Most Important Things to Know For a Motorcycling n00b.

< Pot full of discussion.

From what I have read in studies this seems to be the case. Peoples eyes see the motorcycle and send a message to their brain. The brain does not acknowledge the motorcycle because it is looking for a car. (or anything else large enough to be a perceived threat)
Lateral motion (weave) breaks up the motion camouflage and allows the brain to acknowledge the motorcycle. The consensus from what I have read is that from that point forward that persons brain will acknowledge what the eyes send it in regards to seeing the motorcycle. Brains can be trained.

Is it true? That is open for discussion... I believe it to be true. It is the reason why riders see riders even when they are driving in a cage. Their brains are trained to see riders.

Duck is skeptical it seems. Nothing wrong with that. It is not like I would bet my life on it or anything.

I'd bet YOUR life on it.

From what I know of human behaviour, it's repetition that "programs" one's brain, not single occurrences of an event. Think Pavlov's dogs here.

Not to mention that I highly doubt that seeing a weaving motorcycle once conditions one's brain to look for non-weaving bikes in the future.

Repetition is the key ... was that Pavlov calling???? ... so everyone get weaving ... might save a life

I also focus on the fact that 90 percent of my driving is with my wife as my passenger and the last thing I want is for her to be hurt because I wasn't paying attention.[/QUOTE]

As a n00b I won't let my wife ride with me until I get a couple more classes and some more miles under my belt. Yeah its fun and I wan't us both to enjoy it but is my lack of experience worth loosing her. Hell NO!

Is your wife hot?

I'm sure there are lots of more experienced riders that would be willing to help out.

Dakez?

As a n00b I won't let my wife ride with me until I get a couple more classes and some more miles under my belt. Yeah its fun and I wan't us both to enjoy it but is my lack of experience worth loosing her. Hell NO![/QUOTE]

Man, welcome a first time poster to advrider by scamming on his wife you bastards! :eek1

Kind a had it coming though, he must of not been around the asylum long enough to consider the implications of bringing up the wife amongst the likes of you clowns.

Anyway, welcome jeff800gs, enjoy the fly new ride!

Greetings! Middle-aged n00b here -- never owned a motorcycle, about to take my first BRC. Been enjoying the site. Great thread, but some of the discussion about basic riding techniques -- countersteering, braking -- had me wondering "Haven't these guys ever ridden a bicycle?"

I ride mountain and road bikes, and used to ride with an Expert-level motorcycle roadracer. We used to stop at empty parking lots and do skill drills for fun -- swerving, slaloms, stopping, low-speed maneuvering, etc. I still remember riding figure-8s thinking about head position and looking up and around the curve. The couple of times I've been on a dirt bike seemed very similar to my bicycle experience.

So -- if I'm allowed to suggest anything -- I'd think that an aspiring motorcyclist might want to pick up a yard-sale bicycle and go practice. Swapping the front brake to the right lever is easy, and kitchen sponges make good "cones" that won't throw you if you hit them.

The other suggestion would be to read Peter Egan's "Leanings" book. The fun he's had on small-displacement bikes has reinforced my notions of starting with something small and simple. The threads by riders of the mighty TW200 have also made me smile...

After the BRC, my plan is to buy gear and a used 200-ish dual-sport, and go play in the dirt -- or at least dirt/fire/logging roads -- until I'm not spending a lot of attention on the mechanics of riding. I know I'll need to spend that attention on traffic.

Thanks for all your help!

It's amazing how a bicycle ride salvaged my pitiful noob technique and really helped me overcome the wobbliness and tendency to put a foot down. Riding on bike trails with pylons (sp?) and pedestrians REALLY helped me overcome my problem with target fixation.

I don't be-weave it

2k miles on my first bike, dual sport, and I'm not going to pretend I really have something to add to this thread, but the one thing I wish someone had said two thousand miles ago is GET FORWARD AND HUMP THAT TANK. Unless you are specifically putting your weight to the back of the bike on purpose for traction or balance in certain off-road situations, get forward and ride with the front wheel, not sitting over the back one. You might not even realize you're too far back until the first time the rear wheel breaks traction and all of a sudden your nice friendly bike is a scary monster trying to kill you.

Also these are three things at least that have already been said that us noobs should believe completely right from the start unless you're just itching to have your first spill, scratch up your new toy and break your collarbone:

- Mud will wreck us noobs in the blink of an eye.

- Ruts will wreck us noobs in the blink of an eye.

- Leaves will wreck us noobs in the blink of an eye.

Unhappily, you are probably going to end up in the first muddy rut full of leaves you find whether you want to or not, they have a mysterious magnetic pull for new riders so consider your protective gear as essential to riding as your bike is!

Riding at the pace you feel in control can't be emphasized enough, even when your buddies are constantly pulling off to the side a half mile ahead for you to catch up, or when cars back up behind you in the twisties and you know you "should" be leaving them in your dust. We'll get to that point eventually and believe me you will have your share of OH SH** moments even while trying to be as careful as possible!

Amen!

This one would have saved me a rib:
If you're going to ride logging roads on a dual sport, get rid of those (great on asphalt and gravel) Tourances/Anakees, and spoon on TKC-80's/KarooT's/HeidenauK60's. There will be pools of water, and mud on the bottom, and the street/gravel tires loose traction in a split second. The semi-knobbies will be much better adv tires.

When you need to turn back on a track that is getting too demanding, but is too narrow for turning back...
Gravity is your friend. Use gravity as your reverse gear, as you make a 3-point (or n-point) turn. Point the front wheel at the higher edge of the track, reverse by gravity, forward by engine power, repeat n times until you're able to turn back to where you came from.
(Does this make sense to you native English speakers?)

Ja.

Don't lose your horn button. Apparently it can be really difficult to find when you need it. Especially if you have loud pipes.

I lost my horn button once....luckily I found it at local bar hitting on an electrical outlet.

I got one (pounded in to me by an MSF instructor):
Never do the" two finger front brake" thing (its a "bad" habit), use the whole hand every time. it creates a muscle memory habit and even as you grab with only two; things may require full emergency braking with no notice. its best to grab with all four fingers and use necessary pressure. In a dire emergency you want to reflexively react reaching with all four.

Four fingers is what they teach in the MSF because they want to make sure you are rolling off the throttle completely while applying the brake.

Many experienced riders roll off the throttle just fine while using one or two fingers on the brake.

That said, I still use all four fingers on the brake lever because I learned that way and am comfortable riding that way. I have no trouble blipping the throttle for downshifts while applying the brake this way either.

I read a GREAT analogy in Motorcyclist today, in Keith Codes Column.

He said that a rider that attended one of his classes, thought he knew a lot, as he had 17 years experience, BUT after the class realized he had ONE year experiance, he repeated 17 times!!

I related this to my first 13 years skiing experiance, i thought I was good and skied almost anything. Then I went to join the National Ski Patrol and realized how LITTLE skill I actually had. The worst part was I had to UN-LEARN, 13 years of bad habits in order to learn to become a skilled skier.


So for a nooB, GET TO A TRACK DAY/RIDING SCHOOL and learn the RIGHT way, before you ingrain those bad habits!