Target fixation, rain and failure to negotiate a curve :(

[greatmaul]

I never really thought target fixation would happen to me, but it sure did, and yes I have Proficient Motorcycling by David L. Hough (and his 2 other books, and 7 or 8 others.)

I think multiple factors went into this *almost* crash. 1.) I was dead tired because it was Thanksgiving and we had to get up early (I work nights.) 2.) we were late, 3.) my wife and kids were somewhere in the car and I was trying to catch up, and 4.) it was the very first time I had ridden in the rain.

I was super nervous about the rain, and I came up on a 45mph left hander, and was easing around it when I noticed I was angled towards the side of the road. I tried to correct the steering but one hand was fighting the other: the left hand wanted to lean to make the curve, and the right was fighting desperately to keep the bike straight up and down because the street was wet. I was panicking and staring right at the edge of the road, so I watched myself drift right to the line, over it, and right off the road.

It was all dirt and rocks and tree roots, and I kept rolling. I didn't drift any further sideways I think because I was afraid to look over there because it was all trees and barbed wire fence. After a long bit of panicked trying to stay upright, I realized I still had the throttle on, so I eased off of it, and after I finally slowed, I angled back on to the road.

I was really amazingly surprised that I didn't go down, and for a bit I swore I'd never ride again, but that was last week and I've been riding to work and back with no problems. I'm just afraid of what will happen next time when it rains.

[Gz Rider]

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[Water Warrior 2]

Sounds like a valueable lesson learned with no bloodshed. Glad to hear you didn't loose control and crash. I have purposely tried target fixation as an experiment..............sounds dumb but I was curious about a couple things. Sure enough I did learn a lesson. Even if you know about target fixation it is really hard to break out of it once the eyes are locked on to a target. Scared myself enough to break into a cold sweat. Didn't leave the road but it was a close call.

[JWR]

The more you ride, the more you will trust the bike and tires.

Most times when you don't trust the bike the to go where you want, you look for an escape route.

I have a talk with myself every time I ride to keep my head in the game.

[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by JWR

The more you ride, the more you will trust the bike and tires.

Excellant statement with only one flaw in it. You have to know how to ride properly first or you just get more terrified and freeze up with each ride. Sounds like a great reason for riding lessons from an experienced instructor.

[Gz Rider]

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[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by Gz Rider

Another point here is that the GZ can be forgiving of mistakes like this. Imagine that situation with 2-3 hundered more pounds of bike.

Bigger is not always better. Developing your riding skills on a smaller bike is probably a good thing for 99% of new riders.

[greatmaul]

Originally Posted by JWR

I have a talk with myself every time I ride to keep my head in the game.

That's a very good idea. I'll definitely do that. I think a big part of the problem I had was that I was not concentrating on riding but on other things.

Originally Posted by Water Warrior

Sounds like a great reason for riding lessons from an experienced instructor.

good point! I've had the MSF class and was actually hoping it would be raining then, because I've heard that if you take the basic rider course in the rain it helps teach you not to be afraid of and over-react to the rain. Maybe I should sign up for the ERC. I do have a couple thousand miles under my belt.

Thanks everyone for the good thoughts and wishes. Much appreciated!

[JWR]

The only real problem is visibility. The bike will usually handle beyond our ability to ride it.

On my Blue Ridge trip, we rode over 400 miles of rain and fog. Granted we were not on city streets where we had to look out for red lights and such.

[JWR]

This picture is after the fog had cleared enough to resume riding.
That is Ed with a yellow rain jacket at the end of the pull off.