Motorcycle Safety

We can never stress enough how important safety is when riding motorcycle and this page will bring you articles on how to stay safe while out riding your motorcycles. You will find that most concepts are common sense but you are sure to find new and interesting ideas on how to stay safe, ideas that you can add to your safety conscience brain. For a local flavor with respect to motorcycle safety, check out Rubber Side Down by Darrell Young of Avalon Motorsports.

Skill Development

Skill Development
(Make It FUN)

By: James R. Davis

Here is the problem:

You are the safety officer for your chapter of the XYZ Riders Group and you have observed that many members of the group have inadequate riding skills. Say, for example, that many of them are ‘wobbly’ at slow speeds, some cannot make a slow speed turn without going very wide, braking skills are marginal (usually involving over-use of the rear brake), and some don’t seem to understand the value of group riding discipline.

What can you do about it when you cannot get them to participate in either an advanced MSF class or chapter sponsored practice sessions?

Suggestion:

Announce that there will be an annual GAMES EVENT in which winners of various categories of game events will receive chapter awards of some kind. Then, tell the group that in order that WE don’t embarrass ourselves in front of our friends or significant others that you will host several GAME EVENT practice sessions throughout the year that will give everyone a chance to learn some tips & techniques for WINNING the various events.

Describe the event categories you plan to host (such as ‘Slow Ride’, ‘Tightest Turn From A Dead Stop’, ‘Cone Avoidance (swerves)’, ‘Shortest Distance Stop’, and/or ‘Road Captain Leadership’) and make plans to provide those skill practice sessions accordingly.

Now your job becomes keeping the group interested in the GAMES EVENT and awards while your EFFORT becomes planning and hosting the practice sessions.

It is my belief that you will get participation in the practice sessions as a result, which is your real goal, and everybody works toward a fun and COMPETITIVE GAMES EVENT.

In other words, practice and skill improvement should become fun and desirable instead or ‘work’ and if you use a bit of redirection to accomplish that objective, well who would complain?

Electrical Systems

Electrical Systems
Common sense advice

By: James R. Davis

Sooner or later you will need to find a failing component, a broken wire, or a short. Or, you will attempt to add a new device to your motorcycle and have to do some wiring. Following are a set of basics that seem not to be taught anywhere except by experience:

Just because the motorcycle uses a 12 Volt battery does not mean that LETHAL voltages don't exist. Spark plug leads carry many thousands of Volts! Stay away from them. (Actually, lethal currents kill.)

The vast majority of 'failures' can be fixed with the simple replacement of a fuse - particularly on older bikes that use old-style fuses. If the failing fuse is not visibly burnt it is often just fractured as a result of age.

Crimp connectors are a NO-NO on motorcycles. Vibration and weathering will eventually make them fail. Solder all wire joints you make and use a piece of shrink-wrap tubing to finish the job.

Solid wires are a NO-NO on motorcycles. Vibration tends to fracture them. Always use stranded wire. (You should carry a length of stranded wire as part of your 'tools'.)

Many circuits in modern motorcycles contain solid state devices (transistors). These can be damaged if you use a test light on them. Instead, use a high impedance (10-meg or greater) digital multimeter to test voltage levels in these circuits.

Any connector that you can pull apart should be packed with dielectric grease when you have put it back together again! Dielectric grease is NON-CONDUCTIVE. It is used to keep contacts within the connectors clean and to protect them from corrosion. Connectors in a motorcycle's charging system will melt and fail easily if those contacts are not perfectly maintained because the slightest increase in resistance will cause a huge amount of heat based on their large current loads.

Even with the master fuse pulled there is one great danger that continues to exist in a motorcycle's electrical system - the starter solenoid. Since the current load necessary to turn the starter motor is so great, that circuit is NOT fused. Thus, if you happen to short the solenoid your bike's starter motor will engage!

Whenever adding a component use a separate fuse and circuit for it. Do not simply piggy-back on an existing circuit.

Whenever removing your battery always disconnect the NEGATIVE terminal first. This insures that there will not be a disaster should your screwdriver happen to slip while disconnecting the positive terminal and it hits any bare metal.

If you smell gasoline, do NOT work on electrical systems!!!!!!!!

Lock-Step Synchrony is Bad Form

Lock-Step Synchrony is Bad Form
(Be a traffic shock absorber)

By: James R. Davis

With a great deal of attention being paid to various hurricanes in the gulf area over the past couple of weeks I have been thinking about evacuation problems and, of course, what we might learn from them as motorcyclists.

It seems a stretch, I know, but there really is some relevance. Consider, for example, the danger to you of a rear-ender - not just the cell-phone talker who fails to realize that traffic is stopping ahead, but the every-day Joe who happens to accelerate just as traffic begins to slow down. If you are the vehicle ahead of him, you are the most likely to get hurt.

So it seems to me that driving in lock-step synchrony with traffic ahead of you just might be a significant CAUSE of problems behind you, and that, in turn, becomes YOUR problem.

Let me explain. Traffic around you, ahead and behind, are moving at 45 mph. You have a 2-second gap between you and the vehicle ahead of you. That vehicle, for whatever reason, begins to decelerate. So, too, should you, of course. In the process you will find that your gap is somewhat less than it was because it took you a moment to realize and then react to the slowing car ahead. Just how much shorter a gap should you allow?

