Motorman’s Tips, Tricks and Techniques

                       When it comes to excuses for not having the ability to properly control a motorcycle, I thought I’d heard it all. Everything from, “My bike won’t do that.” to “What’s wrong with duck walking the bike?” to “So what if I have to ride three miles out of my way to avoid a U-turn?” and on and on. Here comes Mr. Schmedlap (Name changed to protect the, not-so-bright) who sent me an e-mail that states in short, I got your Ride Like a Pro DVD. Its okay, but I just want to know how to ride my new Street Glide like the average rider. It’s my 5th Harley but also the heaviest. I want to know the stuff the average rider needs to know. I’ve ridden for years, and I’ve never had to make a figure 8 on Main Street.
            Thankfully, this is the only letter of its kind I’ve ever received. Mr. Schmedlap is the first person I’ve ever heard whose goal is to be average. Why would he buy a DVD entitled Ride Like a Pro if he wants to be average? How could he have owned 5 bikes, ridden for years and be anything less than average?
            To understand what Mr. Schmedlap is really saying read between the lines. He is really saying, “I’m very lazy. I won’t put in the few hours of practice it will take to learn the proper techniques. I want it handed to me on a silver platter with no effort whatsoever on my part.” Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen in the real world.
            Let’s talk about the average rider. The average rider rides using instinct, even if they have taken a MSF Beginners course if they haven’t practiced what they learned, the average rider will revert back to instinct. The problem is when riding a motorcycle, your instincts are completely wrong. Instinct says if someone pulls out in front of you, slam on the rear brake and look at that vehicle you don’t want to hit. The rear tire locks up, the bike low sides, and you slide into that vehicle. It occurs every day. The rider who has trained in proper techniques either applies both brakes and stops quickly or looks for the escape path by leaning the bike, swerving around the obstacle.
            In my DVD is an exercise called the ‘offset cone weave’ which duplicates the quick left to right transition needed in this situation. It takes only 30 minutes to master. I also show several brake, then swerve, exercises. Again, 30 minutes and you’ve got it down. The average rider must depend on dumb luck since they never practice evasive maneuvers, let alone braking exercises.
            Look at the average rider in a less threatening scenario: Average rider is maneuvering through a crowded parking lot packed with rows of bikes. To exit the lot a 90 degree left turn and then a quick right turn is needed. Average rider lets the clutch out all the way, meaning the slightest throttle movement will cause the bike to leap forward. Instinct tells him to drag his feet for balance and to look at the ground in front of the bike. At the first 90 degree turn, he’s going too fast. He tries to turn the bars and grabs the front brake at the same time and goes down with the bike. Since his feet were dragging he couldn’t use the rear brake nor could his dangling feet hold up his weight, the bikes weight, plus the weight of the momentum. 
            The trained rider on the other hand, uses the friction zone and drags the rear brake a little. He then uses the head and eyes technique, looks only where he wants to go and like magic, his hands follow his eyes and the bike maneuvers with ease through the maze of obstacles.
            In Florida, though we don’t have many winding roads, failure to negotiate a curve is still the most common crash that involves only the rider. This happens because the average rider tends to look at the line on the road, an oncoming car, or the guard rail. Since your hands follow your eyes, the average rider heads right at the thing he doesn’t want to hit. He or she then panics, jams on the brakes and that causes a low side crash.
            The trained rider knows how to use his head and eyes and focuses on the end of the turn as far ahead of the bike as possible. If the trained rider entered the curve a little too fast, all he has to do is push a little harder on the grip. That causes the bike to lean more and tightens up the turn radius. My Ride Like a Pro video shows several counter steering exercises. These exercises force you to use head and eyes and show you how easy it is to make the bike lean and turn at higher speeds.
            Mr. Schmedlap, I don’t believe you want to be an average rider. In fact, if you’re having problems handling your heavyweight Harley, you already are the average rider.
            The trained rider who knows and has practiced the proper techniques handles any bike with ease and is in complete control of the motorcycle. To test your ability, try turning a 24 foot figure 8. If you can’t, you’re an average rider. The trained rider can do it easily, and the true pro can do it in only 18 feet, just as I show in my video.