Preacherman said:
Hey Cruise I plan to be a the fest how about some riding tips for the less skilled riders. I am being serious you are a great rider, a little crazy
but still a great rider. No shame in my game if you give me a pointer or two I will be eternally grateful.
Ride at a pace that you are comfortable negotiating the road in your own lane. Don't ride over your head to impress others. If someone comes up behind you, pull over and let them by where it is safe to do so.
Here is one of the more popular, well written, and widely quoted articles on street riding:
The Pace
Separating street
from track, riding from racing
By Nick
Ienatsch
"The Pace", first appearing in the November 1991 issue
of
Motorcyclist magazine.
Racing involves speed, concentration and commitment;
the results of a mistake are usually catastrophic because there's little room
for error riding at 100 percent. Performance street riding is less intense and
further from the absolute limit, but because circumstances are less controlled,
mistakes and over aggressiveness can be equally catastrophic. Plenty of
roadracers have sworn off street riding. "Too dangerous, too many variables and
too easy to get carried away with too much speed," track specialists claim.
Adrenaline-addled racers find themselves treating the street like the track, and
not surprisingly, they get burned by the police, the laws of physics and the
cold, harsh realities of an environment not groomed for ten-tenths riding. But
as many of us know, a swift ride down a favorite road may be the finest way to
spend a few free hours with a bike we love. And these few hours are best enjoyed
riding at The Pace.
A year after I joined
Motorcyclist staff in
1984, Mitch Boehm was hired. Six months later, The Pace came into being, and we
perfected it during the next few months of road testing and weekend fun rides.
Now The Pace is part of my life - and a part of the Sunday morning riding group
I frequent. The Pace is a street riding technique that not only keeps street
riders alive, but thoroughly entertained as well.
THE PACE
The Pace focuses on bike control
and de-emphasizes outright speed. Full-throttle acceleration and last minute
braking aren't part of the program, effectively eliminating the two most common
single-bike accident scenarios in sport riding. Cornering momentum is the name
of the game, stressing strong, forceful inputs at the handlebar to place the
bike correctly at the entrance of the turn and get it flicked in with little
wasted time and distance. Since the throttle wasn't slammed open at the exit of
the last corner, the next corner doesn't require much, if any, braking. It isn't
uncommon to ride with our group and not see a brake light flash all morning.
If the brakes are required, the front lever gets
squeezed smoothly, quickly and with a good deal of force to set entrance speed
in minimum time. Running in on the brakes is tantamount to running off the road,
a confession that you're pushing too hard and not getting your entrance speed
set early enough because you stayed on the gas too long. Running The Pace
decreases your reliance on the throttle and brakes, the two easiest controls to
abuse, and hones your ability to judge cornering speed, which is the most
thrilling aspect of performance street riding.
YOUR LANE IS YOUR LIMIT
Crossing the
centerline at any time except during a passing maneuver is intolerable, another
sign that you're pushing too hard to keep up. Even when you have a clean line of
sight through a left-hand kink, stay to the right of the centerline. Staying on
the right side of the centerline is much more challenging than simply
straightening every slight corner, and when the whole group is committed to this
intelligent practice, the temptation to cheat is eliminated through peer
pressure and logic. Though street riding shouldn't be described in racing terms,
you can think of your lane as the race track. Leaving your lane is tantamount to
a crash.
Exact bike control has you using every inch of your
lane if the circumstances permit it. In corners with a clear line of sight and
no oncoming traffic, enter at the far outside of the corner, turn the bike
relatively late in the corner to get a late apex at the far inside of your lane
and accelerate out, just brushing the far outside of your lane as your bike
stands up. Steer your bike forcefully but smoothly to minimize the transition
time. Don't hammer it down because the chassis will bobble slightly as it
settles, possibly carrying you off line. Since you haven't charged in on the
brakes, you can get the throttle on early, before the apex, which balances and
settles your bike for the drive out.
