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10 Ways to "Look" Like a Pro

Look where you want to go!
Linda Blair, The Exorcist?

No doubt that being able to quickly and precisely flick a motorcycle into a corner can make you a cornering hero. However, the physical act of cornering is only one aspect of cornering mastery. Safe and skillful cornering also requires that you gather information about the corner—information gathered through your eyes.
The Eyes Have It
When cornering, your eyes alert you to any obvious hazards, help you determine how tight the curve is and allow you to identify any corner characteristics that might affect your safety. But, simply looking ahead isn’t enough to get the information you need. There is a difference between “Looking” and “Seeing”. Also, how you look is critical. A lazy gaze will get you nowhere fast. Aggressively scanning and searching for specific targets is much more effective.
Linda Blair head turn.
Look well ahead.

1. Look well ahead

The first thing to do is get your eyes up! The earlier you spot a hazard or identify a corner’s characteristics, the less likely you are to act out of panic.
Looking well ahead also reduces “speed anxiety” by slowing down the landscape. A slower perceived rate of speed offers a greater feeling of control and minimizes the effects of speed-induced anxiety.
When cornering, look as far ahead as you can, all the way to the corner’s exit if possible.
How far ahead you are able to see depends largely on the environment. You can scan to the horizon in corners that are open, flat and unobstructed. However, in forested or hilly locations you will encounter many blind corners that provide little sight distance. This lack of visual lead time can make it difficult to see unexpected roadway hazards until it is too late.

2. Match Your Speed to Your Visual Distance

Ride at a speed that matches the amount of visual lead time you have. If you are riding too fast to process the information, you will be behind the eight ball and not have enough time to react.
There are often roadside objects that hide critical information. Always enter turns at a speed that takes into account the lack of visual information and allows you ample time and space to avoid whatever might be around the bend.

3. Identify the Right Entry Speed

Skillful cornering requires accurate visual information about a corner’s radius, camber and surface quality so you can determine the right entry speed.
A too-fast entry speed is responsible for the majority of single-vehicle crashes as the panicked rider target fixates and runs off the road or grabs the brakes and crashes. Use visual information to determine whether your pace is within your comfort zone.

There's a lot to look for on the street.
There’s a lot to look for on the street.

4. Identify visual clues

By looking well ahead you can evaluate a corner’s unique characteristics and come up with a cornering plan. Certain roadside features can help you identify a corner’s character and allow you to establish a plan to help you decide what line you’re going to take and where you’re going to get on the gas.
One useful visual target that helps you make this plan is the “vanishing point” where the white painted fog lines or painted centerline visually converge.
On the track, there are no lines, so use the edges of the pavement. How soon the lines or pavement edges converge in the distance help to determine how tight a corner is and which way the surface slopes.
If the lines or pavement edges converge in the near distance, then you can count on a tightening corner radius. On the other hand, a distant vanishing point indicates a larger radius or a curve that is ending.
This information can also help you determine road camber or slope. When a road is positively banked, the road edges do not come together right away.

Look where you want to go.
Look where you want to go.

5. Look in the direction you want to go

Looking where you want to go can help direct your motorcycle through the turn. This is commonly known as “visual direction control”. Visual direction control is essentially your eyes telling your mind where you want the motorcycle to go next.
When cornering, point your eyes to the corner’s exit to help direct your motorcycle on the desired path. Riders who discover the benefits of looking well ahead when cornering often comment on how much easier their motorcycle seems to turn.

6. Keep your vision wide and your eyes moving

Your eyes must move quickly between the corner locations while at the same time scanning for surface hazards. Keep the majority of your vision well ahead into the corner, however you may need to look down briefly to monitor the surface condition as it nears. Do this by using quick downward glances.
Continually gather information from near and far with upward and downward, and side-to-side search pattern. Scan aggressively to gather as much information as you can about the road surface and corner characteristics. Finally, look through the turn to the exit and identify what is in store farther up the road.

Always be looking for reference points when riding on the track.
Always be looking for reference points when riding on the track.

7. Look for Reference Points

Reference points help you place your tires exactly where you need them to be. Reference points are somewhat less helpful or necessary on the street, because speeds are low where precision is less critical.
But on the racetrack where you visit each corner many times a day and where the speeds are much greater, reference points are critical and a relatively small miscue  can result in an off-track excursion.
Once you establish the best cornering line, you can then use reference points to make sure you are always on that line lap after lap. Cones, pavement stains and cracks, as well as distant visual targets (trees) can all be effective reference points.

8. “Ratchet” Your Eyes

To make visual direction control work for you, look into the curve and then continue to move your vision along the desired cornering path all the way to the corner exit as though your eyes are pulling the motorcycle through the turn.
Your eyes cannot help but stop to focus on small targets as you scan ahead. Look around the room, trying to not have your eyes “flick” slightly as you scan. You can’t. So let this natural occurrence work for you.
Imagine your eyes moving through a corner in a sort of ratcheting way, very briefly noticing visual targets and reference points along the way. Put all these “dots” together to make a smooth corner.

