Motorcycle Safety & Driveability: motorcycle safety, adverse camber, british bikes

Question
Alec,
What are your views on temporary stops whilst driving. Do you advocate the 'Hendon shuffle' or the more expedient right foot down, right fingers on front brake lever and left boot / fingers ready to snick into first and pull away?
Regards,
Chris.

Answer
From an "advanced riding" perspective, the less rigidity in the rules you give riders to ride by the better. It encourages riders to think for themselves and adapt what they do to the circumstances. Newer riders often prefer rules to follow!

Recall that the Hendon shuffle came from the days when British bikes had gears and rear brake on opposite side to what they are on post-74 bikes, so any earlier arguments for its merits are now somewhat diminished.

I was taught left-foot down and developed the ability to do the Hendon shuffle. Over the years, I've evolved and developed a preference for using right-foot down in most circumstances. The advantages of putting your right foot down are that you can quickly put the bike into gear with your left foot, release your hold on the front brake and be away.

However, in my time in Hong Kong Police, we never stopped with the bikes out of gear - the argument being that you might need to get away quickly if you look liked being rear ended by another vehicle.

Times when I still revert to left-foot down:

(1) When there is an adverse camber on the right hand side and I don't like the lean angle;
(2) Sometimes when waiting to turn right, where the oncoming traffic is close to the rightside front fairing;
(3) Waiting to the offside of a queue of traffic at, for example, roadwork traffic lights for the same reason.

Hope this is of interest.

Regards

Alec