Riding Right

Two women who recently passed the MSF class ask how to overcome their nervousness about venturing out on their own, and wonder what motorcycle to buy.

As a therapist and hypnotist I have a problem with a certain old biker adage. Most motorcyclists have heard it. “There are two types of bikers. Those who have been down and those who are going down.” From a psychological perspective this saying is potentially dangerous as it could create what clinicians call a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Starting out on a hill can be tricky. Have you ever been stopped on a hill behind a truck or car that has rolled backward toward you? Its a little unsettling. Vehicles with manual transmissions may roll back from a dead stop on a hill. And motorcycles are no exception.

The friction zone is the small wonder in the big world of motorcycling. Youll use it every time you ride. But how do you find it?

In the Basic RiderCourse, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) describes total stopping distance as three separate components. The first, Perception Distance, is the distance the bike travels from the time something is present until you perceive the need to brake.

Unless youve learned the hard way (youll know if you did), most riders dont know how to pack gear on their motorcycle properly. Stability and steering, not to mention safety, are seriously compromised when you load a bike improperly.

The only way to be sure your motorcycle is road ready is by performing a pre-ride inspection before every ride. It only takes a few minutes to look things over and check things out. A pre-ride inspection should become as automatic as watching the weather forecast or grabbing your gear.

Most riders say cornering is the one aspect of motorcycling that is different than driving a car. This is at the core of what differentiates motorcyclists from four-wheeled motorists. Going around a curve on a motorcycle is unique. As a single-track vehicle, it turns by leaning. A skilled rider on a late model sportbike might tell you that riding through curves on a twisty road is more like banking an airplane than driving a car.

To ride a motorcycle, youre going to have to do some posturing. Riding postures are dictated by two main factors—the design of your bike and the build of your body—both of which can be modified, but only to a point. Sit on as many bikes as possible to find the right combination to fit your needs.