9. Look at the solution, not at the problem

Visual direction control can work for or against you. It can work against you if your eyes fix on a hazard that you need to avoid, which is what we tend to do under threatening situations. “Target Fixation” is the term used to describe this response. The problem is that if you look at a hazard, such as a patch of sand or the edge of the road, you will likely end up riding directly toward it.
If a panicked rider were able to keep his vision and attention focused on the corner’s exit he will have a fighting chance of making it. I’ve seen time and again riders who give up on making a corner even when the bike is capable of leaning further and completing the turn. Focus on the solution, not the problem!
The same goes with passing on the racetrack. If you fixate on the tail of the rider ahead you will have a harder time getting by. But, if you look past the slower bike and trust your peripheral vision to monitor the slower bike, then you can dispatch the backmarker much more easily.

10. Practice Your Visual Skills

Avoiding target fixation is easier said than done, because we are naturally wired to closely monitor threats with our eyes. It is therefore important to train yourself not to do what comes naturally and instead look away from a threat.
On your next ride, consciously look away from road surface obstacles, such as a manhole cover, pothole or road kill and look toward an escape route. Continue to increase awareness of this problem and practice to make the solution second nature.
When it comes to cornering, consciously look farther ahead. And don’t just look, but see the information that is most meaningful.
On the track, look farther ahead. If an obstacle, such as airfence, or a cresting hill blocks your view, look “through” it so your eyes are where you need them to be in the next second when the obstacle is no longer in the way.
What visual techniques have you discovered that help you?

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How to Save a Front Tire Slide

Sometimes it's not possible to save it.
Sometimes it’s not possible to save it. www.motorcyclistonline.com

Is it possible to not crash when you experience a front tire slide? Maybe.
Both of my recent track crashes were the result of a sliding front tire (both were caused by me asking too much of a cold front tire). Sometimes it happens too quickly for you to respond. But, sometimes there is enough time to perform a maneuver that just may save you from a fall.

Survival Instincts Are a Bitch

Let’s say you are rounding a curve and the handlebar starts to feel vague in your hands. At the same time, your proprioceptors (aka kinesthetic sense) tell your brain that balance is being compromised.
Your brain is alerted to the threat and triggers your muscles to tense. The rush of panic and muscle tension happens in an instant. Many riders end up on the ground because their survival instincts cause them to overreact and make matters worse.

Saving the Front in a Corner

I’ve got bad news for you, that vagueness you feel at the handlebars is your front tire losing traction. This is bad, because a front tire slide is one of the most difficult situations to recover from. When cornering, the front tire is responsible for both lateral grip and direction control (steering). More times than not, front tire traction loss is the result of asking too much of the tire. Side forces from cornering, in combination with cold rubber and perhaps contaminated pavement is an easy recipe for tire slip.
When the front tire loses grip, it “tucks” underneath the bike and throws the bike and rider violently to the ground. But, is it possible to save yourself from falling?
To help the front tire regain traction (or at least not lose any more grip) you must first not add to the problem. This means staying relaxed (Good luck with that). With light handlebar pressure, the tire and suspension can work fluidly to manage surface irregularities.
If you tense on the bars, you will put stress on the front tire and risk pushing the tire over the limit of grip. Whatever you do, avoid trying to countersteer the bike into a deeper lean.
Assuming you can remain somewhat relaxed and neutral, the next thing to do is to relieve the work the front tire is doing. To do this, get on the throttle! I know, it’s counter-intuitive, which is why it’s not easy to do. But gassing it transfers load from the overworked front tire to the rear tire.This allows the front rubber to halt its lateral slide and keep rolling.
Yes, you will probably run wide, but hopefully you have enough road/track to let this happen. You can minimize this drift by using moderate throttle application to save the front tire slide. Just don’t goose the throttle so hard that you careen off the road or track or spin the rear tire.

Uphill Unload

A fellow instructor pointed out a caveat  to the common cornering situation. Dan mentioned what can happen to traction when you are going uphill. He witnessed a fellow rider (with a passenger) lose the front and crash in front of him just as the crashing rider was getting on the gas. Why would this happen if what I say about relieving stress on the front tire is true?
The likely explanation is that the uphill slope, in combination with the weight of a passenger and the application of a bit too much throttle, unloaded the front tire too much. He probably also added a bit of steering input that tucked the front tire beneath him. The lesson is that load management and traction management go hand in hand and you need to develop a keen sense of how various factors can affect tire load and grip.

The Knee Save

For those who are accustomed to dragging knee, it is possible to relieve front tire stress by levering the bike with your knee. Anything you can do to take pressure off the front tire will help the tire regain grip.

