t hit anything: Don’t fall off”: Don’t run off the road. (hey, sounds like another principle, doesn’t it!) as the solitary top-of-mind mental activity. MotoSafe urges you to give it a try. Maybe keep a notebook and pen in your tankbag, or in the magazine rack in the master bath. A ‘Principle’ and no more than five action-steps for a strategy. No more than 25 words total for each Principle/Strategy set. Your own personal CliffsNotes For Personal Riding Safety.

If you think you have something that can help your riding family, send your favorite Principle/Strategy to MotoSafe; we’ll share some gems with MotoSafe readers. But, what if you need some help developing some Principles and Strategies? Consider undergoing some professional training, either a RiderCourse using MSF material, or Beginning Rider Courses from programs that use other fine curricula; perhaps a riding-school, safety-touring-and-training or cornering-clinic; virtually all such programs use this learning strategy, distilling what is important down to a rationale that becomes a pithy principle, and is carried out with a limited number of effective action-steps.

Beware, though. A rider once shared his emergency stopping strategy with a class; “Well, I stomp on the back brake, gear it down hard and stand up for more wind resistance; it slows the bike down faster!” Stand up? Wind resistance? Oooops, this fellow had bad strategy, didn’t he? Sheeesh! Think about checking your skills with a trained professional; it might be cheap insurance! Do you have any skeletons like that in your closet? Do you know? Have you checked? Do we know what we don’t know?

Why is undertaking a Principle/Strategy project so valuable? Self-renewal. In a recent Rider Perception workshop, as we viewed momentary images of collision-traps on the big screen, a seasoned rider from the back remarked to the class, “You know, I think I need to slow down some, so I can see more.”

You could have heard a pin drop. Then, the folks in the workshop, on their own, briefly discussed the steps that Walt had gone through before making such a pronouncement. Walt began with immersion and feedback, and went through self-analysis, reflection and renewal. The end result was some change in Walt’s knowledge, attitude, skills, habits or values that was (or will be) demonstrated by some change in Walt’s riding behavior. Walt apparently is now much more aware of effectively managing his visual input; he now believes that riding more slowly when in multiple risk-factor situations might help him see more of what he needs to see to stay safe. It’s his. He came to that point on his own. He owns it. He is ‘renewed’ as a different rider now, riding with reduced Overall Risk. Walt’s Principle: Always see all visible risk-factors. Walt’s Strategy includes: Slow down to see more (plus whatever else Walt added).

Sure, using CliffsNotes as a theme is a literary gimmick. But millions of students have increased their learning to some greater or lesser amount using a yellow-and-black life preserver before finals, including, I suspect, a bunch of MotoSafe readers. Undertaking a Principles/Strategy project might be just the gimmick you can use in an organized process of your own self-renewal. It’s not that big of a job, folks. There’s probably no more than a couple of dozen overlapping general riding principles, but there’s millions of ways to thinking and talking about them. Is that good or bad?

As individuals, we each are nothing more, or less, than the sum total of whatever we’ve put into our minds, and the experiences we have had over our lifetimes. These are never the same for any two people, and it’s that uniqueness, that individuality that adds value and dignity to human life. It makes you a very special motorcyclist, whose unique voice might break through to another rider. Your self-renewal process will be shaped by what you’ve allowed into your head, and the experiences you’ve had. Don’t overlook the value of the other fellow’s experiences, too; that’s part of your experience. Your riding family could benefit from what you come up with, so please share your CliffsNotes with MotoSafe. For more incentive…

Here’s the CliffNotes Challenge: Select your best Principle/Strategy set and send it as a ‘Reply’ to this article. The MotoSafe inbox awaits!

Ride safely and often. Think about what you’re doing. Put that sidestand down, uneventfully, in your garage at the end of each ride (hey, sounds like another principle!).

Inclement Weather

2011-12-30T00:31:00.000-05:00

Mark Twain once observed; “Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it!” Let’s at least talk about weather, and see if we can find some things to do about it, too.

RAIN: When the heavens open up on us while riding, we begin thinking about two major risk-management issues; two-way visibility and traction. As an experienced rider, you well know that other motorists often fail to see us at all, even on clear and sunny days. In the rain, our small, narrow vehicles can be even more difficult for others on the highway to see. Rainfall reduces visibility; thunderclouds reduce ambient light-levels; drivers in autos and trucks may be dealing with condensation on their windshields and rear-view mirrors, or aged windshield wiper blades. Spray from tires can suddenly reduce drivers’ sight-lines. Your riding garments can help you increase others’ ability to spot you on the roadway; think about adding fluorescent colors to your garb, be it a bright rain-suit, a high-viz vest, or yellow, orange or red waterproof riding suit. Retro-reflective fabric and decals can increase the ability of others to see you, and lead them to think about your situation as a vulnerable human being, exposed to the elements. Then, consciously and proactively assume these prescriptions do you no good at all; continue to think of yourself as ‘invisible!’

‘Two-way visibility’ in wet weather also refers to our ability, as motorcyclists, to see traffic and roadway conditions ahead of us and around our bikes. So, we’re thinking about continually adjusting our position and speed so as to maximize OUR sight-lines, and to find places among other traffic that offer us the best available visibility; we keep away from trucks and buses with all those big tires throwing spray up at us, we work to create and maintain as much separagraphtion away from other vehicles as possible, conditions permitting, and we signal our intentions to others well before making maneuvers – add those hand-signals, too!

TRACTION: Remember, the period of time just after the onset of a rain-shower is perhaps the riskiest to our traction-management needs. Petroleum and anti-freeze on the pavement combine with the rain-water, rising to the top, making the highway excessively slippery for a time. Generally, a substantial rainfall will wash much of this gunk away after perhaps half-an-hour; this might be your call for a coffee break. Once cleaned of slimy substances by a rain-shower, wet asphalt can provide a substantial amount of traction, compared to clean, dry pavement, sometimes as much as 80% of the tractions values on the same pavement when it is not wet. But consider this; in dry conditions, quality tires which are properly inflated and in roadworthy condition generally provide the rider with a level of predictable traction-feedback; in wet conditions, much of this feedback disappears, and tractions-values can change suddenly, and vary from ‘grippy’ to ‘slippery’ in the blink of an eyelash – without any prior warning.

