My Fear On The Road

KawaRider

KawaRider

Wannabie Member
Hey guys :)

I think this is the best place for my topic..

On the road I'm less afraid of traffic then I am of white lines / potholes / manhole covers..
When I am cornering I have the tendency to watch those things rather then actually look at the line I want to be riding! I feel like I have to work on that.. Because one day I'm going to have a problem because of that!

Any suggestions/ideas/opinions?

The Kawa Rider
 
Yup. If it's dry, worry less, if you're cornering plan your line away from lines, and most of all, look up, ahead and where you're going, you can scan the road for all these things further ahead than you think.

Oh, and travel at a speed where you can stop in the distance you can see to be clear on your side of the road.
 
Just spotted your intro, see you're newly licensed.

As above, but don't try to do too much too soon, build it up safy, if you keep scaring yourself you're probably pushing too hard. Relax and enjoy your bike!
 
Oh man, I understand you so well. I've fall down ones because of these white lanes. When they're dry don't worry about them. But if it's rainy or foggy - be aware, try to not use brake on them and try to avoid them at all
 
Look up as much information about target fixation as possible and learn how to avoid it. I've dodged quite a few potential crashes by not target fixating on 'dude sliding off the road ahead of me as I'm entering a turn'. Like Lurch said, one major key is keeping your head up and letting your peripheral vision handle the crap on the road. I'm constantly scanning the road ahead as I'm riding, but for the most part I'm looking far ahead of any vehicles on the road at where I want to end up. In the canyons, this means looking at the next bend or turning my head completely to the side for hairpins.

Try this next time you're in a big empty parking lot. Attempt to do a U-turn. First time, stare at the pavement in front of your bike as you try to do the U-turn. Second time, turn your head and look where you want to go, keeping your view OFF the ground. You should notice a huge difference.

If you have paint stripes in that parking lot. Practice riding through parking spots. Try to ride about 1-2ft parallel to a paint stripe. First pass stare at the pain stripe as you're riding alone. Second pass, keep your head up looking where you want to go and let your peripheral vision see the stripes. You might notice you tend to run over what you're staring at on the ground...
 
Thanks for all the tips guys! I will try to consider them all as I progress in gaining more riding skill!

@kuhlka The head-turning and looking where you are going is the first thing they taught me at riding school.. I still do that! The this is: I do look ahead, but in my mind I keep thinking about those lines and potholes..

@Lurch I will never ride to the point where I am actually scared.. I ride because it is fun and relaxing.. Ofcourse I ride with a small amount of "stress" which makes you alert when riding.. But I will never scare myself by riding outside of my limits!
 
KawaRider said:
Thanks for all the tips guys! I will try to consider them all as I progress in gaining more riding skill!

@kuhlka The head-turning and looking where you are going is the first thing they taught me at riding school.. I still do that! The this is: I do look ahead, but in my mind I keep thinking about those lines and potholes..

@Lurch I will never ride to the point where I am actually scared.. I ride because it is fun and relaxing.. Ofcourse I ride with a small amount of "stress" which makes you alert when riding.. But I will never scare myself by riding outside of my limits!
Click to expand...

It's good to be aware of anything on the surface of the road that might affect grip, especially braking conditions, or possibly cause a crash. That's natural. Over time as you get miles under your belt and experience sliding around on sketchy surfaces, the fear will subside into a nice mild generalized anxiety that's at the back of your mind, but not to the point of causing major stress. Just give it time and avoid high traffic areas or known sketchy roads until your comfort level rises.

If you've got an advanced rider course or trackday/skills training courses available, it's well worth the investment as early as possible. Even just practicing riding over stuff like small blocks of wood, gravel, puddles, etc at slow speeds is good pratice. Every time I get a new bike I make a point of going out when it rains and hammering on the brakes to the point of lock-up to REALLY get comfortable with how the bike handles in the worst conditions. The more you do drills like that, the faster you'll relax on the bike as you discover its limits. Right now you might not have a feel for just how far you can push that machine before it'll have a total freak out and send you flopping down the pavement.
 
Lurch said:
Yup. If it's dry, worry less, if you're cornering plan your line away from lines, and most of all, look up, ahead and where you're going, you can scan the road for all these things further ahead than you think.

Oh, and travel at a speed where you can stop in the distance you can see to be clear on your side of the road.
Click to expand...

Yeah what he said. It has taken me 2 years to trust the bike as much as I do (still not 100% but a lot more than I used to) - it will hold the road in spite of my novice abilities and the dreadful road surfaces we have. You just have to watch the IOM TT to see what a bike is capable of and that is WAY more than I will ever try to get out of it.
Looking up and ahead is so VITAL and the ability to scan the surface far ahead is there if you embrace it.
That being said the fear is healthy if it makes you avoid risks and not ride beyond your ability - build up that ability at a safe pace and without taking terrible risks and you'll be doing better than the multitude of riders who crash in their first few months;)
You're not alone, just give it time :)

Now - you DO need to fear the traffic - other drivers will do the most terrible things and you need to ride expecting it and in readiness of it!!
 