Saving the Front While Braking

The other way to experience a front tire induced crash is to overbrake so you skid the front tire. This can happen whether you are upright or leaned. If this happens, get off the brake, NOW! This will let the front wheel roll again so you can regain control. Then get back on the brakes (you were braking for a reason, right?). But, this time squeeze the front brake progressively. You can still brake really hard (less so if you are leaned), but it must be done gradually to allow time to put load on the front tire, which increases traction.

Practice? Really?

It takes a good amount of skill and presence to control front tire skids. Like all other tricky situations, practice and experience increases the chance that you can act correctly and save a crash. Practice? How? Ride in the dirt, my friend! Pushing the front tire is a regular occurrence when riding on loose surfaces. Learning to control slides in the dirt is less risky than suddenly needing to manage a slide on your street bike. With this experience, you can train and condition your mind and muscles to react properly when a slide happens.
The other way to train yourself to react properly is to push your bike hard enough to get it to happen. I don’t recommend this, because front tire slides can easily go wrong. But, if you eventually go fast enough at track days or when racing, you will inevitably experience the vague feeling of your front tire on the edge of traction loss.
DO NOT go fast enough to slide the front on the street!! You will die. On the street, it’s not likely that you will have enough time or space to pull off this hero maneuver.
What? You don’t ride on the track or in the dirt? Well, the next best way to practice is to visualize successfully performing the maneuver. Imagine yourself cornering hard, feeling handlebar vagueness and then gradually rolling on the throttle as needed to drift the front. It’s not ideal, but it’s the best way to prepare for saving a front tire slide.

Me and the ZX6R Monticello, NY.
When you corner hard, you have to expect slides.

Expect It

Another way to prepare for front tire slides (and many others) is to expect them to happen. This pertains to all times when you are in traction-reduced situations, including when cornering or braking hard.
Have you experienced a front tire skid or slide? If so, how did that work out for you?

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5 Bad Habits You Must Fix, NOW!

Crash-SignNo matter how “good” a rider you are, it’s likely that you have at least a few bad habits and attitudes. Poor habits and dangerous perceptions can develop over time without us even knowing it. That is, until we experience a close call or crash. Let’s take a look at a few bad habits that many riders possess.

1. Believing You’re a Better Rider than you Are

A lot of RITZ blog readers would be considered “experienced” riders. But, the truth is that experience alone does not make you a proficient rider. I can’t begin to count how many so-called experienced riders I’ve encountered who demonstrate a significant lack of proficiency. Unfortunately, unless the rider admits that he or she has a problem and asks for advice, their poor riding will continue indefinitely and ultimately lead to a mishap.
Unsolicited advice usually is not appreciated, so knowledgeable riders are reluctant to share their wisdom to the riders who need it most. Attempts to enlighten the problem rider often results in exclamations about how many years of riding experience they have and that they know all they need to know to get by…never really knowing the danger they are in.
The solution? First, take a good look in the mirror. What skills are you lacking? (I’m sure there are many, but let’s stick with motorcycle-related skills for now). Next, get the knowledge and training you need to bring all of your skills up to snuff. Thirdly, remind yourself that what skills you have are perishable and need to be kept fresh.
Promise yourself that you will purposefully practice braking, turning, and swerving. It doesn’t have to take a lot of effort to keep skills sharp. Learn about proper cornering technique and then practice it on your Sunday rides. And be sure to learn about all the ways to keep yourself safe in traffic and practice on your way to work every day. Over time, you just might become as good as you think you are.

Always remember that you are vulnerable...and hard to see.
Always remember that you are vulnerable…and hard to see.

2. Forgetting You Are Vulnerable

Experience can often lead to complacency. If you ride many miles without an incident, you are at risk of thinking that riding a motorcycle is not as dangerous as it’s made out to be. This perception leads to many crashes and fatalities. Complacency and overconfidence can occur when you don’t recognize subtle signals that indicate just how close you are to catastrophe.
Get into the habit of recognizing clues that should alert you to threats. Make a concerted effort to scan the landscape and roadway for anything that can turn into a hazard, such as a reflection on the windshield of a car that is rolling toward you. Ask yourself whether the driver sees you and what are the chances that he will accelerate in front of you.
Evaluate each clue to determine whether you can reliably read what is being communicated. For instance, direct eye contact with the driver may indicate that the he sees you, but don’t count on it!

What's around that corner?
What’s around that corner?

3. Assuming the Coast is Clear

You know what they say about making assumptions, right? “They make an ASS out of U and ME”.
One of the most problematic situations is when a motorcycle is approaching an intersection with other drivers waiting to turn left across the rider’s lane. Part of the problem is that the approach speed of a narrow vehicle is much harder to judge compared to a wide vehicle. This is why motorcyclists experience drivers “cutting them off”.
The drivers aren’t necessarily out to get you; they more likely misjudged your approach speed and thought that they had plenty of time to make the turn. The message is to never assume that a driver who appears to see you will not cut in front of you. See “The Top 2 Survival Tips That Will Save Your Life” for more on this topic.
A lot of riders also assume the coast is clear around corners. Depending on the region you ride in, many, or even most corners you encounter do not provide a clear view of the corner exit. Hillsides, vegetation and roadside structures all conspire to block your vision.
Too many riders approach corners at a speed that does not allow the time and space to stop or maneuver if a mid-corner hazard were present. It’s a good idea to enter blind turns slow enough so you can confidently avoid a hidden hazard. If no hazard exists, then you can roll on the throttle and accelerate safely though the turn with no drama.

