New Riders and the Freeway

[S1KGSXR600]

I hit the freeway for the first time last weekend - passed my drive test and decided to take the freeway home. Now I've been riding since I was 18, but not in this country, and not at freeway speeds. 65 mph with fierce winds was freaky and not at all enjoyable - and this without too many cars. Didn't help that it was extra windy that day. I'm thinking that a windshield, even if it is small, might help a bit. Anyone here care to comment how handling will be affected by a windshield?

A windshield will direct the wind more to your face. It might help, really no downsides besides that and maybe looking a bit goofy.

Make sure when you ride in wind to grip the bike with your knees, relax your entire upper body and maintain a steady rate of acceleration, and just adjust the steering as needed as the wind blows you around. And relax.

 

[Enchanter]

My experience with windshields is different from S1KGSXR600.

Size matters. Smaller ones will deflect the wind off of your chest, but keep your helmet and upper shoulders in the windblast. In my experience, this is very desirable. Taller windshields can cause your helmet to be in turbulent air. This causes your head to move / wobble around a lot, and is very tiring because you will be fighting that motion during the entire ride. You neck muscles will be rather sore at the end of a ride.

Handlebar mounted windshields tend to cause the motorcycle to move around due to the wind (natural or artificial) pushing on the windshield and that movement being transferred to the handlebars. This can be especially troublesome when passing, or being passed by larger vehicles.

 

[Ironbutt]

I hit the freeway for the first time last weekend - passed my drive test and decided to take the freeway home. Now I've been riding since I was 18, but not in this country, and not at freeway speeds. 65 mph with fierce winds was freaky and not at all enjoyable - and this without too many cars. Didn't help that it was extra windy that day. I'm thinking that a windshield, even if it is small, might help a bit. Anyone here care to comment how handling will be affected by a windshield?

No difference at all. You might feel the wind push you if the fairing is big enough but you'll be grinning at the end of the ride.

I have a reasonably large-ish rifle fairing I slap on any motorcycle I'm riding that doesn't already have one. Beside it's nice storage and a shelf for a radar detector/camera, switches.. whatever.. but I ride a BMW RT for reason(s), the big ass fairing, heated grips and electric windshield.

 

[DataDan]

Yet another opinion...

I don't think a windscreen makes much difference. As Enchanter says, one that puts your head in the turbulent flow spilling over the top only increases discomfort.

I have ridden many, many miles at freeway speed on bikes without windscreens, and I actually prefer that. It's quieter because your head is well above the disturbances created by the motorcycle. I've also ridden a touring bike with large, fairing-mounted windscreen. Though I was well out of the wind, I just didn't like looking through the windscreen and being in still air.

A windy day is going to be a PITA windscreen or no. The annoyance comes not from the wind straight on, but when it's slightly offset to your direction of travel, and a windscreen doesn't deflect that.

To get accustomed to freeway speeds, get out early on day with little wind.

 

[treadtread]

Thanks everyone. I'll do a run on a relatively still, quiet day and remember to grip with my knees and relax my upper body, and see how it feels.

 

[louemc]

Should rookies avoid the freeway? Yes. Why? Because in many ways it’s too damn easy. How so? Simple: think about how you drive your car on the freeway or highway. You’re looking straight ahead, in a bit of a trance, Rush Limbaugh may be screaming at you or it could be Trent Reznor doing the screaming either way other than the idea of speed we all tend to look at the freeway as an easy drive in our cars once we have any skill at all.

Therein lies the problem for newbies and the freeway—everyone else tends to be asleep at the wheel.

The flow of freeway driving leads to a certain hypnosis for drivers and riders alike, it’s easy to ride between the lines, hold a steady throttle and let your brain shut down as we wait for those cues that tell us our exit is coming up.

Admit it. You’ve arrived at your exit and don’t remember the journey.
New riders on the freeway are subject to the same thing, that slip into comfort and thought where you’re considering whether to have lunch at Taco Bell or…is Del Taco a step up or a step across? Really? And what about Green Burrito? Is that the same par? Is Baja Fresh in a different league?

OH ****! Brake lights straight ahead! (Time for a rookie braking error yes?)

Or, “THAT CAR DIDN’T SIGNAL THEIR INTENTIONS!” (Time for a rookie swerve error?)

How’s about, “I’ll just gas it and fit into that gap…OH CRAP!” (Rookie throttle error?)

The danger for newbs is that if you’re coming from a car you’re in the mindset that the freeway isn’t that big a deal. Sure, a new is a tad freaked out and wide awake the first few times but after a couple of survival sessions on the slab? Old habits come back.