The answer, as we all know, is still 2-seconds worth. Well, I'm not quite so sure of that. It may well be that you want to allow that gap to narrow just a bit more than 2-second's worth. Why? Because that leading vehicle may well reverse the deceleration trend and regain its original speed - the slow down was an anomoly, a slight variance that quickly disappears.

If you allow that gap to get a bit smaller, that means that you did not slow down as much as did the vehicle ahead of you - and NEITHER DID ALL THE VEHICLES BEHIND YOU.

What you have done is smooth out the flow of vehicles. Maybe a dozen, maybe a hundred, vehicles behind you did not slow as much as the vehicle ahead of you, and potentially THOUSANDS of following vehicles didn't have to slow down at all.

Naturally I do not mean to imply that you place yourselve into a dangerous situation and ignore the fact that your gap is getting shorter. Not at all! But because you are then aware of the slowing down you no longer have a built-in delay of any meaningful duration that will get in the way of your reacting to what the vehicle ahead of you does next. If it decides to stop, so will you. If it continues to decelerate as it had been doing, so will you. It's just that you did not remain in lock-step synchrony with that leading car's behavior and as a result, neither did all the vehicles behind you.

When the vehicle ahead of you begins to accerate, so should you - but NOT AS QUICKLY! Allow your gap to get wider than you would normally want and close it up, later, when traffic is moving smoothly again.

In essence, if you refuse to behave in lock-step synchrony with traffic ahead of you, you have introduced a shock absorber into the flow of traffic. The more drivers who act like you do, that is, the more shock absorbers there are in the system, the smoother will be traffic flow for all and that translates into fewer - BY FAR - rear-enders.

So I made a case for vehicles that are all moving at about the same speed, but the biggest payoff of this methodology is when they are moving (or not) at vastly different speeds.

Consider driving on surface streets and you notice that traffic ahead of you has stopped for a red light. I suggest that you begin slowing down LONG before you get up close to the vehicle ahead of you (and then MUST stop yourself) and GRADUALLY approach that vehicle as you eat up time. In some (often many) cases you will find that the light has turned green and vehicles ahead of you have begun to move before you have had to stop yourself so that you then merely continue on your way accelerating as necessary to regain or attain a 2-second gap.

Again you have acted as a shock absorber. Again all the traffic behind you has smoothed out. And again your odds of being rear-ended has been diminished by your actions.

Lest it has not occurred to you, this is a specific recommended behavior for you when group riding!

(I hasten to add that your gasoline mileage has improved and your brake pads will last longer.)

Return to More Safety Articles
Return To MLR Front Page

Handling Curves

Handling Curves
A better line

By: James R. Davis

Taking curves is rather a personal choice in terms of selection of entry and exit points as well as speed, it seems to me.

For example, the typical advice I have heard from others is to chose an entry point that allows you to make the curve using the smoothest line thru it so that you always have the least lean demand. This, of course, gives you the most ability to compensate your path through the curve should you find a need to do so. It also means that you hit the apex of the curve at about its middle. That is, you enter from the outside edge of the curve, then move towards the inside until you reach its apex, then continue from there outwards until you are once again at the outside of the curve just as you exit it.

I, on the other hand, do not normally do this. I prefer to delay my entry into the curve. That is, I stay to the outside edge well past the normal entry point, then turn much more sharply into it and hit the inside much beyond the normal apex. This gives me two significant (to me) advantages over the 'smoothest' course:

I get the lean that I enjoy (read: crave!) in the beginning of the curve where I have seen all that I need to see in terms of potential trouble.
When I exit the turn I am traveling at a much reduced angle relative to the path of the road. That is, since I am closer to the end of the curve when I reach the inside than is the normal apex, I have fewer degrees of the arc left to go before I am again going in a straight line. Said differently, if the road changes directions by a matter of 90 degrees through a curve, no matter what path you select through it you will have totaled 90 degrees when you are out of it. Since I turn more into the curve at my delayed entry point, I have less left to go to complete the turn when I am near the exit.

This last advantage is of profound importance, in my opinion. This gives me far more ability to handle unexpected problems as I get closer to the end of the curve. For example, what if it turns out to be a decreasing radius curve after all, or if there is gravel in the road that was not visible at its entry?

By the way, when I said that 'I stay to the outside edge' above I in no way meant to imply that I get close to the line. Far too many people seem to think that they have performed a safe maneuver thru a curve so long as their wheels do not touch or cross the (center) line. WRONG! If any part of your motorcycle crosses that line, including just a grip, you are in the path of oncoming traffic, and are in THEIR lane.

In any event, I TRY to overshoot my entry to a curve. Then I aggressively push-steer into it, and delay reaching the inside of the curve well past its apex. This also, incidentally, allows me to start an aggressive roll-on of my throttle sooner than when I am at the inside of the curve which gives me a better handling bike through the majority of it. I should add that this delayed entry approach requires that you get in the habit of not entering the curve too fast. Further, the right approach speed is one which requires NO BRAKING at entry.

[You should use MODEST throttle roll-on all the way through any curve. The 'roll-on point' that is shown in the graphic is where you can go after a higher exit speed if you happen to be aggressive with your bike.]