Why? We ride on a variety of additional traction-hazards in wet conditions, such as painted roadway markings and lines, steel manhole-covers, train- and trolley-tracks, steel plates in construction zones, and steel or rubber diamond-plate at railroad crossings – and much more!. Add leaves and pine-needles. And mud. How about those places where fluids drip from autos and trucks? Intersections, toll-booths and bumps and dips in the roadway can remain fouled and slick during the hardest and longest rainstorms.

Here is a situation that is often overlooked by riders, we often ride atop overpasses, experiencing a bump or dip at the place where the asphalt gives way to the concrete bridge’s road-surface, and then another such abrupt dip where the asphalt begins again. Concrete sometimes has a lower coefficient of traction than does asphalt, and the ‘bump’ causes many autos and trucks to lose a drop or two of something slickey atop the road-surface, where it then accumulates. Now, that isn’t too much of an issue when we’re traveling in a straight path, but we frequently encounter these bumpy, slippery transitions atop overpass bridges while leaned over in a turn. In lower-traction conditions such as rain, a rider might chose a lane-position near the inside of the curve as the bike approaches the asphalt/concrete transition-bump, and then just before the bump, straighten up slightly with a steady throttle to reduce traction demands while the motorcycle’s suspension is cycling up and down in the turn as a result of the bump, changing traction-conditions for each tire abruptly. This path of travel can help avoid the most slippery center-zone of the lane. Of course, the rider will steer to remain within the travel-lane; wise use of our travel-lane, all twelve feet of its width, can help us avoid abrupt, unexpected traction-loss.

Braking technique in the rain is nearly identical to brake-use in dry conditions; both brakes are to be properly used, simultaneously, but with somewhat less pressure on each than a rider might use in the dry. To enable us to use less braking-pressure and still slow or stop as we intend, think; “Less Braking-Pressure Over A Longer Time-span.” Begin braking sooner, in other words. Consider riding at speeds, both average and peak, somewhat slower than you might choose in clear, dry conditions – “Get rid of speed you don’t really need while it’s easy to do!”

Consider the effects on tire-traction when riding atop cold tires at the beginning of a ride, combined with cold pavement covered with moisture, be it rain, sleet or snow, or even a heavy dew. Riding on a newly-installed tire in these conditions can be even more treacherous. Something to think about!

Tire condition, always critical for a motorcycle, has increased import when riding on wet pavement. Check tread-depth and tire-pressure; wet roadways are unforgiving to motorcycles sporting old, bald and soft tires. How ‘bout hydroplaning? Defined as ‘conditions whereby the vehicle’s tires experience water-buildup underneath the tire,’ in effect, the tire is now ‘waterskiing’ on a layer of standing water atop the road-surface. Extremely bad news for our single-track family! When a motorcycle begins hydroplaning, the rider may experience vague or ‘mushy’ steering-feedback through the handlebars (front tires are more likely to hydroplane than rear ones, since the front’s contact-patch is usually smaller, and there may be a bit less weight on the front). To correct this condition, it is suggested that the rider immediately and smoothly roll off the throttle somewhat (not all the way), and slide one’s foundation as far forward on the seat as is possible, and lean the torso over the tank. Think “Smooooth!” as you perform… For a given tire-load, wider-profile tires are inclined to hydroplane more readily than a narrower tire carrying the same load. Proper tire-condition, size, and pressure, go a long way in helping us avoid hydroplaning.

So does our position within our lane: When riding on flat road-surfaces, we can reduce the amount of water, sleet or snow under the tires by riding in the tire-tracks left by vehicles ahead. Beware, however, of roadways that have depressions in the road-surface caused by high-volume heavy truck traffic. These collect rain et al, and can increase our risk of hydroplaning, so pick a tire-position out of the deep blue sea. Standing water can hide other unhappy hazards, too, such as potholes, edge-traps and debris; if you can’t actually see pavement, try to ride somewhere where you can.

Extreme Conditions: We’ll think about heat and cold another time; let’s consider stuff like hail, tornados, blinding storm-fronts, lightning and suchlike that are common risk-factors for riders. At highway speeds, hail HURTS! Depending on the ambient temperature and the size of the hailstones, traction may or may not be severely compromised; each of us must use judgment. If ambient temperatures are quite low, near freezing, hailstones may remain intact on the road-surface and accumulate. The larger the hailstones’ size, the greater the risk to traction, and overall control.

Tornados are clearly a severe threat to much more than our traction! We often encounter severe weather suddenly, as when the storm front is approaching us, regardless of our direction of travel; a sharp-edged storm-front can change conditions from balmy and blue to dark and turbulent, accompanied by often-blinding rain, even tornados, in mere minutes. Lightning is a life-threatening risk for motorcyclists, rubber tires notwithstanding. Blinding rainfall can reduce our forward sightlines so much that we strain to see the front fender of the bike. Spring and fall, we can encounter not only sleet and snow, but ice, as well. Bridge-supported roadways collect ice before road-surfaces atop the earth; fog can reduce forward visibility to near zero in mere seconds; snowfall that begins to accumulate on pavement is your signal to call it a day, regardless. Wow!

