2Wheeltips

If you had a chance to interview a motorcycling legend, what questions would you ask?

I ask because 2wheeltips will have a rare opportunity to interview David Hough, a renowned advocate of our cause, an author of two must-reads the Proficient Motorcycling: The Ultimate Guide to Riding Well and Street Strategies: A Survival Guide for Motorcyclists, and a long-time instructor and the student of the game.

Oh, and did I mention that he is also a recent inductee into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame.  http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/halloffame.asp

The older I get (and I'm pretty darn old right now), the more my tolerance level for inattentive (now called "distracted"), rude, incompetent or just plain stupid motorists is next to zero.

When I'm driving my car it bothers me a lot but I feel I'm at least on an equal playing field (car versus car). When I'm on my bike it makes me furious because I'm at such a disadvantage and so much more vulnerable.

I'd be very interested to hear how all of you feel about this problem. Can you easily shrug off a bozo who cuts you off and go merrily on your way? or are you more like me where I'm pulling out the AK47 ? I don't want to get off track with this article as it's not about anger management due to misbehaving motorists (that's just my personal problem!!) but about identifying those motorists who are either misbehaving now (pretty easy) or have the potential to misbehave, based on their "profile", and do you serious harm.

Here is how I profile drivers I don't want to be around and it's solely based on bad experiences I've had. Just like my article on "Junkers and Clunkers" so I take the same concept in a different direction. Here is my list of drivers I avoid as each category relates to an example of a driver who has nearly ruined my day at one time or another.

• Cars full of teenagers who are more concerned about what's going on inside the car than what's ahead of them.

• Soccer Moms with the team onboard and a lot of "activity" inside the minivan or SUV.

• Senior drivers going 10 MPH under the speed limit with those dark wrap around sun glasses and a death grip on the steering wheel.

• Young men or women drivers with several toodlers or babies in child seats in the back and no other adult in the vehicle.

• Business people in their typical company cars or rental cars multi-tasking as they attempt to drive. (I saw a guy driving down I-35 in his company car and he had his laptop very professionally mounted off the dash so he could keyboard while he drove which is what he was doing when I passed him. How would you like that "over achiever" following you down the highway?)

• Any driver who is speeding, tailgating, and or weaving in and out to get that one extra car length ahead.

• Truck drivers are a mixed bag for me. They can be the most well trained, diligent and courteous drivers on the road. They can also be the the most arrogant, rude and sleep deprived. I can give examples of both extremes, and I choose to make my determination based on how they perform at the time I encounter them. My rule of thumb is to stay away from tractor trailers as much as possible for 3 reasons:

  1. First, they obscure my view big time.

  2. Second, they block other motorists from seeing me. 

  3. And third, they create air turbulence (some call it "dirty air") that buffets you around and diminishes the quality of the ride. 

Anyway, I think you get my point by now. It's not that I have a grudge against older people or young people with families or Mom's who volunteer to haul the team around. I simply don't feel comfortable riding in their vicinity (or anybody else's for that matter who is giving something less than 100% of their attention to driving the car). It's perfectly legal, I guess, because thousands of motorists do it every damn day, but it's not OK with me and if I have a choice I get the heck away as fast as possible and find friendlier company.

I pay a lot of attention to who I'm riding with because, to me, it matters. It's something I can do proactively to protect myself before the "distracted" driver puts my life at risk. We've all had close calls while riding; it's near impossible not to, with the lack of attention to the task of driving paid by many drivers today. It's a huge problem on the roads and I expect it will continue to get worse.   This is my advice on how I deal with it; hope you find it useful.

This leads me to my third and final article in this series:  How to improve your vision skills and avoid missing something that is a serious threat. VTXRon did an excellent article discussing the problem of "target fixation". This is a serious error in focusing on the problem and not the solution. Please stay tuned for my next article as I will talk about how you keep your vision open and look at the 'big picture". The next time you're out riding, notice what those drivers that are "near and dear" to you are doing and act accordingly.

Ride safe, be safe, live long, and prosper!!