If you find that you cross the outside line, ever, then it is time to reassess what you are doing. Approaching the curve too fast? Insufficient confidence to aggressively push-steer when you need to? Insufficient experience to pick a good line? Lack of respect for the laws of chance (one of those times a 4-wheeler will have two of them across the line)? Acting like riding with friends is a competitive sport? Whatever it is, if you ever cross that center line you are riding above your abilities (and everyone around you will know it) and you need to change something soonest. Otherwise, make sure your relatives know your intentions relative to the donation of your organs.

This method is just my preference, after all, and it seems to me is generally safer than the 'smoothest line' method usually described.

inner voice

Listen To That Inner Voice
Some call it 'intuition'

By: James R. Davis

Advice like 'listen to that inner voice and ACT accordingly' is not just vacuous new-age meta-physics crystal-gazing stuff. This rider is deadly serious about it.

If you are behind a truck and 'feel' like you should change lanes - change lanes. You may not be aware of why, you may not be aware that you have noticed something wrong, but when part of its load bounces out of its bed and lands on the ground where you would have been had you not changed lanes, you will then appreciate that your subconscious mind plays with details that your conscious mind tends to ignore.

If for any reason whatever you feel like you should not ride before you start, don't.

If for any reason whatever you feel like you would rather end your ride early, end your ride early.

If for any reason whatever you feel like you might not be able to make that hard right turn to get out of a parking lot and onto the feeder road, STOP and wait for that 'moment' to pass. Wait for your mind to get 'right' before you proceed. How much time have you lost doing that? Not enough to measure. But if you decide to ignore it and then 'freeze' exiting that parking lot, or make an unusually wide turn taking you into an adjacent (busy) lane it will be because you didn't listen to yourself, or (and here is where 'ACT accordingly' comes into play) because you did and it became a self-fulfilling prophesy, very like 'target fixation'.

Controlling your lane

Controlling Your Lane
Two wheels are enough to own a lane

By: James R. Davis

Lane position should be chosen based, among other things, on establishing escape routes, making yourself visible to others, staying out of the blind spots of other vehicles, and road conditions. What is often overlooked, in my opinion, is the concept of 'controlling your lane'.

For example, assume you are riding on surface streets in a city and are stopped at a traffic light preparing to make a right turn. Logic suggests that you should be in the right track of your lane, but it is safer, I suggest, to be closer to the left track.

Why? Because while nearer the left track of your lane you CONTROL the lane. There are people that upon seeing you in the right track with your right turn signal flashing will slide their vehicles into the lane beside you and try to share the lane - to get a jump off the line when the light changes.

That you only have two wheels is of no consequence - you OWN the whole lane that they would try to share with you. If you were to change your mind and elect to not make that right turn, you would be in trouble. Worse, should that sharing vehicle actually decide to make a right turn too, you could easily be forgotten (in his blind spot) and he could drive right over you while making that turn.

Controlling your lane is as important as any other consideration when you choose your lane position.

Return to Motorcycle Articles
Return To MLR Home

Tire Additives

Tire Additives
Miracle products or trouble waiting to happen?

By: James R. Davis

Once upon a time tires were made of rubber - solid rubber. They worked, but they produced a dreadfully hard ride. Then, someone came up with the idea of making them pneumatic (filled with air) and tires became far better as a result, and far more comfortable to ride on.

Over the years our tires have steadily gotten better. From better rubber compounds to the addition of belts, better biasing techniques, radial designs and better tread designs. Tire manufacturing has become a well understood science, not an art.

And as motorcyclists our lives depend greatly on those tires. So, we tend to buy the best tires made. And the tire manufactures have never stopped trying to make them even better.

So, one has to wonder why it is that some motorcyclists completely abandon the idea that the tire manufacturers REALLY know what they're doing when they created our tires. Some motorcyclists have decided that for a few dollars they can squirt some magic compound into their tires and never have to worry about a flat tire again. They believe that this same goop even magically balances their tires for them and no longer have to rely on a trained mechanic to mechanically do that for them. They believe that if their tires are punctured after squirting this wonder product into their expensive tires they can disregard the problem altogether because, like magic, the tire won't leak its air out through the puncture - it will seal itself automatically. And, they believe, once the stuff is squirted into their tires they don't have to tell anybody about it.

These are the same kinds of motorcyclists who are easy targets for sales pitches for such things as Slick 50, gasoline treatment additives, and instant weight loss pills.

(I'm not here trying to argue that all additives are useless or hype. But I am going to argue that it should take a lot more than a clever sales ad to convince you to IN ANY WAY deviate from the advice of professional mechanics relative to your motorcycle.)

To go back to motorcycle tires - virtually all of them are now tubeless by design and are built to resist the loss of air from a puncture - without you having to add anything to them other than air. If the puncture is large, the built-in puncture sealant will not be totally effective. But, that is not a bad thing! A large puncture means that you have had significant damage to the belting of the tire. It should be replaced, not covered up!

There is no excuse not to have your tires mechanically balanced when mounted. No amount of internal 'balancing goop' substitutes for a properly mounted and balanced tire to begin with.

So, products that are designed to be squirted into a tubeless tire, it seems to me, make very little sense. Do you think that a tire manufacturer like Dunlop would fail to make the very best and safest tire they are capable of making for use on motorcycles? Do you think they never heard of puncture sealants? Do you think that they should have to stand to a warranty if the inside of a tire has been coated with a chemical compound that it was not designed to have to deal with?