Usually, the safest course of action is to seek shelter and wait for conditions to improve. But that’s not always as easy as taking that freeway exit half-a-mile ahead. It may be half-a-hundred-miles ahead! Or, those scenic two-lane roads many of us love to explore may be just as bereft of shelter as any Interstate highway in West Texas or North Dakota. Think of the ubiquitous freeway underpass as your refuge of very-last-resort. Riders who seek shelter under the bridge frequently trade one risk for others that may be even greater than the risk of staying on the highway. It’s just not a very safe place for you and me; other motorists and truckers are inclined to seek shelter there, too… remember, we decided to believe we’re completely invisible during inclement conditions! Perhaps they will see us and our bikes too late, or not at all. If you must seek shelter under a bridge, it is suggested that you get well away from both the motorcycle and the roadway itself. Wind-blast from closely-passing traffic, and the likelihood that the slope of the road-shoulder, or the surface, is not very friendly to your side-stand, increases the possibility you may get to watch the bike tip over, maybe right into the path of other traffic.

So, try to eschew underpasses, and seek shelter elsewhere. Caught on the Great Plains in tornado-weather, or a lightning storm? A drainage ditch or culvert may be your safest option, if nothing more substantial is nearby. Your personal safety, and that of a co-rider, is your principal concern; security of the motorcycle itself is secondary.

Let’s think about what we see in the heavens throughout our ride; often, the signs of impending bad weather are there for all to see, but some riders blithely proceed without considering the risks apparent. Technology, in the form of wireless phones that display current weather maps, and now, GPS units that do the same, give us some advantage. Use’em if you have’em!

Well, we’ve talked about the weather, and we’ve come up with some things we can think about, some things we CAN do, to minimize the risks attendant while riding a motorcycle in bad weather. So, ride safe, ride often… and think about reducing your risks as you ride!

Steady? or Smooth?

2011-12-14T21:22:00.001-05:00

Last month, MotoSafe thought about the benefits of riding smoothly, managing the weight-shifts that occur as we speed up, slow down and change direction. ‘Riding Smoothly’ is often talked up wherever riders gather. After a brisk ride through some entertaining, hilly roads, followed by a stint on the Interstate and five miles in big-city traffic, Steady Stan and Sam Smooth start in on a couple of burgers at the end of the day’s ride.

“You talk a lot about riding smoothly, Sam,” offers Steady Stan, “but you don’t really ride all that smoothly! You speed up, you slow down, and you’re always moving around inside the lane. And you don’t stay in the same lane on the freeway, either!”

Steady Stan continues, extolling the ‘benefits’ of holding a steady speed and maintaining the same position on the roadways. “It’s really a pain to follow you; you never stay in one place, and I have to work too hard to keep up with you!”

Sam Smooth smiles, “I never said that I rode ‘steady;’ I said that I try to ride smoothly.”

Who is right? Steady Stan, who rides at the same speed and stays in the same part of the lane nearly all the time, or Sam Smooth, who seems to move all over the place? Do ‘Smooth’ and ‘Steady’ mean the same thing? Who may be under greater traffic-risk, Stan or Sam? Are you more like Sam, or more like Stan?

MotoSafe has noticed that a high percentage of veteran riders are more like Steady Stan, particularly as we grow older. But let’s think about WHY Sam Smooth rides the way he does; does Sam know something that might help all riders?

Consider how you see and think about your twelve-foot wide travel-lane; accomplished riders visually divide their lane up into three sub-lanes approximately four feet wide. Let’s call these the ‘LP1 (Lane Position 1) to the far left, LP2 is the center segment, and LP3 is the portion to the right. Which is the best one to ride in? Steady Stan will quickly tell you that he rides in the LP2 nearly all the time, since it keeps him away from other traffic. Sam, on the other hand, plays no favorites, and can be found in any of the three sub-lanes at any given time. Why, Sam?”

“Well, as a legal vehicle, I ‘own’ the full width of the lane, and I use it, all of it, to make sure I can see ahead as far as possible; when another car, or usually, a truck, blocks my sight-line, I move somewhere else in my lane to get my sight-line back.” When riding on multi-lane roadways, like freeways, Sam does not hesitate to change to another lane to improve his ability to see what’s going on ahead, too. Sam considers how well other traffic can see him, too.

“I know they may NOT see me, even if they are looking right at me, but I’m not going to hide out, either. I try to put the bike where the cages CAN see me as soon as possible.” Sam keep his modulator-equipped headlight on high-beam during the day, wears a high-viz vest and a white helmet to improve the likelihood that the cagers WILL see him, but Sam is proactive, too. He is continually moving around on the pavement, side-to-side, up and back, from one lane to another, to keep the channels of two-way visibility open and effective. Sam goes on to talk about space, too.

“I don’t want anyone else near me, either!” So, even if it means slowing down, Sam is always creating and re-creating space around him. Sam recalls an important lesson from the late Larry Grodsky; ‘Presenting Yourself to Traffic;’

“When I’m on a two-lane, and there is oncoming traffic, especially more than one cage, I usually move to the LP3 so that the cars behind the lead car can see me sooner; I’ve had’em pull out to pass the lead car before they saw I was coming; I want ALL of the cages to see me, especially the second or third guy in line. Then I’ll usually go back to the LP1 after all the traffic is past, but it depends.”

Steady Stan, on the other hand, locks himself onto one position, and has to depend on the other guy to both see, visually, and mentally recognize Stan on his motorcycle.

But why not a ride at a steady speed? Does Stan have something here? Why does Sam Smooth change speed so much?

“Well, pretty much the same issues; I want people to see me, and that means that I need to stay out of blind spots and ride to ‘gaps’ in the traffic-mix to get my space back. So, sure, I do change speeds a lot, but I do it SMOOTHLY! And I try to be smooth when I move around, side-to-side, too.

MotoSafe is reminded of advice given, over forty years, ago, to a gaggle of motorized paper-delivery boys; we delivered the days’ news from smoky two-stroke motorcycles; the local police department sent two Motor Officers to ‘train’ us in the art of surviving city traffic.

