This week on MCrider we will discuss 4 motorcycle riding hacks that will help you:
1. See the road when you can't see the road
2. Ride better in stop and go traffic
3. Make your motorcycle shift smoother
4. And help you avoid an embarrassing situation like I fell into, all while saving your toes from pain
Do you have a comment on this video? We will be continuing the discussion on the forums. Here is a direct link to the thread.
See you there,
Kevin
Learning to ride a motorcycle well is a life long journey. It is part of the fun of riding that we can increase our knowledge and skills along the way.
This week on MCrider I will share 4 riding hacks or skills that you might not have learned yet.
Hey, my name is Kevin and I release a weekly video here on MCrider focussed on motorcycle road skills and road strategy to help make you a better rider.
If you haven’t heard yet, I just released a brand new web site that has every episode of MCrider ever released. Just go to MCrider.com where you can search, sort, and watch every video released on MCrider over the last 3 years of MCrider’s commitment to help you become a better rider.
This week I thought we would focus on some simple riding hacks that will make your next ride safer and more enjoyable.
(Hack 1) Show gears tuning
Our first riding hack has to do with reading the road ahead when you can’t even see the road because your visibility is blocked by trees or other obstacles.
If you have ever been on a two-lane road with limited visibility and wondered what the road ahead was going to do? This tip is for you.
Use the electrical poles and the tree line to give you clues on what is happening ahead. Even in situations where you can’t see the road you can often see the tops of trees and especially the electrical poles that often follow highways to read what is ahead.
If the electrical poles are moving to the right, you can know ahead of time that the road will be curving to the right.
See a dip in the height of the poles? There must be a dip in the road.
This technique is not totally foolproof in that sometimes electrical wires cross the road but it will give you an advantage over just riding blind to the road ahead.
You can use your new-found road knowledge to adjust your speed as you approach the area or to adjust your lane position, to see better through the corner, and be better prepared for the road ahead.
(Hack 2) Drag the rear brake
A common technique that rider’s work on is their ability to make u-turns. The technique is simple but does take some practice.
Clutch in the friction zone
Drag a little rear brake
In heavy traffic, this is the same technique you use to keep the motorcycle moving along at a walking pace without constantly having to put your feet down.
I know a lot of riders have not put this into practice yet because I see you out on the road dragging your feet in traffic, or constantly waddling up to the car in front of you in stop and go traffic.
Remember, anytime the wheels are rolling, your feet should be up on the pegs or the floorboards.
I have videos on slow speed motorcycle control that you can use to help you develop this skill. Just go to MCrider.com/slow and I have a few videos in the cue for you that will help you work on this technique.
(Hack 3) Shift smoother
Shifting a motorcycle is a new technique for many riders, and I mean totally new. There are not many cars you can buy anymore that have a standard transmission and most new drivers have no experience driving a stick shift.
The whole concept of using a clutch, how it works and how to start out smoothly is something new that has to be learned from scratch by many riders because they never learned to drive a standard transmission car.
Even after learning to shift up and down the gears many riders struggle for a while shifting smoothly and consistently.
Here is a technique that will make your upshifts either a little smoother or a lot smoother depending on what motorcycle you ride.
On an upshift, before you squeeze in the clutch add a little pressure up on the shift lever. So if I am moving down the road, I apply a little pressure up on the shift lever, not enough to force a shift, just a little pressure. This will put the motorcycle in a much friendlier position when you do squeeze the clutch and complete the shift.
This will have different levels of effect on some motorcycles over others but it will almost always make it easier to shift up through the gears. If you want more information on this technique go to MCrider.com/shift and check out my video that covers this technique in much more detail.
(Hack 4) Feet
Riding a motorcycle is an all-in experience. It takes a coordinated effort from how you use the controls to where you look and even down to where you place your feet on the motorcycle to get better at it.
Have you ever rounded a corner on your motorcycle and hit your feet on the pavement. The first time that happens it will get your attention for sure. If your feet scrape hard enough it can pull your feet all the way off of the footpegs.
I had this happen to me once when I was training for my Total Control certification to become an instructor. I rounded a corner in a fairly aggressive manner, caught the toe of my boot on the pavement and it ripped my foot off the pegs, back and slammed it into the freshly painted saddlebag on my Honda Valkyrie.
Not only was it embarrassing in front of all these other instructors…but it hurt too. But, it was a good reminder to keep the balls of my feet on the footpegs, especially when rounding a sharp corner and especially if there is much lean angle involved.
To this day I remember that experience when I head into a corner and it reminds me to check my foot position before leaning the motorcycle over too far.
So, there are 4 riding hacks that I see many riders on the street not following.