While on the subject of putting something into your tires, if you have a tire repair kit that includes a pressurized can of gas to inflate it after the repair, you MUST TELL YOUR SERVICE MAN THAT YOU HAVE USED IT BEFORE YOU ASK HIM TO REMOVE YOUR TIRE! Some of those compressed gasses are flammable and can explode if the tire is exposed to a spark while their beads are being removed from the tire rims! YOU would be responsible if that mechanic were to be injured.

Counterbalancing

A Case Against Counterbalancing
... And A Few Other MSF Teachings

By: James R. Davis

I can't begin to remember the number of times I have had someone tell me that the reason they do certain things on their bikes is because "the MSF says that's what you are supposed to do". While what the MSF teaches is more often right than wrong, they utterly fail at conveying an understanding of WHY their students are well advised to do certain things, and even worse, on many occasions their 'rules' make sense ONLY while riding on an MSF range during training, but that is not explained either.

For example, there is an exercise in the BRC that promotes the use of counterbalancing while doing slow speed tight turns. In that exercise the student is to shift his body weight toward the OUTSIDE of the turn that is to be made. (Just the opposite of shifting body weight INTO a turn and reaching for the pavement with the inside knee favored by the racing and sport bike crowd.)

So which of these body shifts is right? Which leads to most control of the bike? Why does the MSF teach a technique that is eschewed by the vast majority of 'performance' riders? Since the MSF teaches this counterbalancing to rank amateurs, does that mean it is the safest and most appropriate way to handle slow speed tight radius turns?

In order to understand this discussion you first need to have a fundamental understanding of the fact that almost everything about controlling a motorcycle when it is moving at speeds greater than about 10 mph is the reverse of what you do at slower speeds. Honest! Trust me!

You know, I'm sure, that at speeds slower than about 10 mph you push on the right grip in order to cause your bike to change direction to the LEFT, while at greater speeds you push of the right grip in order to change the bike's direction to the RIGHT (counter-steering). But have you consciously thought about the fact that while in a turn moving at slow speeds, if you slow down your bike will fall DOWN, but if you are moving at speeds greater than about 10 mph and you slow down, your bike will 'fall' UP? By that I mean, of course, that slowing down while in a turn at, say, 50 mph, will cause the bike to stand taller, not lean farther.

Thus, it should not be difficult for you to conclude that at speeds slower than about 10 mph the effect of counterbalancing (leaning to the outside of a turn) has some value that DOES NOT EXIST at greater speeds and that leaning your body INTO a turn (with knee reaching for the ground) has some value at greater speeds that DOES NOT EXIST when riding at slower speeds. The MSF teaches skills designed to safely navigate a training range at speeds of 20 mph or less. They teach counterbalancing for SLOW SPEED turns but DO NOT teach shifting the body INTO the turn.

You have, so far, decided that counterbalancing, therefore, must have something to do with SAFELY handling your bike at slow speeds. You would be wrong.

Instead, counterbalancing is taught as a useful skill, a tool in the tool bag if you will, to help newer riders control THEMSELVES in a slow speed sharp turn. That is, some (perhaps many) new riders are afraid of leaning their bikes at slow speed so they 'choke' and abort slow speed tight turns. The MSF provides their students with a practice TO OVERCOME THEIR FEAR OF LEANING where counterbalancing is used in order to keep the student's *BODY* (not the bike) more vertical and still make those turns. In fact, as you probably understand intellectually, what that causes is the *BIKE* to lean even farther than is necessary in order to make that turn.

Since you then can see that the bike can handle an even greater lean than you thought it could and make that turn while you are more comfortable being almost vertical, it follows that the bike could make that sharp slow-speed turn with ease if you didn't counterweight.

And now you are beginning to see a new picture. Rather than for purposes of showing a student how to more SAFELY handle a slow speed turn, they teach counterbalancing as a means for students to overcome their FEAR of leaning in order to accomplish a slow speed tight turn - though the MSF would rather claim that they teach it to make it EASIER for the student rather than less FEARFULL. Indeed, the use of counterbalancing is LESS SAFE, generally, than keeping your body in-line with the bike when you make a turn AT ANY SPEED.

Let me back that last sentence up a bit. Turning at slow speeds has as its greatest risk, falling down. That risk maximizes as the lean angle OF THE BIKE increases to where a peg drags. Counterbalancing results in the greatest BIKE LEAN ANGLE POSSIBLE - it encourages/invites that maximum risk level. Since the only body shifting technique taught by the MSF to beginning riders is counterbalancing, then it should not be a surprise to you that newly trained riders tend to do just that while in higher speed turns as well as during those parking lot practice sessions. They lean AWAY from turns where the bike lean angle is already getting large and THAT is when a peg drags.

Of course racers and 'performance' junkies on public roads do exactly the opposite and shift their bodies INTO their turns instead of counterbalancing - that makes the bike's lean angle less severe.

So, what about that practice is less safe than staying in-line with your body regardless of speed? Well, the answer to that is simply speed itself. There is not a road in this country where riding at the posted speed limit (or advisory speed) results in your bike leaning more than 30 degrees - well below the angle where peg dragging occurs. In other words, THE ONLY REASON 'performance' junkies lean INTO a turn is so that they can exceed the legal speed limit!!!