I have seen several bikers videos and photos of wet t-shirt contest and it appears that the people involved are having a lot of fun and the on lookers are having fun as well. I must say that I entered the wet t-shirt riding group. When I rode out of North Carolina it was hot and the first stop that I made, I took off my t-shirt and soaked it in water and put it back on. I put on my full armor riding jacket (mess) and zipped it up. I felt like I was riding air conditioner and it felt good. This is what I did during the day all the way to Orlando, FL. When I left Orlando on my way to Weston, FL, I did the same. I really liked it the cool breeze refeshing my upper body. I kept drinking water and water and water and each time I made a pit stop it was a (hummm how do I say this) pee stop as well. When I left Weston on my way to Key West it was morning time and I did not think that I needed to soak the t-shirt so I did not. However, I found myself, later in the restroom soaking the t-shirt and riding wet and feeling the coldest touching my upper body. Well when I arrived in Key West it was hot..... I did the sightseeing that I needed and got me something to eat in a place that had the air conditioner on; and just before I got on the bike; I thought about putting water on my t-shirt. I started thinking, that I should have soaked my t-shirt in the restroom at the place where I ate and I was ready to go. I hopped on the bike and headed north about 4:30pm. The good thing is that the weather started getting cooler on the way back to my "chash station" and I did not need the wet t-shirt. The moral of the story, is each time I read the words "wet t-shirt" or see a photo of someone in a wet t-shirt, I will think of my ride to Key West, Fl riding in a wet t-shirt under a mess riding jacket and I am a member of the wet t-shirt riding group.

A new rider is faced with a tremendous number of fears: from simply stopping the bike to the dreaded left turner.  Does that guy see me or is that person going to pull out of the parking lot in front of me?  In the past few months, I have spoken with a few new riders and they all have one particular fear in common; riding at highway speeds.  What I would like to address here are some points that may help you overcome these fears. I will also compare city riding to highway riding. 

Riding on the highway is actually considerably safer than riding around your suburban neighborhood.  If you consider that every parked car is a potential threat due to your inability to see behind or in front of the car parked on the side of the road.  It is possible for a child, adult or pet to come running out from between two parked cars.  In addition, you may not see that narrow driveway beyond the car parked on your right as a car comes speeding out without looking.  Obviously the list of dangers goes on, but I think you get the idea. 

When riding on the highways, all the cars are going in the same direction at pretty much the same speed.  If you have trained yourself to look far enough ahead as well as looking on your rearview mirrors, most moving threats can be seen within enough time to react.  A benefit of being on two wheels is because you are much narrower than the cars around you, avoidance is much easier as you have a full lane to maneuver if you see someone wandering into your lane.  Here are a few tips that make my highway riding safer and have worked for me. 

Stay out of the far right lane, vehicles entering and exiting the highway tend to do so without consideration for cars let alone motorcycles.  As you pass by an exit ramp and a car on your left realizes they are about to miss their exit and do a hard right across your lane, chances are you will not live to smack the driver in the head.  When vehicles enter the highway, more cars are doing the 3 lane change direct from the onramp, again if you are in the far right lane passing the onramp and a car decides to do this without looking, it’s unlikely you will be walking away. 

Drivers today are distracted more and more by electronic devices; we all see it regularly, and those people create a larger threat to us. It’s a smart idea to give the drivers around you a quick glance to see where their attention is.  If you see drivers talking on the phone, texting or playing with their GPS, simply get away from them by slowing down, speeding up, or just changing lanes taking you out of potential harm’s way. 

Riding along the highway can be a great experience.  You get to your destinations quicker if that is your goal, you have the ability to travel much farther and[you can] explore places nowhere near your normal ride radius.  One of the most common dangers on the highway is construction.  They say there are two seasons in the northeast, construction and winter.  You will eventually find yourself in a construction zone regardless of the area you live in.  Remember to observe the speed limits and watch for areas of loose gravel and where resurfacing is taking place.  Often times you will find yourself behind dump trucks and construction equipment spewing rocks and sand in your path; use special care when following these dastardly trucks and give yourself plenty of room.  Sometimes a road crew will grind off one lane and pave another, leaving a difference of three to four inches between lanes.  I caution you to not attempt to change lanes if you see this regardless of how gouged up your lane happens to be or how tempting that fresh pavement looks.  As soon as your front tire touches that big incline, the bike will slam to the ground, and at highway speeds.  Let’s just say bad things will happen.

Keeping yourself visible is critical in maintaining a good level of safety.  It is not simply good enough to wear your big bright neon vest (if you choose to wear one), but it is more important to maintain good lane position and at the appropriate speed.  You may think that riding down the middle of the road is good enough, however it reduces your visibility to the vehicles in front of you and also helps you blend into the vehicles behind you.  In addition, by riding in the center on the lane can increase the size of your blind spot within your rear view mirrors.  I recommend riding along the wheel tracks of the four wheel vehicles on the road.  A common danger on the roads today is debris from littering, things falling off of trucks and cars as well as tire pieces from blow outs on cars and tractor trailers.  Four wheeled vehicles can straddle the debris and if you are following a little too close to the car in front of you, you will not have time to react to it.  There is less likelihood that the debris will be in the wheel track as opposed to the center of the lane.

Changing lanes can be safe or dangerous depending on how you do it and the actions you take prior to it.  When you need to change lanes, it is crucial to make certain the lane next to you is clear.  Looking in that mirror is not good enough because cars and trucks are easily missed in that blind spot.  You must look over your shoulder fully prior to that change, turn on your indicator and look again.  Now check your mirror to see if anybody decides they want to occupy that spot first by speeding up behind you. Once you have determined that you can safely make the lane change, accelerate and lean the bike to get the bike over into the lane position you want to be in.  Cancel your indicator and continue to look down the highway at a safe speed.

One trick I use while riding on the highway is that I check the distance of the front tire of the car that poses the greatest threat to me to the line between us.  I will constantly scan the road ahead and behind while continuously monitoring the distance between that wheel and the line.  If for any reason I get the suspicion that the driver is about to change lanes or veer into mine, I will hit the horn and change my position.  Obviously, we don’t want to ride in a driver’s blind spot, but with the crowded roads and highways today, sometimes we simply cannot get enough space around us.  Using good common sense and lane positioning can reduce your risks.

Your ability to juggle your attention to various threats and itemize them into what poses the greatest danger to the least and continuously shuffle them in your mind so that you can take the appropriate action is what makes an excellent motorcyclist.  It is often referred to as situational awareness and plays a huge role in motorcycle safety.  Riding down a highway at 70 mph may seem more dangerous than your neighborhood, but it doesn’t have to be.  The most difficult part is simply maintaining attention and not falling into the trap of complacency.   

Not everybody rides a one thousand pound machine that is less susceptible to crosswinds.  A small 250 cc cruiser is much lighter than a 1300 cc bike.  The weight and profile of the motorcycle do make a big difference in how the machine handles in heavy winds.  Use your judgment when choosing to take to the highways because they tend to have large spans that leave you wide open to heavy winds.  If you are faced with some severe cross winds, the key is to not over compensate for the oncoming breeze.  Simply lean the bike slightly into the wind and feel the feedback from the bike.  Generally speaking, as the gust passes, the bike will begin to steer in the direction of the lean.  You need to use small inputs into the steering of the bike to maintain your lane position and reduce the lean when you feel the wind speed drop off.  Some highways will actually issue motorcycle bans when the wind speeds are too high. 

Another thing to remember while riding the highways (or any road for that matter) is to leave your pride at home.  If you get cut off, or someone does something stupid, it will not pay to chase them down or start waving your middle finger at them.  You don’t know who the driver is or what they are capable of and you may anger them to the point of them simply driving over you.  If you think it won’t happen, you’re wrong; I know of a few people that this has happened to, and some are no longer with us.  The driver will simply say that they didn’t see you and they go home to their family, you don’t. 

I love riding the highways, I have traveled all over the Eastern United States already with my wife and we have seen some amazing things.  Because I use my motorcycle to commute to work I am forced to ride the highways daily.  While everybody in their cars complains about the commute, I will often times seek the longer route home and set the cruise control on the bike and enjoy the ride.  Sometimes it’s just nice to enjoy a long straight stretch of highway.  If you are looking to expand your riding experience to include the slab, I highly recommend going out early on a Saturday or Sunday morning when traffic is very light.  You will get a better feel for what the speed feels like without the cage around you.  Just be careful of animals like deer that may be out at those times and enjoy the ride.

One beautiful Sunday morning, I was riding with 2 other bikers.  I was the most inexperienced of the three and I rode in the middle, between my 2 friends.  We were riding a route to one of our favorite places and, as we had done many times in the past, we were on small roads that ran through quiet towns.  Sunday mornings, along this route, there is little traffic and, having dealt with traffic on major highways, I felt completely comfortable riding…perhaps a bit too comfortable.  As a novice rider, I let down my guard and took for granted that any motorists on the road with me that day would not be a threat.  Wrong!  As we passed a small business on the right, a car pulled up to the left of us (this was a two lane road, one lane in each direction…I should have known right away that something was not right).  In what seemed like a split second, the motorist made a right turn into a driveway and cut off all three of us.  My friend who was in the front of the group, a much more experienced biker than I, was able to stop on a dime.  My friend who was behind me was so far behind me that he had no problem coming to an easy stop.  I, however, hit the brakes a bit too hard and locked them up.  I never hit the car that cut me off but I did go down.  Although the windshield I had just installed on my bike cracked into multiple pieces, thanks to the fact that I was wearing full riding gear and a full face helmet, I remained in one piece and was able to get right up and walk away from the accident.  My full face helmet absorbed the impact as my head hit the ground, my padded jacket absorbed the impact as my shoulder hit the ground, and my padded riding pants absorbed the impact as my knee hit the ground.  My friends helped me get my bike upright and they tested it to make sure it was rideable.  The main damage to the bike, other than the cracked windshield, was a bent front brake lever but it wasn't bent so badly that I couldn't use it to continue riding for the day.  As I got myself up off the ground, and shook the dirt off of my riding pants and jacket, a woman came up to me to ask if I was okay.  A good samaritan, I thought….I told her I was fine and just asked if she would put my broken windshield in her trashcan, which she did.  My friends and I mounted our bikes and took off for our favorite place for breakfast, Lulu's in New Hope, PA.  We sat over breakfast talking about the idiot driver who had cut us off and, although I was sore, I had no serious injuries, just a busted ego…I was ashamed that I had not been skilled enough to stop very quickly without locking my brakes.  It was at that point that my two friends told me that the good samaritan who had asked if I was okay was actually the woman who caused the accident!  I was upset that my friends had not told me at the time that the woman offering her help was actually the one who caused the whole incident and, at the same time, I was grateful to my friends for not telling me.  I don't know what I would have said or done to her had I known, and it was just as well that I got myself straightened out and back on the road. 
Here are some of the lessons I learned that morning:
1.  Learning to stop quickly on a bike, without locking the brakes, is a skill that all bikers must master.  It is a learned skill and needs to be practiced constantly.
2.  There is no substitute for good riding gear.  Good pants and a riding jacket not only can provide padded protection but they also act as a second skin.  A full face helmet is the only type of helmet I will ever wear, even if I am only riding as a passenger on someone else's bike…the full face helmet I wore that morning prevented me from having any type of serious head or brain injury and, yes, my head hit the ground pretty hard.  The helmet took the full impact of the hit and my head felt nothing. 
3.  Once back on my bike, I did wear the helmet that I had gone down with since it was the only one I had.  However, once home, that life-saving helmet went right in the trash can and I went to the store to buy a brand new full-face helmet.
4.  Sometimes, it is better to just move on and not confront the people who caused an accident (if there was no collision between their vehicle and yours).  I was lucky enough to get up and ride away from that accident and nothing I would have said or done to that woman would have made her an instantly better driver.  She was careless once and, most likely, she will be careless again, and I am not the person who can help or change her bad driving habits.
5.  I must always prepare myself for conditions on the road that can become potentially dangerous.  I never thought that the woman who almost hit me was going to make a right turn in front of all of us….she had created an illegal lane and did not have a turn signal on….I should have been prepared for her to do anything since she was already driving carelessly.
6.  Riding with friends can truly be invaluable.  Things can go wrong when you are riding and, having riding partners with you can make the difference between being able to get back on your bike and continue your ride or being left (even temporarily) stranded.

What does it take to get into an accident while riding?

Part 1 will explore conditions that result in a rubber-side-up effect.
A facetious list of do’s to make sure we have a really bad time while riding

Part 2 will take on a more serious look at accident-survival and reflect on the best ways to have an accident.

So, what do you have to do around here to get into an accident?

1.    Make sure you ride intoxicated.
2.    Make sure your attention is elsewhere. This happens when you ride irritated, pissed off, upset over god knows what, etc.
3.    Make sure your focus is on the guy who cut you off. For every guy that cuts you off there are 10 more waiting to plow right into you. Instead, consider it a great opportunity to practice control over your emotions and maintain an indifferent state of mind.
4.    Make sure you ride stiff on the bike. Squeeze the handlebars as tightly as possible and make sure your forearms fatigue quickly and are useless for when you need them the most.
5.    Make sure you ride in people’s blind spots. Also, assume everyone can see you.
6.    Make sure you ride beyond your capabilities.
7.    Make sure you ride beyond your bike’s capabilities.
8.    Make sure you never inspect your bike. (T-CLOCS anyone?)
9.    Relax, what can happen 2 miles away from your house while picking up a loaf of bread? Turns out, everything. Most accidents happen on short rides, 5 minutes away from the rider’s house.
10.    Make sure you do not adjust for changing riding conditions. This could be anything; here are some examples: Time of day (daytime into nighttime), change in weather patterns (sunny to rain), traffic congestion (mid-day into rush hour), surface conditions (asphalt to gravel, dry to slippery, etc.) and so on.

I think we have all done at least one of these at one point or another. Is your bad habit on the list? Do share, you are amongst friends.

Next up, we will discuss the best ways of going into an accident.
I was fortunate enough to hear a few experts on this topic discuss it at some length. The panel was comprised of motorcycle racers and Hollywood stunt-men; amongst others.
I think they shared some invaluable information that I hope none of us ever need to use.

By Dino Dogan

For those of us prone to introspection, I'll bet the answers will go beyond the usual…

“Oh, I love the sense of freedom” or
“It’s the wind in the hair” or
“I like the fact that I can’t be reached on the phone” (my personal favorite), or
“It’s the rebel in me” and on and on…

I decided to dig a little deeper and this is what I found. Tell me if you agree.

A famous psychologist (as far as psychologists go, anyway), Abraham Maslow, proposed that we (humans) have various levels of needs.
This is also known as Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as published in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation.

The story goes like this.

One of the reasons we all love to ride our bikes is so that we can lay into those curves and feel the heart pumping. Even if you like to take it nice and slow while riding, a situation may present itself where you will need to make a split-second decision. So let me ask you a question:

Are you accustomed to making decisions while your heart-rate is elevated?

I know we can all be great decision makers when we have ample time to think about our options, but how are you under pressure? What kind of decision-maker are you when your heart is going boom boom boom out of your chest?

To be a great decision-maker while your heart-rate is elevated you must train under such conditions. How? Glad you asked…

All you have to do is speed-up that inner-metronome every once in a while. Go for a bicycle ride with your dog; maybe some tennis with whoever rides on the back-seat of your motorcycle; don’t forget that humans are made to run, so put on those moccasins and get out there; try my personal favorite, mixed martial arts…whatever gets your ticker in the upper register.

I wish I could say that I am some kind of genius who has figured this out all on his own; alas, that’s not the case. Those guys who make motorcycle-riding their profession figured this out a long time ago.

Of course, there will be a few other beneficial “side-effects” from all this heart-pounding. Being in better shape will allow you to ride longer if need be and will improve your overall health…it’s what I call a win-win-win.

All this talk of running, tennis and so on makes me wonder…what type of other hobbies do 2wheeltipsters like to do? What is your favorite non-bike related activity? And please don’t say “watching golf”.

There are few principals of motorcycle riding that should be everyone’s mantra this riding season. So here is a reminder that might save your ass this spring.



1.    Consider yourself invisible.
2.    Maintain at least 3 escape routes out of every situation
3.    Maintain 360 degree awareness at all times
4.    Leave enough room between you and everybody else
5.    Ride your own ride
6.    Be protected (I got my 9mm)
7.    Get to know your motorcycle…again (T-CLOCS)
8.    Ride sober, well hydrated and well rested
9.     
10.   

That’s it. What? You only counted 8? So what? You guys can add the remaining two :-)

    Have you ever been watching television where they show the camera view from the police cruiser while the cop is talking to the person he has pulled behind when suddenly the cop either narrowly escapes being struck or is hit by a passing motorist?  Or have you ever walked down a hall and caught the eye of the person coming towards you and before you know it, you are both doing the hallway shuffle in an attempt to get around each other?

 Although you may not have given much thought to the dance you do every now and then, it may have crossed your mind to wonder “how the heck, with all those lights going, did that person not see the cop car on the side of the road?”  Believe it or not, the answer is quite simply that the person did see the cop car, as you saw that person in front of you in the hall.  You looked at some part of that person, usually their eyes, and focused on them as you approached.  The driver simply locked his (or her) focus on the cop car and drove directly at it.  Our mind works in strange ways, but subconsciously when we focus on something, we tend to move in the direction we are looking at whether we are walking, driving a car or riding a motorcycle. 

When it comes to riding as beginners, we tend to over-think what we are doing because it is a new experience.  We know the dangers and listen to all the horror stories.  We focus on the things that we know could hurt us because these are the things that we want to avoid; a patch of gravel, a curb, or a vehicle we are trying to avoid. 

In Proficient Motorcycling©, David Hough states that one of the most common reactions a motorcyclist will make when confronted with a vehicle making a turn in front of them is to simply steer the bike directly into the very car they are trying to avoid.  I have seen it myself while riding on my very first group ride and have seen it plenty of times since.  We are all victims of it at some point especially when we first begin riding.  What makes all the difference in the world is realizing what it takes to get out of those habits of focusing on what you want to avoid.

Next time you are driving your car and making turns, pay close attention to what you are physically doing.  What becomes apparent is that you start looking through the turns and you aren’t focused on the things in front of you.  If you see something that you need to avoid, you pick a path around what you want to miss.  The difference between driving a car and riding a motorcycle is that it has become second nature to most of us as we drive our cars.  An example of what happens when you become fixated is to watch a very green driver trying to park his (or her) car in a parking lot when they have absolutely no clue as to how to perform a simple task.  It may take them twenty tries to get the car parked because they are so focused on the car next to them that they keep parking too close or crooked.  

The best technique I can suggest for eliminating target fixation is to understand the benefits of it by performing u-turns in a parking lot at slow speed.  It’s just like the u-turn box that you practiced in the basic rider course, but this time we aren’t going to set a perimeter.  You are simply going to find an area large enough to give you plenty of room to do some slow speed turns.  Ride forward in first gear and when you are ready to make the turn look over your left shoulder and pick a target behind you off into the distance, the further away the better.  Using clutch and throttle control and if you need to, drag the rear brake a little, initiate the turn while maintaining focus on that point.  The trick is to do this u-turn without shifting your focus away from your target.  Eventually, you can begin using the area that you would normally drive down and try avoiding the painted lines in your u-turn.  What you will find by continuously practicing these maneuvers is that knowing how using target fixation in a positive way allows you to understand when it is happening in a negative way.  In addition, when there is an obstacle in your way, you rapidly shift your focus from that obstacle to the new path that you need to take; whether it’s to get around a pothole or avoid a collision, you learn that the bike really does go where you want it to.  The same technique is used while turning at high speeds.  Looking through the turns, looking as far ahead of you and where you want to exit the turn, and not concentrating on the curb, centerline or oncoming traffic, prevents you from focusing on that one point closest to you and riding directly for it.  You will realize just how eliminating target fixation on the things you want to miss is guaranteed to make you a better rider.