RIDING TIPS - Body Control

Body Control – Another common panic error is to stiffen up.

A. When you panic, you automatically stiffen your body (especially your arms) and tighten your grip on the bars.

1. Because it’s an automatic response, you need to make a conscious effort to loosen up.
a. Flap your elbows like a bird just before you enter a turn, to make sure you’re loose.
b. See how lightly you can hold the handlebars, especially while going around a corner.

2. If you are stiff-arming the bike, the natural vibration of the front end will get transferred to the rest of the bike.
a. Your body is part of the bike’s suspension. When you stiff-arm, it’s like replacing your front shocks with a solid rod.
b. The resulting vibration makes the bike unstable.

3. The more relaxed you are, the more stable and smooth the bike will be.
a. Stay especially loose over dirt, gravel and bumpy roads.

4. Stiff-arming also makes you go wide in a turn.
a. This happens because the front-end wobble will overcome the cornering forces.

5. Stiff-arming makes you waste energy pushing down on the bars. That accomplishes nothing.
a. When you push on the bars to steer, you push forward, not down.
b. The lower your elbows are, the more forward you are pushing. The higher up they are, the more you’re pushing down.
i You can react faster and more strongly the lower your elbows are.
ii The ideal would be to keep your forearm horizontal.

6. One cause of stiffening up is a strong wind.
a. It does make you want to hold on for dear life.
b. Instead, however, you should loosen up more, and lean your body forward over the gas tank.
i This drastically reduces the effect of the wind. Your body no longer acts like a sail, and because you’re loose the wind won’t affect your handling.

7. A related lazy habit, very common, is when riders keep their inside elbow locked, and use the weight of their upper body on that locked arm to countersteer.
a. That’s bad.
b. It prevents you from being able to make small steering corrections.
c. It limits your control of the motorcycle.
d. Any bump in the road will unsettle your upper body, and that movement will transmit directly down your locked arm into the handlebar — unintentionally steering the bike.
e. Keep your elbows bent, and keep your weight off the bars.

B. Don’t grab the handlebars tightly.

1. Gripping the bars too hard is the most common source of motorcycle handling problems.
a. Any bumps in the road will jostle the throttle.
i This makes the bike even more jumpy, and messes with your suspension and traction.
ii It can really get bad, and of course you panic even more.
b. Smooth and even control movements are hard to do when you have a death grip on the bars.
c. Tight grip also makes your forearms get tired, and you don’t want to exhaust your forearms while riding. They are the source of power for all your braking and shifting.

2. You do want to hold onto the bike tightly — just not with your hands.
a. Grip with your legs. Use your stomach muscles if necessary.
b. Handlebars are for steering, not for holding on to the bike.

C. Body Positioning
1. In general, keep yourself centered. Lean with the bike — don’t lean more than the bike, don’t try to stay upright.
a. Several writers recommend to keep your head vertical while the rest of your body leans.
i They usually say it’s so you keep your eyes level with the horizon to avoid confused visual cues and upset balance.
ii I think that’s dumber than dirt. Why put a crick in your neck? Any pilot will tell you it’s easier to simply look up to look through a turn than to cock your head and then twist it. And your balance is steadier when your head is banked with the g’s than if you’re fighting them by trying to keep your head vertical.

2. A centered riding stance gives you increased confidence and control in a variety of situations.
a. Your outside knee will be in the correct position, and will help to distribute your weight properly.

3. Sometimes, a little hanging off can help you maneuver.
a. On slippery or wet roads, you can keep the tires more upright by leaning to the inside of the turn. You can use more of the tire’s traction while still turning.

4. During an emergency “pump-pump” swerve, keep your body upright. [This is where, to swerve quickly around an obstacle, you quickly push hard on one handlebar then the other. You remain upright and keep looking where you want to go.]
a. Don’t lean with it. It’s one less thing to think about.
b. You’re not throwing your weight from side to side.
c. You actually boost your countersteering a little by pushing off your own inertia.
d. You’re going to want to be upright at the finish anyway, and the maneuver will take less than a second. Don’t bother moving your body.


