Automated responses ~ Building up your skill set

[CYPHER1102]

when i first got my bike. the first month the rode it everywhere i go to get use to it and to build my skill. i was coming to a corner and was coming fast. i got fixed on a target and ended up turning too wide and squeezed the front brake. the end result is a didnt crashed but i felt the bike almost hit the ground. i dont know how i recovered but i do remember looking outside the turn at the last second.

 

[Ray]

All of the friends I ride with

Question: Were you riding with these friends when you crashed? Even with all my years of experience, I'm still susceptible to riding over my head when I get around my friends. I have to constantly remind myself to ride my own ride.

When I'm riding with a newer rider, I let him/her take the lead (rather than setting up a situation where they feel they need to catch up) and instill in them that they are to ride safe, and not to impress me. That or I ask to meet up at point "B" from point "A".

 

[budman]

Ray...

You have brought up one point that really does lead a rider to taking extra chances or past their comfort zone and skill set. Riding in groups like almost any human group activity will take certain types (competitive) of folks past those limits. Competition is a very good thing in sports.. it is not on the road. Most will never say I was racing.. and that is competition.. but trying to keep up with your buddy is still competition to some extent.

I will tend to up my pace a bit in those group ride situations, but always remain within my mental limits when doing so. If someone goes faster than me... so be it.. Go have fun.. I will smile at the next stop when I see you.

Once in my life did I go beyond my comfort zone (on the street).. and lucky for me, I did not have a crash. I did blow a double yellow.. and that once was enough to realize that was not acceptable... for me.

If folks blow a DY and do it again the same day or the following weekend really need to take a look at themselves... and ask if motorcycling is right for them. OR find the right riding partner OR the right place and pace to work on their skills.

:smoking

 

[beginner]

I'm a big advocate of parking lot practice--low-speed drills to develop (and maintain) balance and visual skill needed to prevent those kinds of crashes. You might want to check out the parking lot practice threads in the Training forum.

What I find online is not much PLP going on. Riding around is called practice or experienced riders know better and have decided to live with the risk of not practicing.

It would help if the MSF included a more explicit and detailed PLP program in their published materials and, especially, advised new riders that perpetual and frequent PLP is necesary to preserve emergency maneuvering skills.

If someone asks me I say get a bike under 280 pounds that's quiet enough that it won't disturb the neighbors around parking lots and that is torqy enough to go slow in second gear without a requirement to ride the clutch or rear brake. Then get addicted to practice. Spend 50% of the first 300 hours on PLP. After that you'll still be a beginner but you'll probably still be alive.

 

[amo]

I have never done any serious dirt biking (unless you call a little adventuring on the '10 on some dirt trails serious dirt biking), but it is something I definitely want to do in the next couple years.

I have however done a lot of riding in the rain. I wouldn't necessarily recommend that anyone just jump on a bike and in the rain, but through those experiences (one experience had me 6+ hours in down pour rain on hwy 1 from Santa Barbara to San Jose) I have gotten really comfortable with the back end sliding out.

I definitely concur that being able to understand where the traction is, and how much you have left, is infinitely invaluable when it comes to panic situations. But it is definitely something you glean from experience, and no amount of skill can make up for that (imo). I still think that dirt riding would provide another level to this. Just sharing my street experiences!

 

[beginner]

I got an off road bike last June to ride on trails around the farm but I've found that doing PLP exercises on pavement improves balance skills faster than riding trails. Even though I've got a lot of land to ride on there's no place to put a dirt track so I can't talk about the benefits of having that.

Speaking from experience, dirt has one big advantage, it's much nicer to fall on.

 

[Dandelion]

The first time I hit sand at 55 mph over Monitor Pass in a sweeper and my rear broke loose I was thankful for dirt experience! "Oh that feels familiar, there it goes!" *regrip* "Situation normal, continue."

Get some dirt time. :thumbup

 

[jism07]

I started riding dirt when i was a kid and consider myself a decent rider. Crashing is a big part of riding dirtbikes. I understood this was going to be the same with street, so i really didnt want to get a bike. All my friend started getting into street so eventually i bought a brand new gixxer in 07. The only thing that i felt my dirtbike experience brought to the table was the ability to shift and excepting the fact that im eventually going to crash. I did a target fixation and went in the dirt,sqeezed the front brake and went down for the first crash. Second crash had came out of a corner womped the gas and highsided from cold tires after leaving a buddies house. Third crash was a low side at thill. All the crashes were lack of experience but the third one was just from pushing hard. Ive had lots off close calls that ive saved just from seat time on street. Learn from mistakes, take advice from advanced riders, and finally wear gear cause your going to crash. Dirtbikes is a totally different world.:thumbup

 

[moto-rama]

Do you guys have other examples you want to share??

Anytime there's a sudden loss of traction, the instinctual thing is to DO something in response.

I would say that one of the sweet ironies of riding is this:

When there is a sudden loss of grip at either end of the bike, there is seldom any time to do anything "about it". In fact, the bike will generally sort itSELF out before you do anything.

Experience has taught me that allowing the bike to get it self settled down is all I need to do.

 

[sliverstorm]

This dirt-biking to learn how to deal w/ lost traction only mirrors my feelings about 'drifting' in cars. I sure as hell ain't a drifter, but my MR2 is tail happy, and experience sliding is invaluable. It's really cool to watch my hands recover the car when I loose it in an autox run (out of the corner of my eyes of course). I say that, because they are acting on their own.

I believe in this quite a bit. I am going to have to consider borrowing a dirt bike, or buying one for cheap. Didn't want one originally, but you make a damn good point