August 25, 2009

COMMON ROOKIE RIDING MISTAKES REVEALED! - We here at RideSmart see all manner of simple riding mistakes repeated week after week. Some of these mistakes, while being overcome in the course, make an ugly return after a student graduates and starts practicing on their own bike out in the harsh reality that is public roads. Here is a list of favorites, along with some helpful tips on how to fix them.

Stalling when getting under way – Simply put, the rider is releasing the clutch way too fast or too far. The remedy here is way easy – when releasing the clutch, ease the lever out until the bike starts to creep forward, hold the clutch at that point for a three-count, then ease the clutch the rest of the way just as slowly as you did the first bit. The amount of throttle you need to get going isn’t nearly as important as how you release the clutch.

The motorcycle won’t go straight at low speeds – two problems here. First off, I don’t care how fast or slow you’re going, DON’T LOOK DOWN. There is a profound difference between looking in front of the bike and looking ahead of the bike. When you are looking directly in front of the bike (like ten feet beyond the front wheel), you’re not giving the bike any direction. Bring your head and eyes up to look at least twelve seconds ahead of where the bike currently is.

Secondly, I can almost guarantee you are trying to steer the bike straight by moving your legs or torso around. Stop doing that. Low speed riding requires you to use the handlebars to steer out of an imbalance. Keep your knees in and your torso in line with the centerline of the motorcycle.

I rev the engine when I use the front brake - Your wrist is too high. When you hold the handlebars, your wrist should be flat, in-line with the back of your hand and your forearm. If you have to reach your fingers down to get to the front brake lever, adjust it so you won’t be forced into a wrist-up position when you go for the brake.

A second cause of this problem may be with you grabbing the brake and rolling the throttle open with your thumb. Ever since you were a baby, you’ve been taught to grab things. Now need to modify that behavior in respect to how you work with the front brake. The only part of your hand that should be doing any moving is the ends of your fingers. Your thumb and palm don’t move when applying the front brake.

The engine revs when I shift gears – you have to roll off the throttle when you pull in the clutch during the shift sequence. Currently, you’re not.

I can’t make right-hand turns – Classic right-turn phobia. Every right turn you make has a smaller diameter than a left. That scares people. The only thing you can do is mentally psyche yourself into doing them better by practicing. They’re just tighter turns; the technique is the same as for left-handers. Slow before the turn, look where you want to end up, get the bike into the turn, then start to increase your speed slightly as you go through the turn.

I keep hitting neutral when I try to shift to second - – You’re not lifting up on the shift lever hard enough. Stop being a pansy and lift up like you mean it. Also brings up the point of having appropriate footwear when you ride.

It’s difficult to coordinate releasing the clutch and rolling open the throttle when I enter a curve - First off, exactly why are you pulling the clutch in anyway? The only time the clutch needs to be used are when you’re taking off, shifting gears, or coming to a stop. If you’re not doing any of those three things, the clutch doesn’t need to be messed with and really shouldn’t be. If you had to downshift as you approached the corner, then you waited too long to release the clutch, and that would be the only circumstance where the clutch might come in to play.

My bike tends to run wide as I go through a corner - Actually, there are three possible problems to address here. First, you may be afraid that the motorcycle will slide out from under you if you lean over too far. That may be a problem if you are on a racetrack at race speeds, but you're likely nowhere near the limit on the street. This is one area nobody can coach you through. You are going to have to make some mental adjustments on determining how far is too far. Second, you may be entering the corner properly, but you are giving the bike too much throttle in the corner, which makes the bike want to stand up and go straight. Every bit of throttle you use in the corner has to be countered with an equal increase in handlebar pressure to keep the bike turning where you want. Additionally, how you apply throttle is just as important as how much throttle you use. The throttle should be opened up as smoothly as possible to eliminate that jerk that accompanies a snap of the throttle. Lastly, people who enter a corner too fast stop taking their eyes off the direction they want to go and start looking for what they could hit if things get any worse. Bad idea. When you're in a situation such as this, redouble your efforts to make the corner. The best way to do this is to continue to look through the turn at where you want the bike to end up.

Are there other rookie mistakes that can be addressed? Sure - they are as numerous as the stars in the sky, but let's not belabor the point. On to other topics, namely...

ROCK/PAPER/SCISSORS – There are essentially three ways to operate a motorcycle on public roads in Arizona. The breakdown is as follows:

1. Just ride. Basically, you go purchase a bike and put it on the road. You can buy any vehicle you want, and even get it insured, without being licensed to operate it. Those dirt-riding skills you learned on that spray-painted Honda Mini-Trail back in the seventies will suffice on the street three decades later as you pilot your Road King to Cave Creek, right? If you think so, then you are truly a Rock. As an added bonus, if you get stopped, the law enforcement officer has the authority to impound your bike for thirty days - at your expense – all ‘cause you didn’t have an operator’s license. Imagine your precious motorcycle sitting in an impound yard with no protection other than a chain-link fence and a rottweiler that thinks motorcycle seats make great chew-toys.

2. Go get your license at an MVD office. This route requires a lot of Paper, and may require you to make multiple trips to said MVD location, as the current failure rate for the state written/riding tests is FORTY PERCENT. And, while you may get the written test portion completed (they actually do the tests on a computer nowadays), you then have to schedule yourself a trip to one of the two motorcycle-only testing facilities in metro Phoenix. It’ll only take about ten minutes for you to discover that those same dirt-riding skills have minimal bearing on what you’re being asked to do at the testing site. You may pass; you’re way more likely to fail outright or just give up. When you decide to conquer this beast by borrowing a neighbor’s Virago 250 that hasn’t seen the outside of the garage since the Clinton Administration, you’ll get a first-hand lesson in humility as you go and fail the test again. Even more fun, maybe you won’t get that far as you’ve forgotten the rule that states that the motorcycle you take the test with must have current license registration and insurance. Ouch – paper cut!

3. What does a pair of scissors have to do with getting your motorcycle license? You’ve forgotten that I can make an analogy out of anything, haven’t you? Example – My friend Ralph has a motorcycle that is about as ugly as any motorcycle on the planet. Every time he repairs or cleans something on it he comes to the skool to show me. I relate his work to that of TURD POLISHING – you can polish a turd, but underneath all the shiny is still a turd.

Whoops! Off topic. Back to the scissors.

Anyway, what you’re doing by taking a course at RideSmart is sharpening the skills you have and adding new skills to your mental toolbox as well. At RideSmart, we have what is arguably the highest pass percentage of any motorcycle rider training skool in the state at NINETY-SIX percent. Trust me, we’re not giving this away – you still gotta earn it – but you’ll be learning things that you’ve never likely even heard of and practicing all kinds of skills. Some of these skills could save your life some day. Scissors. Sharp. The choice is yours.

Till Next Time – Ride Smart

The RideSmart Staff