Those of us who have been riding for awhile just assume that anybody who rides can start their bikes from a dead stop while they are on an incline - say at a traffic stop. It turns out that many riders have a great deal of trouble handling that situation, even very experienced riders.

Here is the apparent issue: Should you use your front brake or your rear brake to hold your bike in place as you ease out the clutch lever and roll on some throttle?

Now what difference would your choice of brakes make in that situation? Surely either one by itself would hold the bike in place until you got some power to the rear tire, right?

Well, yes, that's true. But take it from the newbies perspective. The MSF has drilled into their heads that they are to have their right foot on the brake and their left foot on the ground when they stop. So, for those people it would seem natural to continue to use the rear brake. But for people like myself, who have learned that a rider of a bike should put BOTH feet on the ground when they stop, the natural action would be to use their front brake.

Still, we have not seen a problem regardless of your choice of brakes, so what is the real issue here?

A new rider on my board recently confessed that he was paranoid that when starting from a dead stop while on an incline he might give the bike too much gas and end up shooting across that intersection much faster than he wants to go, or that traffic would allow.

Some members of the board focused their assistance (advice) on how to use the front brake and throttle at the same time. Others focused their advice on always easing the clutch lever out instead of 'popping' it. But the real problem was that this newbie apparently thought that when he eased the clutch lever out it was supposed to be ALL THE WAY OUT.

Indeed, several months ago I had occasion to spend a little parking lot practice time with a long time Harley Davidson rider who absolutely refused to agree that he should be riding WITHIN his 'friction zone' while doing slow speed maneuvers. His father had taught him to drive/ride and he remembered the advice he received from that man. "Son, your clutch belongs all the way in or all the way out, not in-between, so that you don't wear it out." So this 'idea' that when you ease out your clutch lever you should hesitate and maintain a position within the friction zone just simply failed to register for him as a reasonable way to behave on a bike.

But when you consider the problem of starting your bike from a dead stop while you are on an incline you immediately see why the friction zone is EXACTLY where you should start that ride. You ease the clutch lever out until you just feel power to the rear wheel and increase throttle modestly as you MAINTAIN that clutch lever position (within the friction zone) and ease off your brake(s). When you are certain that you are in control of your motorcycle and it is moving again with your feet up on the pegs, you THEN ease the clutch lever all the way out.

So though the issue at first looked like which brake to use, and how to coordinate the clutch lever and throttle at the same time, it turns out that it really didn't matter which brake you used and that the real issue was how to use the clutch lever. When our newbie heard this advice lights went off - a EUREKA! moment had occurred for him.

I've said it a thousand times before, but it's worth saying again. Low speed control is primarily a function of your left hand. It's called, managing your friction zone.

Ride Easy

Nagrom

Chapter 194 Safety Coordinator

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It doesn't happen very often but even while traveling on a freeway you can suddenly be confronted with an animal in your path. Certainly it happens with some frequency in the country, and on city streets you must be ever concerned about usually domesticated types.

Those of us who ride in the country tend to confront five types of animals with some regularity: deer, dogs, cattle, birds and horses in roughly that order of frequency. On surface streets there are usually just two varieties: dogs and children (both an animal and wildlife in my book.) Dogs on a freeway are usually road kill before you get to them.

If you see an animal in your path, given plenty of warning, the obvious best move is to slow down and give it as wide a clearance as possible. However, in the case of an animal that 'was in front of me out of nowhere' situations, you have an immediate decision to make ... to swerve and try to avoid it, or to panic stop.

That is a false choice to make! If you think that you can figure out where a deer is going to be in the next 5 seconds, you are dead wrong! But more than that, if you think that you can, in a panic, swerve your motorcycle and retain control of it - not run into oncoming traffic, or the side of the mountain, or off the road, or oversteer it into a crash after avoiding the animal, or swerve right into the animal which has jumped into your new path, then you are probably also of the opinion that it can't happen to you in any event.

