Motorcycling Observations #1 - Same old, Same old.

This series is sort of like my 'How to Drive Like a Driving Instructor' series, but with me riding a motorcycle instead.

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[rath]

Police riders do the "neutral shuffle" at the lights because their riding doctrine prioritises being a safety to others. That means, if they get hit from behind, the bike's in neutral and it doesn't shoot forward. A school of thought amongst non-Police riders is that one should keep the bike in gear, and monitor the mirrors for cars that aren't stopping. This way you're ready to evade without having to get in gear. I tend to put it in neutral only when my clutch hand is tired, or when there's a stopped car behind me to absorb any impact.

[iaincormack]

Ashley, That's exactly how I ride. Constant observation and treating every situation as a potential hazard.

[busog]

*It's always a joy and a pleasure to get to ne a viewer of this channel!*

[PedroConejo]

I always think my cornering must look like a badly executed racing line to those who don't know, preferring to stay wide for visibility until I've passed the apex - where the limit point starts to properly increase - and then returning to my preferred line. It's about visibility, not speed.
It sounds like the 'guy in the silver van' was what I have heard called a 'gate guardian', someone who protects you - deliberately or not - from the eejits behind who like to invade your space. I was pleased to hear you highlight that. They should be treasured, they're fairly rare these days, even if all they're doing is driving properly.

[mikeroberts]

I'm late to the party with this one. Have been out riding with my IAM Associate. My feedback/tips: Great situational awareness (I wouldn't expect anything else having watched your channel), I've done a few town riding videos myself. Don't over obsess about which foot to have down. In busy stop/start city/town riding a right foot down approach is perfectly OK, and many police riders/forces have dropped the Hendon Shuffle. With right foot down you can snick into neutral, rest the clutch hand and easily select first again to pull away. The key things with foot down are: do you come to a safe, smooth, controled stop, and is the foot appropriate for the condition of the road surface. About coming to a smooth stop, I'm noticing a little bit of jerkiness and fork dive, just try to feather the front brake a little more. Finally, quick shifters are great but make sure you don't fall into the trap of using them to slow down. Speed then Gear. Look forward to the next one.

[Justyn-OutbackArtisan]

G'day mate. Long time viewer, recent subscriber.
I've read through a ton of comments, and am surprised that only one other appears to have been concerned about your indicator habits.
As a car driver, it's easy to become accustomed to the vehicle automatically cancelling the indicator after a turn.
When switching to a motorcycle, that kind of habit becomes deadly. You've got to get off that indicator as soon as it's no longer required, or you risk people assuming you're about to make a turn and puling out in front of you.
So many SMIDSY collisions are, so some degree, could have been avoided had the rider not been giving false signals.

My wife and I are driving through the U.K. soon, and your advice has been invaluable. Your constant reminders about driving consideration have even improved my observation, and consideration, of others here at home. Even so far as making me realise I was suffering from "must get past" syndrome, which I now constantly have to remind myself to overcome.

Thanks mate.

[Taafe]

11:33 I don't use positon 3 for left hand bends (or right hand) it makes you more at risk if a car/truck etc cuts the corner. Use position 2, give yourself enough speed to take you round the corner safely and enough time and visibility to get into the left if something comes barreling round. This is what I was taught doing IAM.

[Jordan_]

Smooth riding, consistent, great vocal observations - Brilliant watch :)

[ianmason.]

3:31 That change in colour of the road surface ahead would have my biker spidey senses tingling. Why is it a different colour? How is the road surface different from that around it? Is it new? (Possible loose chippings) Is it very worn? Etcetera. It's something that a car driver wouldn't even have to think about, but it can signal potential real danger for a biker.

[JediCore]

I really like these motorcycle videos. keep them coming!

when it comes to getting to a red light I usually like to go as slow as I can without putting my foot down. It's a fun slow speed exercise!

[XRMissie]

I really like the like you take considering this vehicle is monotrack, it's how I'd expect a rider who wants to be seen place themself in the road. However, staying in position 3, encourages undertaking more than a car on wide roads, so I like splitting the road into 7 bands; 3 left track, centre, 3 right track. If I'm cruising, centre line so position 4, but only if the road condition is good (no oils, gravel, bumpy/unworn). Otherwise I stay in position 5, just left of the right wheel track. Left bends I stay in position 6 for visibility. Right bends I move to position 3 (of 7) initially, and depending on the tightness of the bend, position 2. I stay these lines until I'm satisfied with my observations through the bend, move back to the centre and apply power gradually on exit.

[RogerHolden]

Excellent video. Brings home two main thoughts to me. 1. Despite people saying bikes are dangerous because of 'other people' the fact is, 99% of bike safety is down to good riding like this. Yes an idiot can scream out in front of you, but if you're prepared, you can avoid. 2. An hour of motorcycling is really tiring, your brain has to work so much harder than in a car.

I sold my Fazer 600 a few years ago but do pine for another - something like yours!

[_______-]

Smooth 👍
Just starting the Advanced course. One thing they talk about on road positioning is that it's very situation-dependent, not a rigid rule. That came across well on the video.

[IToohat]

In busy urban rides like you are doing in this video my positioning is prioritised as follows:
1, Position for visibility (both yours and other peoples view of you).
2, Position to show your intention.
3, Position to avoiding grids, painted lines and pot holes with minimal adjustment.
4, Position for smooth safer riding and straighten out turns (if you are happy with the first three above).
The more visible and predictable you are, the safer you when riding in built up, busy areas.

[nickthompson]

With regards to the neutral shuffle, if you know you're going to be sat somewhere for a period of time, keep the bike in first and just use the kill switch. Flick it back straight away and then you can keep your right foot on the back brake, left foot down and avoid shuffling from one to the other. Starting the bike is also quicker than having to shuffle toe get it in gear. That also reduces the risk of slipping and tipping the bike from left to right so much as well as not having the awful 1st gear clunk each time whilst being able to stretch your hands as if you were in neutral. Great video as always.

[chrisl]

3:10 I drive a van with a cage on like that. Different cab body, but I expect the back gets the same type of rubbish we

[ianmason.]

The best helmet I ever had in regards to holding visor position was a Nava one. It had a thumbwheel under the right along the jawline. This had click stops and rolling it opened and closed the visor via a little system of gears. Not only did this hold the visor firmly in every position you might put it in, it also had an additional step beyond the closed position that pulled the visor inward to positively seal against the helmet. I loved it, and to this day I still want to reach for that wheel to move a visor.

[garrypepperman]

Nice video if I may say so. I was told the foot shuffle between the brake and gear pedals is known as ‘the Hendon shuffle’ I guess something to do with the police motorcycle riders, as maybe they are trained at Hendon London.

[tonybarton]

Trick I’ve learnt over the years at traffic lights before just pulling away, right hand safety check and left hand safety check for the lovely people on cycles who sneak up on the blind inside 😊👍👍

[douglasreid]

indicators: 99% of the time i do cancle my indicators on the motorbike, but something i trained myself to do is to 20secs after or so, press the cancel button again just to make sure they are off and not giving false information from my motorbike. and for the 1% of the time i dont fully press the button or remember to do it, my back up press seconds later catches it.