About fear ... it is life saving! It tends to keep you from standing with the toes from both feet over the edge of the cliff instead of just one while you are learning your limits. If you make a mistake and only have one set of toes over the edge when that edge gives way, you survive the mistake. Once you have mastered the fundamentals you no longer have any toes over the line and fear level disappears (or, better, has been converted to respect.)

After almost 50 years of riding there are times when I find myself to be afraid. Something new or unexpected presents itself as a threat. You can be sure that that fear causes just enough adrenalin to focus my attention and stimulate my response to that threat. One thing that INVARIABLY, for me, causes such an adrenalin reaction is dragging a peg. I do not EVER deliberately drag a peg so if it happens you can be sure that I have gotten my speed or estimate of the curve's radius wrong and that DEMANDS my reactive attention. And why I mention that is because as I said earlier, counterbalancing INVITES the dragging of a peg. So, I have never found its use appropriate, at least in my case. Better, by far, is to control the bike without adding the complexity of weight shifts and greater than necessary bike leans.

The MSF teaches counterbalancing. That is not a good enough excuse for you to use the technique, now that you know better.

There are other things that the MSF teaches during its Beginner Rider Course (BRC) that you should look closely at and understand before blindly following their advice. They, for example, tell you NOT to cover your front brake lever - indeed, will not allow you to do so during the class. Covering your front brake lever shaves about 1/10th of a second of reaction time in an emergency. That time occurs while you are travelling at your greatest speed. In other words, it will reduce your stopping distance by almost NINE FEET if you are traveling at 60 mph and need to do an emergency stop. Not covering that lever makes marginal sense while you are doing slow speed maneuvers during an MSF BRC class, but it is absolutely goofy advice to follow, generally. Better, by far, than simply prohibiting new riders from covering their brake lever while in the BRC in order to protect the student from their own UNINFORMED MISTAKES in the use of that lever, they should TEACH STUDENTS HOW TO USE THAT FRONT BRAKE LEVER WHENEVER IT IS NEEDED, REGARDLESS OF SPEED!!!

Similarly, they insist that you place one foot (the left one) on the ground when you come to a stop. That, they insist, leaves your right foot on the brake pedal (as if your front brake by itself is insufficient to keep you from moving). That advice also lacks sufficient justification to be followed in the real world as you can EXPECT, from time to time, to find yourself on a sloped roadway or with a roadway depression right where your left foot lands when you stop your bike. Virtually all motorcycles are larger and heavier than those used to train students by the MSF. Very few people have legs strong enough to prevent a modern/heavy street legal bike from falling over if it starts to fall over at a stop, which is exactly what will happen when you 'short leg' the beast. You are well advised to plant BOTH FEET on the ground when you bring your bike to a stop - every time.

So, please, don't explain to me that the REASON you do this or that with your bike is because the MSF told you to do so unless you UNDERSTAND WHY!!! You learn that, unfortunately, someplace other than during an MSF training class.

Windscreens

Windscreens
Bigger may not be better at all

By: James R. Davis

There has been a trend over the past few years of ever bigger windscreens showing up on our bikes. You cannot attend a major rally without seeing at least one vendor of these 'super-duper', 'larger-than-life', 'aerodynamic', 'custom-made', 'co-rider-friendly' pieces of plastic.

I like having a good windscreen in front of me. I like cutting most of the wind that buffets me during a long ride. I like having the bugs hit something other than my teeth. I like rain drops splashing on the plastic and then sliding up and over my head.

But I do not like their cost in terms of gasoline mileage or top-end speed. I do not like banging my forehead (excuse me - my helmet) on the windscreen when I mount my motorcycle. I dislike greatly not being able to look OVER my windscreen when things around me get dicey or visibility gets poor. I dislike reports of melted dashboards from leaving a bike in the sun at exactly the wrong time of day and pointed at the wrong angle relative to the sun.

As to 'aerodynamic', says who? Wind resistance is not just the angle at which you hit the wind. There is as much resistance caused by the vacuum behind your windscreen than from the wind hitting it in the front. The greater the 'apparent' surface area your windscreen has (the height times the width as seen from the front), the greater its resistance is, in one form or the other.

As to 'co-rider-friendly', what about 'rider-friendly' first? Have you ever driven at night and had difficulty seeing through your windscreen because your dash lights are all being reflected back at you from your new 'super-duper-swept-back' windscreen MIRROR? And should you get into an accident and find your head forced down by that windscreen that is levered over your head, what part of that new windscreen do you think your co-rider is going to hit first? (Notice how close the edge now is to her eyes?)

Like having that windscreen sweep around your grips? I guess you never did like the convenience of hanging your helmet using its D-ring and the peg that was designed to fit it?

Well, the larger screens look good. They are just right for some people. But do yourself a favor and take a ride behind one of them for a few hundred miles, day and night, before you decide to give up what you know works for one of these 'custom-made' monsters. The old one you already have just might be better than you think.

Safe Riding

Target Fixation

Where did we leave off? Oh yeah, so you want to be a good rider? Well, let's discuss a few things that I highlighted in the last issue. We talked about the press theory, remember? This was the correct way to turn your motorcycle under speed. It's all coming back, isn't it? Good. Let's move on to another very basic theory I like to call, "Please look where you are going for heaven's sake!"