“We ride our motors just a little bit faster than the surrounding traffic. This keeps most of the things that happen in traffic in front of us, instead of having it come up from behind and surprising us.” The well-known NHSTA ‘Eighty-Five Percentile’ Study seems to validate this advice; NHSTA found that the ideal traffic conditions exist when 85% or more of the traffic is travelling in the same direction at (or within 5%) the same speed, regardless of the flow-of-traffic speed. On multi-lane roadways, riders can avoid many surprises that come from behind by riding at a pace that just ‘creeps’ past most surrounding traffic.

MotoSafe does not advocate extra-legal speeds, of course, but safer riding is a continual series of ‘risk-and-reward’ calculations; competent riders will often take the safer course of action, even though the law may officially frown upon it for the moment.

While the boys were entertaining themselves on the curvy back roads, Stan stuck to his fixed position and speed through the turns, while Sam Smooth accelerated coming out of the turns, and used the entire lane to reduce the radius, taking ‘some of the curve out of the curve.’ Sam entered the curves from the outside, aimed for the inside part of the lane just beyond the geometric apex and accelerated towards the outside part of the pavement as the tarmac straightened out. Going in, Sam smoothly set his entry-speeds using modified trail-braking techniques that eliminated drive-line lash and jerky off-throttle/on-throttle transitions as the delayed apex was passed.

Steady Stan rode the twisties as if his cruise-control were switched on; while Stan’s speed was generally low enough to avoid most problems, he did have an interesting moment as he came through a blind right-hander and encountered a farm-tractor pulling a load of hay just beyond the vanishing point. Steady Stan awoke suddenly from his reverie, grabbed a handful of front-brake, producing a chilling squeal from his front tire as he slowed abruptly to avoid colliding with the hay-wagon. Did Stan’s steady speed into the turn give him enough time to brake or swerve if he encountered something in the roadway? Did Stan’s steady speed lull him into a false sense of security? Sam Smooth, on the other hand, consistently set lower-than-necessary turn-entry-speeds that allowed him to maneuver safely and CALMLY when the unexpected suddenly appeared inside the vanishing point. When his sight-lines opened up during the curves, Sam rolled on the throttle enthusiastically as his grin got wider.

Well, who do YOU resemble while riding; Steady Stan or Sam Smooth? Are you actively engaged in the riding-task as you manage other traffic, as you communicate your intentions to your roadway neighbors, as you work to maintain your sight-lines and your own visibility, and as you make adjustments to speed and position to keep as much space as possible around you? Do you strive to ‘command respect’ from others on the pavement? Or, do you ‘put it on auto-pilot,’ pick your spot in the lane and mentally zone-out as you enjoy the passing scenery? Think about these two riders: Sam Smooth continually makes the best use of whatever the roadway and traffic conditions give to him – and that takes constant, active mental effort in addition to frequent control-inputs. Steady Stan, on the other hand, is content to hope that others on the roadway DO see him, and do give him enough space and visibility. But he IS steady!

Think about your riding practices; do YOU continually work to keep a smooth and stable motorcycle chassis, while at the same time, moving around to get the best views and the biggest ‘margin for error?’ Can you improve your abilities to ‘stay in view, with a view,’ while balancing an imaginary drinking-glass of water atop your gas tank? If you can keep the imaginary water inside the glass while getting the most of what YOU need from current roadway conditions, you are well on your way to joining Sam Smooth as a skillful, mentally-engaged and always-calm motorcyclist.

Ride safe, ride often and write to MotoSafe with your thoughts!

The Holy Grail

2011-11-18T12:09:00.001-05:00

What is that Holy Grail of motorcycling that is continually sought by competent riders? Cornering at high speeds? Emergency braking? Wheelies? Sliding the rear tire under throttle? What is YOUR Holy Grail, the one riding technique you prize above all others?

Let's consider some physics as we think about this. Try this: Lay a one-dollar bill in front of your bike's front tire, and another just ahead of the rear; now, roll the bike onto the currency. Likely, you will still be able to see some part of either or both bills. So, your motorcycle is connected to the pavement with about two bucks worth of contact patch. Technically, a total of 31½ square inches of connection, or contact patch – a bit over 15 square inches at each end, often a bit less. My, that's not much! Two bucks! An auto, by contrast, has nearly five times as much contact-patch area, ten bucks or more, and that is spread out over four tires that are near all four corners, instead of just two tires in the middle of the vehicle.

Now, what keeps the contact-patch area of each tire connected to the pavement? Gravity, of course, which produces weight. By ‘connected,’ we understand that the tire continues to roll at road-speed, without sliding, spinning or skidding. So long as both tires remain ‘connected’ to the roadway, the rider has the capability of exercising full control over the motorcycle; the rider is able to change speeds, change direction and stop, precisely and at will. But…

If either or both tires slide sideways, skids or spins, that fragile two-dollar bond that keeps the motorcycle connected to the roadway is compromised, and often, gone altogether. Once that happens, the rider can suddenly become an unwilling passenger, never a good thing! So, how can we conserve, preserve and manage that meager little bit of ‘connection,' the two tires' contact-patches,” our meager lil' ole' two-bucks-worth?

What about weight? The forces of gravity, pressing the bottom of the tires down onto the pavement produce an element we know as traction (‘traction ' is the resistance to slippage between two surfaces which are pressed together, when there are opposing forces on each, i.e. the tire and the pavement) and the more weight atop a tire, the more traction exists at a given moment. So, weight is a good thing, right?

Sure, so long as the weight atop each tire remains near a constant amount, and the amount of weight atop each tire changes, when it does change, slowly, rather than abruptly, as the motorcycles accelerates, slows or changes direction. What can happen if there is not enough weight on a tire as the rider maneuvers? Or, if too much weight arrives atop a tire too suddenly? MotoSafe readers might feel a bit misled; you thought we were looking for riders' Holy Grail, and here you are studying physics!