V. Vision – When you panic, you also make mistakes with your eyes.

A. You get tunnel vision, because you can’t give any attention to the peripheries.
1. As a result, you have no time to make decisions as things come into your field of view. And you panic even more.

B. You fixate on just one thing at a time, instead of scanning.
1. This uses up all your attention, and creates tunnel vision and more panic.
2. Plus, if you look there you go there. And if you’re fixating on anything, it’s probably on the hazard that’s making you panic. As a result, you ride right into it.
a. Always look where you want to go, not at the obstacle you’re trying to avoid.

C. You can only react to what you can see.
1. More accurately, you can only react to something if you see it in time.
2. This is why you’re not supposed to drive “faster than you can see,” which means “so fast that by the time you see a hazard, there’s not enough time to react before you hit it.”
3. “Faster than you can see” depends not only on how bright a day it is, but also on how much of the road ahead is visible.
4. If you’re in a tight curve with trees alongside the road, then you can’t see very far at all, and you’d better not be going very fast.
5. If you’re approaching a crest in the road, and you can’t see beyond it, then you can’t see very far at all.
6. Only drive as fast as you can see.
7. Visual panic errors reduce what you can see, as well as the time and space you have for reaction.

D. You need to keep your field of vision wide open.
1. This takes practice. It does not happen on its own.
2. With a wide field of vision, you can instantly change where you’re focusing your attention, without moving your eyes around.
a. This prevents you from fixating on one thing at a time and getting tunnel vision.

E. Give yourself visual space.
1. You want to be aware of hazards in time to react to them.
a. If you aren’t, then you will panic.
2. You want to know what to do before you have to do it.
a. If you don’t, then you will panic.
3. For example, spot where you will begin a turn well before you actually get there, and look where you want to go before you start to turn.


VI. Braking – Braking errors are Slides and Skids.
A. You brake both wheels independently of each other. Your right hand brakes the front wheel, and your right foot brakes the rear wheel.
1. This requires the rider to balance the braking forces properly.
a. Take into account that the weight of the bike shifts forward when braking.
b. Slamming on either brake will overcome your traction and you will lose control

2. Concentrate on squeezing the brakes smoothly.
a. This way, you don’t upset the suspension, and you let the bike settle into its stop without overloading its traction.
b. The best way is to squeeze the front brake first, let the bike settle, then apply the rear brake.
i Do this smoothly and you will avoid locking up the rear wheel.

3. You still do it fast. Just smooth. No jerking or slamming.

B. Always use the front brake.

1. Your rear brake is relatively useless by itself.
a. During a stop, the weight of the bike shifts forward. There is less considerably less weight on the rear tire. This reduces its traction and its braking efficiency.

b. Front brakes are where all the stopping power is located. There are usually two of them rather than the single rear disc, to begin with. More importantly, most of the bike’s weight has shifted onto that front tire when you applied the brakes. That’s where all the traction and braking efficiency are focused.

c. Some people are afraid that, if they use only the front brake, then the bike will throw them over the handlebars. This is not going to happen.

i The only way you’re going to do a stoppie is if you’re trying to, or if you’re really overenthusiastic with that front brake.
ii Accident statistics show that the number of injuries from accidental stoppies is statistically insignificant – not even worth mentioning.

iii On the other hand, accident statistics for injuries based on day-to-day reliance on the rear brake alone are overwhelming.
• What happens is, people who rely on the rear brake either lock up the rear wheel, or fail to stop in time.
• Locking up the rear wheel is easy, because there is little weight on that tire, so there is little road resistance to the braking force being applied.
• Locking up the rear wheel will make it skid. It will lose all traction and start to slide.
• Because it has lost traction, it is going faster than the front wheel, and has to move sideways to get around it.
• It will never continue to go straight. The slightest imbalance of weight or angle will throw the tire around you.
• This is when inexperienced riders let off the rear brake and it highsides (see below).
• If they don’t lock up the rear, then they fail to stop in time.
• Mentally unable or unwilling to use the front brake, they ride the rear brake all the way to impact.

d. The front brake is arguably the best safety device on any motorcycle.

i Older but oft-quoted statistics show that the front brake has about 70% of the bike’s stopping power.