If you hit a cement truck at 5 mph you will probably walk away from it. If you hit ANYTHING while traveling at 50 mph or faster, you probably will not. The difference is your speed. Swerving does not reduce your speed. What it will do is give away some control.

Your best move is almost always to try a CONTROLLED panic stop. Do not lose control of your bike. Minimize the speed of impact. If you are good, and practiced, you might not hit anything at all. Even if luck is against you you will probably still walk away from it.

I can hear it now: "Even if it's a child?" Absolutely! If that child decides to make a dash for his/her life and chooses (like you) the wrong direction to run in, then you will hit that child with a greater (faster) impact swerving to avoid him/her than if you try to stop the bike.

Of course you aren't doing 50 mph or greater on city streets, right? You are covering your front brake while riding on city streets, right?

Play the odds in your head before you get into the situation. Condition yourself - bias yourself - panic stops are not a bad thing.

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Sooner or later you are going to wonder about how to handle severe crosswinds - probably while fighting them.

Surprise, surprise - you don't have to do anything and the motorcycle will handle most crosswinds just fine - with only normal responses from you.

There are a couple of things that you can do to make the experience less stressful, however. For example, you can quit white-knuckling your grips. When you hold on tight you also tend to stiff arm your controls. That, as we've talked about before, merely allows front-end instability to propagate into the rest of the motorcycle. Relax your grips and droop your elbows. Allow your bike to be a bit unstable. Drive in the CENTER OF YOUR LANE. Lean forward and down to reduce your profile, and snug up your jacket.

What about traction? You neither gain nor lose any significant traction when the wind blows from your side unless you are in a curve. While you are leaned into the wind all of the weight of the bike remains on your tires (fancy that) and there is very little lateral force scrubbing that traction away.

How much lean do you need? Whatever the bike dials in for you.

Should you anticipate those gusts? Should you just respond quickly to a gust in order to remain in control and traveling in a straight line? No, and no. Your bike will NOT travel in a straight line. That is, as long as you allow it to do its thing, your bike will be modestly blown off course with a gust and the result of that movement is EXACTLY the same as any other minor course change - you will need modest counter-steer input to correct it - the CG of your bike will then be on the side the wind came from and the result is that it will lean towards the wind.

[Anticipating wind-sheer IS important under a couple of scenarios: the approach of an oncoming large vehicle suggests that severe buffeting will occur when you pass it, and entering or exiting stretches protected from the wind such as tunnels or bridges with relatively high retaining walls. In these cases you will certainly want to position the bike away from the source of the wind-sheer and insure you maintain a firm grip.]

Is a heavier bike less likely to be blown around than a lighter bike? Not necessarily. What is primarily determinant of how great the effect of a crosswind is on your bike is its profile. A garage door (GoldWing) will typically be more harshly affected by crosswinds than a lighter low profile bike.

Can you mitigate some of that instability in any way? Yes. There are cowling additions that can be designed (some are available off the shelf - called 'belly pans') that streamline the airflow under your bike and help (modestly) to reduce crosswind handling problems.

Your side profile area is what determines how your motorcycle reacts to crosswinds. Just as there is a Center of Gravity, there is also a Center of wind resistance. If that center of wind resistance is in front of your Center of Gravity then crosswinds will tend to push you off course while if it is behind your Center of Gravity the motorcycle will try to steer INTO the wind. Thus, mounting a high profile LIGHT object (a stuffed animal, for example) onto your trunk lid or your pillion can have a dramatically corrective effect rather than worsen the bike's steering reaction to those crosswinds.

Crosswinds can be murder if you are leaned way over in a curve. Don't, if you can avoid it.

As a result of a crosswind your bike will move off course and normal modest counter-steer will lean it into the wind. A strong gust will blow you out of track. So, correct your steering, gently, and keep going.