Perhaps some science will lead us to recognize the Holy Grail, and help us find it. Consider competent operation of the front brake; professionally-trained novice riders learn to ‘squeeze’ the front brake, progressively and firmly, in order to slow or stop. What is the alternative? The rider ‘grabs’ the front brake lever, travelling through the slack in the brake system at warp-speed, and applying a great deal of braking force all at one time. Why is the constant-speed ‘squeeze’ preferred to a ‘grab?’

Think of how the hood of your car behaves when you apply the brakes; it goes downward, doesn't it? This transfers more of the auto's weight onto the front tires. Does your motorcycle do the same thing? Sure! As the competent rider operates the front brake lever progressively – let's define ‘progressively’ as an event that occurs over a period of time and at a near-constant speed – a substantial amount of the composite weight of the machine, rider(s) and cargo is, also, progressively, transferring onto the front tire. What does more weight on the front tire provide? More traction, of course. And more traction allows the rider to safely apply even more braking-force and stop in a shorter distance. Remember, we only have the potential for a dollar's worth of traction on the front tire, at best, so the more traction we can get, in a controlled manner, the better! Now, modern motorcycle brakes are often extremely powerful, and that's a good thing; but if too much braking-force is sent to the dollar-bill front contact patch before all that helpful weight gets there, the front tire is no longer ‘connected’ to the pavement – we're skidding, but usually not for long! Without that front-tire connection to the roadway, we cannot balance, and the rider usually crashes.

Have you guessed what the Holy Grail is yet?

What other motorcycle controls can affect how much weight we have on our tires at a given time, and how quickly the weight changes? The throttle? Clutch? Handlebars? Consider the throttle; when the throttle is rolled on from idle while riding, we often experience an abrupt jolt, the result of the transmission and drive-train taking up its slack suddenly. The same jolt is often experienced when the throttle is rolled off to full-idle abruptly, Try this: Tie a ten-foot rope to a lamppost, take the other end in hand and jerk it tight, quickly. Feel the jolt? Now, tie something heavy, like a good-sized sledge-hammer to the middle of the rope and try the same experiment. No jolt, is there? Could that drive-train jolt to the rear dollar-sized contact-patch cause the tire to slide or spin? Especially in slippery conditions? Of course. Consider the rear brake as if it were the hammer; overlapping a small amount of rear-brake application while rolling on throttle, especially when the throttle is coming off idle, allows you to use the rear brake as something akin to a shock absorber, damping out the abrupt jolt.

When slowing, particularly for a turn or curve, what happens to the motorcycle's chassis when the throttle is rolled off to full-idle abruptly? Much of the composite vehicle weight moves forward, also quite rapidly, doesn't it. Is that effect even more noticeable if brakes are also applied hastily? Suppose the rider ‘overlapped’ use of brakes and throttle, rolling off the throttle gradually, and beginning to apply brakes while there is still some driving force pushing the rear tire forward; do you suppose the weight-transfer would be more steady and easier to control?

Do you treat the clutch-lever like a light-switch, or like a radio's volume-control knob when shifting gears up or down? ‘Light-switch’ mode is likely to produce the same kind of abrupt jolt. A rider using ‘volume-control’ mode, using the ‘friction-zone’ area of the clutch like a torque-converter in a car's automatic transmission, can smooth out the power-delivery or engine-braking forces as gears are changed, and will probably minimize the risk of over-spending the back tire's one-dollar contact patch.

Did you find the Holy Grail? There was a good clue in the preceding paragraph.

As a rider accelerates or decelerates, we can see that composite weight shifts fore and aft; effective total vehicle-weight also INCREASES when we change direction, negotiating turns and curves. Why? Centrifugal force makes the motorcycle want to move to the outside of the turn along the surface of the pavement. The only force resisting this is your valuable two bucks worth of contact-patch. Worse, if weight is abruptly transferred to one contact-patch or the other, as the effective weight is increasing while we're leaned over in a turn, we run the risk of quickly overspending our meager two bucks, with really bad results, like sliding, skidding or spinning the tires. Now, it really gets complicated. We mustn't overspend ourselves into bankruptcy by having too much speed while cornering, and at the same time, we have to keep a near-constant weight on both tires, with a slight majority of weight-bias on the rear tire.

MotoSafe readers certainly have figured out that the Holy Grail of proficient motorcycle operations is riding smoothly! Managing the transfer of weight back and forth, and managing effective-weight-increases and decreases, slowly and progressively, over a period of time, is another way of describing ‘smooth.’ We can add that handlebar-inputs are almost always smooth and progressive, although when we find it necessary to swerve so that we don't bump into something, we are also quite firm with our countersteering inputs, but never abrupt.

How can you find your Holy Grail? Perhaps by simply thinking ‘smooth,’ as your ride, to begin with. Several techniques were mentioned briefly, above. Skilled and smooth riders have learned how to overlap use of both the brakes and throttle, all at the same time, to achieve a smoother ride. Surprisingly, smoother riding gives us the ability to rider faster (within personal, legal and situational limits, or in closed-course situations, of course!), with a much greater sense of control, greater competence and far less stress. The art of riding smoothly is even more critical when roadways become slippery.

Consider advanced rider-training courses that focus on techniques that can help you discover the Holy Grail, riding smoothly. The MSF's fine resource, “Motorcycling Excellence, Second Edition ”(available form the MSF at www.msf-usa.org and online booksellers) features an essay on trail-braking from World Champion rider Freddie Spencer; the Lee Parks ‘Total Control’ curriculum, as well as Reg Pridmore's CLASS, focus on these important techniques, as do many local track-school instructors. The MSF's Experienced RiderCourse is a good place to begin, too, as well as the many writings of David L. Hough (‘Proficient Motorcycling’ et al)

If you've not begun your personal quest for the Holy Grail of motorcycle operation, begin your pursuit today. If you are an experienced rider, already as smooth as a newborn's fanny, perhaps you now have some new ways to think about becoming even smoother. Keep looking, keep learning! And let MotoSafe hear from YOU!

