QuestionPat:
This year I turned 50, took the MSF course, and started searching for a motorcycle based upon the careful advice I read/heard and the bikes I tested. I purchased a Road King and have been slowly gaining my riding experience. Then, today I read your answer from 10/08 (1st Bike - HD Road King Classic). Needless to say, I am a cautious person, and am concerned about the advice (I had not received previously). I love the ride of the RK, but do not feel 'over confident'. I assume your advice is around being able to handle the weight and power of the bike in emergency situations. Given I have the RK now, any advice for developing those skills on it; or do you strongly feel the smaller bike is the only way to go? The other MSF trainers did not present the level of concern you do. I really would like you to expand on the "why's" of your advice. I really do want to be safe and not a statistic.
AnswerRon, good on you for giving it so much thought.
A conscientious rider can learn to ride on any bike, really. As a rule, it's best to advise new riders to start small--if you can get them before they've bought a bike. But once they've bought the bike, it's best to coach and mentor them as best you can, and focus on the positives, as in, "Try doing it this way" rather than "You shouldn't have done that".
The primary reason for the advice "start small" is because you learn much faster on a small bike than you do on a big bike. Big bikes can mask rider weaknesses and control problems and make you feel like a better rider than you are. (You don't realize you're overconfident until something bad happens, but by then it's too late.) Earned confidence and skill also builds much quicker on a smaller bike--they're not so intimidating or hard to manage.
There's a new book coming out around Christmastime called "Maximum Control" for riders of heavyweight motorcycles. I worked with two police motor officers on that book, and there's some good stuff in there to study and practice. I think you can find it on Amazon already.
The best thing you can do right now is to be very careful about the situations in which you place yourself. You should ride as much as possible (4-7 days a week if you can) but try to avoid high volume times (rush hours), busy roads, and overly challenging roads (lots of sharp curves, etc.) I think the biggest difference between skilled riders and average riders is that they ride more than a couple times a week--their brain is always in two-wheeled mode. And if the roads and routes you ride are familiar and predictable, you can "dabble" in the higher risk settings, a little at a time, just to get a taste of it before getting back to your "safe" roads. I wrote a lot about this process in my book "How to Ride a Motorcycle." Here's an excerpt. The advice is for beginners, but you'll be able to see the idea and how to incorporate it into your riding:
Where to Go from Here
For now, stick to areas and roads you know like the back of your hand, and ride only during times of low traffic volume for the first week or two. Plan on staying close to your neighborhood––or at least a neighborhood that is intimately familiar to you––and venturing outside of that imaginary “boundary” only a block or two at a time as you grow accustomed to your bike.
Your first step is to devise a “training circuit.” You can do it in your head, but you’re way better off at this point to draw it out on a big sheet of paper, or the back of a big poster or on a wall in your basement. Use big markers like you did way back in kindergarten and, literally, draw the roads that you’re going to be practicing on. (You need to know these roads well enough to draw them from memory, dig?) You can even put big red X marks where you think you may have trouble. Draw arrows so you know which way you’re going to go. Plan the whole damn thing out. This is the route you’ll take every time you go out riding for the first 50-100 miles after graduating the BRC. The route should include left and right sharp turns, stop signs, left-hand and right-hand curves, and hills. The farthest reaches of your route should never be more than a few miles from the safety of your driveway. Bear with me, it’s just for the first week or two. Don’t rush things now!
Plan this route carefully, study it, and memorize it. You should be able to sit in a chair, close your eyes, and follow the route in your mind, noting some landmarks along the way, seeing every turn and every stop, and knowing where any possible trouble areas are like traffic or potholes.
Before every practice session, you’re going to take a couple minutes to sit on your bike and visualize the route you’re about to take. This way, you’ll see everything happen before you leave the driveway, so there won’t be many surprises along the way. (This is a very advanced technique that experienced riders use all the time, and it will help you stay safe during those first critical miles, as well as for the rest of your riding career—use it!) What you’re trying to avoid is Motorcyclist Information Overload. Whenever a rider steps outside of their comfort zone, they step into the realm of “too much, too soon.” It’s not guaranteed, but it’s probable. By knowing what you’ll encounter beforehand, that leaves a little more room in your brain for you to deal with what’s new to you.
Insert Photo 4-7 Rider with pen and homemade map at kitchen table studying it, 3/4 view from behind and above, showing a neighborhood with route drawn. Caption: Your first week or two riding should not be spontaneous, it should be carefully planned. Memorize your route beforehand so you can concentrate on developing your skills.
Your training circuit should be on low-speed roads of 25-35 mph. Once you’ve completed and mastered all the basic skills on these roads, you’ll deviate from the route to add short stints on unfamiliar or higher-speed roads (40, 45, 50 mph) a little at a time, always reverting back to or finishing on your low-speed training circuit again. (Author’s note: Visualize the Gary Larson Far Side cartoon where a fish, holding his breath with his cheeks all puffed out, sneaks out of his “home pond” and runs to the pond on the other side of the road. The caption was “Great Moments in Evolution.” THIS is what I’m talking about.) But don’t add new roads willy-nilly. Think about them beforehand, plan them out, and memorize them.
Ride only at low traffic-volume times (weekday midmornings and weekend early mornings are best). As your confidence develops and experience grows, start to time your riding so it just barely overlaps with a busier time, such as weekend or weekday afternoons. You want to put yourself into the situation where you have an hour of good, uncrowded practice––and five minutes of sheer, metropolitan terror. When you can do five minutes without losing your cool, go for ten. When you can do ten, go for twenty. Save the freeways, rush-hour, and early evening riding for at least a month or 400 miles until you get comfortable sharing the road with other traffic.
Insert Photo 4-8 Geared up rider on a quiet residential street mid morning light, 30 mph posted visible somewhere. Caption: There are roads you know so well you could ride them in your sleep. For the first couple of weeks on your bike, stick to those roads and get intimately familiar with your bike before trying out any new tricks.
An important warning: be careful not to put yourself into 55 mph traffic before you’re ready—you’ll end up 10 mph slower than the other traffic and paralyzed in your decision making. You’ll lose focus, possibly surrender to fear, and probably get run over. Do not head out into high-speed traffic until you are willing to commit to riding at high speed! Work up to it gradually to build your confidence in yourself and your bike.
Do NOT, at this point in your evolution, ride at night or allow yourself to get caught out after dark. Even dusk is a bad time. Think: soccer moms and hungry kids, cocktails and happy hour, and animals looking for food or romance. Don’t venture out without all of your riding gear. If ever there was a time you’ll need it, it’s those first couple weeks. And don’t even THINK about carrying a passenger yet (that’s Chapter 7.)
Good luck and enjoy your HDRK!
Pat