I admit that sometimes a gust can be ferocious! I was on the Golden gate bridge once when a crosswind blew me into the adjacent lane! But the bike was in no danger of falling down and it was easy to get back in lane. Had the gust been a sustained blast I would have been leaned over nearly 45 degrees. It was not, thankfully.

Note ... there are TWO times when a gusty crosswind changes your bike's direction of travel: when it hits, and when it stops. Both require that you allow the bike to respond and use normal modest counter-steering. (When it quits you will be leaned over and, as a result, your bike will move towards where the wind WAS coming from until you straighten it up.

If crosswinds involve huge short gusts, go park the bike. If the crosswinds are more sustained, pucker up and keep going.

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Group Ride Lane Changes Orchestrate for Greater Safety By: James R. Davis When a group of motorcycles is changing lanes, many safety considerations come into play. Should every rider move into the adjacent lane at the same time? If not, should the Lead Bike go first, or should the Drag Bike move first to “secure the lane”? When the Drag Bike radios to the group that the lane is secured, is it really? What if another vehicle sees a gap in traffic and tries to cut into the group? If part of the group gets separated from the other riders, should everyone change relative positions (tracks) so that the new Lead Bike is now riding in the left track? The recommended procedure for a group lane change maneuver depends on how the surrounding traffic is moving at the time. The goal for the bike which moves first is to create a gap into which the other bikes can fit. Regardless of what other riders in the group are doing, each rider must personally check to see that the new lane is clear of traffic before entering it. Changing Lanes as a Group There is virtually no time (absent an emergency) when a group of riders should all move at the same time into a different lane, in regular traffic conditions. The wide gap required for a whole group to move is difficult to find in heavy traffic, and if it exists, it will be an invitation for other drivers to jump into it, perhaps while the group might be moving. Additionally, such a maneuver could be interpreted as “parading”, which may arguably not be covered under some insurance policies. Changing Lanes into Slower-Moving Traffic In most jurisdictions traffic laws prescribe that, on a road in which there are two lanes of traffic moving in the same direction, the lane on the right will be the slower lane. If a group of motorcyclists is going to move into the slower lane from the faster one, the first bike in a group which moves is responsible for creating a gap into which all the following bikes can fit. This is accomplished by maintaining a constant speed in order to enlarge the gap after the first bike moves. Each bike moving in succession should also be aware of this dynamic. Thus, the group moves from first to last. (An exception is the Drag Bike, which may move on its own for reasons explained later.) The first bike to move under these conditions will be the Lead Bike. The maneuver is accomplished in this way: the Lead Bike signals for the lane change and announces to the group via CB and/or hand signals that the group is moving to the right, front to back. Then, after checking by actually turning the head to see that the new lane is cleared of traffic sufficient for one bike to safely enter it, the Lead Bike moves across the tracks of the current lane, taking up a position in the left track of the new lane where the Lead Bike usually rides. By maintaining the maximum speed which the traffic in that lane will allow, the Lead Bike creates a gap into which the next bike in the group can insert, moving into the right track there. Each succeeding bike follows this pattern: signal right, move right in your own lane, head-check, enter new lane, maintain speed to create gap, and take up regular position (left or right track) in the new lane. The Drag Bike in this pattern is normally the last to enter the new lane, unless “closing the door” was possible. As the bikes move quickly and re-form their group, it is rare that a four-wheeler will move up into the gap in the new lane. If a cage moves into the gap, the next bike to move must tuck in behind it and wait for the group ahead to slow up, encouraging the cage to pass. When the cage passes the slower forward group, the whole group can re-form into a normal riding configuration. Breaking Up is Hard To Do If a lane change results in the group’s changing formation -- the bike which was unable to move into the new lane slows down and becomes for a time the Lead Bike for the left lane, while the rest of group moves ahead in the slower lane -- or, the bike which was unable to move right is forced