Plus? All those car and truck drivers are a tad asleep as well. They make more mistakes and poor decisions and if you’re a newbie you ain’t got the skills to get out of a 70mph hole with trucks and cars and HOV lanes with seams and diesel and potholes around you. The skill set to ride on the freeway requires you to be wide awake and if you’re not? You need the reaction skills to do the right thing.

Newbs ain’t there yet.

I realize that in some places using the freeway is close to unavoidable. Sometimes you simply can’t get there from here without a jog on the 405 or 101 or (insert your metro nightmare freeway here) but that doesn’t mean you can’t go! It means you need to be aware of your own abilities. Increase your following distance. Keep your eyes up and know where you are and what’s around you. Plan, plan, plan. Know when you need to be where and be in that place before you have to be in that spot. And Newbs? The longer you’re on the slab the easier it is to have that mental drift happen so don’t plan for long runs on the freeway. Look for alternates and look the opportunity to use an alternate route.

Should Newbs hit the freeway right away? Nope. But if you have to realize the dangers you face and the skills you might lack.

Be Safe.

Totally agree :thumbup... The speeds of the freeway traffic .. And slowing/stopping that can come up, from those speeds...
And spitting lanes, are all advanced skills.

After a noob feels they might just be ready for a taste... One nice thing about the freeway... You can get on and taste, and get off, if the taste feels a little too tart.

 

[Rock Liu]

Everyone learns at different rates and has a difference experience base, so it's very hard to say exactly when someone should start riding the freeway if new. The best answer is when they feel comfortable and confident enough on the bike to ride safely at higher speeds.

This becomes a problem on certain roads and at certain times. After moving about 9 months ago, my new commute is a 70 mile one that includes 580 from Livermore to 880 and across the San Mateo Bridge. The 580 leg is pretty annoying because I like to cruise around 75, but often on weekdays and evenings (I go home around 10pm) the average speed out there seems to be at least 80. I general never ride slower than the average speed of traffic so this means I'm usually going 85 most of my ride back. I occasionally see what looks like newer riders trying to go 65ish and I cringe when I see huge SUVs and other ragey looking cars ripping around and past them with a 15-20mph speed delta and often rapidly changing lanes to all try and get ahead of each other. If I were a new rider again, I would avoid 580 like the plague. Thankfully I had 280 to learn on which seems a lot more timid now.

Freeways are dangerous and I feel like even though I have been navigating them successfully most of my life, I hate the prospect that coming off your bike is like rolling the dice for death. The freeway is MUCH less forgiving than city streets when it comes to that.

Total agree, Ride safe, Ride smart. :ride:ride:ride

 

[hobzinho]

those first few
months of commuting were some of the highest risk riding I ever did.

The first few months of riding are the highest risk riding anybody does - anywhere!

And riding on the freeway now in traffic is still very high risk.

The day I stop being scared is the day I should stop riding to work on a bike.

Riding a motorcycle anywhere is a high risk activity. Full stop! Some of the particular risks may vary from freeway to surface road to...but riding is just plain dangerous. The only way to ride "safely" is to commit to respecting the danger every time we mount up, and commit to constantly learn, improve and stay focused.

I am the noob of whom you speak. All my life on 2-wheels but only a few months on a motorcycle. In the past few months I've logged about 1500 miles on surface roads urban and suburban, freeways both congested and not, and plenty of time on the twisties. Am I a complete idiot? (Don't answer.) Maybe, but I am learning and going out of my way to absorb as much knowledge as I can (books, courses, workshops, and advice of experienced riders. THough the last one can be the most dangerous as evidenced by all the experienced riders on this thread that completely disagree with each other.)

Freeway or not at some point your mind will start thinking about what you want for dinner, or that meeting you have tomorrow morning. It's the human condition. The key is to be aware when you're mind drifts and bring it back to the issue at hand - staying alive.

At least once a week I return to the range where I did my CMSP course to practice the drills. I am fully aware that the drills I do at 15mph will feel entirely different when the SHTF at 70mph, but that is how we develop muscle memory and reflex. If I have to stop and think about my reactions to a situation at any speed I'm screwed. So I need to burn them in. And if you're veteran, however experienced, you should continue to drill as well. What do professionals do when not competing? They practice. They never stop practicing. They're never "good enough." It's great to HAVE experience, but when you start thinking you are experienced is when you get in to trouble.

