Let's Ride Page 8
Among its findings, the Hurt Report noted that 92 percent of riders involved in accidents lacked any formal motorcycle training; they were either self-taught, or they’d learned from family and friends. Apparently the riders’ friends had passed on their own bad habits, because the report noted: “Motorcycle riders in these accidents showed significant collision avoidance problems. Most riders would overbrake and skid their rear wheel, and underbrake the front wheel, greatly reducing collision avoidance deceleration. The ability to countersteer and swerve was essentially absent.”
Clearly someone needed to develop a formal motorcycle training course, but there was no obvious organization to handle that job. You might think the government would step in, but it seems that motorcycle riders are a low priority for most elected officials. The Hurt Report did nothing to light a fire under the government’s collective ass to start developing and funding rider training programs.
Thankfully, the MSF stepped up and did what all levels of government were unable to do: develop a rider training program. The MSF’s RiderCourse made its debut in California in 1987. Within a few years it had spread across the country. Not only do all states offer MSF RiderCourses, but the majority of them use some form of the RiderCourse curriculum in their licensing tests. Many states allow completion of the course itself to fulfill the riding skills portion of the licensing exam—complete the RiderCourse, get your motorcycle endorsement.
One of the best aspects of the RiderCourse is that in most states the program provides the motorcycles you’ll use to complete the course (and often earn your motorcycle license). That means that you can learn to ride without even buying a bike, which is why I put this chapter on learning to ride before the chapter on buying a motorcycle. Many of the programs that offer the courses even provide protective gear, which will save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Taking a RiderCourse is the best way to find out if you even like riding a motorcycle before you spend a small fortune buying a bike and all the associated gear.
I’m going to provide you with the basics of motorcycle riding in the following pages, but first I’m going to give you the single most important piece of advice in this entire book—complete the MSF RiderCourse.
And if you’re already an experienced motorcyclist who hasn’t taken the basic RiderCourse, take one of the advanced training courses. If you’re self-taught, or if you learned to ride from a friend or family member, chances are you’ve developed some bad habits over the years. Riding is an extremely high-risk activity and even if those bad habits haven’t caused you problems so far, sooner or later your luck will run out. It’s best to rely on luck as little as possible; one of the best ways to do that is to get formal training. It’s the most important thing you can do to avoid getting maimed or killed. I advise you to use what I write here to help familiarize yourself with the operation of a motorcycle to help you pass the MSF RiderCourse.
THE SIX BASIC CONTROLS
OPERATING A MOTORCYCLE IS a complex activity. You’ll need to use both of your hands and both of your feet to operate the controls, and you’ll often be using all of them at the same time. Remember, you’ll also need to use your feet to hold yourself up when the bike is stopped. Believe it or not, I’ve seen people forget this and fall over at a stop.
You’ll have to master six basic controls to ride most motorcycles. For the first twenty or so years I rode motorcycles, manufacturers used different layouts for these main controls. I only rode Harleys, but even though all the bikes I rode were built by the same manufacturer, the location of the brakes, shifters, and clutches varied from model to model and from year to year. Having to relearn the controls each time you bought a new bike annoyed the hell out of us, and it could even be dangerous at times, but for the 1975 model year the U.S. government passed a law standardizing the location of many of those controls. Since the U.S. motorcycle market was the most important one for most manufacturers, virtually all of them adopted the layout specified by U.S. law.
The main controls on a motorcycle are as follows:
Throttle: On a motorcycle the throttle is a twist grip that controls your speed, located on the right end of the handlebar.
Front brake lever: This is a lever that controls the front brake, mounted on the right side of the handlebar, in front of the throttle.
Rear brake lever: This is a lever that operates the rear brake, located near the right footpeg.
Clutch lever: This is a lever that operates the clutch, located on the left side of the handlebar, in front of the left handgrip.
Shift lever: This is a lever that shifts gears in the transmission, located near the left footpeg.
Handlebar: Anyone who’s ridden a bicycle knows what this is.
SECONDARY CONTROLS
IN ADDITION TO THESE six primary controls, you’ll have to operate a variety of secondary controls when you’re riding on public roads. The locations of these aren’t as standardized as are the locations for the primary controls, but the vast majority of motorcycle manufacturers use the same basic layout. Secondary controls include the following:
Ignition switch. This can be found in all sorts of odd places, from up by the instruments, to the top of the tank, to below the seat. This operates much like the switch in a car, except that it doesn’t actually start the bike, as it does in most cars. For that you’ll need to use . . .
The electric start button. This button, which engages the electric starting motor, is usually found on the right handgrip.
The choke or enrichment circuit. This is a lever, usually on the left handgrip, that engages a choke on carbureted bikes or an enrichment or fast-idle circuit on fuel-injected bikes. Up until just a few years ago all bikes had these, but as motorcycle fuel-injection technology advances, more and more bikes skip this control.
Engine kill switch. This is an emergency shut-off switch for the engine. I rarely if ever find the need to use this.