to PASS the slower group -- should the new Lead Bike take the left forward track? Ordinarily, no. Only if the group breaks into two obvious sub-groups and becomes separated for a substantial period of time should the “new Lead Bike” move into a new track to the left, if that has not been that rider’s normal position. Otherwise, this will be only a temporary break in formation, and the riders will quickly enter the new lane and re-form as usual behind the Lead Bike, in the positions they had originally. Why doesn’t the “new Lead Bike” change tracks? Because during any period in which the bikes are changing tracks, the spacing between them is cut in half, drastically reducing the reaction time and space available to the rider in case the bike directly ahead of him becomes a problem. In a lane change, this period is fairly short. If the “new Lead Bike” shifts position and all the bikes following attempt to adapt to the new configuration by changing to a different track, they will then have to change back when the original group re-forms. There is no real reason to put the riders in additional jeopardy this way in order to have the “correct” formation, just for short periods. Forcing all the bikes in the rest of the group to change track position is especially hazardous in the case of a new group rider who has become accustomed to riding in the protected “slot” as opposed to facing oncoming traffic in the exposed left track position. In most cases, anyone who is riding in a group will quickly adapt to this change of conditions and track positions, but there may be times when a new rider who is trying to learn this whole concept will be very uncomfortable changing tracks. The Drag Bike should pay special attention to inexperienced riders under these conditions. This pattern may occur not only during a lane change, but also during a passing maneuver or when a group gets separated in traffic because of signal lights and traffic flow. The Drag Bike will usually notify the Lead Bike and the rest of the group after a brief separation by one or more riders that the group has re-formed by saying, “We’re family.” Changing Lanes into Faster-Moving Traffic The same basic lane-changing principle for entering slow-moving lanes also applies when a group is entering faster-moving traffic where at least two lanes of traffic are moving in the same direction; that is, moving from the right lane to the left. The first bike to move creates a gap for the remaining bikes. Since traffic is pulling away from the group as each member enters the lane, this maneuver is The maneuver is accomplished in this manner: The Lead Bike signals for a lane change and announces to the group via CB and turn signals that the group will be moving to the left, back to front. Then the Lead Bike asks the Drag Bike to “secure the lane” to the left to which the Drag Bike should normally respond with “Stand by.” All station-keeping bikes maintain their position while this occurs, putting their own turn signals on to indicate the move to be made. The Drag Bike then moves first when a space in the lane to the left opens up and radios to the Lead Bike and the group, “The lane is secured.” No one is to change lanes at this point, however! First, each rider must make certain the lane is clear by actually turning his head to insure that there is no other vehicle still approaching the group in the left lane. If a vehicle is still moving up beside the group, the Drag Bike will usually say, “After the red truck,” or “After the station wagon,” etc. Whether or not a warning is given by the Drag Bike (who may have other concerns with the traffic to his rear), each rider must do a head-check before entering a faster-moving lane. The second bike to move will be the one in front of the Drag Bike. That rider moves across the tracks of the current lane, does a head-check, changes lane and then takes up a position in the track of the new lane where he was originally riding. By dropping to a speed slightly slower than the rate at which traffic in that lane has been traveling, each bike creates a gap into which the next bike forward can insert. Each rider follows this pattern: signal left, move left in your own lane, head-check, enter new lane, maintain (slower) speed to create gap, and take up regular position (left or right track) in the new lane. The Lead Bike in this pattern is normally the last to enter the new lane. As the bikes move quickly and re-form their group, it is rare that a four-wheeler will move up into the gap in the new lane. If a cage moves into the gap, the next bike to move must wait for the cage to pass, so that a gap appears again. Then the maneuver can be completed and the group can re-form into a normal configuration.   ______________________________________________________ Group Riding - Size Matters Rubber Band Effect By: James R. Davis   While most of us know that it takes about 1 second to recognize and begin to react to a threat ahead of us, it usually takes from 2 to 3 seconds for riders to recognize and begin to react to a change in speed (increase) of the bike in front of them when they are riding in a group. A couple of seconds doesn't sound like much, I'm sure, but while at 2 seconds a small group of bikes can usually manage rather well, at 3 seconds some serious problems result. This is particularly true if there are more than six bikes in the group. The following, I hope, will convince those of you that lead group rides to behave with new caution. At 60 MPH your bike moves 88 feet per second. Assuming that you maintain a 1-second gap between bikes in the group then each is about 88 feet behind the next one. At 70 MPH the gaps would be about 103 feet. A trivial example first - let's say that the lead bike increases speed from 60 MPH to 70 MPH. It takes about 2 seconds to do so if you are casual about it (using an acceleration rate of 7.5 fps/s) though you could do it in half that time. What happens to all the bikes behind that lead bike? Most people, I assume, think that each will, in turn, simply follow suit. That is, each will also accelerate modestly at the rate of about 7.5 fps/s (5 MPH/Sec) and, thus, maintain 'the group'. That is not at all what actually happens. After the first second of modest acceleration by the lead bike the distance between the second bike and the first one has grown from 88 feet to 92 feet and one second later the gap has become 103 feet. By coincidence this is exactly what the new distance between bikes should be while riding at 70 MPH. However, the second bike has not yet even begun to accelerate and is now moving 10 MPH slower than the bike ahead of it. It follows, of course, that the gap between the bikes will continue to grow until the second bike is also moving at 70 MPH - 2 or 3 seconds later. That is, if the second bike realizes that the first one is pulling away from him and begins to accelerate his own bike within only 2 seconds then he too will be traveling at 70 MPH within another 2 seconds. If it takes him 3 seconds to recognize a widening gap and react to it then it will take another 2 seconds for his speed to match the bike ahead of him. In the best case (2 second react/respond time) the gap between the bikes will have grown to 117 feet, and if it took 3 seconds that gap would have grown to 132 feet. Clearly once the speeds are the same the gaps will remain the same. BUT, since the group prefers to travel with a 'one second' gap between bikes, the second bike MUST GO FASTER than the first one for a brief time in order to 'catch up.' If we assume that the riders in this group are conservative and individually elect never to travel more than 5 MPH faster than the bike ahead of them as they are closing their gaps then the second bike will continue to accelerate for 1 additional second and attain a speed of 75 MPH while the first one continues at 70 MPH. In fact, the second bike will have to ride for TWO SECONDS at 75 MPH while the first one rides at 70 MPH in order to close the gap to 106 feet, and then he takes 1 more second decelerating to 70 MPH during which the gap between them reduces itself to the desired 103 feet. This little example of the dynamics between just two bikes is trivial in consequence and easy to understand. With modest effort it can be seen, however, to be anything but trivial farther back in the pack. Let's look at the third bike in the group. About 2 seconds after the SECOND bike begins to accelerate the third one follows suit. Three seconds later the gap between the second and third bike has, as expected, become 117 feet. But, because the second bike is traveling at 75 MPH at that time rather than 70 MPH like the first bike, the gap continues to widen and within one more second becomes 128 feet. Clearly the third bike must use more effort to catch up to the second bike than the second bike needed to catch up with the lead bike. Indeed, the third bike will have to accelerate to 75 MPH and will have to maintain that speed for FOUR SECONDS instead of the two required by the second bike in order to close up that gap. WORSE, the next bike will find that the gap he has to close has grown to 132 feet before it begins to shorten and then ONLY IF HE ACCELERATES TO 80 MPH instead of 75. This, because the third bike is traveling at 75 MPH rather than 70 MPH when the gap has reached 132 feet. The gap would be larger still if bike number four merely accelerates to 75 MPH. In a group of only six motorcycles, the last one will find the gap between himself and bike number five to grow to 143 feet before it begins to close. He will have to accelerate to 80 MPH, hold that speed for three seconds, drop to 75 MPH for an additional three seconds, and then finally drop to the group speed of 70 MPH in order for