Riders love to talk about limits. Limits of skills, limits of performance, limits of traction, etc. It's a stupid discussion. Likely only top level professionals have any concept what limits on a bike are. For the rest of us, not just newbies, discovering limits on a bike generally means a trip to the hospital or the morgue. I know my bike is far more capable than I am, so I ride within what I know and try to keep learning incremental. Most importantly, I work like hell to keep my mistakes small. When I ride past a T with a car waiting to turn left in front of me, and only register the potential danger as I'm passing the intersection, I give myself a good hard mental kick in the arse. Absolutely nothing happened, but I missed it nonetheless. I tell myself not to let that happen again. I may not be so lucky the next time. Safe riding is to react as little as possible and proact as much as possible. (Yes, I know that's not a word.)

Finally, after all this verbal vomit, the question itself is entirely flawed. Where a newbie should ride is up to the individual. As a newbie I'm told I shouldn't ride the freeway. I shouldn't ride the twisties. I shouldn't ride during high traffic times. Hell, I guess I shouldn't ride. Sorry brothers and sisters, yes I should if I want to. As long as I respect the danger. The first time I rode Skyline I took the 35 curves at 20-25 and it was scary as hell. Today I'll take them at 35-40 with a big ole grin. But I actually have no desire to take them 55-60+. That is what the track is for. Never the street. I don't give a crap about finding or pushing the limits. I'm having fun and coming home at the end of the ride. I'll lane split on the freeway if traffic is stopped. If traffic is rolling at 30? I'm rolling at 30 too. When the cars stop I advance my man a few pegs. I have no respect for the motorcyclist splitting lanes at 60 when traffic is rolling at 20. And the cagers think we're all a bunch of douche bags cause of the people doing that.

Human beings are used to being at the top of the food chain. On a bike - we're nothing but prey surrounded by big, heavy, gnarly predators. It's ok to enjoy that mouthful of prairie grass, but the minute you forget about that lion lurking behind the tree - you're dead meat.

Be safe. Never stop being a Newbie. Never stop learning.

 

[rook2pawn]

When I ride, I try not to let my mind drift to other thoughts. I concentrate on riding. When I'm riding and notice that I'm thinking about other things instead of paying attention, I stop thinking and focus on my surroundings. Go into Zen mode. Focus on the present moment. What do I see? What do I hear? What's up ahead? How's my body position? How's my distance? Only focus on things related to riding. Once you start thinking about shit you have to do later in the day or something from work, you're not paying attention and that can be dangerous. Usually I'm in heavy traffic so it is pretty easy for me to stay focused.

- i really like this quote from a ride apart

i just started my daily commutes across back and forth from the east bay to SF via the bay bridge and the 80.. fairly new freeway rider.. talk about baptism by fire, my experience level has gone way up after a few weeks of that!

But what I think is the most dangerous thing isn't one's skill level per se, but inattention. no matter how much skill you have, or how fast your reactions are, or how good your scan/evaluate/respond thinking processes are, but half a second of inattention, say a glance to the left that lasts half a second too long because of some stress at the office, basically anything that makes you zone out for even a couple hundred of milliseconds is acutely dangerous!

You could literally have the skills and talent of Valentino Rossi, but if you zone out for even a second, that surprise brake light in front of you could be too late. Wondering what people do to focus on STAYING focused and eyes on the road? Is this why people in moto vlogs talk back and forth to the traffic as if in a literal conversation, to keep them engaged and constantly focused?

 

[louemc]

I hit the freeway for the first time last weekend - passed my drive test and decided to take the freeway home. Now I've been riding since I was 18, but not in this country, and not at freeway speeds. 65 mph with fierce winds was freaky and not at all enjoyable - and this without too many cars. Didn't help that it was extra windy that day. I'm thinking that a windshield, even if it is small, might help a bit. Anyone here care to comment how handling will be affected by a windshield?

"a windshield"is too vague to have any meaning.

Extra windy, isn't specific, and the road/traffic conditions come in as well.

 

[louemc]

I think aggressive really translates into being very decisive with your choices. No hesitation and quick execution of the maneuver. This may lead to some aggressive moves that are necessary in certain cases.

It isn't "aggressive" when You ride right... See what has to be done, and calmly tell Your bike to do it.

Problem with near every pavement rider, is they never learned how to ride a bike..
And they are believing they can handle whatever comes up.

Course in the nano second of things going bad (before the crunch sounds arrive), it is Too Late to learn.

 

[Cincinnatus]

There's a significant difference between aggressive & assertive.

Aggressive is trouble waiting to happen.

Assertive is owning your chunk of the road while you're on it and ensuring you're seen (if you want to be seen) and recognized as a motorist that knows what's necessary.