OK, so you remember how to press on the bar in your direction of travel, now we need to add some head turn. Remember this; if you look there, you will go there. It's a common law for any motorcyclist. Remember that pothole you were headed toward last week and hit? The one that jarred your spine and made your butt hurt? I bet you were probably looking at it as you hit it. Why do you do this?

A motorcycle has a tendency to follow your head and eyes. It's an equilibrium thing. Now it isn't just your eyes, it's your head; it's the way you look, it's everything. If you focus on a target (fixate) you will head right to the target. So look where you want to go and you will go there every time.

In slow, tight turns, turn your head as far as you can, and look at your target. This will drive the motorcycle right to it, as long as you relax, and let the motorcycle move. At higher speeds, look as far through the turn as you can. This should seem a little uncomfortable, but with persistence, you will be much more efficient through corners, find a better line, and be more comfortable with the principle. Take some time to concentrate on applying this technique, and it will become second nature. Potholes or objects in the road? Look away as you try to avoid them by pressing on the bar in the direction you want to go. It's a miracle, and it keeps your pain level at a minimum.

So, are we a better rider yet? There's no magical cure for what ails you in motorcycling, but with some good common sense, thinking should get you through most factors that build. In the next issue, we will talk about those amazing common sense techniques you can use in different scenarios. In the mean time, keep e-mailing your questions or comments to me.

Safe riding is a skill of the eyes and mind, not your physical capabilities.

Matt Albertson, MSF Instructor

Riding skills: Riding in strong winds

By Ped Baker

Riding Skills

Riding in strong winds can be daunting and dangerous but learning this simple technique will help bike control and free up time to anticipate problems.

The easiest way to control a bike in a crosswind is to apply pressure on the inside of the handlebar closest to the direction of the wind. In other words, if the wind is blowing from left to right gently push against the left bar. At the same time as doing this, use your bodyweight to keep the bike going in a straight line.

All this technique does is put you in a position of advanced anticipation.
You're ready to increase the pressure on the bar and lean further into the wind when strong gusts try to push you across the road. Look out for gaps in hedges and field gates where the wind is likely to be stronger.

Loading your motorcycle

How To Load Your Bike The Right Way
By Peter Baker

Unlike a car, where you can dump a couple of sacks of spuds in the boot and it have little affect on the handling, 5kg of extra weight in the wrong place on a bike will have it bobbing and weaving all over the road.

Sitting on your bike, imagine a triangle that runs from the top of your head, down to the front wheel spindle, along to rear wheel spindle and back to the top of your head. Inside that triangle is where you can safely put the most weight on the bike. The further you stray outside the triangle the more it will affect the bikes handling.

When loading up your bike keep the heaviest items as close as possible to this triangle, ideally inside it. Tank bags are the best, if not the most convenient place for the heaviest items followed by side panniers. If you're travelling without a pillion strap a tailpack to the pillion seat and as close to you as is comfortable. A top box has the most potential for ruining a bikes handling so only use one for the lightest items such as sleeping bags.

Animal Hazards

Animal Hazards
Swerve or Panic Stop?
By: James R. Davis

It doesn't happen very often but even while traveling on a freeway you can suddenly be confronted with an animal in your path. Certainly it happens with some frequency in the country, and on city streets you must be ever concerned about usually domesticated types.

Those of us who ride in the country tend to confront five types of animals with some regularity: deer, dogs, cattle, birds and horses in roughly that order of frequency. On surface streets there are usually just two varieties: dogs and children (both an animal and wildlife in my book.) Dogs on a freeway are usually road kill before you get to them.

If you see an animal in your path, given plenty of warning, the obvious best move is to slow down and give it as wide a clearance as possible. However, in the case of an animal that 'was in front of me out of nowhere' situations, you have an immediate decision to make ... to swerve and try to avoid it, or to panic stop.

That is a false choice to make! If you think that you can figure out where a deer is going to be in the next 5 seconds, you are dead wrong! But more than that, if you think that you can, in a panic, swerve your motorcycle and retain control of it - not run into oncoming traffic, or the side of the mountain, or off the road, or oversteer it into a crash after avoiding the animal, or swerve right into the animal which has jumped into your new path, then you are probably also of the opinion that it can't happen to you in any event.

If you hit a cement truck at 5 mph you will probably walk away from it. If you hit ANYTHING while traveling at 50 mph or faster, you probably will not. The difference is your speed. Swerving does not reduce your speed. What it will do is give away some control.

Your best move is almost always to try a CONTROLLED panic stop. Do not lose control of your bike. Minimize the speed of impact. If you are good, and practiced, you might not hit anything at all. Even if luck is against you you will probably still walk away from it.

I can hear it now: "Even if it's a child?" Absolutely! If that child decides to make a dash for his/her life and chooses (like you) the wrong direction to run in, then you will hit that child with a greater (faster) impact swerving to avoid him/her than if you try to stop the bike.

Of course you aren't doing 50 mph or greater on city streets, right? You are covering your front brake while riding on city streets, right?

Play the odds in your head before you get into the situation. Condition yourself - bias yourself - panic stops are not a bad thing.