ii Due to major increases in brake, tire and suspension technology in the last twenty years, this proportion has probably shifted up to about 80% or 90%.

e. Ride with two fingers resting on the front brake lever at all times.
i Reaction times are critical down to hundredths of a second. Covering the brake gives you a significant and critical reduction in your reaction time.

ii You will be startled. A pedestrian, or a deer, or a car will jump out in front of you. By the time you decide to commit to maximum braking to avoid a collision, you will have already squeezed in the front brake without realizing it.
• Essentially, your normal startle response has become a potential lifesaver.

f. Don’t cover the rear brake.
i Keep the balls of your feet on the pegs.
ii If you cover the rear brake, you’re going to hit it when you least want to.
iii Unless you’re in gravel or something like that, you’re not going to use the rear brake until you’ve already squeezed onto the front brake. So it is not critical that you hit it so soon.


2. It’s best to use both brakes — but not equally. More aggressive braking renders the rear wheel more weightless.

a. The faster you’re going, the more front brake you use.
i In parking lots, it can be 50-50 front and rear together.
ii At 35 to 45 mph, you want to use less rear brake.
iii At highway speeds, you might want to start off with just the front brake.
iv Never use the rear brake at high speed, unless you are super good.

b. As you slow, you can add more rear brake.
c. Using both brakes together ultimately gives you your maximum braking power.

3. There are times when you use ONLY the REAR brake.
a. In gravel or deep sand. (I wish someone had told this to me before I had to drive 30 miles to the shop with warped bars and no shifting pedal)
b. Very slow speeds
c. Steep downhill
d. Tight turns

4. Don’t be afraid to brake as hard as you have to.
a. Grab as much brake as you need, quickly and smoothly.
b. In slippery conditions, you’re obviously going to be concerned about skidding out. But if you’ve got to stop, you’ve got to stop.

i Use your best judgment. If hard braking is necessary to avoid impact, you don’t have much choice. Brake hard.

ii Either you will have the traction you need or you won’t. Your best judgment will be better, though, the more attention you’ve been paying to the way your bike is handling on that road.

iii But when the chips are down, there’s no time to experiment. Do what you gotta do. If the traction is there, you’ll stop. If the traction isn’t there, you will slide out and perhaps crash.

iv Any of the alternatives, however, is better than smacking into an obstacle at full speed. Use the brakes!

v From Jack Roe: While I use my front brake only for all normal riding, the fact is that using both brakes to stop is the fastest way to stop in the shortest distance, so I practice using the rear brake for those emergency situations.

Ideally, the best way to stop quickly (on a good surface) is to apply the the rear brake slightly before applying the front brake, then apply the front brake with a firm squeeze, increasing the pressure on the front brake lever as the weight of the motorcycle transfers forward. The reason for applying the rear brake first is because it helps settle the chassis and
keeps a little more weight on the rear wheel, allowing you to use the rear brake more effectively without locking it. Too much pressure on the rear brake will still cause it to lock. As the weight of the motorcycle transfers forward, ease your pressure on the rear brake to avoid lock-up, while applying an increasing pressure on the front brake lever. This is VERY difficult (damn near impossible) to do under "panic" conditions. Your concentration should be on using the front brake to it's maximum
effectiveness, i.e.: just short of locking up. If you front brake does lock, release it immediately and reapply. Unless you are a braking wizard and lucky as hell, a locked front brake means you're goin' down. The MSF teaches you to keep the rear brake locked if you lock it. If you are leaned over, or in a curve, I agree. But if you are going straight, I strongly suggest releasing the rear brake and reapplying it lightly. The reason for this is there are many times when you will not be able to stop completely and will have to make an emergency swerve to avoid the obstacle in your path. You cannot make ANY steering changes with the rear wheel locked (instant crash).

So, if your rear wheel is locked, at the most critical instant, you must remember to release the rear brake and allow the rear wheel rear to regain traction before you swerve. That's an awful lot to remember, and do in the split second required to save your ass. And most people fail miserably at it and hit the tarmac. Also, it is critical to remember to release your front
brake before attempting your swerve, or again, you will go down in a heartbeat. If this sounds like a hell of a lot of maneuvering to avoid a crash, it sure is. The ONLY way to get it right when you need it the most is to practice constantly until these reactions become instinctive and reactive under duress. Hope this helps.

