Recently I received a call from a rider requesting some information about my Ride Like a Pro Course. Specifically, he wanted to know if the course would help him out on the highway. He said he’d been riding for more than 20 years and only had one accident. I asked him to tell me about the accident. He said he was riding down a country road with no traffic when a car suddenly pulled out from a side road right in front of him. He said he had no choice but to lay the bike down. With that statement, I knew I was dealing with someone who, though he may have been riding for 20 years, actually knows nothing about riding a motorcycle.
“Laying the bike down” simply means a rider over braked the rear brake causing the tire to lock up. The bike then slid onto its side. That’s physics, not skill.
I then asked him what kind of problems he has having out on the highway. He said he’s had some close calls when a car pulled into his lane and almost ran him off the road. Occasionally, he also stated, when leaving the highway onto a decreasing radius exit, he tends to ride a little wide of the turn.
I explained to him that all his problems are in fact addressed in the Ride Like a Pro course. In order to avoid running too wide on a curve, you must learn to use your head and eyes properly. That means you have to look toward the end of the turn at the place you want to end up, not where you’re going at the moment. Each and every exercise in my course forces you to use that technique.
Without knowing where to look and when to look there, your progress through a curve will always be choppy and wide.
As for the car that crowds into your lane, the technique for avoiding a crash in that situation is counter steering. You must know how to lean your bike away from an obstacle by pushing forward on one of the grips; push left to go left, push right to go right. At any speed above 15 mph, the motorcycle must lean to turn.
The high speed cone weave I use in my course teaches a rider exactly how counter steering works.
Having the ability to stop quickly using both front and rear brakes, takes practice. The braking exercise I use, though simple, shows the rider how it should be done and lets the rider know if he’s pressing too hard on the rear brake and not using enough front brake.
In essence, everything you’ll learn and practice in a Ride Like a Pro course, has a direct relationship to real world situations you’ll find out on the road. To find out more information or to sign up for a class, https://www.ridelikeapro.com/rider-classes/
Copyright 2014 Jerry “Motorman” Palladino