Caroline
Caroline wears ATGATT

No Gear=Greater Risk of injury
No Gear=Greater Risk of injury

4. Not Wearing ATGATT

ATGATT is an acronym that stands for “All The Gear, All The Time”.  MY definition of “All the gear” means helmet, appropriate eye protection, jacket and pants with protective armor, gloves, and over-the-ankle boots. The obvious reason for buying and wearing all this gear is for protection in the event of a crash. Since motorcycle riders don’t have bumpers, airbags, crumple zones and safety glass surrounding us, we must wear our protection.
Unfortunately, way too many motorcyclists choose not to wear full protective gear. In states where helmet laws are enforced, riders are compelled to wear this most important piece of protective gear, but helmet choice states leave the option of helmet use to the rider. Whether you agree with helmet laws or not, it’s hard to dispute the benefits of having a helmet strapped to your head when you and your bike separate at speed.
Currently, no states require any other protective gear to be worn, with the exception of eye protection. This means that you can ride legally in a tank top, shorts and sandals. Good luck with that.
The reasons why riders do not wear protective gear often include image, peer pressure (you gotta look cool), and cost. But, there is plenty of inexpensive protective gear that meet most rider’s fashion sensibilities while providing decent protection (at least for a single crash).

Both speed and lack of visibility caused this crash.
Both speed and lack of visibility caused this crash.

5. Being an Idiot

This topic can cover a lot of ground, but let’s focus on your attitude when you ride. This pretty much means riding with your head securely screwed onto your neck. Letting destructive influences like ego, peer pressure, intoxication, and distraction make decisions for you will eventually lead to a hospital visit. So, just say no to stupidity. ’nuff said.
What would you add to this list of bad habits?
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It's Easy to Ride a Motorcycle Really, Really Fast

KenMOtard-Rain
giddyup

Whenever I tell people I ride a motorcycle on a racetrack, the first question they usually ask is “How fast do you go?”
I invariably begin my answer with “Depends”. No, not the product found in your grocer’s personal hygiene aisle (although there have been times when I coulda used one under my leathers). I tell people that it depends on which racetrack I am riding and how long the straightaways are.
Since my partners in conversation are looking for a wildly high number that satiates their need for sensationalism, I tell them the highest speed I have ridden on a racetrack…155 mph. That was the indicated speed on my 05 ZX6R with stock gearing while going FLAT OUT on a very long straight at the Monticello, NY racetrack.
“You ride at 155 mph?!” Their judgement of my lack of sanity is usually pretty transparent. But, not all people judge me negatively. Many seem to revel in the fact that they can now tell their friends that they met someone who defies all reason by going really, really fast on a motorcycle. I ego-maniacally imagine myself being the topic at many a dinner conversation.

Fast is Cake

The fact is that reaching top speed in a straight line is a piece of cake. The way a motorcycle works, the faster you go the more stable it becomes. You’ve probably seen video of racers who get ejected from their bikes, but the motorcycle stays upright even without the rider in the saddle. The reason the bike stays upright on its own is because of the many factors associated with motorcycle dynamics…gyroscopic precession, inertia, trail, etc.
This is why riding a bike fast in a straight line is easy.

Going Fast and Surviving

Going really, really fast is not as simple as twisting the throttle all the way (actually, it is, but you just might not get the chance to do it a second time if you don’t know what you’re doing).
Even bone-headed people with no business riding a motorcycle can do it. Unfortunately, many end up on the next morning’s obituary page.
The first thing to do to avoid calamity is to choose where you ride fast. Smart people figure out that the street is NOT that place. Those riders know that the place to ride fast is on the racetrack. No, you don’t have to race to ride on a racetrack. Yes, it costs money to do a track day or to race. Riding on the street is mostly free, but fast riding on the street is a false economy. Just one wrong move and you could find yourself wrapped around a sign post or wedged underneath a guardrail. And the future of your bank account and license are in grave jeopardy if you get caught going really, really fast on the street.

Being able to brake before a corner makes going fast possible.
Being able to brake before a corner makes going fast possible.

It’s not the speed that kills you, it’s the sudden stop.

No matter where you ride fast, you need to know how to do it without scaring the pee or poo out of yourself (see comment on the personal hygiene in the earlier paragraph). This requires you to be confident that you can control all that speed before you careen off the track (or road) in a flaming ball of glory. Braking skill is deliberately developed over time. Brake control, visual acuity, speed perception and timing all need to be at their best to manage really, really fast speeds.