C. Threshold Braking — Better than A.B.S.

1. This is the fastest way to stop.

a. MSF Course was dead wrong — they said in emergency braking just grab all you got and skid straight.
i I did threshold braking in the course, instead of their technique, and stopped several feet short each time. They made me do it over again, swearing that I was braking too soon, but they saw that I was braking at the right place, just stopping faster than I was supposed to. Amazing, I thought this stuff was common knowledge. Guess not.

b. MSF says lock ‘em up in a panic stop. But if you lock the tires, your stopping distance is actually increased. We’ve all seen accidents where a driver or rider locked up the brakes in a panic stop and slid straight into the rear of the car ahead.
i You literally burn rubber. The friction melts the tire and you slide on a patch of molten rubber. It’s like being on ice.
ii You lose traction regardless, because you’re essentially in a controlled skid, and you slide rather than stop.
iii You lose all steering control.
iv You can also put flat spots on your tire, which ruins it.
c. Conversely, if you brake too lightly, that’s no good either.
d. The fastest way to stop is to brake to the max, but keep the tires rolling.
i You retain directional control and traction.

2. Threshold braking means you apply the brakes to the point where they have their maximum ability to slow the bike, without losing traction.

a. This point is right before they lock up. The “threshold.”
b. This requires practice and fine muscle control.
i It is critical to practice. You must know the feel of your brakes in order to be able to exert maximum stopping power without locking up the wheels.
ii You need a sensitive touch to maximize braking power without exceeding the threshold.

3. What is the braking threshold?

a. It is the point at which you have max stopping power, with the tire still rolling. Any more brake and you lock up and skid. Any less and you’re not stopping fast as you could be.

b. This point is not fixed. It depends on a variety of conditions.
i The threshold will be lower on a wet road than on a dry surface.
ii Snow and ice dramatically lower the threshold (though many drivers seem to be blissfully unaware of this, until they need to stop).
iii Some dry road surfaces have better grip than others, depending on the material used and the surface texture.
• Some roads in Long Island have a really slippery compound that makes even cars wipe out. The counties were supposed to replace it a few years ago, but some places they never got around to it.
iv Bumps and irregularities in the road surface reduce tire adhesion, and lower the braking threshold.
v Banked turns and uphill rises have good adhesion, but off-camber turns and downhill slopes lower the threshold.
vi Cold tires or a cold road also have poor adhesion.
vii Meanwhile, overheated tires can get slippery and feel greasy.

c. TECHNIQUE — How to do threshold braking.
i Start max braking by applying the brakes quickly, but smoothly.
• Do not yank or stomp on the brake! Apply the brake.
• Accurate threshold braking requires a smooth and sensitive touch.
ii Apply the brake all the way to the point where the tire starts to lock.
iii The instant the wheel starts to lock, ease off the brake.
iv Ease back on the brake to get to the threshold.
v This all happens very fast. Easing on and off the brake feels like you’re fluttering the finest muscles in your fingertips and toes.
• You are NOT “pumping” the brakes.
• Pumping the brakes is an error. You need fine, smooth control here. Not on-off-on-off jerking, but a smooth flutter.
• Use the tiny muscles, not the big ones. You cannot get any fine control with your thigh. You can get lots of fine control with the tips of your fingers and toes. That’s what you use.
vi How do you know if you’re doing it right?
• You will know. You’ll feel it, because you are braking with great sensitivity.
• You might be able to hear it. In proper threshold braking, the tire treads make a “blip-blip-blip” sound. This is because, as the tire continues to roll, the treads grip and release, grip and release, grip and release.
• You will not leave any skid marks, and you will stop in a much shorter distance.
d. Practicing
i It is dangerous to practice threshold braking in traffic. At worst, you’ll skid out and hit something. At best, an inattentive car behind you might rear-end you.
• This is a skill that need to be practiced in a safe and controlled environment. Empty parking lots are good.
ii You’re working on building your sensitivity to the behavior of your bike as it approaches and exceeds its braking threshold.
• You want to be able to feel it instinctively, and react instinctively. So you have to be familiar with the feel.
iii This really doesn’t take much time at all. A little practice is all it takes.