Turn signals. Like cars, all modern street bikes have turn signals. The location and method of operation used for these varies a bit among some manufacturers—particularly Harley-Davidson and BMW—but on most bikes the control consists of a switch on the left handgrip that you push left to engage the left turn signal, push right to engage the right turn signal, and push straight in to turn off the signals. Unlike all modern cars, many bikes don’t have self-canceling turn signals, so you’ll need to remember to shut these off or you’ll be riding down the road with your signal flashing. In addition to being embarrassing, this can be dangerous.
Horn. This is a button located on one of the handgrips—usually the left—that activates your motorcycle’s horn. Many people are afraid to use their horns because they think it’s rude, but it’s not nearly as rude as getting mangled by a car. If other drivers don’t see you, don’t worry about being rude; use your horn to let them know you’re there. It could save your life.
Headlight dimmer switch. This works the same as the dimmer switch in your car. I don’t use this much because I always leave my headlight on high beam during the day, when I do most of my riding.
Speedometer. This indicates your speed, just as it does in your car. Unlike cars, which usually feature analog speedometers, a lot of motorcycles use digital speedometers.
Tachometer. This indicates your engine rpm, again just as it does in your car. Because almost all motorcycles use manual transmissions, these are much more useful on motorcycles than they are in cars, which mostly use automatic transmissions.
PRERIDE INSPECTION
MOTORCYCLES HAVE COME A long way since I started riding, but they still require more care and maintenance than cars. Even if a motorcycle was as reliable as a car, you’d still want to be extra diligent about making sure everything was in working order because the consequences of a system failing are much more extreme on a bike.
The MSF Experienced RiderCourse, which I have taken, teaches the following preride inspection technique, called “T-CLOCK”:
T: Tires and wheels
C
: Controls
L: Lights and electrics
O: Oil and fluids
C: Chassis and chain
K: Kickstand
I’ll be honest; I check these items fairly regularly, but I don’t check each one every time I ride. Some items I do check, if not daily, almost every day. If I rode a bike with a chain, I’d check that every day, but I don’t: my bike uses a belt, which requires very little maintenance. I also check my tires and wheels every time I ride. I look them over to make certain they’re not damaged or low on air. I’ll visually inspect them to make sure they haven’t picked up any nails or glass, but I only check the air pressure once every two or three days unless I suspect one of them might have a leak.
Similarly I don’t check my oil level every day, at least on my Vision, which doesn’t burn a lot of oil. If I’m riding a Harley that I know burns some oil, I’ll check it often, sometimes more than once a day if I put on a lot of miles.
I’ll check my lights fairly regularly to make certain they’re working, especially my taillight and brake light, which I can’t see while I’m riding. The consequences of a malfunctioning taillight or brake light may be getting rear-ended by a car, and as you might imagine, that falls under the category of “really bad.” It seems like every car driver who has hit a motorcycle has said “I didn’t see the motorcycle.” Most of the time the real story is that the driver wasn’t paying attention, but in my opinion, if your taillight or brake light isn’t working, you’re as much at fault as the driver who just hit you.
I’m always paying attention to how my controls are working, but I can’t say I check these things every time I ride. Controls and cables on modern bikes are far more reliable than they were back when the MSF devised the T-CLOCK method. I do check for loose bolts in the chassis every now and then, but that was a bigger issue when I rode Harley-Davidson motorcycles, which vibrate much more than my Victory does. If you ride a Harley, you’ll probably want to check the bolts and nuts on a daily basis.
CHECKING TIRES
THE ONE THING I do consider critical to check frequently is the air pressure in my tires. I’ve had tires go flat while I was flying down the road. I don’t want it to happen again if there’s anything I can do to help it. Besides, a motorcycle handles best when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. Riding with the proper air pressure in your tires also ensures that your tires will last longer. This can save you a lot of money over time.
You’ll need to consult your owner’s manual to find out the proper pressure for your tires. On the sidewall of your tire you’ll find text saying something like: “Maximum Air Pressure 43 PSI.” That means that 43 pounds is the maximum air pressure your tire can safely handle, but that doesn’t mean that your bike was designed to operate with tires pumped up to 43 PSI. More likely your bike was designed to run in the 34–38 PSI range, and inflating your tires beyond that point will adversely affect handling and also cause your tires to wear out faster.
I always keep a tire pressure gauge in my motorcycle tool kit. I’ve found that it’s difficult to get a gauge on the valve stems on some motorcycles with a lot of luggage and bodywork. The area in which you will be working can be tight, and a long gauge can be difficult to seat properly on the valve stem. I carry a small round gauge with a dial instead of a long one with a stick that pokes out to indicate the air pressure; I find the smaller gauge is easier to maneuver around the tire and wheel.
When you check the air pressure, you should take a few seconds to make sure all the axle bolts and pinch bolts on the fork and shocks are tight. I once was riding with a buddy when the bolts securing the clamps that held his front axle in place came loose. His front wheel fell off and his bike went end over end in the ditch. Amazingly, he seemed all right after the incident, and so we continued on our way to the rally we were attending. But to this day he remembers nothing of that weekend.
