Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Posted: **Wed Oct 04, 2006 11:57 am**

Pontikat wrote:Like others have said I scan the verge of the road as it appears as you get closer well from there back to about 10m in front of my scoot along the line of the road i intend to ride.
Let your peripheral vision take care of the rest, I also use the voiceover in my head with "eyes up", "soft hands" & "be smooth".

When I'm following another scoot closely I play the "over & under Game", where by i try to take a wider entry & use a shallower Exit then the other rider. It not only stops me target fixating but also gives an escape route if they "drop the ball" & have a moment or run off.

Mind you some people are a hell of a lot easier to follow then others. I wont push from behind if they have a moment I'll back off as to not put pressure on them & wait for an opportunity to get past.

Very good advise Ponti

Posted: **Wed Oct 04, 2006 12:00 pm**

ty wrote:
MrStompy wrote:my biggest problem now is that i wont commit to a corner.
the guys i ride with leave me for dead as soon as we get into twisty stuff with corners you cant see completely around. eg old pacific highway etc
they seem to be able to just go around them at any speed where as all i can see is rock walls and zero run off area.
so i freak out and slow down before getting in the turn.
Do NOT be embarrassed by this. Always ride to YOUR limits not theirs.
When you become familiar with the road and it's corners you can begin to go a bit faster as you know what the turn is doing. However, you never know what's going to pop up.

Going fast on the twisties is a combination of potentially riding a bit beyond your visibility, but trusting/hoping you'll have time and skill to react to anything that pops up.
You improve your visibility as much as possible by the line you take - enter the corner from the outside of your lane and aim to exit in the middle of your lane. This is the line they teach in the P's course and the line most Advanced riding courses will teach too - unless they're focussed on track riding.
You improve your skill by riding more often and taking the opportunity to go on advanced courses where possible, or asking other riders for tips.

The ability to go fast in the twisties will come with time - familiarity with the road, familiarity with your bike, and improvement in ability. Don't rush it just to save face.

EDIT: If your mates are nice enough they should hold back a bit sometimes so they're riding at YOUR pace, slowing building on that to push you a little bit - something achievable to aim for. Finding someone who'll do this for you is a great way to improve.
ty

I have been fortunate with the central coasties in this regard.

Posted: **Wed Oct 04, 2006 12:23 pm**

Pontikat wrote:When I'm following another scoot closely I play the "over & under Game", where by i try to take a wider entry & use a shallower Exit then the other rider. It not only stops me target fixating but also gives an escape route if they "drop the ball" & have a moment or run off.

Excellent piece of advice for any corner. This way you always have a buffer if something happens or appears on the road. It's always much easier to pick it up a bit and run wide.

To stay safe Nobby you really should be travelling at a speed where you can stop on your side of the road in the distance you can see ahead. Sounds like this is what you're doing. Keep the faster stuff for the track.

Good luck with it mate and good post.

Posted: **Wed Oct 04, 2006 4:33 pm**

saw this on another forum last night, prime example of a) object fixation and b) why you should avoid overtaking on the outside c) utterly fucking up oh and d) why you shouldnt hammer it on a chopper.

Posted: **Wed Oct 04, 2006 4:43 pm**

mike-s wrote:saw this on another forum last night, prime example of a) object fixation and b) why you should avoid overtaking on the outside c) utterly fucking up oh and d) why you shouldnt hammer it on a chopper.

Yeah thats a great example with the guy behind it....

A) those guys were freakin idiots for doing that
B) the guy in the van should have been down there helping him immediately
C) I can understand why he didnt

Posted: **Wed Oct 04, 2006 4:48 pm**

target fixation.... isnt that when u look through the scope and pull the trigger

Posted: **Wed Oct 04, 2006 5:01 pm**

he was just taking a shortcut...

good of the people in the car to just keep on driving. - f**kwits
how was the dumb bitch in the background "why would he do that?'

"oh - he was just bored - looking for a laugh"

Posted: **Wed Oct 04, 2006 5:02 pm**

The question of where do you look came up.

You always look as far ahead as you can see, big screen.
Your point of focus in that big screen is the vanishing point (of the road).
IMHO this determines how fast you feel safe at, i.e. the distance you can see is equal to the distance needed to stop from the speed you are going.
If this distance becomes too short to "stop" in, we start to panic (and more often than not compound the problem).
Wide entries give better vision and a higher "safe" speed.
Where you can, you want to see through the corner. You want to be pointing anything from your head, to your shoulder, to your whole body (if you hang off like a monkey

) in the direction you want to go.
So not only are you looking through the corner where you want to be, your head and shoulder are turned that way too.
"Guessing" or, just as bad, "knowing" the road and going in "faster than you can see", will certainly fire the adrenalin glands up, but the consequences are horrendous

This is ommitting an awful lot, but its my experience

Posted: **Wed Oct 04, 2006 7:08 pm**

Target Fixation......It used to be called 'Monkey See - Monket Do'

follow a dickhead too closely, and you too will ride like one.

Follow a quick rider (at the track), and you will learn from him grasshopper.....

Ponti's advice is very good, always give yourself a buffer zone (which will vary for all riders, depending upon your ability), and you *should* be able to avoid 'accidents'....

Posted: **Wed Oct 04, 2006 8:19 pm**

Pontikat wrote: Let your peripheral vision take care of the rest, I also use the voiceover in my head with "eyes up", "soft hands" & "be smooth".
.

as young Ponti sez
some good tips here

just to add my 'riding' mantra
head up...means eyes up
soft hands...and keep your wrists down (wrists up mean tense arms/hands)
be smooth...guide it in and shoot it out (of corners)

hth

cheers

Posted: **Wed Oct 04, 2006 9:20 pm**

Yeah the one thing i'd have to say is that when you are riding behind another rider - one of the last things you wanna be thinking *whilst* riding is that "this guy is a better rider than me so I'm going to follow him and try to keep up/do what he's doing/try to learn etc"

Whilst I'm not saying that monkey-see monkey-do is a bad way of learning, you just can't do it whilst you are riding on the road (go to the track, watch the riders and see if you can learn anything that way at the track).

Back yourself, have confidence in your own ability and as much as is a good idea to - ignore the rider in front and just worry about your bike and the road ahead of it. Personally i just try to note where the other bike is, but only by observing thru my peripheral vision.

Also if you aren't comfortable following closely because it actually isn't safe, then don't. You can still get a judge of how quick you are going if you are 50 metres back or 100 metres back.