D. Slides.

1. Don’t fight a slide. Fighting a slide is a panic error.
a. You’d think that fighting a slide is a good thing, but again your automatic response is going to be the wrong one.

2. Rear-wheel Slides.
a. When the rear tire starts sliding, do nothing at all.
i If you leave the bike alone, it will automatically stabilize itself.
• The front wheel will naturally turn into the slide, and it will go just the right amount to stabilize the bike.
ii If you fight the slide, or tighten on the bars, the bike will pivot on the front tire’s contact patch.
• If you were in a car, it would now spin out, as the rear wheels revolve around the front.
• Your bike, however, will highside.
• The bike will pivot. The front tire will be pointing forward. The rear tire will be pointing off on an angle. The rear tire will still be spinning, it will catch, and pop up into the air.
• So don’t tighten on the bars! Stay cool.
iii If you chop the throttle, the sliding rear tire will regain traction before the bike has recovered. [Chopping the throttle means letting off the gas suddenly. It can be partial or all the way off. Chopping the throttle is almost always a bad thing to do. You want to be smooth with the gas.]
• The rear wheel will regain traction, and you will highside.
• So don’t chop the throttle! Stay cool.

3. Front-wheel Slides.
a. When the front tire starts sliding, do nothing at all.
i If you leave the bike alone, it will automatically stabilize itself.
• The bike will slow, stand itself up, and get back under control.
ii If you try to straighten the front wheel, you’ll make it worse.
• The bike will wind up leaning even more, and you’ll slide worse.
• So don’t straighten out the wheel! Stay cool.
iii If you chop the throttle, all your weight shifts to the sliding front tire.
• You will lose all traction and you will go down.
• So don’t chop the throttle! Stay cool.

4. No matter which wheel is sliding, DO NOTHING.

E. Skids.

1. A skid is a braking error.
a. You’ve locked up the rear wheel.
i It is now skidding to the outside of your turn (or, if you were going straight, it is going out to the side of the bike that had more weight on it, even by a couple of ounces).
ii You have lost your gyro completely!
iii DO NOT LET OFF THE REAR BRAKE
• You will highside.
• Keep that rear brake locked up.
iv Don’t fight the front wheel. Let it correct itself.
• In an extreme skid, you may wind up lowsiding anyway. Do it. It’s far better than the alternative.

b. You’ve locked up the front wheel.
i All your weight was up front for this to happen.
• And now you’ve lost all of your traction.
• And you’ve lost all of your steering.
ii Just let up on the front brake!
• The front tire will grip again, and you’re back in business.
• Don’t make any big steering changes before you do this, though, or you’ll wipe out big time.

2. How do you prevent a skid?
a. Don’t brake in a turn or while swerving. Brake first, then turn. Or turn first, then brake. Never do both at the same time.
i You lose your traction and suspension if you do both together.

b. You can still brake hard.
i Don’t be afraid to brake hard.
• Braking too gradually just makes you have to grab a lot of brake just as you start to turn.
• And turning with too much brake = crash.
• Braking too gradually can make you enter the turn too slow.
• Braking too gradually can make you miss your turn point.
• Braking too gradually can make you hit the obstacle in front of you.
ii Just be smooth while braking hard.
• If you grab too much brake too quickly, you’ll bottom out the front suspension.
• If you grab too much brake too quickly, the front wheel will lock and skid, and you lose your steering entirely.

c. Don’t use your rear brakes unless…
i Save your rear brake until you need it.
• Don’t risk locking up the rear wheel. It kills your gyro, skids you, and makes you totally unstable.
• In most situations, the front brake is all you’ll need.
• If you wind up needing more, by the time you apply the rear brake you’ll be out of the danger zone for skidding.
ii Do use the rear brake in slippery conditions, on gravel, on sand, etc.
iii Do use the rear brake in emergencies.
• Use the front and rear brake TOGETHER for super-fast stopping.