all members of the group to end up with a 1-second gap between them. Further, it will be at least 11 seconds after the lead bike has started to accelerate before the sixth bike does so. Imagine what will happen if during that time the lead bike applies his brakes in anticipation of entering a curve!!!!!!!!! Though this was a trivial example it demonstrates very well what we have all experienced in the past - the 'rubber band' effect. Imagine how PROFOUND this effect becomes when the example changes. For example, imagine what happens at the end of a string of 20 bikes rather than only 6. Or what happens if the lead bike, upon exiting a 35 MPH curve, gooses his bike to 60 MPH as fast as it can get there. There are things that tend to mitigate these problems: Lead bikes can change speed more gradually. Lead bikes can announce speed changes over the CB and, thus, reduce reaction times for all. All bikes in a group can react to changes in speed of bikes that are farther ahead of them than just the one immediately ahead. The members of a group can simply NOT crank their throttles up to excessive speeds just to keep the group spacing 'correct'. A good group leader does NOT accelerate within 15 seconds of entering a curve (assuming he has to then slow down before actually entering that curve.) The '1-second between bikes' rule should be abandoned whenever the group is riding 'twisties' - it makes sense only when traveling in a straight line on open highway. Never allow a group to become larger than SIX bikes if even one of the riders is inexperienced with group riding. Never larger than EIGHT bikes even if all are familiar with the riding habits of each other. If you think that the 'rubber band' effect is a problem when accelerating think of what happens during braking!! ________________________________________________________ Maximum Motorcycle Braking and Swerving by Jim Noss The majority of motorcycle braking systems have a right-front lever for activating the front brake and a right foot pedal for activating the rear brake. There exist some variations on the basic motorcycle brake systems. Some of these innovations may affect how you handle low-speed manuevers. Integrated brakes: Application of the rear brake will cause some application of the front brake. Linked brakes: Application of either the rear or front brake will cause some pressure to be applied to the opposite brake. Anti-lock brakes: Popular in BMW and the Yamaha FJR bikes. These are designed to minimize skidding in the event of a maximum-braking straight-line stop. If you are going to learn anything about motorcycling, it is Stopping a motorcycle in the shortest possible distance. I urge you to practice in a safe place, an empty parking lot in order to keep your braking skills sharp. Straight-Line Braking You may ask, but how do I implement maximum motorcycle braking? Well, the best way to achieve maximum braking is to apply both brakes fully without locking either wheel. Simultaneously squeeze the front brake lever and apply the rear brake pedal. Keep your body centered and keep looking straight ahead to maintain your balance. Do not look down or you will most likely go down. Looking straight ahead helps you to keep the motorcycle in a straight line. Braking in a Curve The important thing to remember about braking in a curve is that the amount of traction available to you and your tires is reduced. Why? well this is because there is a limited amount of grip (surface area of the tire) existing between the tires and the road surface when the motorcycle is in a leaning over position. Now the key to stopping quickly in a curve is to get the motorcycle in an upright straight position as soon as possible. Time is distance, do it quickly. You want to do this so that the maximum amount of traction is available for braking. By uprighting the bike, more surface area of the tire will be in contact with the road. If road and traffic conditions allow, straighten up the motorcycle first and center or square the handlebar before you apply maximum braking. You will now be making a Straight-line stop. Ok, there may be a time when conditions do not allow you to straighten out your bike and time to square your handlebar. These are, running off the road in a left-hand turn (me, I did this) or dealing with the oncoming traffic in a right-hand turn. In these conditions, you will need to apply both brakes smoothly and easy. Do not slam down on the brake controls, this will most likely cause you to lock up one or both tires and cause you a world of problems such as going down. As you gradually apply the brakes, the lean angle will be reduced into a more upright position; as this occurs apply more braking force. The goal is to have the motorcycle straight up at the end of a stop. Remember, this is the reason you want to center up the handlebar as you near the end of the stop.