Command Respect, Command the Road!

2011-11-17T23:26:00.001-05:00

As a rider, how would you define ‘respect from your fellow highway-users?’ Do they see you? Do they even LOOK for you? Do they modify their driving behavior to accommodate you, a vulnerable motorcyclist? Do they give you your space? Space! That’s what we really want, isn’t it? We need space and time to see what’s going on around us and ahead of us – ‘seeing’ with both the eyes and the brain, and using that time and space to think, plan and act, so as to avoid running into things – or running off the roadway, needlessly, with equally painful results.

But, generally, would you agree that most highway-users afford motorcyclists very little respect – when they bother to notice us at all? Are we nearly helplessly adrift in a sea of cars and trucks, with little control over our outcomes? Or, can we, as responsible riders, earn and COMMAND some respect from those driving around us? That would be nice, wouldn’t it! Perhaps we can adopt riding behaviors that can often command and earn the respect we need, deserve and desire from others on the road. Let’s think about it…

Responsible Basic Riding Behavior: Eschew obvious riding-offenses, like offensively and painfully loud exhaust, lane-splitting in those states where it is not legal, and particularly lane-splitting at excessive speed-differentials, unnecessary lane-changing and weaving, stunt-porn stuff, et al. As we avoid these offensive riding sins, we are, at the very least, a little higher up on the food-chain in the eyes of other drivers. Track stuff; leave it at the track. Your message: “I’m a professional, responsible rider worthy of your respect!” begins here, as we demonstrate to others, by our responsible riding behavior, that we value our lives, our health and property, and that we are averse to unnecessary risks. Others driving near us can generally be expected to hold the same beliefs and values, and can - and often do - become sympathetic to our special situation in traffic, a vulnerable fellow human-being who must be ever-vigilant to survive.

Conspicuity: What we wear, while riding, begins to augment our command for respect from other drivers. Compared to the apparently-careless and thoughtless appearance of many riders – bare skin abounding, flip-flops, unhelmed and bare-knuckled, or those who wear dark colors, as if they wish to remain invisible to other roadway-users – responsible riders who wear protective gear that is clearly designed to be seen by others can be, again, roadway-users of a higher order in the minds of your highway neighbors, and thus, deserving of their respect. Space. They are inclined to give you more of it. After all, they see that you are not hiding, that you intend that others see you on the road. The Finding from the aged Hurt Study; “Conspicuity of the motorcycle is a critical factor in multiple vehicle accidents. Accident involvement is significantly reduced by use of motorcycle headlamps on in daylight and the wearing of high visibility yellow, orange or bright red jackets.” i also appears to be a useful tool to gain respect.

Compare the image – and the degree of respect such image commands – of a rider wearing casual street clothing while riding, versus that of a rider clad in gear clearly designed to prevent or minimize painful injury in the event of a crash. One is apparently oblivious to risks to which they are exposed, or willfully ignorant of matters that can be life or death; who can respect such a fool? – while others, you and me, make a clear statement to those around us by what we wear; “I don’t intend to suffer needlessly, or take any unnecessary risks – and I’m quite determined about this matter, too!!” Such a determined, focused and motivated person is not to be trifled with, and it might be best, other drivers may consider, to give this gal or guy some extra space – they’ve earned it.

David Hough offers; “This is a message typically lost on younger people—who feel that others should be able to judge us by our actions rather than our appearance.” Perhaps others should base their opinions of us by our behavior, instead of how we look, but that’s not how people behave, whether it’s right or not. It’s reality! Ignoring that reality while standing on principle can get us hurt, and the older we become, the more we realize that reality, and accommodate it.

Even one’s helmet color may command the kind of respect usually afforded only to law-enforcement authorities. Many motor-officers wear white helmets (some, or all, of the helmet), and interestingly, a recent study from the UK found; “Compared with wearing a black helmet, use of a white helmet was associated with a 24% lower risk.” ii Many UK motor-officers wear white helmets, as well. I know of no data that actually makes this link, but one may hypothesize. Nevertheless, white appears to be the ‘safest’ helmet-color, according to this study.

Another UK study found: “…drivers respond more quickly and accept longer safety gaps in the traffic when motorcycle riders wear red and/or fluorescent jackets than when they see low beam headlamps, larger fairings or no extra conspicuity equipment. However, coloured helmets have no effect.”iii Interestingly, this study finds that riders clad in conspicuity garments received more respect while in traffic. How we choose to dress, when riding, can have the effect of ‘Commanding Respect’ from our highway neighbors!

A number of riders, over the years, have shared an experience each observed; they purchased an ‘Authority’ motorcycle, either new or used, or rode a bike very similar in appearance to the motor-officers’ ride. In traffic, they immediately noticed that they were afforded much, much more traffic-respect – motorists probably assumed they were motor-officers, and those motorists improved their driving behaviors substantially, and all at once! What can we learn from this? Respect CAN be commanded, both by the motor-officer with a full pad of blank citations, and by the responsible citizenry that emulates the professional’s riding behavior!

Communicate: Basics include using the bike’s turn-signals for all turns and lane-changes, at least three seconds before making the maneuver (become ‘reliable’ in the minds of others who share the road with you), and using brakes while decelerating; engine-braking-only slows your bike more suddenly than autos behind you (you’re much lighter), but brake-use is necessary to show your brake-lights when slowing. A driver who is suddenly startled by your abrupt (from their perspective) and unannounced deceleration is likely to become irritated if not angry (I do!), and is less inclined to offer you any consideration or respect.