More often than not, circumstances do not permit the
full use of your lane from yellow line to white line and back again. Blind
corners, oncoming traffic and gravel on the road are a few criteria that dictate
a more conservative approach, so leave yourself a three or four foot margin for
error, especially at the left side of the lane where errant oncoming traffic
could prove fatal. Simply narrow your entrance on a blind right-harder and move
your apex into your lane three feet on blind left turns in order to stay free of
unseen oncoming traffic hogging the centerline. Because you're running at The
Pace and not flat out, your controlled entrances offer additional time to deal
with unexpected gravel or other debris in your lane; the outside wheel track is
usually the cleanest through a dirty corner since a car weights its outside
tires most, scrubbing more dirt off the pavement in the process, so aim for that
line.
A GOOD LEADER, WILLING FOLLOWERS
The street
is not a racing environment, and it takes humility, self assurance and self
control to keep it that way. The leader sets the pace and monitors his mirrors
for signs of raggedness in the ranks that follow, such as tucking in on
straights, crossing over the yellow line and hanging off the motorcycle in the
corners, If the leader pulls away, he simply slows his straight way speed
slightly but continues to enjoy the corners, thus closing the ranks but missing
none of the fun. The small group of three or four riders I ride with is so
harmonious that the pace is identical no matter who's leading. The lead shifts
occasionally with a quick hand sign, but there's never a pass for the lead with
an ego on the sleeve. Make no mistake, the riding is spirited and quick in the
corners. Anyone with a right arm can hammer down the straights; it's proficiency
in the corners that makes The Pace come alive.
Following distances are relatively lengthy, with the
straightaways taken at more moderate speeds, providing the perfect opportunity
to adjust the gaps. Keeping a good distance serves several purposes, besides
being safer. Rock chips are minimized, and the police or highway patrol won't
suspect a race is in progress. The Pace's style of not hanging off in corners
also reduces the appearance of pushing too hard and adds a degree of maturity
and sensibility in the eyes of the public and the law. There's a definite
challenge to cornering quickly while sitting sedately on your bike.
New rider indoctrination takes some time because The
Pace develops very high cornering speeds and newcomers want to hammer the
throttle on the exits to make up for what they lose at the entrances. Our group
slows drastically when a new rider joins the ranks because our technique of
moderate straightaway speed and no brakes can suck the unaware into a corner too
fast, creating the most common single bike accident. With a new rider learning
The Pace behind you, tap your brake lightly well before the turn to alert him
and make sure he understands there's no pressure to stay with the group.
There's plenty of ongoing communication during The
Pace. A foot off the peg indicates debris in the road, and all slowing or
turning intentions are signaled in advance with the left hand and arm. Turn
signals are used for direction changes and passing, with a wave of the left hand
to thank the cars that move right and make it easy for motorcyclists to get
past. Since you don't have a death grip on the handlebar, your left hand is also
free to wave to oncoming riders, a fading courtesy that we'd like to see return.
If you're getting the idea The Pace is a relaxing, noncompetitive way to ride
with a group, you are right.
RELAX AND FLICK IT
I'd rather spend a Sunday
in the mountains riding at The Pace than a Sunday at the racetrack, it's that
enjoyable. Countersteering is the name of the game; smooth, forceful steering
input at the handlebar relayed to the tires' contact patches through a rigid
sport bike frame. Riding at The Pace is certainly what bike manufacturers had in
mind when sport bikes
evolved to the
street.
But the machine isn't the most important aspect of
running The Pace because you can do it on anything capable of getting through a
corner. Attitude is The Pace's most important aspect: realizing the friend ahead
of you isn't a competitor, respecting his right to lead the group occasionally
and giving him credit for his riding skills. You must have the maturity to limit
your straightaway speeds to allow the group to stay in touch and the sense to
realize that racetrack tactics such as late braking and full throttle runs to
redline will alienate the public and police and possibly introduce you to the
unforgiving laws of gravity. When the group arrives at the destination after
running The Pace, no one feels outgunned or is left with the feeling he must
prove himself on the return run. If you've got some thing to prove, get on a
racetrack.
The racetrack measures your speed with a stop watch
and direct competition, welcoming your aggression and gritty resolve to be the
best. Performance street riding's only yardstick is the amount of enjoyment
gained, not lap times, finishing position or competitors beaten. The differences
are huge but not always remembered by riders who haven't discovered The Pace's
cornering pureness and group involvement. Hammer on the racetrack. Pace yourself
on the street.
-MC