Cornering is what takes skill.
Cornering is what takes skill.

Cornering is Funner

Going fast is indeed easy, but I’ll tell you what is hard…cornering. What interested people should be asking is, “How fast are you going in the corners?” Cornering at 45 degrees of lean angle with your knee skimming along the pavement at anywhere from 40 mph up to 100 mph (or more, depending on the corner) is something to be impressed about.
Fast is fun, but cornering fast is funner.
Until next time…Go FLAT OUT.
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New Bike, New Track

It’s hard enough to get accustomed to a new-to-you bike, but throw in a new-to-you racetrack, and things can get interesting. It’s kinda like patting your head while rubbing your tummy in a circular manner (I’m pretty good at that, BTW). Normally, I get up to speed fairly quickly when I ride a new track, evaluating each corner for its character: radius, camber, and whether it is an “entry” turn or an “exit” turn. But, it took me longer than normal to sort out the Barber track, mostly because the track consists of blind corners and a layout that is somewhat complex.
This means that it took a few sessions to not feel lost. I would be asking myself, “Wait, is this that tight turn or is it that turn that opens up?”.
Add to that the need to acclimate to a new-to-me motorcycle and the first day at Barber had me not exactly feeling Stig-like. The second day was much better.

Which way do I go?
Which way do I go? Notice the fogging face shield.
Copyright Raul Jerez / Highside Photo

Learning the Barber Motorsports Rollercoaster

I could tell you all the super-secrets I use to learn new tricks, but I would be repeating myself, because I already wrote a lengthy article on tips for learning new tracks on the Tony’s Track Days website. Read it HERE. Share any other tips you have in the comments below.
Even with my book of tricks in mind, I had a harder than normal time figuring out Barber. Now, to be fair to myself and to put things into perspective (lest you thought for one minute that I wasn’t awesome from the start), I was going respectably fast in the Advanced group after the first session. However, my standards for pacing with the fast guys made me rather discouraged. I know many of you slowpokes are used to being passed by half of whatever group you ride in, but I am not (just kidding). But, even after the third session, I was feeling a bit too much like I should be in the Intermediate group.
This would not do, so I consulted with Tony and my faster peers from New England and discovered that I was slowing too much for a few corners and not getting on the gas nearly early or hard enough. The last two sessions were better, as I started identifying the problem corners and applying some of the reference points Tony and the others were using.

Mother Nature's Tire Warmers
Mother Nature’s Tire Warmers

Sunday morning was 25 degrees F, so we substituted the frozen on-track festivities for a walk around and some bench racing around the tire warmers. Tony and I didn’t bring tire warmers, so we opted for Mother Nature’s warmers, which worked surprisingly well (at least on one side of the tires). After lunch, the temps got up to a whopping 35 degrees, so we pulled on our leathers and hit the track.
Nippy fingers and a fogging face shield told me to take it slow, but after a few laps, it became apparent that the track itself had some grip. Since it was 70 degrees only a few days before we arrived, the ground wasn’t nearly as cold as the air and the asphalt was well over 50 degrees…not great but acceptable.
Let the fun begin. The rest of Sunday was a blast. I started getting up to speed hooking up with Keith, Woody, and Rich. Tony, Adam and Aaron were too fast for me.  See the videos HERE.
But, wait! There is more to this story, so read on.

The ZX6R owenstrackdayphotos.com
The ZX6R
owenstrackdayphotos.com

A New Bike

If you’ve been reading the RITZ blog at all you probably know that I sold my most-awesome ZX6R for a Triumph Street Triple R. I really didn’t want to sell the ZX, but a medical issue required me to make the switch from a crouched racer posture to an upright naked posture (oh, grow up).
The differences between the ZX6 and the Street Triple’s spanned only a few areas: handling, gearing, power characteristics, body position, throttle response, drive timing, front tire grip, footpeg feel, shifting ease, wind noise, and color (I wonder how the Striple would look painted Kawi Green).
With all these things to adjust to, it took me most of the first day to get a good session in.

Is this bike twerking? Copyright Raul Jerez / Highside Photo
The new bike.
Copyright Raul Jerez / Highside Photo

Where’s the Power?
In a nutshell, I wished the 675 had more power. I know, I know power just masks poor riding. But, it also is very useful when trying to pace with the big boys.
The Triple doesn’t drive nearly as hard as the ZX636, so I needed to learn to ride the bike more like a small displacement bike, like a SV. To get the bike out of corners and reach acceptable speed on the straights, I needed to go from cracking the throttle to Wide Open Throttle (WOT) immediately to get the drive I wanted. I found myself using full throttle a lot. The 1050 throttle tube helped make full throttle a bit quicker compared to the stock tube, but a MotinPro unit may find its way onto the Triple’s handlebar end fairly soon.
Why is my Bike Twerking?
OK, so power was down, but that is something I found to be rather fun to manage. Full throttle is never boring. I even think I could have kept with Tony if the bike had better manners in the handling department. Don’t get me wrong, for most riders, the Street Triple R’s fully adjustable fork and shock would be awesome, especially for street duty. The bike never scared me, but I was pushing the bike fairly hard and found the bike wanting to wiggle like Miley Cyrus when cresting the turn 3 hill at full honk. I never felt as if I could drag a knee over that hill with the way the Striple was Twerking beneath me.
Perhaps there was some more adjustments that could have tamed the beast, but the temperatures were so low and the oil so thick that any adjustments would probably not net any real benefit, so I left the adjusters at the Loudon settings and dealt with it. Peter at Computrack Boston will be receiving my forks and order for a new shock by the end of the year so I can have more range of adjustment to suit my style.