Return to Motorcycle Safety Articles
Return to MLR Home

Seeing Is Believing

SEEing is Believing Safe riding is a skill of the eyes and mind as much as it is a skill of the hands and feet. It's important that riders have well-developed perceptive skills. Having good perception means to "see and understand accurately." Our eyes see but our mind interprets, and sometimes we can be fooled into perceiving something that's not there or missing something that is; and that can be disastrous when evaluating risk factors in traffic. The MSF RiderCourses use the strategy of Search, Evaluate, Execute (S.E.E.) to describe the decision-making process that should be used while riding. Our eyes do the searching and our brain does the evaluating. But do we perceive accurately? Take a look at these visual workouts to discover how our eyes can sometimes trick us.....


Click to View Animated Illusion

Guidlines for riding with Passenger

Operator Preparation

Passengers should be considered as a second “active” rider so they can help ensure that safety and procedural operations are correctly followed.
A passenger will affect the handling characteristics of a motorcycle due to the extra weight and independent motion.
A passenger tends to move forward in quick stops and may “bump” your helmet with theirs.
Starting from a stop may require more throttle and clutch finesse.
Braking procedures may be affected. Braking sooner and/or with greater pressure may be required.
More weight over the rear tire may increase the usefulness and stopping power of the rear brake, especially in quick stop situations.
Riding on a downgrade will cause braking distance to increase.
Extra caution is called for in a corner because of the extra weight.
Cornering clearances may be affected.
More time and space will be needed for passing.
The effects of wind, especially side wind, may be more pronounced.

Motorcycle Preparation

The motorcycle must be designed to accommodate a passenger.
The motorcycle owner’s manual should be reviewed for manufacturer’s tips about motorcycle setup as well as any related operational recommendations.
The motorcycle’s suspension and tire pressure may need adjustment.
Care should be taken to not exceed the weight limitations specified in the owner’s manual.

Passenger Preparation

Passengers should be tall enough to reach the footrests and mature enough to handle the responsibilities.
Passengers should wear proper protective gear.
Passengers should receive a safety briefing (see #7 below).
Passengers should consider themselves a second operator and share responsibility for safety.

General Safety Considerations

You need to be experienced in the motorcycle’s operation and have a safety-oriented attitude before taking on the added responsibility of carrying a passenger.
Practice low-speed clutch/throttle control as well as normal and emergency braking in a low-risk area like an open parking lot, with a passenger.
Use caution in cornering and develop cornering skills over time to ensure passenger comfort and safety.
Use caution in corners as clearance may be affected.
Use MSF’s Search, Evaluate, Execute strategy (SEESM) to increase time and space safety margins.
Allow time for a passenger to adjust to the sense of speed and the sensation of leaning; speeds should conservatively safe and reasonable until a passenger acclimates to the proper riding techniques.
Ensure passengers follow safety procedures:

Complete personal protective gear is properly in use.
Hold operator’s waist or hips, or motorcycle’s passenger hand-holds provided.
Keep feet on footrests at all times, including while stopped.
Keep hands and feet away from hot or moving parts.
When in a corner, look over the operator’s shoulder in the direction of the corner.
Avoid turning around or making sudden moves that might affect operation.
If crossing an obstacle, stand on the pegs with the knees slightly bent and allow the legs to absorb the shock upon impact.
Allow more time for passing.

9. Be ready to counter the effects of wind.
10. Avoid extreme speeds and dramatic lean angles.
11. Be ready for a passenger “bump” with their helmet when stopping quickly.
12. Start the motorcycle before the passenger mounts.
13. Have the passenger mount after the motorcycle’s stand is raised and the motorcycle is securely braced.
14. Annually complete an ERC Skills Plus RiderCourseSM with a passenger.
15. Have frequent passengers complete a Basic RiderCourse so they can better understand the operator’s task.

www.msf-usa.org 05/09

Should you ride motorcycle

QUICK TIPS: Should You Ride A Motorcycle

Riding a motorcycle is a unique experience. Riding is fun and invigorating, yet the skills needed for safe riding, combined with the lack of car-like crash protection on a motorcycle, can cast doubts on whether a person should choose to ride a motorcycle. Some potential riders lack the ability to execute skilled and timely actions in a complex traffic environment; others lack keen judgment or don’t have a firm grasp of the concept of risk management. MSF believes that motorcycling isn’t for everyone. If you’re considering becoming a rider, however, here are some questions for you to use as a self-assessment of the physical capabilities and mental attitude required to safely navigate a motorcycle on the street:

1. Are you a higher risk-taker than others you know? If you tend to need a thrill while driving a car and have aggressive or risky tendencies (following too closely, turning without signaling, talking on a cell phone, getting angry at other drivers, etc.), motorcycling may not be for you. While motorcycling improves the overall quality of life for many, for some it can lead to disaster. Thinking that accidents only happen to others is an attitude that will get you in trouble.

2. Can you ride a bicycle? This is a prerequisite for enrolling in our Basic RiderCourse and generally a good gauge of your ability to maneuver a motorcycle. Bicycling, like motorcycling, is a physical activity that involves balance and coordination. And speaking of coordination …

3. Can you drive a stick-shift car? This is not a requirement, but it may make learning to ride easier because almost all motorcycles have manual transmissions. If you can’t get the hang of shifting gears but still want to enjoy a powered two-wheeler, you might want to start out on a motor scooter. Motor scooters generally have automatic transmissions and come in many sizes, from simpler models with an engine size of 50 cubic centimeters (cc) to powerful 650cc models.