CaptainCranky said:
Now - you DO need to fear the traffic - other drivers will do the most terrible things and you need to ride expecting it and in readiness of it!!
Click to expand...
I might have expressed myself wrong. I do have a healthy fear of traffic! I always look up way ahead and think of what could happen worst case scenario..
 
This is where off-road experience really helps alot of people. Off-road there are so many different surfaces, obstacles and unexpected variables. This helps you train for different road surfaces, potholes, paint, oil, traffic etc.... Just riding down a gravel road on your street bike will tell you how ready you are for these variables. I ride as fast on straight gravel roads as I normally do on pavement, its just second nature for me.. Been riding dirtbikes since 2nd grade.
 
Hb Jake said:
This is where off-road experience really helps alot of people. Off-road there are so many different surfaces, obstacles and unexpected variables. This helps you train for different road surfaces, potholes, paint, oil, traffic etc.... Just riding down a gravel road on your street bike will tell you how ready you are for these variables. I ride as fast on straight gravel roads as I normally do on pavement, its just second nature for me.. Been riding dirtbikes since 2nd grade.
Click to expand...
I'll keep that in mind! I do plan on get a supermoto to do a little off-roading :D
 
I use to do the same thing paying more attention to what I wanted to avoid then notice I was headed right for it lol. I watched the ride like a pro dvd & one of the tips for cornering was to focus on the end of the curve so ur body & bike will be positioned to ride through the curve instead of what's exactly in front of it.

KawaRider said:
Hey guys :)

I think this is the best place for my topic..

On the road I'm less afraid of traffic then I am of white lines / potholes / manhole covers..
When I am cornering I have the tendency to watch those things rather then actually look at the line I want to be riding! I feel like I have to work on that.. Because one day I'm going to have a problem because of that!

Any suggestions/ideas/opinions?

The Kawa Rider
Click to expand...
 
Target fixation caused my first accident & the curb won too lol. $300 in damage in four seconds smh


kuhlka said:
Look up as much information about target fixation as possible and learn how to avoid it. I've dodged quite a few potential crashes by not target fixating on 'dude sliding off the road ahead of me as I'm entering a turn'. Like Lurch said, one major key is keeping your head up and letting your peripheral vision handle the crap on the road. I'm constantly scanning the road ahead as I'm riding, but for the most part I'm looking far ahead of any vehicles on the road at where I want to end up. In the canyons, this means looking at the next bend or turning my head completely to the side for hairpins.

Try this next time you're in a big empty parking lot. Attempt to do a U-turn. First time, stare at the pavement in front of your bike as you try to do the U-turn. Second time, turn your head and look where you want to go, keeping your view OFF the ground. You should notice a huge difference.

If you have paint stripes in that parking lot. Practice riding through parking spots. Try to ride about 1-2ft parallel to a paint stripe. First pass stare at the pain stripe as you're riding alone. Second pass, keep your head up looking where you want to go and let your peripheral vision see the stripes. You might notice you tend to run over what you're staring at on the ground...
Click to expand...
 
BurgrNoChz said:
I use to do the same thing paying more attention to what I wanted to avoid then notice I was headed right for it lol. I watched the ride like a pro dvd & one of the tips for cornering was to focus on the end of the curve so ur body & bike will be positioned to ride through the curve instead of what's exactly in front of it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, as soon as you start rotating your head and upper torso in the direction you want to go, you tend to notice it's suddenly easier to handle corners and U-turns. Same thing happens in cars if you're not careful while doing head checks...
 
KawaRider said:
Hey guys :)

I think this is the best place for my topic..

On the road I'm less afraid of traffic then I am of white lines / potholes / manhole covers..
When I am cornering I have the tendency to watch those things rather then actually look at the line I want to be riding! I feel like I have to work on that.. Because one day I'm going to have a problem because of that!

Any suggestions/ideas/opinions?

The Kawa Rider
Click to expand...

For a while there, I was hitting things like tar snakes, painted lines, manhole covers, etc on purpose just to get used to how the bike reacts. I had a few slidey moments, but nothing that caused a crash. After a while, I got a lot more comfortable with the bike wiggling around under me and now it doesn't bother me when it happens unexpectedly.
 
KawaRider said:
Hey guys :)

I think this is the best place for my topic..

On the road I'm less afraid of traffic then I am of white lines / potholes / manhole covers..
When I am cornering I have the tendency to watch those things rather then actually look at the line I want to be riding! I feel like I have to work on that.. Because one day I'm going to have a problem because of that!

Any suggestions/ideas/opinions?

The Kawa Rider
Click to expand...

Never fear- just ride with your EYES and be cautious.
 
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