In a future post, I will talk about my experience as a track day customer, as opposed to an administrator/instructor. I made note of several areas that helped me better relate to track day customers I work with. Stay Tuned.

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Ask Me How I Know- Epoisode 1: Tire Terror

I can imagine that a lot of fellow riders who know me may have a hard time imagining me screwing up. This is because unless you’ve actually seen me screw up, you’re left with a somewhat unreal impression of me as a competent, knowledgeable motorcycle rider who does no wrong. After all, I can talk about advanced riding concepts with a tone of confidence and I ride well enough to back up the impression that I know what I’m talking about.
Well, at the risk of sounding arrogant (am I too late?), I do think I have earned a place at the table with some accomplished motorcycle riding pros. I’m not the fastest guy or the most eloquent, but I have a knack for communicating practical knowledge, both in print and in person.
But, the fact is that a lot of my knowledge has come from some epic screw ups. Let’s step into the way-back machine and re-experience a near-death experience when I was 16 years old.

Don't let this happen to you.
Don’t let this happen to you.

Tire Terror

It was 1976 and I was riding my 1973 Yamaha TX650 behind some friends in their car. Being a teen whose awesomeness was never fully recognized, I took the opportunity to show my four-wheeled friends what coolness looks like, so I accelerated past them to an indicated 100mph. Just before I reached the end of the straight, the Yamaha started wobbling and weaving so violently that I couldn’t make the right-hand turn that was inconveniently placed at the end the straightaway.
What happened next is a bit of a blur, but I somehow stayed upright in a drainage ditch, threaded between a row of telephone poles and trees, and landing upright on someone’s driveway with my heart pounding out from under my Sears windbreaker. My friends drove up and stopped with mouths wide open. With a “I meant to do that” swagger, I rode home at under the speed limit. Later, I asked my brother what could have caused the problem. After a little investigation we determined that  my bald no-name rear tire was likely to blame.
The Lesson: When you ride on a bald rear tire, keep it under 100 mph. Naw, just kidding. How about, always have new tires so you can go 100 mph anytime you want. Wait, that’s not quite right either. I know! Replace your tires before they reach the tread wear indicators so they don’t cause you to have a near death experience. We’ll go with that.

Stay Tuned for Part 2 for more fun when I reveal how being a good Samaritan exposed me to another near death experience.
Learn from my experiences by ordering the book.

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The Key to Motorcycle Safety (and Fun)

What kind of attitude about safety does this suggest?
What kind of attitude about safety does this suggest?

It’s probably not what you think.
You wouldn’t be alone if you thought that the most important part of riding a motorcycle is to learn the physical skills, such as braking, cornering, slow speed maneuvers, and perhaps swerving. While those are very important skills to master, it is the mental skills that are the most critical skills to develop when it comes to reducing injuries and death. And the most important mental skill of all is attitude.

Wait, what?

Yes, in my opinion attitude is the most critical thing to get right; before cornering, or braking, or strategies for managing traffic. Attitude colors the relationship a rider has with motorcycling. A positive and committed attitude toward safety needs to be established from the start and maintained throughout a rider’s two-wheeled career. That’s right, I said career, how’s that for a committed attitude?

Shut Up and Ride

I know that this kind of talk can be a buzz kill. I would rather ride without the need to consider the limits of the riding environment. Sometimes I just want to ride like the twisty public roads are my own personal racetrack, and there are times I just don’t want to play well with other drivers. Unfortunately, I know too many motorcycling friends who died too young to not take the limits seriously.
It’s not enough to be very skilled at controlling a motorcycle. If your attitude stinks and you can’t seem to keep a healthy balance between fun and safety, then your days on two wheels are likely numbered. So, I say Shut Up and Ride WELL!

This guy was a student of mine some years back. His attitude for learning to be the best rider he could be was contagious.
This guy was a student of mine some years back. His attitude for learning to be the best rider he could be was contagious.