So far, we’ve discussed passive demands for respect. Now, let’s become proactive. Truly communicate your presence and requests! Who is that obnoxious Hollywood celebrity that you just love to hate? Sadly, this may be one time in life when it might be good to consider their tactics; “Look at me! Check me out! See what I’m doing! It’s all about ME! I want you to know I’m here!” Consider habitually using basic traffic hand-signals along with your bike’s electric turn-signals. Why?

In the eyes of others, you astride your motorcycle may be viewed as just another inanimate, possibly irritating, object cluttering up the roadway. But, when we employ basic traffic hand-signals (Left-Turn, Right-Turn, Slow-or-Stop) in conjunction with the bike’s turn-signals and brake-lights, we are communicating not only our upcoming intentions, but also our special circumstances – our humanity and vulnerability – to those around you. “Look, Mildred! Something on that motorcycle moved! Let’s see what she wants.”

How about dealing with tailgating drivers? Try this technique; in addition to slowing gradually to create more space in front of your motorcycle, display the ‘Slow-or-Stop’ hand-signal for about five seconds. From my long-time use of this technique, I find in 80%-90%of such events, the offending tailgater will back off and give me the space I’ve requested and require. Not only does the hand-signal communicate our request for ‘respect,’ and also our exposed circumstance, but the substantial following distance ahead of us, clearly visible to the tailgater, demonstrates OUR responsible traffic-behavior. “Hey, you’re threatening my life and health by following too closely! You wouldn’t like it, either! I wouldn’t do that to YOU!” Let’s assume that nearly all of us humans like to think of ourselves as ‘good people’ who have no wish to harm another; we then can speculate that most who follow too closely do so as a result of inattention, habit or carelessness; most do not deliberately threaten our space and time safety-cushion. Your hand-signal will often wake such an offender up, and once alert, they very frequently will improve their roadway practices to afford you the respect and space you require. Try it! And when they DO back off, give them a ‘Thumbs-Up’ to acknowledge and thank them for the respect they have given you – it’ll keep’em back where they belong!

Merging onto a limited-access highway or changing lanes on multi-lane roadways can also be a challenge. Try a modified hand-signal (along with the blinkers); if changing position to the left, give an animated ‘left-turn’ hand-signal, pointing up and down at the space you want. “Hey, look! I’m calling dibs on that ‘space’ –please give me my space! I simply must insist…” A rider may use the same signal with the right arm, if a cruise-control or throttle-lock is engaged, for position-changes to the right. Drivers will usually defer to your clear request. Remember, your mission is to politely demand that others see you, recognize and appreciate your exposed situation, become consciously aware of your intentions, and change their behavior to avoid harming you. But remember further, such demands are not optional for you – you and I MUST continually politely and consistently demand and command the respect we need to survive! Anything less is irresponsible on our part.

As riders, our only available ‘action-steps’ in traffic are to change our position on the roadway, adjust our speed, and/or communicate our upcoming intentions and demands to others. Be deliberate – but not abrupt – in moving from side to side, or moving up or back in traffic. “Hey, I know what I’m doing here; I have a plan! I clearly know what I want to happen around me. I’m not wandering around aimlessly on the pavement. Help me keep the space I’m creating and managing as I move myself around!” A determined person is much more likely to get what they want, so display deliberate, thoughtful determination as you position not only your motorcycle around other traffic, but also actively orchestrate – by your movements and signals - the choreography of your roadway neighbors. Think about using your deliberate and clear position- and speed-changes as a means of communicating to others. We are one of only 250 roadway-users, on average, and car and truck drivers are generally unaccustomed to the unique needs of motorcyclists – they need our help to help us stay safe. Communicating and orchestrating the roadway dance can help them understand us and our needs a bit more.

But what to do when our demands for traffic-respect are ignored, or even worse, blatantly and willfully violated by cretinous car and truck operators? Yes, many of us can be tempted to display our disappointment graphically, maybe with the ubiquitous single-digit salute. Don’t do it! Such baldfaced and obvious threats against us can be indications of irresponsible, sociopathic personalities who may grip those steering-wheels; they can easily defeat us, very painfully, in a ‘fair fight,’ every time. So, leave! Go somewhere else. Maybe you can settle up with such a fool in another lifetime.

Sounds like we motorcyclists are self-centered, egotistical roadway-users, right? Yup, that we are, to a degree and of necessity. No rider can long survive without a strong sense of self-preservation, self-reliance, iron determination and independence. We must believe that we are in control of our outcomes and results; we know that we are responsible for the consequences of our decisions and actions. Such a competent rider continually commands respect from those nearby - by how such a rider behaves, how the rider is clad and how we make our requests and demands known. So, when you’re out there, among them, EARN and COMMAND respect, and command the actions of roadway-users nearby! Your competence will increase, your confidence will improve and you will begin receiving the respect – the recognition of your humanity, your vulnerable situation, and the space and time you require. Give it a try!

i Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures, Volume 1: Technical Report, Hurt, H.H., Ouellet, J.V. and Thom, D.R., Traffic Safety Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles,

ii Motorcycle rider conspicuity and crash related injury: case-control study Susan Wells, Bernadette Mullin, Robyn Norton, John Langley, Jennie Connor, Roy Lay-Yee, Rod Jackson. British Medical Journal — Released: Tuesday, April 6, 2004

iii A Literature Review on Motorcycle Collisions, Final Report, B. Huang and J. Preston, Transport Studies Unit Oxford University, April 2005

Hidden Risk

2011-11-16T22:22:00.000-05:00

Black ice? A stalled truck just over that blind hill? An oncoming drunk driver? All of these, and many more, are motorcycling risks which a rider may not recognize until it’s too late. Wouldn’t it be great if we could be alerted to these hidden risks and dangers before suffering a crash? Sure! Well, perhaps here’s another hidden peril that can affect all of us:

Let’s call it “Subconscious Risk-Adjustment RISK.” What are we talking about here? Two recent studies, one dealing with the effect of anti-lock brakes, along with other built-in safety systems, on human driving behavior; the second one dealing with the self-professed risk-management behavior of motorcyclists, make this hypothesis of worth your consideration.

