Get off the bike!

[burkbuilds]

Danny,. . . quit while you are behind.

[dannylightning]

Originally Posted by dhgeyer

motorcycling is one of relatively few things you will do in life where your life literally depends on how well you do it. Therefor, learning is a lifelong experience, and riding is best approached with that attitude.

The people who really should consider giving it up are the ones who think that they have nothing more to learn, and have no need of improvement.

your life does depend on how good you are on the motorcycle, i feel i am very good on my bike, but there are others that are much better and yes you are always learning when out on the road. speaking of learning, here is a site i came across at some point in time and bookmarked, lots of good tips and some good information here. http://www.msgroup.org/default.aspx

[BillInGA]

I second dl's recommendation of msgroup.org. It has a wealth of information and tips about riding safely. It really helped me when I was learning to ride.

Come to think of it, it's been a few years since I've been on the site. May be time for a refresher.

[bonehead]

Now how many of us have tried to take off from a stop light/sign in 2nd/3rd gear. Sometimes the brain just does'nt engage.

[burkbuilds]

Originally Posted by bonehead

Now how many of us have tried to take off from a stop light/sign in 2nd/3rd gear. Sometimes the brain just does'nt engage.

Or in neutral, like I did the other day, felt pretty stupid, then I got flustered, put it in 1st and killed it, had to crank it back up and then pull out. Pretty embarrassing! :whistle:

[BillInGA]

I found myself following a little to close the other day when traffic suddenly stopped. My emergency stopping skills were a bit rusty and I ended up locking the rear wheel a couple of times. I managed to stop in time and stay upright.

At least I got myself headed toward the clear space between the cars.

[diffluere]

At first, I would start from a stop sign in second gear like once every two weeks. Back then, I was taking a back road to school which only had stop signs every few blocks, no real traffic lights, so I'd only make it to 2nd gear before I had to stop. Now I take a much busier but faster route to school so I make it to 3rd gear, so starting in 2nd seems to happen less often.

dh - luckily i'm not allergic to pollen! My car/bike went from being black to being green overnight! And that stuff is slippery, I have to turn into my driveway and there's a little slope, and if I turn too sharp the front tire doesn't like it very much. But I imagine it's nothing like driving on snow. I haven't seen snow in like......12 years!

bill - I locked up my back tire trying to stop at a yellow light a few weeks ago. Now, I just look around and see if it's safe really quick, and go through the yellow light. That was scary but I stayed upright and remembered (yeah, talked to myself again!) back brake - take your foot off!

danny - no problem dude. I think I have mild OCD and I like to drive to school/work the same route every day, I walk to class the same way every day, and I even do my morning routine the same every day. If anything different happens it kinda throws off my whole day, like if one of my roommates gets up before me and makes coffee first, and I can't make coffee at the correct point in my morning sequence! So if I have to drive a different way it just feels wrong. It's a weird feeling but it's not scary and I don't feel like my motorcycling is really affected; I've managed to not crash or drop the bike so far, so I'd say that's good. It's just my OCD is affected, haha! =)

If I could find a curvy road to practice on, believe me I'd be out there all the time. The closest one I know of is the Ozello Trail in Crystal River and that's an hour and a half away. There might be some in the surrounding countryside but again, that's far away. Gainesville is laid out on a grid system so the roads are all flat, straight and boring. The only way to go around a curve is to get yourself into a roundabout and stay there! I do try to make left and right turns at more exciting speeds each time I do one though.

Thank you for reading Volume 4 in the Get Off the Bike saga...

[alantf]

Originally Posted by diffluere

At first, I would start from a stop sign in second gear like once every two weeks.

It's not just noobies who do silly things. I've been riding for many many years, & the stupid thing I do when I'm not thinking is to set off in first, then instead of click click into second, going click, and finding that I'm reving up in neutral. :??:

[dhgeyer]

David L. Hough's second book "More Proficient Motorcycling - Mastering the Ride" deals a lot with "mental motorcycling". We all know that, even though our very lives depend upon being sharp and 100% focused at all times, we're not. We are human, and at least parts of our minds drift to other matters when not needed for the job at hand. But one can learn to monitor one's self so that you know at least how focused you are at any given time, and force yourself to adjust as needed. It's a very important skill for any kind of driving, especially a motorcycle, and it is just as much a learned technique as the physical skills like cornering and braking.

The scariest lapses for me have been the times I have seen a sharp curve coming, and have been aware of it on some level, but have failed to take any appropriate action whatsoever, like slowing and moving to the outside. Suddenly I have found myself in mid curve at straightaway speeds, and in the improper lane position. The only things that saved me the two or three times it's happened have been good physical skills, and the fact that I tend to ride fairly slowly anyway, so my straightaway speed was survivable in the curve. I once asked a much younger rider I know who is a very active track racer if he had ever done the same thing, and he admitted that he had on more than one occasion. I haven't done that in a few years now.

The basic idea I'm trying to get across is that it's not enough to master the bike - you have to master yourself, and your human mental state.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by diffluere

The only way to go around a curve is to get yourself into a roundabout and stay there!

Might not be a good idea for a rookie but I have done "sweeping curve" practice at a full clover-leaf interchange on an Interstate. You can loop around getting on and off all day if you want. :roll:

It's kind of the opposite of Nascar......as all the turns are right hand. :biggrin: