Good Riding skills Info...  How to avoid trouble

Revlis

Re-Recycled, Busa-Less...
Donating Member
Registered
Complements of SportRider and Streetknights...

Urban Gorilla, Staying outta trouble in the city...  5 tips...

These are all things we should all know allready.  I've been harping on some these same techniques for awhile...  
Good Stuff...

Biggest thing I think is the right mix of Aggressive and Defensive. Too many riders out there have no idea they are in harms way even while they are white knuckling it and poking along with traffic... To skeered to be "Aggressive"...

Remember if all you can think about out there is Crashing and your loved ones? You got NO business on two wheels...
 
Great stuff. 20 years ago, a guy took me aside and taught me a bunch of this stuff and then some. Saved my life on more than one occasion.

Suffice it to say, the only accident I ever had was a result of me not following his advice.

Thanks for posting this.

--Wag--
 
California Lanesharing makes these two steps a little hard to follow. But then again nobody said lanesharing was safe or smart. Its just a whole lot faster!!
URBAN GUERRILLA STEP FOUR: MAKE ROOM FOR OTHERS' MISTAKES
URBAN GUERRILLA STEP TWO: AVOID BLIND SPOTS

Beginners probably shouldn't laneshare for a year or something. Get to know the bike first.
 
rock.gif
 
Thanks for the link. Sage advice indeed.
The only time I went down in all my years of urban riding was due to a greasy road
and too much speed. Sold it right after that and stopped riding for 20 years. I'm back on for two years now and it's all coming back.
Damn that busa is fast.
 
Biggest thing I think is the right mix of Aggressive and Defensive.  Too many riders out there have no idea they are in harms way even while they are white knuckling it and poking along with traffic...  To skeered to be "Aggressive"...
I was coming back from Melbourne today on 192 doing about 75. Just before coming into St. Cloud before it opens to 4 lanes, I rounded a bend and there in from of me was an older cruiser, two up, no helmets doing about 50 if that. I guess that some think that slow means safe.

Kev
 
Biggest thing I think is the right mix of Aggressive and Defensive.  Too many riders out there have no idea they are in harms way even while they are white knuckling it and poking along with traffic...  To skeered to be "Aggressive"...
I was coming back from Melbourne today on 192 doing about 75. Just before coming into St. Cloud before it opens to 4 lanes, I rounded a bend and there in from of me was an older cruiser, two up, no helmets doing about 50 if that. I guess that some think that slow means safe.

Kev
Yup, I run into it alot... The idea of moving steadily through traffic is something I have been a big believer in... Even if I am not really in a hurry, or traffic is allready going 80, if there are knots of cars, I will be filtering through.

Now I am not advocating blasting through traffic 25mph faster than everyone else. This will get you a ticket and hurt. Just steadily moving faster than the flow 10-15 MPH, especially in Florida when everyone is so agro and not paying attention.

I have a buddy here who likes to relate the story of how a little old lady in a Buick forced him onto the median and nearly caused him to wreck. He says she was coming up the on ramp and moved right over on top of him and his GSXR1000... I am still baffled by this. WTF are you doing allowing a car to come over on ya? Speed up, slow down, do something but don't just sit there and get pushed around. It's the idea that he saw her coming, and didn't do anything to avoid her... He says traffic was too heavy, I say Lane split, use your brakes, DO SOMETHING... Ah well...
smile.gif
 
Here's the text of the article just in case the link goes dead at somepoint.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

--
Urban Guerrilla
Motorcycle riding tips for in the city
By Nick Ienatsch , Scott Fike
<span style='color:darkblue'></span>


Ten years ago I signed on at Motorcyclist magazine and began commuting to work on a motorcycle over the busiest freeways and streets of Los Angeles. In those 10 years of commuting, two staff members had commuting accidents, neither of which caused significant damage or pain. That's five to seven editors riding to work every working day for 10 years. If we were the survey panel, the conclusion would be that commuting on a motorcycle is an extremely safe way to get to work. And with the proper skills, it can be.

Experience is a great teacher, but an often painful one. To help shortcut experience, we've compiled five basic steps to existing in traffic to help get commuters out of their cars and onto motorcycles. You'll save time (one of the few nonreplenishable resources we have!) and reduce parking problems, and your work day will begin and end with less stress and more pleasure. One thing we know for sure: That sport bike in your garage isn't just for Sunday mornings.


URBAN GUERRILLA STEP ONE: TRUST NO ONE

This missing mirror lens blinds the driver to your presence until you are alongside and is a detail you must learn to automatically recognize and avoid as you scan traffic.

Learn to rely on one person, and one person only: yourself. Be paranoid. When you see a dented, dirty or neglected car, be especially paranoid. Dents are a rolling history of mistakes, and you don't want to be involved. Dirt and neglect show disinterest, and that disinterest probably bleeds into their driving as well.

Experience has taught us to watch for particular car types in addition to neglected cars. Volvo works hard to promote the safety of its cars, and that means some owners of Volvos buy them because they know they're going to be in an accident. Sure, it's an unfair generalization of Volvo owners, but it's an observation made after a decade in Los Angeles. Watch for minivans. They're usually purchased to carry the kids, so the driver is often dealing with much more than the road. Beware of high-performance cars in a hurry; a modern car can accelerate and change lanes surprisingly quickly, so give them room if they're driving aggressively. Give four-wheel drive pickups some room because (another unfair generalization) they're often driven by aggressive young men who believe that might makes right. What car types can you trust? None.

URBAN GUERRILLA STEP TWO: AVOID BLIND SPOTS

How other drivers interpret your actions has a great deal to do with urban riding skill. If this rider uses his turn signal to show his intention to make a right turn on the upcoming street, the Volkswagen driver exiting the 7-Eleven may assume the rider is pulling into the 7-Eleven and mistakenly accelerate directly into the bike's path. In this case, the rider must stay in the left side of the right lane and signal his right turn immediately before the street-and keep a close eye on the VW.

If one thought rules your urban riding, let it be this: Stay out of blind spots. If you can't see the driver's face in the car's mirror, that driver can't see you and you simply don't exist. Place blind-spot avoidance on top of your priority list for urban survival. Use acceleration, deceleration and lane position to "ride in the mirrors" of the cars around you. Develop a blind-spot warning buzzer that blares every time you approach a blind spot. The Highway Patrol teaches its riders to constantly move through traffic, to ride slightly (slightly!) faster than traffic and move through blind spots rather than sitting in them. Good advice.

Of course, just because you're riding in the mirrors of a car doesn't mean that driver will use that mirror before changing lanes into you. Position yourself so that if the driver fails to see you in the mirror, you still aren't in danger of getting tagged. You will know when you're riding well and staying clear of blind spots because you are no longer using your horn to warn encroaching drivers of your presence; they've already seen you in the mirror, alongside or ahead. In fact, our response to "loud pipes save lives" is "get out of the blind spot."

URBAN GUERRILLA STEP THREE: BE DEFENSIVE, BE AGGRESSIVE

By predicting this car's last-second freeway flop, this rider has made plenty of room for the expected mistake. Avoid passing on the right, and never pass immediately before a freeway exit, intersection or driveway; give the driver a chance to drive poorly without your involvement. Accelerate ahead or fall behind.

Combining defensive tactics and aggressive riding will create a riding portfolio that will weather any storm. The secret is knowing when to use each of the tactics. After all, blasting aggressively down Main Street is an open invitation for trouble. Conversely, creeping slowly down Main Street invites different but still deadly trouble, putting you at the mercy of other drivers' skills-or lack thereof.

Defensive riding means being aware of your space and maintaining that space by positioning yourself in surrounding traffic. Riding defensively is a way of looking at traffic to predict its effect on you, and making sure that effect is minimal.

Riding aggressively is much less a way of riding than an applied technique to be exercised only occasionally. As motorcyclists, we must put ourselves in view, and sometimes that means a bit of aggressive throttle use to come up even with a driver's window. Simply put, sometimes slowing down is extremely dangerous and some aggressive acceleration or lane changing is called for.

Correct lane positioning will allow you to be seen and keep you away from danger. This rider approaches the cab in the right side of his lane so the cab driver will see him in the cab's mirrors. As the rider approaches the cab's blind spot, he moves left to gain valuable space in case of a sudden lane change.

Create your own traffic destiny. Put yourself in a position with an escape route if your worst-case predictions come true. Look for traffic patterns and try to move through traffic, rather than sit within a knot of traffic. The time you become lethargic will be the time somebody parks a Suburban in your lap at 60 mph.

URBAN GUERRILLA STEP FOUR: MAKE ROOM FOR OTHERS' MISTAKES

In case you haven't noticed, drivers make mistakes. Dozens of them, from no turn signal to last-minute freeway exits to locked brakes at a yellow light to-well, how long a list do you need? America's current driver's training programs aren't going to correct America's drivers in the foreseeable future, so the secret is to plan on and predict the mistakes and make sure you're not affected. In other words, give 'em room to screw up.

A car's blind spot varies according to the vehicle, mirror size and mirror adjustment. Anytime you're parallel to a car, truck or van, you're in the most dangerous spot on the road. Learn to move through this Death Spot aggressively; don't ride in a blind spot, even for a few seconds.

Understand this: You won't change the mistakes being made out there, but by recognizing and giving them room to happen, you won't be negatively affected by them either. There's no reason to get upset, violent, aggressive or reactionary; once you begin to make room for mistakes, it becomes almost humorous to watch the stupidity around you because you will no longer be taken by surprise or put in danger.

URBAN GUERRILLA STEP FIVE: SLOW DOWN IN TOWN

Speed itself doesn't kill, but it sure makes those sudden stops painful. Basically, too much speed makes us unreadable. The car driver looks down the street, sees a headlight approaching at what he guesses to be the speed limit, and proceeds through the intersection. Unfortunately, the bike is doing double the speed limit and slams into the side of the car. Whose fault is it? Not the car driver's. Slow down to be seen; slow down to avoid being misread.

An ugly chain reaction can be started when a car squeezes into the right lane of a crowded freeway, and you'll be affected if you don't take action. Predict possible outcomes and place yourself safely in surrounding traffic. Often that means safely accelerating ahead of the mess.

Slowing down allows you to stop before becoming involved in someone else's mistake. Even if you're the Kevin Schwantz of braking, it takes more distance to stop a bike from 50 mph than it does from 30 mph; that extra distance usually isn't available to urban guerrillas.

Slowing down gives your brain a chance to notice things and more time to react. Your peripheral vision widens and you relax enough to read and predict traffic. Try walking down the supermarket aisle and reading labels, then try running down the same aisle. Now imagine all those soup cans are about to jump into your path and you'll see how slowing down affects your perception. There are plenty of places to go fast, but in and around traffic isn't one of them. If you can't slow down in town, put me in your will.

URBAN GUERRILLA BONUS STEP: PRACTICE

Intersections are our toughest challenges. This rider is moving into the right side of his lane to gain and give the most unobstructed view possible, a good idea since the car waiting to turn left is all but blinded by the UPS truck. Slow down, cover your brakes, and use your lane to position yourself for maximum conspicuity.

When everything goes wrong and the above five steps fail to keep you in safety's arms, you'd better be a good motorcycle rider. Get to an empty parking lot and practice braking; take a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Experienced RiderCourse. Experiment with flicking lane changes. Become intimately familiar with the effects of countersteering, experimenting with differing pressures on the handgrips. Practice quick glances in the mirrors and hurried looks over your shoulder, as if you were initiating an emergency lane change. Use your turn signals in all conditions so that you'll remember to cancel them when things get stressful. Know the route you and your neighborhood commuters take on the way to the freeway and study the mistakes being made; when you're not on your bike, watch traffic patterns and instances that would get a rider in trouble.

All this is practice, and it's just as important for the urban guerrilla as it is for the expert-level roadracer. You can't win a trophy with your commuting prowess, but you can step out of the car or bus and add two irreplaceable things to your life: time and enjoyment.

This article was originally published in the August 1995 issue of Sport Rider.



<!--EDIT|Revlis
Reason for Edit: None given...|1100780827 -->
 
URBAN GUERRILLA STEP ONE: TRUST NO ONE
URBAN GUERRILLA STEP ONE: TRUST NO ONE
URBAN GUERRILLA STEP ONE: TRUST NO ONE

ok so we are suppose to take YOUR word about this
rock.gif


what happened to
URBAN GUERRILLA STEP ONE: TRUST NO ONE

laugh.gif
laugh.gif
laugh.gif



good tips REV

laugh.gif


laugh.gif
 
To add if I may:

** Watch out for the "Soccer" Moms!! You know, the ones in the minivan/SUVs with stickers like, "My child is a honor student at Cloverly Middle School" or "My child is a MVP on Pasadena High Football", etc.... I found they are either distracted or MOST aggressive and will try to run us off the road, or pancake us! And with a Starbucks Grande Latte in the other hand!

** For those in Cali with the Lane Splitting rights: Practice stopping at a redlight between two lanes. Split lanes to the front if you have to, even if it's only 2 or 1 row deep. Cagers may think it's inconsiderate. But it's a lot safer for us. You'll be protected by the 2 cages on either side if a cager coming up from behind can't stop in time. Swipped is better than a direct rear impact on a bike. Even if there are no cars at the redlight when you pull up to it, stop between the two lanes. Same reason, but also if that cager isn't paying attention, he/she will just swipe you while running that redlight instead of hitting you dead on.
 
The part about making room is certainly something I subscribe to.

Sometimes you have to get ahead of trouble (e.g. nervous/slow drivers who ride their brakes,) and sometimes you have to let it get ahead of you (e.g. impatient/overly agressive/drunk drivers - let them pass so they can have their accident further down the road instead of rearending me.)
 
Back
Top