The good news is that a positive, committed attitude also leads to more enjoyment and fosters the often-illusive “Zone” that most of us covet.
All photos © Ken Condon

You Have to Want It

How badly do you want to survive? Perhaps I’m being melodramatic, but it’s a serious question. When it comes to participating in a sport where people die, you owe it to your loved ones and yourself to ask that question. If the answer is “I really, really want to survive”, then do something about it.
It’s important to have excellent physical skills, such as cornering, braking and the ability to perform evasive maneuvers. However, superior mental skills prevent the vast majority of close calls and crashes. Learn to play the mental game and you’ll be a winner. Refuse to learn the tricks of motorcycle control and survival and you’ll lose.
But, it all starts with a committed attitude. Without an attitude that prioritizes risk management, then it’s unlikely that really proficient mental and physical skills will ever develop. It takes a commitment to be really good at anything, including motorcycling. Without a certain level of commitment, you can count on mediocrity. Can motorcycle riders afford to be mediocre?

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Adjusting to a New Bike- Part 3 – Power Delivery

This is number 3 in a series on adapting to a new motorcycle, whether that means borrowing a friend’s bike, swapping bikes on a ride, or adapting to a new bike. Please share your experiences in the comments section. If you’d like, read Part 1 and Part 2 to see what other challenges we often face when adapting to a new motorcycle.

Too much throttle, too quickly. photo by Tim Richer
Too much throttle, too quickly. photo by Tim Richer

You Can’t Handle all that Power

Testing the brakes is probably the first thing you should do when swinging a leg over a new bike. Many people think that power delivery is the most important thing to calibrate to, because acceleration is a more obvious and intimidating force…fewer people seem intimidated by brakes. Even though more people seem to get into trouble with unfamiliar brakes, plenty of people fail to consider what they’re in for when twisting the throttle.

Throttle Transitions

One of the most common issues I have when riding different bikes is how smooth or abrupt the power delivery is when transitioning from off-to-on throttle. This can be a serious control issue if I am at full lean. When I crack the throttle, I am looking for a smooth delivery of power. But, some bikes are not mapped (FI bikes) or jetted (carbureted bikes) correctly for a gradual, controlled transition. What I get instead is a lurch that upsets the tires and sends the bike off line. One of the worst bikes I’ve ridden was an early model Honda RC51. It took all my tricks to control that bike’s fueling (see below).
I had my mind set on buying a new Yamaha FZ-09, but after hearing about the abrupt throttle delivery, I decided on the Street Triple, which is know for decent throttle control and response. Although it could be better, IMO.
Manufacturers try to find the balance between meeting emissions requirements and acceptable performance, which means that the fueling is often too lean for good throttle control. This is where Power Commanders and other aftermarket products come in. With a little time and a laptop, you can adjust the fueling the way it should be for performance, at the expense of emissions…something the manufacturers aren’t allowed to do.

Getting on the throttle
Getting on the throttle
photo: www.owenstrackdayphotos.com

Throttle Response

Throttle response is another factor that varies from bike to bike. Throttle response is how quickly the engine responds to rider throttle inputs. A snappy response is good for sportbike riders that want immediate results to get the bike launched as hard as possible. This is especially desirable when riding on the racetrack. Many racers install quick-turn throttle housings to get to full throttle with as little wrist movement as possible.
Street riders usually want a less aggressive throttle response so that inadvertent throttle movements don’t result in unwanted acceleration. But, slow throttle response can make a bike feel sluggish, unexciting and lazy.

Managing All That Power

To get a feel for throttle response and power delivery, find a straight section of road and roll on the throttle gradually. Grabbing a handful of throttle grip could land you on your ass if the rear tire spins or if you loop it in a mondo wheelie. In either case, you now own a bike that some idiot crashed (you).
If you are testing a bike with multiple power delivery modes, you may want to set it to the “rain” mode to soften power delivery. After some time, you can try the full power modes. Apparently, the FZ-09 has acceptable throttle transitions using the least aggressive power mode, but what fun is that?

Keep your right wrist in a comfortable down position for better control.
Keep your right wrist in a comfortable down position for better control.

Throttle Tricks to Try

Here are some simple things to do to help manage throttle control:

  • Ratchet Throttle- Instead of rolling the throttle like a rheostat, move your wrist as though you are rotating through a series of “clicks”. This measures your throttle position better to help resist introducing too much throttle at one time.
  • Keep your wrist down- A comfortable wrist-down position “locks” your throttle in position and helps control throttle movements.
  • Relax- Arm tension transfers to the handlebars and handgrips.
  • Anchor your thumb- Stick your thumb out a bit to make contact with the handlebar control pod to lock your hand in place. This is especially useful when riding at slow speeds.

What experiences have you had with throttle characteristics on different bikes?
Part 1 can be found Here.
Part 2 can be found Here.