4. Do you see well? Riding a motorcycle requires special perceptual skills that rely on good vision. Have you had an eye examination recently? Do you tend to see things that are far away later than other people you know? The ability to see well ahead is important for safe riding.

5. Are you mechanically inclined? Today’s motorcycles are very reliable machines, but with all the bolts, nuts, and mechanisms out in the open, and only two tires connecting you to the pavement, you need to be able to inspect your equipment and make the occasional minor adjustment. You don’t need to be a master mechanic, but it helps to know your way around a tire pressure gauge and a wrench. Most everything a rider needs to know is in the motorcycle owner’s manual, and if you’ve never read your car owner’s manual, that could be a sign that motorcycling is not for you.

6. Are you safety-minded? If you routinely find yourself bandaged up after doing simple do-it-yourself projects around the house, or think it’s acceptable to operate a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, the unique challenges of motorcycle riding may not be compatible with your decision-making. Riders can control their situation only if safety is a high priority. Millions of motorcyclists ride millions of miles without incident, and they likely take safety seriously.

7. Do you respect machinery and other equipment that has risk? For example, when using a lawn mower or chainsaw, do you maintain it properly and wear eye/ear/hand protection when needed? If you’re not serious about safety in connection with simple machinery and equipment whose improper use can lead to serious injury, you may not respect motorcycling enough to follow safety precautions. Successful riders know that safety isn’t a matter of luck, but a matter of doing the right things to minimize risk.

8. Can you focus? Inattention is a major cause of crashes. Safe motorcycling requires dedicated attention to the immediate task and a keen awareness of everything going on 360 degrees around you. Rush-hour traffic aboard a motorcycle is not the place to be daydreaming. For instance, if you find yourself overusing your brakes because you were caught off-guard, or are often surprised by a passing car or truck you didn’t see, your situational awareness could be less than adequate.

9. Can you handle your car in an emergency? Drivers don’t often have the need to brake hard or swerve to miss a crash, but it’s important to have the skills to be able to do so when needed. On a motorcycle, having these types of skills is essential because other highway users tend not to see motorcyclists in traffic, especially around intersections.

10. Are you willing to invest some time in learning to ride the right way before hopping on a bike? Your best “first ride” is a Basic RiderCourse where you can familiarize yourself with the safe operation of a motorcycle. You can even take the course as an experiment, to help you better understand the dynamics of good riding and to determine if motorcycling is right for you.

www.msf-usa.org 5/09

QUICK TIPS: The Importance of Riding Unimpaired by Alcohol or Other Drugs
Theory: Alcohol And Motorcycles Are Incompatible

At a BAC* of 0.01 to 0.04%, judgment begins to lessen, the drinker is less critical of their own actions, reaction time is slowed, and indications of mental relaxation may appear.

At a BAC of 0.05 to 0.07%, judgment is not sound, thinking and reasoning powers are not clear, and the ability to perform complex skills is lessened.

At a BAC of 0.08% or above, judgment and reasoning powers are severely hampered, and the individual cannot complete common simple tasks without error.

Proof: Statistics From Recent Studies (by NHTSA, Florida, Kentucky, and Australia)

Having any alcohol in one’s body increases the chance of crashing by five times.
Having a BAC greater than 0.05% increases the risk of crashing about forty-fold.
46 percent of all motorcyclists killed in crashes were using alcohol.
One fourth of all fatal alcohol-related motorcycle crashes involve motorcyclists running off the road, overturning, or falling from the motorcycle rather than striking another object.

Explanation: Alcohol Affects Your Ability To “SEE”

SEEsm is the acronym for MSF’s strategy to help motorcycle riders maintain a safety margin as well as remain ready and able to respond properly to traffic situations. SEE stands for:

Search for hazards that might lead to trouble.
Evaluate how the hazards might interact to create risk; prioritize multiple hazards to deal with one at a time.
Execute an action to maintain a margin of safety.

Alcohol affects these three human elements of safe motorcycle operation by impairing your vision (Search), judgment/decision-making ability (Evaluate), and coordination/reaction time (Execute).

Recommendation: Plan Ahead

Riders should never mix alcohol with riding. Even low, legal limits of BAC increase your risk while riding a motorcycle.• Riders who are away from home and decide to drink should either (1) wait until their BAC has returned to zero before riding, even if it means staying overnight, or (2) leave the motorcycle in a secure location and find alternate transportation home.

Return To Motorcycle Safety Articles
Return To MLR Home

Preventing rear end collisions

How to Prevent a Rear End Collision on a Motorcycle

Always check and recheck rear view mirrors for traffic behind you when coming to a stop.

With traffic behind you let off and pump your brake four times. This will flash your brake lights four times and attract the attention of the driver behind you of your intentions.

If stopping behind traffic, leave enough room to quickly maneuver away if need be.

Never stop in the center of the lane. This is the slipperiest part of the lane, due to the oil from cars.

Never put your motorcycle in neutral.

Keep your motorcycle in first gear with the clutch engaged. Just in case you need to speed away.

If a vehicle is approaching you from the rear pump your brakes to flash your brake light.

If the vehicle approaching from behind doesn't appear to be stopping, accelerate around the vehicle in front of you to safety.

Mid-Life Riders Online

Riding for Charity - Newfoundland & Labrador