The first, ‘Systems Safety, Risk-Taking and Motorcyclists,’ (Bob & Mary Jane Maddocks)i applies the principle of Wilde’s ‘Risk Homeostasis’ii to motorcyclists. Risk Homeostasis theory states that if a given risk is reduced in an operational system like the vehicle itself (i.e. ABS brakes, etc), humans are then likely to make a subconscious ‘adjustment’ in their behavior to ‘consume’ the additional safety such system-improvements provide. The Maddocks cite a German study of taxi-cab drivers; some cabbies drove cabs with ABS brakes, and a control group’s hacks were not so equipped. The study found that the cabbies driving ABS-equipped autos were more inclined to speed, swerve recklessly, tail-gate and create more ‘traffic conflicts’ than the control group. We can hypothesize that the ABS-cabbies subconsciously believed that their vehicles were inherently safer with such brakes, and therefore, they could drive at faster speed and take additional traffic-risks, since the advanced braking system would be there to improve their braking performance and ability, and therefore, riskier driving behavior could be supported.

Supported? Well, one could suppose that the drivers in the study (representative of all drivers, to the extent of the accuracy and validity of the study) SUBCONSCIOUSLY adjusted their behavior so as to achieve the subconsciously-desired level of personally-desired risk. Wilde speculates that each person has an individual, inherent ‘target-level’ of risk that is constant for each individual. Further, when one part of the system changes to decrease risk (i.e. adding ABS), the person will make a subconscious behavior-change, risk-upwards, to achieve their level of risk-comfort. Now, are we aware we’re changing our behavior and engaging in riskier behavior? Consciously aware? Like, “I’d better pick up my speed a bit, ‘cause I can stop on a dime if anything happens!” Of course not! But does that change the reality that we really may be, in fact, engaging in riskier behavior? Not at all! Risk-levels are likely to go up without the rider’s conscious awareness this is occurring.

Let’s consider the second piece of this puzzle. Quoted in “Stayin’ Safe” by the late Larry Grodsky’s, in his final columniiii is an interesting study – ‘Contemporary Attitudes Toward Motorcycle Riding Safety and Riding Risk Factors’ (Robert Rowe, Irwin Broh & Associates)iii which draws a link between increased age, greater career and financial success, higher levels of education, and substantial riding experience… and links these factors with riskier behavior. Being, in this case, the self-professed estimate of the respondents’ likelihood of riding a motorcycle while impaired by alcohol; “I can handle it! Look at all that I’ve accomplished in life!” Rowe suggests, “My interpretation is that (self) confidence itself is a risk factor.”

Again, it appears that a subconscious risk adjustment-mechanism might be in play. One could suppose that, as we achieve longevity, greater career and financial success, and higher education, and as we survive and enjoy tens and hundreds of thousands of miles… we subconsciously may take on greater risks in our motorcycling behavior. Again, you are invited to consider and decide for yourself.

Now, what can we do with this theory? How can we perhaps improve our personal risk-management awareness, behavior and actual performance as we moto up and down the highways? Perhaps by doing no more than simply being AWARE of what appears to be our collective, natural, inherent and SUBconscious proclivities to adjust our risk-management behaviors in response to changing conditions, and thus camouflage these tendencies from our day-to-day conscious and cognitive awareness. In other words, if we KNEW we were quite likely to do something stupid and dangerous, as a response to some seemingly-insignificant change in our enviroment, we would likely be on our guard against doing that dangerous, stupid thing!

The Maddocks further validate this theory, as they discuss the effects on behavior when drivers encounter and recognize riskier conditions, such as weather; such drivers generally adjust their driving behavior towards less risk. for example, while riding my vintage motorcycle, equipped with ‘vintage’ brakes, I note that I subconsciously, and consciously, allow for much greater stopping distances. The key issue is that these drivers have become consciously aware of a change in their environment, and respond to achieve their desired ‘risk-comfort’ level, often without conscious thought of the actual behavior-change itself (i.e. slowing down).

Motorcycling is both a physical and mental activity. Certainly, as responsible riders, we strive to hone our physical riding skills and techniques. Of greater value, however, is the development of our mental strategies and awareness of the hazards we can expect to encounter from our perch behind the handlebars. Those aforementioned skills take years and miles to fully develop; happily, each of us can easily and quickly improve our ability to create and use good judgments – a faculty of far, far greater value than our well-honed skills – by learning from the experiences and research of others who have gone before.

So, what’s the conclusion? Perhaps a subconscious over-confidence in our motorcycle’s equipment, added to the potential for, again, a subconscious, overly-generous confidence-level in the rider’s personal motorcycling capabilities, generated by successes and accomplishments in life’s other areas, can combine to lead each of to take increased, subconscious and unnecessary risks while riding. And what’s the cure?...

“Know thyself…” said the Bard. If this pail holds water for you, if it makes sense, try to keep a regular and conscious awareness of how you go about achieving your desired and comfortable risk/reward level of driving-performance behavior. When you catch yourself, for the first time, riding a bit over what is reasonable – all things considered – and recognize that it may be due to YOUR personal proclivity to risk-adjust upwards, while being completely oblivious to the matter – remember Subconscious Risk Adjustment RISK, and apply your precious judgment to bring your moto-world back into balance. Now, you have a much better chance to deal with the black ice, the truck or the drunk driver, because you’ve recognized and dealt with another Hidden Risk – ahead of time!

i (http://bmwmoga.info/centerline/newsletter/06_01_l.pdf see page 7)

ii(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_homeostasis) , “Target Risk” Gerald J.S. Wilde, PDE Publications

iii ‘Contemporary Attitudes Toward Motorcycle Riding Safety and Riding Risk Factors’ (search Google to view)

iiii (Rider Magazine, July 2006, p 24-28)