COUNTERSTEERING
YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND countersteering before you think about starting up your motorcycle. If you’ve never ridden a motorcycle, you’re going to find it’s unlike any other vehicle you’ve ever ridden or driven. You control a motorcycle by leaning into corners rather than turning into them. The closest thing to riding a motorcycle is probably flying an airplane. Like a plane, a motorcycle rotates on a central axis. Imagine a line running through the center of the motorcycle-rider combination. This is the central axis.
To initiate a turn, you countersteer the bike. No subject in motorcycling generates more debate than countersteering, and most of the people doing the arguing don’t really understand the principle. Even though they don’t understand it, they use it every time they ride. Most of them just don’t realize they’re doing it.
You countersteer a motorcycle every time you ride at any speed faster than a slow jog. It’s the quickest and most efficient way to lean a motorcycle into a turn. It’s pretty simple when you get down to the mechanics of it: you press the handlebar on the side in which you want to turn. If you are turning left, press the left handgrip. If you want to go right, press the right handgrip.
This may seem backward, and it would be on a different type of vehicle, like an ATV or a snowmobile. If you press the left handgrip of an ATV it would turn the front wheels to the right, thus causing the ATV to turn right. The same thing happens when you press on the left handgrip of a motorcycle; this also makes the front wheel move slightly to the right. But unlike a four-wheeled vehicle like an ATV, when the front wheel of a motorcycle moves to the right at any rate above a fast-walking speed, it leans the motorcycle to the left and initiates a turn to the left. Once the motorcycle is leaned over at the correct angle to complete the turn, you release enough pressure for the front tire to fall to the left and the bike goes to the left.
In other words, once you’ve initiated the lean with countersteering, you steer through a corner as you would any other vehicle—countersteering only gets you leaned into the turn in the first place. The thing is, the turning you do after you’re leaned over is so slight that you won’t even notice it; you just notice the countersteering pressure needed to initiate the lean in the first place. In fact, you’ll probably feel like you’re countersteering all the way through the corner.
In some instances you will continue to use countersteering in a corner. If the corner tightens up—if it’s what is called a “decreasing radius” corner—you may need to use countersteering to lean the bike over farther so that you turn sharper. This is where understanding countersteering will save your life. If a corner surprises you and gets tighter midcorner, you have two choices: turn sharper and make it through the corner, or run wide and either ride off the road and have a terrible crash or ride into oncoming traffic and initiate a head-on collision, depending on which direction you’re going. If you can’t sharpen up your turn by countersteering and leaning the motorcycle farther over, the first option won’t be available to you.
Larger bikes require more pressure to make the bike bend into its initial lean. You may feel like you need to pull on the opposite handgrip as well as push on the original handgrip. That’s because the larger a bike is, the more pressure it will require to initiate countersteering. This is a good reason to start out with a smaller motorcycle.
CRANKING IT OVER
WHEN YOU FIRST RIDE your new motorcycle, make sure you do so in a safe place where there’s not any traffic. I recommend finding an empty parking lot. Even if you have your license, it’s still a good idea to familiarize yourself with your new machine in a place where you don’t have to worry about other people hurting you so you can concentrate on not hurting yourself.
If your bike has a center stand, place it up on that. A lot of Japanese and European bikes have center stands; unfortunately most American bikes don’t have them. I think this is one area where the other countries have us beat, because a center stand is one of the handiest features a bike can have. They make most maintenance jobs a lot easier, and they’re much less prone to sinking into the tarmac on hot days.
Center stands are easy to use, provided you use them the right way. The trick is to follow the proper procedure:
First, stand beside the bike, facing it from the left side, and grasp both handlebar grips.
When you have a firm grip on the bike, take your right foot and lower the center stand until you feel both its feet resting securely on the ground.
While keeping downward pressure on the center stand with your foot, balance the bike by the handlebars so that it rests perfectly upright.
There will most likely be some kind of handle down below the rear part of the saddle (some newer bikes will have a retractable handle); grasp the handle. If there’s no handle, grab the frame below the saddle.
Lock the center stand tang (the metal tab sticking up from the bottom of the center stand) in place with the heel of your boot so that it doesn’t slide around. Make certain you have a good bite on it with your boot.
Push downward and rearward with your boot while rolling the bike backward with your arms.
As long as you’re using your leg to do the actual lifting and just using your upper body to roll the bike backward, the bike should roll right up on the center stand. If you’re not lifting with your leg but rather lifting with your arms, you probably won’t be able to get the bike up on the center stand. It’s easy if you do it right; it’s impossible if you do it wrong. It doesn’t even matter how big the bike is. If you do it right, it’s almost as easy to lift an 1800-cc Gold Wing as it is to lift a 250-cc Rebel. If you do it wrong, you’ll have your hands full with the Rebel, and you can forget about the Gold Wing.