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Adjusting to a New Bike- Part 2 – Unfamiliar Brakes

Brake control
Brake control

In Part 1 of the “Adjusting to a New Bike” series, I told about the challenges I faced transitioning from my trusty 2005 Kawasaki ZX6R track bike that I had for 5 years to my new-to-me 2012 Triumph Street Triple R.
You may wonder why I think “Adjusting to a New Bike” is a topic worth spending time on. The fact is that I’ve seen and heard too many stories of people getting into trouble while trying a friend’s bike or when riding a new bike.
In this post I will talk about an issue that can lead to a crash if you’re not careful – Unfamiliar brakes.
One story I want to share involves a well-known safety journalist who took a well know safety instructor’s sportbike out and promptly totaled it. By all accounts, the reason for the crash was not a lack of skill, per say, rather it was a lack of familiarity with the power of sportbike brakes.
All photos © Ken Condon

Yikes! These aren’t my Brakes!

The journalist’s brake hand (and mind) were calibrated to a large adventure bike, not the top-spec, radial mount, four piston anchors that the sportbike was styling. All it took was a driver pulling out in front of the journalist to cause the over-braking to happen. A skid ensued, followed immediately by the sound of plastic and aluminum grinding itself mercifully into the pavement. Luckily, the rider came out of it in better shape than the bike.Photo-3-Braking_Skid
I ride a lot of different motorcycles on the street and the racetrack, one of the first things I do is test the power and sensitivity of the brakes. I squeeze the front brake a few times with varying intensity.
I don’t ignore the rear brake as I press the pedal to see if it bites too abruptly and is prone to locking (many are), or is very weak, requiring significant pressure to get any useful brake force at all.
The Street Triple is a hybrid in that the rear brake seems to be weak initially, but then grabs. This is something I discovered the first time I descended my gravel and dirt driveway. Oh, and yes, I do use the rear brake. That’s a topic for another post.

Better Braking

Two fingers or Four? I say two on most sportbikes.
Two fingers or Four? I say two on most sportbikes.

practice makes perfect
Perfect practice makes perfect habits. And habits are what you’ll fall back on in an emergency.

Besides familiarizing yourself with the brake’s feel, you should also use good brake technique (always). Determine whether you should use four fingers on the front brake or if two fingers might give you better control.
No matter how many fingers you use, be sure to always SQUEEZE the front brake lever progressively. Grabbing a handful of brake lever will lead to nothing good. It will likely skid the front tire and you will be pile-driven into an unforgiving bit of very hard tarmac or dirt.
In most cases, this happens because you didn’t give enough time for the load to transfer onto the front tire contact patch. With little load on the front tire, the powerful front brakes can easily overwhelm the available traction.
Instead of a skidding front tire, it is possible to find yourself staring at your front wheel as you get flung forward. Or you may end up doing a stoppie. However, more times than not, the front tire skids before either of these occurrences happen. To prevent a skid, always squeeze and then squeeze harder if necessary.
Part 1 – New Bike
Part 3 – Power Delivery

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Adjusting to a New Bike – Part 1

Turn 9 Loudon
Trying to figure out the Street Triple. Turn 9 Loudon
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Me and my ZX6 Monticello, NY.
My trusty and familiar ZX6R. Monticello, NY.
www.owenstrackdayphotos.com

I recently sold my trusty ZX6R for a more upright Triumph Street Triple R as my track day bike. I needed the more upright position as a way to help a chronic neck problem. The Street triple allows me to sit up when I’m working with track day customers at a slower pace. But, the upright and exposed ergonomics means I  have to hunker down to get out of the wind blast when I’m going flat out.
I’ve ridden all types of bikes on various racetracks  and usually acclimate myself pretty quickly to them. While some adjustment was not entirely unexpected, it did take a couple of sessions for me to start to get along with the ST-R.
The first track session on the Triumph was my first time riding the bike (I picked it up on my way to the track). The track was cold and a bit damp, so I took it easy. I came in at the end of that session not knowing whether or not I made a mistake buying the Triple.
The night before, fellow TTD instructor, Joel Allen helped me adjust the suspension to accommodate the bumpy Loudon circuit and then Peter Kates from Computrack Boston rechecked Joel’s work (spot on) the next day. Thankfully, I knew that suspension that is set up for going fast simply does not feel right when you’re not going fast. Riding at 60% made the bike seem like it wouldn’t hold a line. I kept hope and went out for another session. The track was warmer and so I got up to speed. Ah, that’s better. A smile was on my face at the end of that faster session.
The increased pace helped make the handling make sense, I then had to adjust to the upright riding position, which is not nearly as intuitive as a sportbike posture when riding fast. Sitting on top of a bike instead of low behind a fairing makes 120 mph a tiring experience. Transitioning my body from left to right at turn 7 and 8 at Loudon required me to use too much handlebar support while accelerating up the hill.
More rearward footpegs would be needed (I traded the stock rearsets for Daytona rearsets, which should help). Midway into the second track day of the 2-day event, I mounted Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa race tires so I could see what the bike was capable of. I was pleasantly surprised how well I got along with the Striple, with my lap times edging very close to my typical times on the ZX6R. Next stop, Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama in a couple of weeks. I can’t wait.

READ PART 2- Adjusting to a New Bike – Unfamiliar Brakes
Read all bout the track day preparation I have done to the Street triple R.

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